Flexible Spaces Research Articles

“We just don’t sit there. We participate, interact and learn, and we rarely get bored” – That is a lectorial

Introduction: Addressing the many changing learning needs, styles and readiness of students, along with changing environments and advances in technology, the “lectorial” as an educational method was introduced to first-year university students undertaking a science course in 2016 and 2017. It was deemed an innovative and radical development from the traditional classroom. Reported by de la Harpe and Prentice (2011) after an extensive study of their Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology students undertaking undergraduate courses, the lectorial featured the use of flexible multi-media learning spaces, an accessible online interactive platform that engaged students with the content before the face-to-face lectorial and an active and conducive large-class environment, which allowed for optimal engagement with content, peers and staff. Moreover, the lectorial was identified as a strategy to reduce boredom in classrooms, a universal experience of university students. It is different from a flipped classroom (Milman, 2012), in that the learner is exposed to the content outside the classroom and is able to identify and address areas of strength and weakness and engage in various activities involving authentic case scenarios.

Seeds of Legacy: Hybrid and Flexible Spaces

Public space is being eroded all over the world. Given a lack of political will to tackle the issue, might architects play their part in rectifying it? Carlo Cappai and Maria Alessandra Segantini, co‐directors of C+S Architects, based in Venice and London, believe so. They advocate designing public buildings with a consideration of communal uses beyond those of the main brief. This, coupled with flexibility to endure changing occupation needs, can make them an asset to the community for generations.

What do teachers and leaders have to say about co-teaching in flexible learning spaces?

Abstract Schools in New Zealand and parts of Australia are rapidly transitioning from traditional classrooms to coteaching in flexible learning spaces provisioned for 50 to 180 children and two to six teachers in a single space. In New Zealand, this transition is driven by the Ministry of Education who have specific guidelines for designing new schools and re-builds. School leaders and teachers must reconceptualise teaching and learning from private autonomous learning environments to co-teaching in shared learning spaces. This mixed methods study examined the views of 40 practitioners and leaders, experienced in coteaching contexts in New Zealand and Australian schools, to develop a greater understanding of the factors that contribute to effective co-teaching implementation. Not surprisingly, educators highlighted that shared beliefs about student centred pedagogy were pivotal to their co-teaching relationships. Beyond this central element, participants also identified a range of systems, tools, strategies and skills that enabled co-teaching to focus on and support student learning. The study provides insights of value to school leaders who are faced with the challenges of implementing flexible learning spaces, and leading school change in this area.

Extended Regularity Criteria for the Navier–Stokes–Maxwell system

We consider the Cauchy problem of the Navier–Stokes–Maxwell system in three dimensions and establish two regularity criteria involving $$\varvec{u}$$ (or $$\nabla \varvec{u}$$ ) in Besov spaces and $$\nabla \varvec{B}$$ in more flexible Lebesgue spaces. This improves and extends recent results of Ma, Jiang and Zhu.

Interaction Between Educational Approach and Space: The Case of Montessori

This study aims to emphasize that the realization of effective educational approaches depends on the design of spaces suitable for the determined philosophy, and to reveal the design decisions required by the Montessori educational approach. A three-step method was followed in the line of the aim of this study. The first step is to acquire theoretical knowledge about the Montessori educational approach. The second step is to perform a spatial analysis based on the obtained plan schedules and visual materials from the school samples that have adopted the Montessori educational approach and designed by the designers according to this approach and the final step is to bring design decisions to designers and educators in order to create educational environments for the Montessori educational approach, depending on the literature and school analysis. In the study, it is observed in Montessori educational approach that the relationship between interior and exterior spaces is very important, that the circulation spaces and classrooms are designed as flexible multipurpose spaces depending on the basic principles of freedom, socialization, and that child-scale design and natural light are extremely important for all of the areas in question. It is seen that the Montessori approach is influential on educational spaces and the presence of spaces embodying this approach has a correspondence in architecture. In this context, this study, which reveals the relationship between learning environments and learning efficiency, is considered to be a source of data for the schools to be designed in this direction.

Perceived interplay between flexible learning spaces and teaching, learning and student wellbeing

In recognition of the evolving learning needs of twenty-first century school students, changes to teaching practices and the incorporation of technology are increasingly accompanied by modifications to the built classroom environment. Typically rows of desk and chairs are replaced with a range of furniture that can be configured in various ways to facilitate teaching and learning. This article explores the perceived relationship between these flexible learning spaces and teaching, learning and wellbeing outcomes. The perceptions and experiences of 12 school principals, 35 teachers and 85 students from four primary and four secondary schools in Australia were examined. Flexible learning spaces were reported to facilitate student-centred pedagogy and selfregulation, collaboration, and student autonomy and engagement. Modified spaces were reportedly more enjoyable, comfortable and inclusive and allowed greater interaction. The findings are discussed in light of Beaton’s five key design principles of student-centred learning environments to explore the connection between the physical classroom environment and teaching and learning. Self-Determination Theory is used to interpret how elements of the physical space facilitate the creation of a social environment that encourages greater motivation to learn and increases student wellbeing. The research contributes to an understanding of how flexible learning spaces are used and with what effect, thereby addressing a present gap in the literature.

Body, form, material and surface-making of Ruga Interior Skin

In design history, the concept of “skin” has been used to refer to the outermost tissue that encloses a physical body. So, if the concept of “skin” can be understood as a generator of ideas for interiors that lie in between the flexible spaces around the body and the rigid spaces within the building, what new form and context can an interior skin take in adding to the contemporary interiority? Borrowing from the metaphor of “skin” in fashion, interior design, and architecture, Ruga Interior Skin (RIS) explores the ambiguous and conceptual realm connecting the act of wearing, inhabiting, and its relationship between body, form, material, and surface-making of a novel interior semi-structural wall and partition. “Ruga” is the Latin word for making wrinkles, creases, pleats, and folds. RIS is inspired by the use of wrinkling and folding to create flexible frameless topological forms that can be suspended in a way that is similar to a piece of cloth or textile. Both flexible and rigid, RIS draws the connection between the body and the interior surface, placing the dichotomy of permanent versus ephemeral, solid versus light, and material versus digital at the center of the concept.

An analytical study of norms and Banach spaces induced by the entropic value-at-risk

This paper addresses the Entropic Value-at-Risk ( $${{\mathrm{\mathsf {EV@R}}}}$$ ), a recently introduced coherent risk measure. It is demonstrated that the norms defined by $${{\mathrm{\mathsf {EV@R}}}}$$ induce the same Banach spaces, irrespective of the confidence level. Three vector spaces, called the primal, dual, and bidual entropic spaces, corresponding with $${{\mathrm{\mathsf {EV@R}}}}$$ are fully studied. It is shown that these spaces equipped with the norms induced by $${{\mathrm{\mathsf {EV@R}}}}$$ are Banach spaces. The entropic spaces are then related to the $$L^p$$ spaces, as well as specific Orlicz hearts and Orlicz spaces. This analysis indicates that the primal and bidual entropic spaces can be used as very flexible model spaces, larger than $$L^\infty $$ , over which all $$L^p$$ -based risk measures are well-defined. The dual $${{\mathrm{\mathsf {EV@R}}}}$$ norm and corresponding Hahn–Banach functionals are presented in closed form, which are not explicitly known for the Orlicz and Luxemburg norms that are equivalent to the $${{\mathrm{\mathsf {EV@R}}}}$$ norm. The duality relationships among the entropic spaces are investigated. The duality results are also used to develop an extended Donsker–Varadhan variational formula, and to explicitly provide the dual and Kusuoka representations of $${{\mathrm{\mathsf {EV@R}}}}$$ , as well as the corresponding maximizing densities in both representations. Our results indicate that financial concepts can be successfully used to develop insightful tools for not only the theory of modern risk measurement but also other fields of stochastic analysis and modeling.

Pragmatic urbanism: London’s railway arches and small-scale enterprise

ABSTRACTMarginal spaces are increasingly being taken up for commercial use in London. This includes railway arches, which are appropriated for many different social and economic activities. This article presents the findings of a study on 165 arches in three London neighbourhoods (Hackney, Bethnal Green and Bermondsey), which found the arches to host a disproportionate amount of manufacturing, in addition to concentrations of sectors such as food and drink; and taxi services. Despite being part of Britain’s industrial heritage, the arches have proved highly adaptable ‘hybrid’ spaces supporting office, retail, wholesale and production. They are also modular – businesses move into neighbouring arches as they expand. The arches are therefore well-suited to the postfordist economy of the inner city, which incorporates a highly networked system of small-scale manufacturers and retailers that require flexible and affordable small spaces close to commercial centres. Being arranged side-by-side, and open onto the street, they support knowledge-sharing between firms, while also bringing life to neighbourhoods. The arches have a spatial/functional configuration that might be copied in new forms of industrial development. Indeed, they suggest the possibility of a new spatial form – ‘industrial streets’ as opposed to industrial estates.

Flexible spaces as a “third way” forward for planning urban shared spaces

Flexible spaces as a “third way” forward for planning urban shared spaces

Características do trabalho e estratégias de cuidado em saúde mental com o usuário de crack

Objetivo: Conocer características del trabajo y estrategias de atención en salud mental con los consumidores de crack, en un Centro de Atención Psicosocial para alcohol y otras drogas (CAPS AD). <br />Método: Estudio de caso cualitativo, evaluativo, desarrollado en un CAPS AD de Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Se utilizó, como referente teórico-metodológico, la Evaluación de Cuarta Generación. La recolecta de datos fue de enero a marzo de 2013. Se realizaron 36 entrevistas con trabajadores, usuarios, familiares y coordinadores. <br />Resultados: El cotidiano del servicio permite espacios flexibles que incentivan la creatividad y la centralidad en el usuario. Prioriza el vínculo y la escucha para fortalecer la relación con el usuario y fragilizar la relación con la droga. <br />Consideraciones finales: Se consideró la importancia de los servicios sustitutivos en la consolidación de estrategias de cuidado diversificadas, que repiensen la centralidad en la droga y rescaten el protagonismo del usuario.<br /><br />

Experiencing and practising inclusion through friendships

The late modern change in young people's community life has meant moving from traditional, place‐based communities towards more fluid and situational contexts of belonging. These youth‐initiated attachments often build on amiable relationships that fall under the umbrella of “friendship”. This paper analyses Finnish early youths’ friendship narratives that were produced by sequential participatory methods. It introduces the dimensional and flexible spaces created in and through the participants’ friendships. These indicate relational spheres of actual and imagined activities where young people engage with people and places important to them. As a result, the paper first shows how young people together with their peers develop committed ties of belonging that reach beyond physical connection, and how these ties constitute experiential spatial attachments. Second, it demonstrates how they also make friends with kin and non‐kin adults and how these intergenerational friendships expand the variety of inclusionary spaces available to them. The findings provide alternative insights into young people's experiences and the practices of social and spatial inclusion. We hope they help to develop cross‐generational inclusionary policies that acknowledge youths’ amiable relationships as important potential in their lived communities.

Intro to ACCESS special issue: Modern learning environments

This Special Issue was inspired by the increasing emergence within educational institutions, such as schools and universities, of large, flexible spaces whose design is underpinned by cutting-edge ...

Interaction between Fluid Urban Spaces and Reduction of Vulnerability to Risks and Threats in Urban Crises

Tremendous technological developments in contemporary world have transformed all aspects of human life. Through interaction with these developments, living spaces should correspond to science and technology and serve to satisfy basic human needs especially safety and security. Due to their geographical and political situation, many countries have been exposed to a variety of natural or man-made threats, and have suffered heavy human and financial losses. For that reason, urban developments should make use of digital architecture products and create fluidity in order to modify human living spaces in correspondence with prerequisites of passive defense, for vulnerability reduction, and expansion of defensive measures in order to create an environment which holds the potential to overcome crises. The present research investigates the benefits of digital technology in formation of living spaces and the impact of approach to flexible urban spaces on mutual interaction between man and environment, as well as the extent to which these transformations create a sense of security and reduce vulnerabilities in urban crises. Fluidity of environment is in paradigm with active human responses to environment. The need for creating an environment safe from risks and threats is the motive behind the approach to flexibility with the use of technological advent. As a part of environment and by relying on computers and geometrical language, technology generates forms which are manifested in all parts and elements of living spaces, thus creating potential and elastic environments. It seems that by creating flexible spaces with the use of digital products, these environmental changes lead to organization of development plans, reduce vulnerability against natural risks and man-made threats, increase efficiency after said threat is realized, and significantly contain the extent and intensity of damages and losses.

Considering employee needs during a catastrophe requires innovative recovery plans: Why traditional workplace recovery solutions are outdated

Mobile technology has changed the way we live and operate, with co-working, flexible spaces and home office solutions that offer us the freedom to work when and where we choose. However, when disaster strikes the workplace, people are often the last to be considered in the recovery process. This paper examines strategies for businesses and their employees to continue working after a disaster strikes. It explores the trends in the market, the benefits and drawbacks of different approaches and the attitudes of continuity experts and small business owners who have the responsibility to ensure that businesses, and people, continue to function, even when their main place of work is inaccessible. Informed by expertise and experience, this paper also draws on the extant literature, as well as bespoke research targeted at both continuity professionals and business decision-makers, to discover more about attitudes to disaster recovery.

Collaborative project-based learning: an integrative science and technological education project

Background: Blending collaborative learning and project-based learning (PBL) based on Wolff (2003) design categories, students interacted in a learning environment where they developed their technology integration practices as well as their technological and collaborative skills.Purpose: The study aims to understand how seventh grade students perceive a collaborative web-based science project in light of Wolff’s design categories. The goal of the project is to develop their technological and collaborative skills, to educate them about technology integration practices, and to provide an optimum collaborative, PBL experience.Sample: Seventh grade students aged 12–14 (n = 15) were selected from a rural K–12 school in Turkey through purposeful sampling.Design and methods: The current study applied proactive action research since it focused on utilizing a new way to enhance students’ technological and collaborative skills and to demonstrate technology integration into science coursework. Data were collected qualitatively through interviews, observation forms, forum archives, and website evaluation rubrics.Results: The results found virtual spaces such as online tutorials, forums, and collaborative and communicative tools to be beneficial for collaborative PBL. The study supported Wolff’s design features for a collaborative PBL environment, applying features appropriate for a rural K–12 school setting and creating a digitally-enriched environment. As the forum could not be used as effectively as expected because of school limitations, more flexible spaces independent of time and space were needed.Conclusions: This study’s interdisciplinary, collaborative PBL was efficient in enhancing students’ advanced technological and collaborative skills, as well as exposing them to practices for integrating technology into science. The study applied design features for a collaborative PBL environment with certain revisions.

Professional travellers and tourist practices

This study analyses to what extent conventional tourism is part of the experience of professional visitors. Following the literature on mobilities, this paper assumes that leisure and work increasingly intermingle in time and space. Empirical work based on a survey of conference attendants in Barcelona confirms this stance, and invites to reframe professional life ‘in mobility’ as performed as part of a wider package of everyday activities. Public transport and mobile communication are analysed as facilitators of such convergence, highlighting how professional travel is situated in flexible spaces and flows. These findings provide insights for urban (tourism) policy, insofar as they demonstrate that planning for specialised spaces is not sufficient to reduce visitor pressure on the main tourist ‘sights’.

A New Zealand case study: What is happening to lead changes to effective co-teaching in flexible learning spaces?

Abstract De-privatising teaching and working collaboratively with fellow teachers in purposively designed school buildings requires effective leadership. The principal is situated amongst those closely affiliated to their school such as teachers, parents and students, and yet they need to work alongside the wider school community, the school’s governing Board of Trustee members and national educational policy-makers and administrators. This article uses a single case study of a school leadership team who changed the school culture from traditional one teacher per classroom settings to four to five teachers with approximately 105 students in flexible learning spaces. The principal and three members of the governing Board of Trustees of the school were interviewed. The study found that the leadership team had invested considerable time into sustained professional development in ways to effectively develop collaborative teaching communities within flexible learning spaces. The professional development, led by the principal, was underpinned by the principal spending time seeking a clear understanding of research-based practices that supported the change. This explicit knowledge of the principal allowed teachers, Board of Trustee members and parents to have confidence in the changes to teaching strategies in flexible learning spaces.

Collaborative teaching in flexible learning spaces: Capabilities of beginning teachers

Abstract Increasingly, New Zealand primary and intermediate schools are adopting the concept of flexible learning spaces and promoting team teaching approaches. Such open spaces and pedagogy can be challenging for even experienced teachers to adapt to. Is it realistic, therefore, to expect novices to work successfully in these challenging spaces from the onset of their teaching careers? Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes in New Zealand equip graduates with the knowledge and skills to plan, teach and evaluate learning for a diverse class of children with individual learning, social and cultural needs. However, while researching their own practice working within new spaces and pedagogy, some experienced Bay of Plenty intermediate and primary teachers articulated additional necessities for beginning teachers starting out in such complex teaching environments. Analysis of their ideas suggests such spaces require teachers to have particular capabilities if they are to work collaboratively in open learning spaces. This paper argues that ITE programmes and leaders need to be proactive and include appropriate theoretical and pragmatic coursework, to assist student teachers to cultivate the capabilities required of collaborative team members, by the time they graduate.

Importance of Informal Learning over Formal Learning in 21st Century

“Informal learning is enhanced when humans participate in interactive experiences”. – Allen (2004; Birchfield et al. 2008) .The unique learning needs of every learner, support the positive human relationships needed for effective learning. Learning environments are the structures, tools, and communities that inspire students and educators to attain the knowledge and skills the 21st century demands of us all. So far, we have considered how buildings, schedules, and technology all contribute to 21st century learning. Now we come to the most essential element of all: the “people network.” This is the community of students, educators, parents, business and civic leaders, and policymakers that constitute the human resources of an educational system. The flexible spaces that enable productive learning and shared work/play opportunities, the creative uses of time that promote continuous learning, the extensible technologies that support collaboration among the school community and the outside 22 world – all these systems are valuable only in so far as they effectively support the human connections on which The age-old connection between strong minds and strong bodies has always made good sense, but we now have the educational research to back it up. If we want our children to have sound and agile minds, we need to help them achieve sound and agile bodies. To educate the whole child, though, schools must devote themselves to more than the mind-body connection alone. They must attend to the emotional and social learning needs of children, as well as to more traditional objectives of academic achievement and physical education. Research and observation shows that human ware with its par aphelia is most important. Many of the successful organizations that we see around us today attribute their success to employees who are empowered to learn and innovate at great speeds. These are organizations that have buried their outlook about traditional styles of learning and development (Land amp;D) and embraced new strategies or models. They have realized that, with the traditional approach, it is impossible to achieve a high growth or efficiency because the way people learn has undergone a disruptive transformation…from formal ‘structured’ learning’ to informal ‘social learning’.” – The 70:20:10 Landamp;D Model for Developing a High-Citizens of the 21st century need to think critically and creatively, embrace diversity and ambiguity, and create as well as consume information. They need to be resourceful and self-reliant, while also skilled at collaboration and group process. They need to understand the many “languages” of modernity – such as mathematics, science, and technology – and be fluent in varied forms of communication – such as persuasion, presentation, and self- expression. “You can see an evident shift from formal curriculum-based learning to informal just-in- time learning, and this is just the beginning!” – Pooja Jaisingh