Student Centered Learning - Implications for Design

In Oklahoma these days much is being discussed about the "Common Core" and its impact on students, teachers, parents and the community. Much of that discussion is beyond the scope of this blog; however everyone agrees that teaching and learning must be student centered and focused on preparing students for success.

But what does a "student centered" school look like and how are those facilities different than schools that used industrial age planning and design principals?

Design Characteristics of a Student Centered Model:

• Students have a home base or workstation to call home. This may be a work station, or similar private area for quiet thought and personal work.
• Classrooms are more limited and specialized with more learning and mentoring happening outside the classroom in collaborative group and/or flexible team areas. 
• "Learning Commons" include areas that were traditionally dedicated as circulation only. Corridors become functional, flexible, open areas with soft seating, tables, sofas and  wireless collaboration and productivity tools for team and individual learning. 
• Teachers are not isolated from each other in classrooms but share central work areas with dedicated work stations, conference areas and tools for collaboration, sharing of best practice techniques and accountability. By removing barriers for student and teachers shared goals, expectations and creative problem solving can be reached.  
• Flexible "lab" areas for Project Based learning. Areas contain varying work areas with resources for a wide variety of projects, construction, exploration,  brainstorming, presentations, etc. 
• The traditional media center space is redistributed across the facility in more dynamic ways to encourage the use of portable laptops, smart phones and interactive displays. 
• All areas are designed to include the latest advancements in efficiency and resourcefulness including natural lighting, insulation, ventilation, building security and maintenance.  
• Spaces are designed to encourage exploration, research, interaction, creativity and connections to others and the world.   

School districts around the country are increasingly turning to 21st century practices to better prepare students for their futures and to accommodate the realities of school funding and high expectations of the community. Student expectations are also changing due to the rapid advancement of information and communications over the Internet and the portability of access. A Student-Centered model may hold great potential to transform school environments for the future.
                                                                                                                                              
Darrell McAllister, AIA is the founding Principal of McAllister and Associates Architects. For more information he can be reached at darrell@mcallister-arch.com. 

Optimizing or Innovating? Re-thinking the Role of Schools in our Community

To help us answer that question I looked back at my 25 year career in architecture and evaluated school facilities from the 1980's, 1990's and 2000's. In each decade most of those schools had unique features that were improvements from the decade before.
1980's - Education was in a time of reflection and economic decline. Little national investment was made in schools and what was made often was in the form of renovations or remodels. Much of the experimentation of the 1950's thru 1970's had stopped. Schools were conservative, simple, efficient, traditional and local governments had to supplement national energy conservation programs to keep those initiatives moving. For our firm it was an era of common areas, pods of classrooms, team teaching and all design decisions related to durability and low cost.
1990's  thru 2000's - During this period the idea of green-building became more prevalent. LEEDS standards were adopted in 1998 and became prevalent through the 2000's to be the most influential movement to shape school design. High performance buildings promote the responsible use of natural resources while providing a healthy indoor environment.
While these changes and improvements in schools have yielded largely positive results, they tend to focus on a fairly narrow set of challenges that are the "building" systems. Designing and building a better container for teaching and learning.  In tomorrows context larger questions that we are asking are:

1.) What is a school?

2.) Can schools better reflect and connect to our communities to improve student mastery, purpose and autonomy?

3.) What are the common "Connection Points" for purposeful learning? 

a. Family

b. Social Purpose

c. Work

d. Politics

e. Arts

f. Recreation

g. Health

h. Worship

4.) How can technology add value and enhance those connection points? 

Old Learning Model

New Learning Model

In today's information age people are in control. Big business models are expiring and new more contextual and personal models are evolving that put people in control of their own destiny. Education must create something new to remain valuable in students lives. New analytical tools combined with the evaluation and recognition of social, political, technological and personal opportunities will yield new and innovative results.

Have school facilities improved in the past century? In some ways, they certainly have. But in other ways, especially in the craft and science of natural lighting and conditioning, we may have simply circled back to where we started. These patterns are largely reflections of the greater societal and technological trends of the 20th and early 21st century, but they have also represented the sincere dedication of education leaders to improve the quality of learning environments for children in America. It is our mission and desire to see continued questioning, evaluation of new contexts, multiple iterations of innovation and subsequent integration of new techniques and solutions that improve student outcomes.
                                                                                                                                              
Darrell L. McAllister, A.I.A. is the Founding Principal of McAllister and Associates Architects. 

Conditions for Learning - Can Architecture Support and Enhance These?

Over the last few years there has been much research and discussions about the most important elements found in schools that positively affect student performance.  Often called conditions of learning or C.O.L.  There may be others, but four of the most common are:

• the presence of clear behavioral expectations

• the generation of abundant opportunities to build skills through practice

• the provision of rewards and recognition for students meeting expectations

• the cultivation of positive relationships between teachers and students built on trust and esteem

Most would agree that there is a statistical correlation between the presence of these conditions and student success at end of term testing.  

One of the challenges in our Learning Environments Studio is to explore the influence and impact of these conditions on the physical environment.  Can we enhance, integrate and improve any or all of these conditions in the physical environment thru the use of technology, graphics, games, lessons, shapes, materials and concepts to improve student performance? We think it can and should be done.  Below are simple and cost effective examples of how these ideas may manifest themselves in a gym. Your thoughts? 

Length, Width, Distance, Movement, Addition concepts enhanced in gymnasium design 

Length, Width, Distance, Movement, Addition concepts enhanced in gymnasium design

6 Key Attributes of High Performing Learning Spaces

DESIGNING LEARNING SPACES THAT PERFORM
Over the last several years we have identified 6 key attributes that learning and teaching spaces need to deliver. Together these attributes form the corner stone of our Learning Environments Studio (L.E.S.). These attributes also remind us of our mission and help us stay focused on the future of teaching and learning.


1. MOTIVATING: Education is a forward motion. We must create spaces that encourage and propel minds and deliver a sense of optimism. Every room should have features that work to elevate and accelerate the spirit of teaching, learning and discovery.

2. FLEXIBLE:  Rigidity is an opponent of enlightenment and discovery. The physical spaces need to account for dynamic teaching and learning styles. Fixed and unmovable elements should be minimized, keeping spaces flexible for now and how we want to use them today and even more flexible because we don’t know how they will be used in the future. 

3. COLLABORATIVE:  Shared inspiration is what fuels healthy group environments. We will design spaces that enable all parties to easily connect, communicate and collaborate with each other.  

4. REFLECTIVE: Reflection is the silent narrative of an engaged mind. All participants in the teaching and learning experience should be provided with spaces that facilitate “thinking” time. There needs to be spaces that are free of distractions, places where participants can unplug and simply delve into the wonder of thought. 

5. COMMUNITY CENTRIC: This isn’t a prison or monastery. As part of our mission, we  invite and connect the extended community to share the opportunities of education. To become more aware of each persons value and place in the world.  Open doors that open doors.  

6. PERFORMANCE FOCUSED: Just like “achieve” and “work”, “learn” is a verb. We must create spaces that help educators and students realize their true potential and perform at the highest level.  Beyond creating a building where teaching and learning merely happen, we must focus on integrating curriculum, technology and sustainable design elements to create a building and all of it’s features as “built-in” learning tools.  

Personal Learning Module Concept

Moore Norman Technology Center
Business Training Center Commons

Personal Learning Environments - Fiction or Future?

Personal Learning Module

Personal Learning Module - Can existing schools adapt to become laboratories for personal learning? 

With the increasing availability of portable lessons and educational opportunities outside the classroom, one of the challenges that communities face is how to transform traditional schools into exciting personal learning laboratories.

The study module picture was designed for middle and high school students and can be located in what was once a traditional media center. The media center can be transformed into a interactive, collaborative space that has the opportunity for various levels of engagement with students and teachers, from large groups to individual "pods" that can be customized to each students emotions (color changing LED) , learning styles and interests.

The Learning Environments Studio (LES) at McAllister & Associates Architecture is committed to exploring new solutions for schools to be transformed into dynamic learning labs for tomorrows students.

Schools As Learning Tools

The world we live in is full of  educational opportunities. School facilities have the potential to be potent learning tools when designed properly. Most architects choose to follow the traditional school design prescription, failing to utilize the possible math and science lessons inherent in building construction.

For example, how many students know the dimensions of their classroom? A standard classroom wall can be turned into an informative learning tool when the room is designed to include markers indicating the measurement of the wall. One classroom wall could be measured in feet while the opposite wall could be marked in meters to teach the students the difference between the English and metric systems of measurement. A teacher could design a lesson based on the measurements in which the students find the area of the room using the measurements on the walls.

Another example of potential teaching opportunities in school design is the presentation of the electrical system. What if portions of a school's electrical system were left visible by being encased in glass? This could be a springboard for learning not only about watts and amps, but also how the school is connected to the cities electrical grid.

Schools are full of learning opportunities when the architect chooses to view the school building as having the potential to function as an interactive museum in addition to its normal functions. At McAllister and Associates we strive to design every school to be a teaching aid to the teachers.

It's in the the Money! Tips for Passing School Bonds

Tips for Passing a School Bond Issue

Passage of school bond issues is often vital to the growth and sustainability of school districts. Though specific battle plans for informing a community about the importance of passing your bond issue vary greatly, there are several points to keep in mind while working on your bond issue.

1.      The passage of a bond issue often hinges on the public’s perception of your school district. It is important for schools to keep the citizens informed and to maintain an outstanding reputation within the community.

2.      When you are deciding what to include in the bond issue, it is important to keep in mind those projects which the electorate is willing to pay for as well as the district’s most pressing needs. The best way to get a gauge of the public’s support for specific items in the bond issue is to conduct polls of the electorate. Sometimes it is best to drop a couple of items from the bond issue if those items will cause the bond issue to fail to pass.

3.      A school district’s financial responsibility should be a major point in your marketing. The electorate is much more likely to vote yes on a bond issue if your school district has a history of sound financial practices.

4.      Avoid in-fighting among schools at all costs. The best way to do this is to make sure each school knows exactly how much money they will get before the bond issue is being considered

5.      Focus on those who support the bond issue rather than those who oppose it. Studies have shown that it is very difficult to change someone’s mind about the benefits of more money for schools. One of the keys to passing a school bond issue is to make sure your supporters turn out on election day. Conventional wisdom say to try to connect with your supports three to four times before election day to insure they will show up at the polls.

Can you Hear Me? Classroom Acoustics Improve Learning

School Acoustics

The acoustics of a school are an often overlooked, but vitally important aspect of school design. A large portion of communication between teacher and student is done verbally. Recent studies have shown that inappropriate levels of reverberation and/or background noise negatively affect a student's ability to learn and can cause lifelong auditory perception problems for the student. Because of this, a proper understanding of how to minimize reverberation and background noise is crucial to the maximizing a classroom's efficiency.

A simple way for architects to minimize reverberation is to use more sound-absorbing materials. This entails using less of the hard, smooth surfaces that dominate current classrooms and replacing them with new materials that are specifically designed to minimize reverberation. Something as small as designing a classroom with sound-absorbing materials can make a huge difference in the learning of the students.

Another way to decrease unwanted noise in a classroom is by separating sound-sensitive areas such as classrooms and offices from areas that are generally noisy such as gymnasiums and playgrounds. This can be simple as designing the school to have a hallway in between the two areas to act as a noise buffer.

Acoustics play a massive role in the practical functionality of a school. At McAllister and Associates strive to design school buildings that best help students learn and minimizing reverberations and background noise is one of the ways we address this issue.