DESIGNING, USING AND EVALUATING LEARNING SPACES: THE GENERATION OF ACTIONABLE KNOWLEDGE
Guest editors
- Dr. Paul Flynn, National University of Ireland Galway. paul.flynn@nuigalway.ie
- Dr. Kate Thompson, Griffith University. kate.thompson@griffith.edu.au
- Prof. Peter Goodyear, The University of Sydney. peter.goodyear@sydney.edu.au
Focus of the special issue
This special issue will include papers that consider the design, use and/or evaluation of learning spaces and contribute actionable knowledge for future learning spaces. Learning spaces are fundamental to engagement in tertiary education. They are growing more complex: as sites where the physical/material, digital and social come together and where the needs and activities of multiple stakeholders (students, teachers, managers, designers, etc.) co-exist. Understanding how such spaces function is also complex. Research often needs to combine multiple methods and multiple data sources. To generate actionable knowledge, researchers also need to consider who is in a position to create and improve learning spaces, and what kinds of knowledge can inform and improve their actions. For example, spaces are ‘brought to life’ by individual self-managing students, students working on group projects, teachers using conventional lecturing or facilitation methods, infrastructure managers, library, IT and Ed. Tech. staff, architects, furniture makers and interior designers. There are overlaps and differences in the knowledge needed by users, managers and designers if they are to co-create better learning spaces.
This special issue provides an opportunity to: bring together researchers in learning technology and learning spaces; examine learning spaces as technologies for learning; foreground the spatial aspects of learning with technology; consider ideas about learning as physically, digitally, socially and epistemically situated; explore ways of making research-based knowledge easier to share and use.
Topics for this special issue may include, but are not limited to:
- Interdisciplinary or discipline-specific implementations of new learning spaces
- The consideration of ‘space’ as a technology when designing for learning
- What constitutes actionable knowledge for learning space design, management and use
- Integrated design of learning spaces and technologies
- Learning space design, use and/or evaluation methodologies
- Learning spaces in tertiary education, teacher education and school education (where relevant to tertiary education)
- Learning spaces that bridge between school and tertiary education, or between tertiary education and work.
We welcome well-conducted empirical studies, reviews and conceptual articles.
Manuscript Submission Instructions
Manuscripts addressing the special issue’s focus should be submitted through the AJET online manuscript submission system. Please review the Author Guidelines and Submission Preparation Checklist carefully, and prepare your manuscript accordingly. Information about the peer review process and criteria is also available for your perusal.
NOTE: When submitting your manuscript, please include a note in the field called ‘Comments for the Editor’ indicating that you wish it to be considered for the “Learning Spaces” special issue. Please direct questions about manuscript submissions to Paul Flynn at: paul.flynn@nuigalway.ie
Deadlines for authors
- Strict submission deadline: 1st May 2018
- Decision on manuscripts: 1st August 2018
- Revised/final manuscripts: 1st October 2018
- Expected Publication: December 2018
