Designing Active Learning Spaces, what to consider?
Summary
This literature review, commissioned by the Centre for Academic Teaching and Learning at Utrecht University, was conducted to gather more information on the design and setting up of Active Learning Spaces in higher education. The review highlights the need to optimise the design of Active Learning Spaces to facilitate interaction and activating work formats, with the aim of enhancing students' learning experience.
This literature review was conducted with mainly a focus on peer-reviewed articles in English, using Talbert and Mor-Avi's (2019) systematic review as a primary source. The findings were structured according to their theoretical framework and supplemented by articles that offered insights into specific aspects of designing active learning spaces in higher education and by more recent publications.
The results outline three main aspects of connectedness in active learning spaces: visibility, mobility and learning resources. Within these three main aspects, the results discuss how seating and table shapes influence student behaviour and engagement and highlight the importance of mobility and flexible furniture arrangements in promoting collaboration and interaction. It also explores the integration of analogue (e.g. whiteboards) and digital (e.g. monitors) learning tools to increase student engagement and facilitate effective communication.
The discussion marks limitations in the literature review on active learning spaces including a lack of research from Europe and a need for more extensive research. Recommendations are provided to improve learning environments with an emphasis on polycentric layout, teacher-student proximity, moveable furniture, flexible seating, consideration of different learning activities and integration of both analogue and digital learning resources. In addition, the recommendations emphasise the need to meet students' individual needs and to promote communication and collaboration between students and teachers.