To Örebro University

The purpose of this paper is to present how a well-known tool in design and architecture – visual design elements – can be transformed to support teacher representations of teaching and learning. 

The presentation shares experiences from a university-wide pedagogical development project, at Örebro University (Sweden). The aim of the project was to develop learning environments, with a start in pedagogical needs and a pre-established educational philosophy, rather than interior design and current spatial conditions. The project came to initiate a dialogue among teachers on how spatial conditions could support, and develop, teacher’s pedagogy as well as students' learning.

One outcome from the project was visual design elements, so called Room and Activity Diagrams (RADs (Hansson, 2022) i.e visual representations, of various, and a variation of, spatial arrangements for different types of learning activities, such as lectures, seminars, and workshops. Thus, a RAD could be understood as a visual tool – or design element – to support teachers in their ideas on teaching in learning in relation to a specific space. During the project the RAD:s were transformed from being static representation of general learning spaces – like the lecture hall – to becoming dynamic representations of complex learning processes developed in an inductive process.

Theoretically, we draw on an Activity-Centered Analysis and Design model (ACAD) that consist of four dimensions in a learning situation – physical situation (set design), tasks (epistemic design) and social situation (social design). The fourth dimension – emergent activity – acknowledge the complexity in learning, and that students and teacher have agency and interact and re-act during learning. This implies that the emergent activity cannot be designed. However, design can influence activity, through the tasks that are proposed, and through the shaping of the physical and social contexts in which the activity unfolds (Goodyear, Carvalho & Yeoman, 2021). Furthermore, we build on the idea that teachers in HE need support to develop their didactical spatial competence (DiSCo) (Leijon, Malvebo & Tieva, 2021). 

In the presentation we share examples of how RAD´s prompted teachers to unpack a complex learning situation and supported a dialogue on how spatial conditions could support, and develop, teacher’s pedagogy as well as students' learning. We will also discuss how visual design elements like RAD´s can be used within higher education pedagogy to foreground the interplay between people, pedagogy and practice in a variation of learning environments. 

Learning Lab är Akademiska Hus koncept med testbäddar som i nära samverkan med lärosäten utformas för att främja innovation, forskning om och utveckling av framtidens lärandemiljöer. En testbädd utgörs av en fysisk plats där rumsdesign, pedagogik, teknik, m.m ges utrymme att prototypas, utforskas och utvärderas för att generera erfarenheter och kunskaper om våra lärandemiljöer. För närvarande driver Akademiska Hus Learning Lab på tre orter tillsammans med Göteborgs universitet, Umeå universitet och Örebro universitet. Miljöerna är designade med olika fokusområden men med en gemensam inriktning – att utforska samspelet mellan pedagogik, sociala förutsättningar, rum och teknik – i syfte att driva högskolepedagogisk utveckling.

Syftet med rundabordssamtalet är

• att diskutera hur konceptet med testbäddar kan spridas vidare samt
• att dela erfarenheter från testbäddarnas arbete med att arbeta med högskolepedagogisk utveckling och utforskandet av fysiska och hybrida lärandemiljöer samt
• att stimulera erfarenhetsutbyte inför gemensamma frågeställningar kring högskolepedagogisk utveckling i skärningspunkt mellan pedagogik, rum & teknik

Rundabordssamtalet genomförs genom att representanter från respektive Learning Lab tillsammans med projektgruppen från Akademiska hus leder ett samtal om hur vi kan sätta pedagogiken i centrum vid utveckling av lärandemiljöer, hur vi skapar nödvändiga stödstrukturer för lärare som utforskar lärandemiljöer och utmaningarna i samverkan inom och mellan lärosätena.

Rundabordssamtalet avslutas genom en gemensam digital dokumentation av deltagarnas samtal som görs tillgänglig för konferensens deltagare genom qr-kod/länk efter rundabordssamtalet.

För att uppmuntra till deltagande så synliggörs några frågeställningar som rundabordssamtalet strävar efter att behandla:

Learning Lab är ett uttryck för en kontext där högskolepedagogisk utveckling uppmuntras, stöttas och utvärderas. Hur uttrycker sig samma fenomen på andra håll utanför Learning Labs ramar?

Vilka samtalsforum finns idag där fokus omfattar didaktisk spatial kompetens?

Hur upplevs samverkan/samarbete mellan stödfunktioner som IT, lokalförsörjning m.m. i relation till högskolepedagogisk utveckling vid lärosätet? Mellan lärosäten?

Hur ser den idealiska lärmiljön ut för en given undervisningssituation med förankring i min pedagogiska grundsyn?

In this paper, and in line with mainstream research, we consider a learning environment as an interplay between pedagogical, social, and spatial dimensions and that teaching and learning activities can take place in various types of spatial conditions. The spatial conditions tell both teachers and students something on, for example, what to expect, what will happen in the room, what roles that different actors will play and how a learning activity will materialize (Temple, 2014). However, if a learning environment is changed, this will affect both the actors in the room and the learning itself (Leijon, et al., 2021).  It is evident that spatial conditions often are standardized, in terms of, for example, space, the direction in the room, furniture, equipment, and technology. Notably, some learning environments have become adjusted to provide conditions for active learning such as active learning classrooms (ALC), flexible, and innovative classrooms and open and flexible educational spaces. Still and argued, little is evident on how teachers can develop their didactic spatial competence. Drawing upon the outcomes from a pedagogical development project at Örebro university, where the aim has been to develop physical, digital and hybrid learning environments, we outline a set of reflections on how didactical spatial competencies among teachers can be developed to enhance students’ learning (cf. Hansson, 2022). This project is built upon a workshop process with four different work groups, representing all faculties, where focus has been on issues related to pedagogy, room (spatial arrangements) and technology. Data collection has been conducted in these workshops and the data analysis has followed an empirically close content and iterative analysis method (Hansson, 2012). From the data analysis a frame for designing learning environments as well as a set of room and activity diagrams has been developed. The frame for designing learning environments consider the pedagogical, social, and spatial dimensions and outline a set of didactical questions that can be asked when designing a learning environment. The room and activity diagrams have been inductively developed as sketches and serve as expressions for how teachers conduct or wish to conduct learning activities if there were no spatial limitations. Both the frame for designing learning environments and the room and activity diagrams provide support for teachers that intend to develop their didactical spatial competencies. In this session we provide a presentation of both a frame for designing learning environments and the room and activity diagrams and open up for a discussion on how teachers didactical spatial competence can be developed. 

Teaching and learning activities take place in various types of spatial conditions. The spatial conditions tell us something on, for example, what to expect, what will happen in the room, what roles that different actors will play and how a learning activity will materialize. However, if spatial arrangements are changed, this will affect the actors in the room. Drawing upon experiences from a pedagogical development project, where the aim has been to develop physical, digital and hybrid learning environments, I outline a set of reflections on the development of a Learning lab – a pedagogical test environment. This Learning lab is a unique opportunity for teachers and researchers to develop and test various learning environments and work with pedagogical development. Defining learning environments as the interplay between the pedagogical, spatial, and social dimensions I outline both a frame for reflection when designing a learning environment as well as a set of room and activity diagrams. These serve as a foundation to provide support for teachers in their design of various learning activities, such as lectures, seminars, and workshops, grounded in didactical questions enabling possibilities for developing teachers’ spatial competencies and enhance learning.

The purpose of this paper is to address the question on how teachers can become (even) more innovative in entrepreneurship education, in terms of how learning environments are designed. A learning environment can be defined as the interplay between pedagogical, social, and spatial, dimensions and how teachers design these dimensions (cf. Hansson, 2022; Leijon, et al., 2022). By addressing didactical questions as well as outlining a specific methodology on how a design process can be outlined, this paper contributes to a better understanding of how spatial conditions can enable and support enhanced student learning. Also, this paper contribute with inputs for facility development as means for enabling teachers design of learning environments.

Drawing upon a university-wide pedagogical development project, this paper outlines a set of room and activity diagrams and a frame for designing learning environments that can be put into practice in terms of learning environment design. The implications from this paper serve as a foundation for developing learning environments, enhancing teachers’ didactical spatial competence and from that also provide inputs for renovation of current facilities as means for innovative entrepreneurship education.

In this paper, and in line with mainstream research, we consider a learning environment as an interplay between pedagogical, social, and spatial dimensions and that teaching and learning activities can take place in various types of spatial conditions. The spatial conditions tell both teachers and students something on, for example, what to expect, what will happen in the room, what roles that different actors will play and how a learning activity will materialize (Temple, 2014). However, if a learning environment is changed, this will affect both the actors in the room and the learning itself (Leijon, et al., 2021). Previous research has taken into account the importance of learning environments and provided an array of different perspectives and arrangements for developing learning environments. Still, previous research has been limited in its ability to generate an understanding of how spatial arrangements can enable the development of teachers’ didactical spatial competence. Building upon the outcomes from a university-wide pedagogical development project at Örebro university, where the aim has been to develop physical, digital and hybrid learning environments, we provide a set of room and activity diagrams (RADs) (cf. Hansson, 2022). In contrast to previous research, where the primary focus has been on how to arrange physical artifacts, such as tables, chairs, and technology, these RADs focus on the subjects (e.g., teachers and students), their place and/or movements in the room and communications surfaces (e.g., a tablet, a computer, or a whiteboard). The RADs are as graphical illustrations of various, and a variation of, spatial arrangements for different types of learning activities, such as lectures, seminars, and workshops. In this paper we outline a methodology for inductively developing RADs and reflect how they can serve as enablers for developing teachers’ didactical spatial competence. By doing so, this paper advances our understanding of spatial arrangements and their implications for various types of learning activities in various learning environments (e.g., physical, digital, and hybrid).

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role and function of visuals, visual communication and information design as they relate to management control systems and visual management (VM) in lean-inspired organisations. This paper helps expand knowledge on how visual and design studies can contribute to research on VM as part of a management control system.

Design/methodology/approach: A study is outlined, which was conducted at a multinational manufacturing company to investigate employees' perceptions and use of visual devices on the shop floor, including their related reactions and behaviour. The study is delimited to operation management, lean manufacturing and lean boards (i.e. daily management boards and performance measurement boards).

Findings: The findings point out the persuasive purpose of lean boards, as well as the metaphoric and persuasive functions of the visuals and information design in management control systems.

Originality/value: Visual research and design research are rare within studies of management control systems. There is a need to perform research that takes into account the role and function of visual communication and information design in VM. The proposed areas for future research can provide design principles, as well as insights into the complexity of visual communication and information design in VM and management control studies.