Teaching and Learning

Learning Space Design

Technology Services & Facilities

Learning Space Design

Brad Tyrrell
Dean of Information and Learning Technology

Learning Space Design

Brad Tyrrell

At Scotch College, we are committed to making sure that the rooms and spaces your son uses to complete his education are designed to create the best environment in which to learn. As educational philosophies change and new developments in teaching theory are proposed, the College is dedicated to creating spaces to first trial and then implement these spaces for your son.

As part of this process each teaching space at Scotch College is strategically being evaluated and reviewed as part of an ongoing process of upgrading and maintenance. Through this process all the rooms your son will interact with for instruction will become flexible, adaptable and suit the content and delivery method of the day instead of always in rows and facing the front. While the literature on learning spaces often contains broad statements concerning maximising the adoption of those paradigms of teaching and learning that shift from teacher-centred, content-focused information delivery to the ideal of student-centred active learning, collaborating in the construction of new knowledge, the reality is that didactic teaching has its place and occasionally the learning space must also service its needs.

An example of one of the newly designed rooms your son will interact with and the virtual tour of the Junior Middle School Library and Art Gallery can be viewed below.

FAQs

How do learning spaces affect student learning?

It is important to understand that the space in which learning takes place can have a profound effect on your son’s level of achievement. Studies have shown that when students are relaxed, have natural light and are free to move, among other things, their learning and understanding is increased. These factors are all taken into consideration when designing and using learning spaces at Scotch College and it is a strategic directive to upgrade and adapt all spaces to create spaces that are better suited to your son’s learning.

How are modern classrooms improving learning?

In modern classrooms, a movement away from a didactic teacher at the front of the room, is occurring making way for a more student-centred flexible space that can be reconfigured to suit the nature of the lesson being taught. In practical ways, your son, in many classrooms at Scotch College, may want to stand at a desk while he is being taught, he may learn better when the classroom is configured in group tables or he may require individual quiet space to achieve at his best. All of these options should and are available at the College and this is what a modern classroom needs to provide.

It is through customised spaces and an environment that can change that improves the learning of students. In addition to this, technology integration into classrooms places a significant role as it allows for groups sharing from laptops, teachers to be mobile in the room and your son the ability to quickly see and experience online environments without leaving his seat. Below is one example of this taking place for your son in the Commerce room at Scotch College.

Why are classrooms changing?

Classrooms are changing because the world in which your son will enter to work is changing. Today group work environments in open planned spaces are more common with companies valuing group work and creativity more than following orders without contributions. Your son needs to be successful in these types of working spaces and while traditional spaces will always be needed and are valued, new work paradigms are what is driving innovation in classrooms.

What examples of new learning spaces are in the school?

Below are just two examples of spaces that have been created for your son at Scotch College, but in all rooms you will see non-traditional setups with plans for much more in the future.