Results from Student Questionnaire (choosing all that applied):
Which of the following specific recommendations would you make to improve the learning spaces used by the Faculty of Education? (n=119)
1. House the professional program courses at the University Avenue campus (60%).
2. Keep the professional program at Heritage Place but improve these spaces (40%).
3. Move the program to a location closer to the SCDSB and/or SMCDSB offices in Barrie (39%).
How would you see best improving the learning spaces at Heritage Place? (n=84)
1. Better air quality and temperature (82%).
2. More and improved quiet work spaces for students (74%).
3. Improved and more reliable classroom technologies (52%).
Which of the following specific recommendations would you make to improve the learning spaces used by the Faculty of Education? (n=119)
1. House the professional program courses at the University Avenue campus (60%).
2. Keep the professional program at Heritage Place but improve these spaces (40%).
3. Move the program to a location closer to the SCDSB and/or SMCDSB offices in Barrie (39%).
How would you see best improving the learning spaces at Heritage Place? (n=84)
1. Better air quality and temperature (82%).
2. More and improved quiet work spaces for students (74%).
3. Improved and more reliable classroom technologies (52%).
Enhancing Our Learning Spaces
Faculty Working Group led by Sonia Mastrangelo
with Linda Grant, Ellen Field, Meridith Lovell-Johnston, Sharon Malyczewsky & Gary Pluim
Introduction
The following report outlines the challenges expressed by both faculty and students surrounding learning spaces at the Heritage Place campus and also provides prospective solutions for consideration.
Our vision for learning spaces in the Bachelor of Education program encourages relationship-building, effective communication (i.e. being sensitive to acoustics..etc), and versatility in order to serve multiple purposes.
McAvoy (2015) notes that “universities contain unique tools and opportunities for confronting [space] issues because they have long been sites of great social transformation and action, and they continue to be powerful engines of innovation. I believe that they can also be powerful agents for change in making physical environments more people friendly.” (University Affairs, https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/student-voices/how-to-make-campus-environments-more-inviting-to-students/)
Theoretical Background:
Ideally, a physical environment should “act” as a third teacher and in this case we draw on the work of Reggio Emilia theorists such as Fraser to help us contextualize and understand the importance of space and its connection to teaching and learning. When creating an environment that acts as the third teacher, Fraser (2012) suggests that the following eight principles need to be addressed: aesthetics, active learning, collaboration, transparency, bringing the outdoors in, flexibility, relationship and reciprocity. The aesthetics of of an environment comes from the amount of detail put into every aspect of the space and creating an environment that is full of light. Active learning and collaboration can be achieved by providing a stimulating environment that offers choices and provokes teacher candidates to explore materials while working together in groups. Transparency is achieved through the importance of light in every aspect of the setting and serves as a metaphor of how communication is understood. “Bringing the outdoors in” helps us to connect with the land we are situated on and helps us build respect for community by strengthening our sense of belonging in the world. Flexibility and reciprocity go hand in hand and as professors we need flexibility within our spaces and settings while being open to change and responsive to the learning needs of teacher candidates. Lastly, relationship in the environment refers to how objects are shown in relation to other materials in the room, as well as how documentation is designed to observe the relationship between what teacher candidates are doing and the underlying theories and principles they are learning.
Concerns
The concerns outlined by students and faculty include:
Some Direct Quotes From Students
“Main campus has so many resources. We don’t.”
“Space in general. Not just a classroom concern.”
“Church space is not conducive to optimal learning.”
“It’s hard coming to the basement knowing there is a brand new campus only blocks away.”
Faculty Working Group led by Sonia Mastrangelo
with Linda Grant, Ellen Field, Meridith Lovell-Johnston, Sharon Malyczewsky & Gary Pluim
Introduction
The following report outlines the challenges expressed by both faculty and students surrounding learning spaces at the Heritage Place campus and also provides prospective solutions for consideration.
Our vision for learning spaces in the Bachelor of Education program encourages relationship-building, effective communication (i.e. being sensitive to acoustics..etc), and versatility in order to serve multiple purposes.
McAvoy (2015) notes that “universities contain unique tools and opportunities for confronting [space] issues because they have long been sites of great social transformation and action, and they continue to be powerful engines of innovation. I believe that they can also be powerful agents for change in making physical environments more people friendly.” (University Affairs, https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/student-voices/how-to-make-campus-environments-more-inviting-to-students/)
Theoretical Background:
Ideally, a physical environment should “act” as a third teacher and in this case we draw on the work of Reggio Emilia theorists such as Fraser to help us contextualize and understand the importance of space and its connection to teaching and learning. When creating an environment that acts as the third teacher, Fraser (2012) suggests that the following eight principles need to be addressed: aesthetics, active learning, collaboration, transparency, bringing the outdoors in, flexibility, relationship and reciprocity. The aesthetics of of an environment comes from the amount of detail put into every aspect of the space and creating an environment that is full of light. Active learning and collaboration can be achieved by providing a stimulating environment that offers choices and provokes teacher candidates to explore materials while working together in groups. Transparency is achieved through the importance of light in every aspect of the setting and serves as a metaphor of how communication is understood. “Bringing the outdoors in” helps us to connect with the land we are situated on and helps us build respect for community by strengthening our sense of belonging in the world. Flexibility and reciprocity go hand in hand and as professors we need flexibility within our spaces and settings while being open to change and responsive to the learning needs of teacher candidates. Lastly, relationship in the environment refers to how objects are shown in relation to other materials in the room, as well as how documentation is designed to observe the relationship between what teacher candidates are doing and the underlying theories and principles they are learning.
Concerns
The concerns outlined by students and faculty include:
- Since there are only 5 classrooms at the HP classroom, this results in tight scheduling.
- There are air quality concerns in several classrooms (particularly Room 4) with delayed heating / cooling or extreme rises in temperature followed by sudden dips.
- There are obstructions in the classrooms (i.e. pillars) that block students from viewing the screens and/or instructors.
- There is an insufficient number of quiet meeting spaces for students (particularly with the removal of the study rooms at the Heritage Place Education Library).
- There is an insufficient number of washrooms given the high number of female students.
- The student study room on lower level is not conducive to working on collaborative group assignments/projects because it is too small.
- A great deal of staff time is spend on working within the confines/constraints of the classroom space--therefore, taking away from instructional/learning time.
- Lighting is an issue in some classrooms. Very dim in some areas while some students with light sensitivity find it too bright.
Some Direct Quotes From Students
“Main campus has so many resources. We don’t.”
“Space in general. Not just a classroom concern.”
“Church space is not conducive to optimal learning.”
“It’s hard coming to the basement knowing there is a brand new campus only blocks away.”
Ideas for exploration
From our working group meetings with students the following ideas have surfaced for consideration.
From our working group meetings with students the following ideas have surfaced for consideration.
- Investigate other floors in Heritage Place for regularly scheduled classes to be held (i.e. rent rooms on main level from City of Orillia?)
- Prioritize rooms for instructors to meet with students in private.
- There are many buildings surrounding HP with vacancies including Orillia public schools. There is a need to explore the costs & benefits of terminating the lease at HP.
- Consider housing the Education Program at the Georgian Campus, since a partnership is already established and many of our undergraduate programs are already offered there.
- Consider increasing the number of online courses offered.
- Decrease course load or remove .25 courses (replace with .50 courses)--This may open up more classroom spaces.
- Revisit air quality/ventilation system in the building.
- Negotiate additional parking with the City of Orillia.