Flipping and Blending Teaching.
Both financial and environmental sustainability demand that new buildings should last at least 50-60 years, and ideally much longer. Yet the pace of technological change makes it difficult to imagine any building's use over such a lifespan.
Last November, JISC published its 'Higher Education Student Digital Experience' survey findings. Most students support a blend of online and face-to-face teaching. When asked where they would like to be taught, 42% said mainly on-site, 45% preferred a mix of on-site and online, and 13% wanted to be mainly online. Of course, today's students will have been taught in school in a relatively traditional way. Over the long term, similar surveys will likely only tilt in one direction.
MabelPost 240323 (and 310323) discussed the development of online learning and its potentially profound consequences for the scale and content of future education estates.
"Most current Colleges and Universities are likely to need some physical accommodation, but at a smaller scale and with a different mix of spaces."
We used the word "current" advisedly. An increasing number of 'challenger' institutions will operate online. Like Amazon took down your local department store, online enterprises have traditional institutions in their sights. And just like Amazon, they have lower overheads; more on that another time.
If they are to survive and thrive, 'bricks-and-mortar' institutions must offer the complete package, combining online and 'in-person' learning. 'Blended Learning' can create really engaging learning experiences. Online can be used where it is most effective, and 'in-person' where it works best.
Of course, an advantage to 'in-person' is that it usually comes with a richer social experience. Furthermore, in HE, many young students achieve greater independence and personal development by living away from home. This is really part of the deal. Without some form of a physical campus, this time-honoured coming-of-age ritual is lost.
Bricks-and-mortar institutions can also teach 'hands-on' activities in a way that online just can't match. These activities include practical skills, for example, in construction, engineering, agriculture, hospitality or the care sector. In-person, students can also practise performing arts, improve their science lab techniques, or learn to work in medical environments.
However, with Blended Learning, we also still need 'classroom' environments. Here a 'Flipped Classroom' model is increasingly used. Under this model, students engage in self-directed learning (usually online) before attending class. Students then work together in class with their teacher to further understand the subject matter. The model gives students more control over their learning, the online element happening at a time and pace of their choosing. It also allows the teacher to provide more personalised attention and face-to-face support.
The challenge for consultants and designers is to develop suitably scaled, equipped, and furnished Flipped Classrooms.
While Flipped Classrooms are not about whole lectures, everyone must be able to see a screen. Students will already have read articles or books and already accessed relevant online videos or podcasts. However, the teacher may screen 'micro-presentations' to reinforce the original learning. These presentations can be short video 'replays' or slides displaying key information. Some students may also need to give presentations, requiring more than one device's flexible use of the screens.
The rooms will likely be much smaller than traditional lecture rooms (perhaps a capacity of no more than twenty). After all, large-scale omnidirectional 'lectures' will have moved online. There will be much more emphasis on open forum discussions, requiring excellent sightlines and acoustics in all directions. The ability to jump into smaller discussion groups of, say, three to six will be essential. After group discussions, feeding ideas back to the whole class will require writing boards and pin-up spaces. These might be spread around the room, for quick easy access by each group (they are not just for the teacher).
Floor plans and furniture layouts are imagined future learning spaces. Before we make these plans, we need to imagine future learning. To have meaningful discussions with educators, designers must talk the language of learning as much as the language of space.
The Times Higher Ed has published several articles on the Flipped Classroom. Teaching practice has a long way to go, but these offerings can help designers gain insight into the latest thinking:
Department for Education Responds to 'Accelerating Towards Net-Zero' Report
Photo Credit: Baroness Barran official photo (link to license)
Last Week MabelSpace got excited! We almost 'stopped the presses' on our Friday Newsletter. The EAUC (the Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education) had good news.
"Yesterday, the Further and Higher Education sectors were encouraged to receive a positive response from the Department for Education, regarding the Accelerating Towards Net-Zero report."
The Accelerating Towards Net Zero report is a proposal for decarbonising the UK's Further and Higher Education Sectors (see MabelPost 160223). This document makes fourteen recommendations for government. The EAUC quoted correspondence from Baroness Barran, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (pictured above), which states,
"The DfE are fully supportive of the priorities in this report..."
On closer examination, beyond a general expression of support, the somewhat wordy letter responds to three of the fourteen recommendations.
The DfE will ensure that education gets its share of decarbonisation funds (and is looking at different types of green finance).
The DfE is planning a 'digital hub' to support knowledge and action on net zero.
The DfE is promoting consistent emissions measurement by adopting the Standardised Carbon Emission Framework (SCEF).
The EAUC's enthusiasm will stem from the support for the SCEF (which EAUC members created). The SCEF is vital. This first response is a start. However, it's essential to keep pushing for a comprehensive reply. The report was published in January, so there is time yet for a fuller and (hopefully) more strategic response.
and Construction News...
Willmott Dixon chosen at Oxford Brookes University
Construction firm Willmott Dixon has been chosen by Oxford Brookes University to deliver two new buildings on its Headington Hill campus. Designed by ADP Architecture, the project will provide spaces for students, staff, researchers, partners and the wider community.
McAlpine picked to deliver Bristol University Campus
Sir Robert McAlpine has been chosen by the University of Bristol to deliver its £500m Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus scheme. Plans for the site were revised following the COVID-19 pandemic, which 'reshaped' the university's vision for the campus. The new campus will be built adjacent to Temple Meads station. According to the university, the site will accommodate more than 4,600 students and 650 university staff, enhancing Bristol's reputation as a "global destination for world-leading research, education and innovation".