Innovative Space and Pedagogy Masters Subject at University of Melbourne

An innovative project in name and delivery, the ‘Innovative Spaces and Pedagogy’ Masters subject at the University of Melbourne transcends the educational silos of architecture and education to deliver a project based subject that explores the links between design and pedagogy of learning spaces.

Project Details

Address
University of Melbourne Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010

Submitter
Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN) Wes Imms, Clare Newton, Sue Wilks, Ben Cleveland, Ken Woodman, and Alan Gilmour

Photographer
Ben Cleveland

Project Overview

This subject was conceived in 2009, developed in 2010 and delivered in 2011 by academics and practitioners in both architecture and education. It explores the connections between learning and learning spaces. Masters students from the University of Melbourne’s faculties of Education, and Architecture, Building and Planning enrolled, as did workplace processionals via the Community Access Programme.

Led by an architect and an educator who team taught, the subject challenges students to explore each other’s worlds. The subject draws on the experience of academics and practitioners that lead the field of learning spaces with experiential site visits to a contemporary school and an architectural office. They undertake literature reviews on pedagogy and space. They combine in interdisciplinary teams to undertake workshops and group projects based on real life school learning environments. They present their work in terms of both pedagogy and design and the resultant educational benefit. The subject culminates in a personal reflective essay that explores the student’s own journey and learning through the subject.

This subject is in its infancy and yet has been extremely well received by the students who have found the subject “really interesting and relevant”. The inception, construction, pedagogy, delivery, and interdisciplinary approach of this subject truly make it an innovative educational initiative.

Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN) Wes Imms, Clare Newton, Sue Wilks, Ben Cleveland, Ken Woodman, and Alan Gilmour