Essentials Magazine Essentials Spring 2019 | Page 19

Impact of Design on Learning
Findings: Teachers’ Perceptions
Teacher surveys revealed their
perceptions of students’ engagement
levels and habits using a 4-point Likert
scale. The top three statements with the
most support of agreement are detailed
in a table at right. Teachers found that
since moving to the new schools, stu-
dents were “more engaged in learning,”
“spend more time working collabora-
tively”, and “are prouder to be part of
our school” (Oliveras-Ortiz et al., 2017).
Conclusions
This research indicates that de-
sign does positively impact student
engagement in learning. Specifical-
ly, three main themes emerged that
should function as critical attributes
for designing replacement elementary
schools. First, “purposefully designed
learning space” (Oliveras-Ortiz et al.,
2017) should scaffold the process with
every space designed to be a learning
space. Secondly, schools should be
Teachers’ Perceptions of Student Engagement
STATEMENT
“
“
“
PERCENTAGE
Since moving to the new
building, our students are
more engaged in learning
“
“
“
Students were acutely aware of
their commitment to doing work or
their levels of increased engagement
in the new schools. They reported
that it was more fun to learn in the
new buildings, they could spread
out their materials, and had con-
nections to specialized spaces such
as Makerspaces and Science labs,
where content-specific tasks helped
them and even made them feel
special. Writeable magnetic white
walls designed to allow students to
use the classroom as an instructional
tool were preferred by the students.
They felt they supported their inter-
est in assigned tasks and allowed for
maximized instructional time.
Lastly, students reported that
their teachers were happier since
moving into the new buildings. They
perceived teachers smiled more and
contributed much of this happiness
to the teachers’ ability to better
organize materials due to increased
storage. They were also appreciative
that all teachers have a room to call
his or her own.
Since moving to the new building,
our students spend more time
working collaboratively
75.5 2.98
89.7 3.20
93.8 3.31
Since moving to the new building,
our students are prouder to be
part of our school
created with “spaces designed to foster
student engagement” (Oliveras-Ortiz
et al., 2017) which requires an un-
derstanding of teaching and learning,
curricular intentions, and student
preferences regarding personalizing
their learning. Lastly, architects should
“design to support teaching and learn-
ing” which necessitates a deep under-
standing of curriculum and instruction
as well as child development and
DALANE E. BOUILLION,
Ed.D. is the Principal
Educational Planner
for VLK | Architects.
MEAN*
* 4-point Likert scale
current teaching methodologies. This
groundbreaking study is important to
the future of education, as educators
and architects should be working on a
design team together, influencing one
another. Our built environment has the
potential to impact learning; therefore,
engagement. “Without engagement…
there is little likelihood that students
will learn that which it is intended they
learn” (Schlechty, 2001, p. 64).
n
YANIRA OLIVERAS-ORTIZ,
PH.D. is an Assistant Professor
at The University of
Texas as Tyler.
LIZZY ASBURY, ED.D.
is the Chief Executive Officer
of TransCend4.
essentials | www.edmarket.org 19