FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNING SPACES THROUGH CONCEPT MAPPING

The study of the impact of the environmental parameters on the learning rates or performances is a trend. Despite there are much more information about studies and rules regarding early stages of education, a relevant amount of research and some guidelines for design learning spaces on higher education can be found. Typically, experts recommendations focus on the requirement for physical comfort, sometimes called Naturalness. Sometimes, the authors also include the relationships between the mental activity and the structural coherence of the space. Less often, the recommendations include advices about the creation of uniqueness and adaptability. Commonly, recommendations provide a set of 3 to 10 standard types of learning spaces. Within this context, this paper summarizes the results of a research carried out at the School of Civil Engineering of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia in Valencia ( Spain) to establish the classroom design factors which influence the teaching-learning process. A concept mapping tool was used with two focus groups (students and multidisciplinary experts) to identify the main attributes clustered into categories related to the classroom: the basic elements, the complementary equipment, the luxury elements, comfort. On the other hand, this research also identified competences to be developed in the classrooms. Results show that students and experts agree on the fact that the most important factor to learn is to engage students and then, setting up the spaces becomes crucial. Both groups also agree on the importance of encouraging the autonomy of the student through the flexibility and customization of the learning space.