Engaging spaces: An investigation into middle school educational opportunities provided by innovative built environments. A new approach to understanding the relationship between learning and space

Abstract

This paper reports on the approach taken in a current interdisciplinary research project that is investigating the relationship between 'learning' and 'space'. The key research question being explored is, 'How can middle school (Years 5-9) learning environments be designed and used to enable progressive constructivist pedagogies and improve student engagement in learning? The study is focussed on the co-evolution of educational practice and the design of learning environments in three case study schools situated in Victoria, Australia. Social research methods have been employed to explore the relationships between 'pedagogical practices', 'physical learning environments' and 'student engagem..