Educational Pedagogy

In his important 2007 publication ‘Learning spaces for the 21st century’, Paul Temple made the observation that the interactions between higher education, the built environment and the activities of teaching, learning and research taking place within and around it are poorly understood. Historically, noted Temple, in UK HE, space issues had typically been considered either in the context of space planning (the utilisation and optimisation of physical space) or as part of campus planning and building design. There has been steady growth in space-related research in the intervening decade since Temple’s work; however, a review of the available contemporary evidence reveals a dispersed and fragmented literature relating to understanding connections between learning spaces and student learning (see Ellis and Goodyear, 2016). Furthermore, a more recent sector-wide shift in emphasis from an ‘instruction paradigm’ to a ‘learning paradigm’, has meant universities must now think seriously about what it means to be a learner in these spaces.

There’s a revolution going on in American libraries. Shelves, books and other physical materials are being replaced with digital ones to keep up with today’s student demands, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Students welcome this new era of libraries, though schools had to fight hard to bring the changes about, such as in the moving of print content online or making it available via interlibrary loans instead.

When developing active learning classrooms in higher education, be sure to consider these best practices from classroom design ideas across all silos to creating active learning pilot programs. Read more about classroom design best practices.

The future of higher education will likely be crafted by both incremental changes and a drastic rethinking of the institutional model, according to the predictions of Jeff Selingo, Washington Post columnist and author of three books, most recently, There Is Life After College.

“We have to think of new models to serve lifelong learners,” said Selingo, who delivered the keynote address on Wednesday at the Campus Tech conference in Chicago.

The challenge? Educators may not be prepared for the extent of change that’s ahead.