Learning spaces and learner autonomy

Did you know that the classroom environment can help pupils’ academic performance rise by 25% over an academic year?

This is what the University of Salford (UK) and a firm of architects have found out. This pilot study has been able to correlate academic performance with learning environments.

34 classrooms in primary school have participated to this study which sought to compare collected data from pupils on performance level in disciplines such as maths, reading and writing with different factors such as classroom orientation, light or air quality, for example. The combination of these parameters has allowed identifying what would compose an effective learning environment.

This study invites us to reflect on the reasons explaining these interesting and intriguing results. Through which means is this possible? How could we explain this?

Do you know school facilities and classroom interiors which can be considered as an invitation to (better) learning?  How are they? If school is like a second home for pupils, how would the ideal school then look like? Please share your comments with us!