Creating Dynamic Places for Learning

Peter C. Lippman, M. Phil, M. Psych., BArch, Associate AIA, has been researching, writing, and designing activity-based learning environments that engage teachers and learners. His work is grounded in his academic research and action research projects, where social science methodologies are used to guide  the programming, planning, and design of learning environments. Fueled by his desire to understand how and why teachers and learners operationalize the different settings in the learning environment, he creates places that are responsive to their needs. He is an acknowledged Thought Leader in the field of educational architecture and a prolific writer.  Peter not only presents his research at conferences internationally, but most importantly, works with educators throughout the world to re-imagine their environment to positively impact learning, learners and the things to be learned.  Elizabeth A. Matthews is Assistant Professor of Psychology and Education in the Division of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at City College, CUNY. Her research interests center on the physical environment of children and youth, school security and violence, and the impacts of physical space on mental health in young people. She has conducted both quantitative and qualitative research on the physical elements of school security and hosted conferences that have brought an international group of researchers, policy-makers, and educators to dialogue on the key issues impacting school design.

Introduction.- Part 1: Visioning process.- School designs for personalising and co-constructing the learning journey.- Working in non-western cultures: A framework for functional school design.- Pedagogy matters: Cultivating independent learning in college classrooms.- Part 2: Research in context.- The school security environment and adolescents’ feelings of safety and academic performance.- Making the transition from teacher-centred teaching to students’ active learning: developing transformative agency.- Out of the box: Lessons from the Covid-19 school lockdowns for future learning environments.- Virtual learning in university settings is not a new modality. Though old and new challenges continue to arise in recent years?- Part 3: Design.- Creating dynamic school buildings that activate the learner and the learning process.- Affordance theory as a framework for 21st century learning principles.- An ecological approach for creating dynamic learning environments.- Not buying into the hype of contemporary or new school learning spaces: One school’s attempt at interrogating their “actual” impact on teaching and learning.- Conclusion.