Hayball is a linkage partner in a new Australian Research Council funded education research project investigating how teachers can best use contemporary education settings to improve student learning outcomes.
Contemporary settings are multi-modal, technology-infused and flexible learning spaces designed to accommodate changing needs of learners. In the last six years the Australian and New Zealand governments have invested AU$16 billion of public funding to create these contemporary settings in schools.
Hayball director and Australasian Chair of the Association for Learning Environments, Richard Leonard, has been active in the education for more than 30 years. Richard leads education projects helping schools integrate contemporary education philosophies into the design of new educational facilities.
“Providing settings designed for student-centred and active learning is a critical element for schools making a transition to an integrated, contemporary education model. It’s becoming clearer that teaching methods also need to adapt and what this research will identify is what teachers can do differently in these modern settings to improve learning outcomes,” he said.
Innovative Learning Environments and Teacher Change is Hayball’s fourth ARC funded education research project as a linkage partner.
In three stages of research over the next four years, the project will establish whether there is a link between quality teaching and effective use of contemporary learning settings, to develop practical tools to assist teachers to adapt their teaching practices to maximise deeper learning.
More information: Innovative Learning Environments & Teacher Change, website