design and pedagogy in higher education (Jessop, Gubby, & Smith, 2011). Jessop et al. (2011) explain that the physical spaces that buildings create influence how people interact and relate within them. Lecture rooms often place the academic member of staff at the front, standing up, while the students are all grouped together in rows sitting in front of them. This portrays a teacher-pupil dynamic, and in this context both parties usually assume the roles that the environment dictates. Also, the use of technology in these environments is used in a very static way, and is often focused on the member of staff. Indeed, the physical space of the room often dictates the role that students will adopt. The more inclusive the physical environment the more involved the students will become in the process of learning.
of academic staff has evolved to be the facilitators of learning rather than the fonts of all knowledge. Academic staff can, though, be the guides for students in making sense of the knowledge that is out there, and in pointing students towards appropriate and reputable sources of information. Students too have to recognise that learning is something they have to take responsibility for and engage in (Bovill, Cook-Sather, & Felten, 2011). Paying significant fees to study at university does not mean that they are somehow going to be ‘taught’ everything that they need to know. Students need to view the fees as the membership fee for an exclusive club. A little like paying a gym membership. Like being a member of a gym, if you do not turn up and put the required effort in you will not get any associated benefits. So, while the academic staff are there to help and guide they ultimately cannot teach the students anything they do not want to learn. What the academic staff can do though is to seek to inspire the students by excelling in the areas they are experts, and by helping to ensure that the right environment exists for exceptional learning. Indeed, Bovill et al. (2011) suggested that if students and staff can break down the power differential between them there is the opportunity for “students to experience the freedom to become critical thinkers and critical beings in the world” (p.134).
Suggestions for enhancing the quality and design of the learning environment Kember and Leung (2005) suggested that the academic curriculum in higher education should include the development of key intellectual, interpersonal, and coping skills, as well as an appropriate professional and disciplinary knowledge. Intellectual skills include such skills as critical thinking, creative thinking and the capacity to deal with ill-defined problems. Interpersonal skills relate to communication ability, teamwork skills, interpersonal skills, leadership skills. Coping with an uncertain future focuses on flexibility, adaptability, and information technology skills. Students also need to develop self-regulatory skills such as time management, self-control, goal setting, developing an effective work/life balance, and the ability to pursue lifelong learning. So maybe a different starting point in designing a programme of study would be to take these higher order skills and look at how they can be developed, rather than retrospectively thinking about which ones might be covered in a module after the content has been determined.
There is evidence that the learning environment can also determine whether students adopt a surface or deep approach to learning (Gijbels et al., 2008). If the module is built around an assessment, students will engage in as much endeavour as is required to complete the assessment. However, if the assessment was built around student learning, the students would potentially engage in a far deeper approach to their learning. Indeed, the ‘this is what you need to know to pass the assessment’ is quite a constraining approach. There are many aspects to the learning environment. One aspect with particular relevance is the physical environment in which students learn. Current uses of the physical environment are often very limiting and can reinforce an unequal power relationship between staff and students. Indeed there is an increasing body of literature that focuses on the relationship between architectural
In looking to develop effective learning environments Kember, Ho and Hong (2010) suggest eight key elements that need to be considered to maximise the environments effectiveness. These include: establish interest, allow choice, establish the relevance of the subject, consider the type of learning activities that will 50