An article in last year's "EDUCAUSE Quarterly" special issue on learning spaces reported on the results of the University of Minnesota's pilot evaluation of its high-tech, state-of-the art Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs). The next phase of research on learning environments at the University of Minnesota involved a unique partnership…

Starting from the contribution on the "ten principles of effective pedagogy" by James and Pollard, we critically reflect on some of the principles and assess whether these principles can be grounded in the wider European research literature that has accumulated internationally. We conclude that these principles can be supported and…

"Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments" provides students, faculty, and instructional designers with a clear, concise introduction to the major pedagogical and psychological theories and their implications for the design of new learning environments for schools, universities, or corporations. Leading experts describe the most…

This paper deals with the problematic nature of the transition between education and the workplace. A smooth transition between education and the workplace requires learners to develop an integrated knowledge base, but this is problematic as most educational programmes offer knowledge and experiences in a fragmented manner, scattered over a…

Over recent years, approaches to education and training have become more informal, situated, outcome focused and experiential. Within this context, formal learning now plays a greatly diminished role, being supplanted by activity-based and technologically-based learning. This article, structured in the form of a polemic challenges readers to…

Knowledge construction is regarded as an effective learning model in practice. When more and more learning communities are organized to promote knowledge construction, it is necessary to know how to use different tools to support knowledge construction in the learning community context. In the literature, few researchers discuss how to construct…

Study abroad opportunities continue to be a popular choice for U.S. college students looking to expand their undergraduate education. In response to the increasing demand for international opportunities, campuses have diversified their study abroad program models. On many campuses, students not only have opportunities to study abroad during…

This paper explores the possibilities and challenges games and simulations pose for informal science education. The authors begin with a brief overview of the recent history of games and games research. They then attempt to clarify the distinctions between games and simulations. Next, they examine types of informal learning…

The lack of cultural diversity in higher education is recognised by policy objectives and a current focus on the development of widening participation for a range of students, including those with disabilities. Amongst this group are those with dyslexia who might previously have been disenfranchised from formal education and under-represented…

The read/write web, or Web 2.0, offers ways for users to personalise their online existence, and to develop their own critical identities though their control of a range of tools. Exerting control enables those users to forge new contexts, profiles and content through which to represent themselves, based upon the user-centred, participative,…

This case study describes concepts for three types of learning spaces that grew out of a Learning Landscape planning process. The process was part of a master plan study for the three campuses of the University at Buffalo. It involved research into user needs and aspirations about future pedagogy, development of learning space strategy,…

This paper reports on a pilot study in which children aged 7-12 (N = 68) had an opportunity to study in a novel formal and informal learning setting. The learning activities were extended from the classroom to the playful learning environment (PLE), an innovative playground enriched by technological tools. Curriculum-based learning was intertwined…

This article discusses preliminary findings of the author's doctoral research on children's educating networks in contemporary cities. The research problem is introduced in the theoretical framework composed by issues of formal, non-formal and informal education, contemporary children's studies, and contributions from the debate around the…

Learning environment development has been a key part of the Academic Innovation Team's remit for a number of years at Sheffield Hallam University. Beginning with the authors' research into the impact of e-learning on the student experience in 2002--and recognizing the way e-learning influenced students' views of physical spaces--they started to…

P. M. Greenfield's new theory of social change and human development aims to show how changing sociodemographic ecologies alter cultural values and learning environments and thereby shift developmental pathways. Worldwide sociodemographic trends include movement from rural residence, informal education at home, subsistence economy, and…