This article argues in favour of challenging "best practice" generally accepted by the architectural profession by embracing a responsive design approach for creating learning environments. Such an approach accepts that the environment shapes the learner, and that learners influence their environment. A responsive design approach would embrace the…

Most school libraries have little funding for books, much less for redecorating. So what can a librarian do to give his or her library a makeover? This article presents a few cost-effective ways to renovate in just a few weeks. These tips include the use of colors, rearrangement of furnitures, signages, and more.

Project selection is an essential matter of design teaching. Based on observations of a specific curriculum, the author claims that a wide repertoire of subjects including offices, restaurants, hotels, and other public places are used to prepare design students, but that schools and other "learning environments/ schools" are similarly…

The first purpose of this experimental study was to determine if there were effects on achievement between traditional pencil-and-paper instructional strategies and computer simulated instructional strategies used to teach interior design business ethics. The second purpose was to determine the level of engagement of interior design students using…

This 10-minute videotape digitally describes a North Carolina prototype high school designed to serve as a model for the 21st century schools. Design emphasis is placed on providing an educationally equitable facility that is secure, efficient, and flexible for multiple uses. The two-story building is composed of core academic and learning…

Discusses new trends in school carpeting that can help add a warmer, friendlier, and less institutional look to the indoor environment, including benefits in maintaining air-quality control. Carpet-selection guidelines for educational facilities are provided. (GR)

In order to sustain strong academic programs and to provide a safe and comfortable environment for learning in the state's public colleges and universities, the facilities that house the institutions' programs must be maintained and replenished. The size, condition, and adequacy of these facilities have an impact on the quantity and quality of the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare student achievement with three school design classifications: movement and circulation, day lighting, and views. Design/methodology/approach: From a sample of 71 schools, measures of these three school designs, taken with a ten-point Likert scale, are compared to students' outcomes defined by six…

Design ideas from a school for the multiply handicapped in Nashville. (Author)

A tour of four elementary schools illustrates how antiques, plants, child-sized furniture, and other design elements can transform school lobbies and hallways into warm, welcoming places for students. School environments like these encourage children's interest and sense of responsibility, besides adding to their comfort. (PP)

Uniform illumination levels in the classroom and focused brightness on the "teaching wall" made good sense for students in Henry Ford's era. If you were training to take your place on the assembly line, you needed to focus on the work at hand and ahead to your supervisor, but the future no longer belongs to students who look only straight ahead.…

Presents K-12 and college interior renovations considered outstanding in a competition, which judged the most outstanding learning environments at educational institutions nationwide. Jurors spent two days reviewing projects, highlighting concepts and ideas that made them exceptional. For each citation, the article offers information on the firm,…

Examines universal school design that is both user-friendly for all students and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. This approach provides the basic functional design issues for easy traffic control, as well as orientation and classrooms that are adaptable to future curricular changes. Discusses new standards that impact design…

This book presents examples of the United States' most innovative new educational facilities for decision makers developing educational facilities of the future. It showcases some of the most recent and significant institutional projects from a number of the United States' top architecture and design firms. The architecture and interior design…

Two recently constructed centers for the care of young children illustrate the concern of the directors and governing boards of both centers to achieve something unique in the environmental design of these spaces that would stimulate the learning and visual experiences of young children. (Author/MLF)