More now than ever, our schools need to reach out and engage students. Dropout rates are high, achievement lags and increasingly students view schools as out of touch with their lives and their futures. Solutions to these problems are complex but I believe that making learning environments reflect student attitudes and perspectives plays an…

The purpose of this study was to measure noise levels in elementary, middle, and high school physical education settings and compare them to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) guidelines and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards for acoustics in educational settings. Mean unoccupied noise levels for 22…

In recent years, green design has evolved from a cutting-edge idea embraced by ecology-obsessed activists to an idea embraced as a badge of honor by schools and universities across the nation. A consensus has formed among architects, school facility managers and educators that sustainably designed projects are desirable and make sense for the…

When order and regimentation were overriding elements of a classroom climate, a teacher typically was found at the front of a rectangular room, delivering facts and wisdom to an audience of students organized in precise rows of desks nailed to the floor. In an environment where the recognized learning styles consisted of "you get it" or "you…

The architectural design process is based on a creative phase where creativity is highly valued. Although the literature on creativity is rich in ways to stimulate the decision-making process, these tools are rarely formally present in the building design process. To further the discussion on creativity and design education this paper presents a…

This article presents a critical overview of European school building design types, based on an analysis of morphologies and spatial layouts. The different design types are evaluated in function of specific didactic and social needs. (Contains 1 figure, 18 footnotes, a bibliography and 2 online resources.)

School design has developed into a specialized area in the interior design field. When considering candidates for a school or university project, education institutions should move beyond a prospective designer's resume of experience and accomplishments in order to get a better handle on what to expect when working together. This article offers…

While it is too early to measure changes in fall 2011 enrollments, overcrowding on campuses is likely to remain a problem, at least for the foreseeable future. For community colleges, many of which face steep budget cuts in the coming year, the challenge will be how to draw back spending without negatively affecting the student experience.…

Online course delivery has now surpassed on-site learning as the primary way for Americans to receive a college education. The fastest growing American colleges are now actively using online teaching and learning. The high cost of maintaining college campuses, coupled with rising educational costs and the inconveniences of matching adult student…

During 2008 and 2009, a group of nine Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) from Canterbury met as a Community of Practice to investigate the way that play in the school playground contributes to the social competence of students. While the original concern was around the needs of students who were unable to manage their behaviour in…

The Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) has recently initiated a pilot project to develop a new prototype school, involving users in the design phase. This is the first time in Korea that users have been consulted on issues relating to school design. One of KEDI's objectives is to integrate specific elements into school design such as…

This article centres on a research project in which freehand drawings provided a richly creative and colourful data source of children's imagined, ideal learning environments. Issues concerning the analysis of the visual data are discussed, in particular, how imaginative content was analysed and how the analytical process was dependent on an…

This article explores the relevance of school design in providing an important social-spatial context for promoting citizenship in young people. Drawing on a small-scale study that investigated the perspectives of pupils and teachers, it contrasts the ways in which the social control and monitoring of pupils differed in two secondary schools.…

Information technology (IT) is an essential part of modern education. The roles and contributions of technology to education have been thoroughly documented in academic and professional literature. Despite the benefits, the use of educational technology systems (ETS) also creates a significant impact on the environment, primarily due to energy…

While many issues in higher education are only discussed among members of the education community, the sharp rise in costs is no longer a topic solely for academia. Parents and politicians alike are fuming over the apparently unstoppable climb of the cost of a college education. It seems every day a new magazine article or newspaper story bemoans…