There are so many well researched benefits of collaborative learning, it is said to increase student satisfaction and understanding, thus increasing student retention. If you have a group of people working together on a project, as well as learning about the project you also learn valuable influencing skills and start to understand your own strengths and weaknesses and how to mitigate these.
Classroom design is a tool to facilitate pedagogy and collaborative learning necessitates a particular style of room layout. Students must be able to converse freely in small groups whilst also being able to be taught as a larger group when necessary. Sharing of resources is key, both within the group and the room as a whole. That’s why we are seeing layouts shift from a front facing approach to groups.
Large group tables are provided, with integrated ICT and AV to facilitate sharing of content throughout the group. While this layout can be a fixed layout using large tables, there are also ways to provide a level of flexibility, either with removable sections or by utilising powerHubs to allow the tables to be deconstructed and moved.
Of course no one solution suits everyone, so we often bespoke build and design solutions to fit the brief and requirements for the situation. Let us know if we can help you to increase collaboration in your learning spaces.
zioxi offer a free design and consultancy service. email us info@zioxi.co.uk for more information.