Evaluating the Design of an International Field School: Learning Environments with/in a Living Lab

Document Type

Article

Department

Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Abstract

The well-established field of learning environments holds great potential for post-secondary research on environmental learning. Studies typically acknowledge and account for factors in the physical and social realm and describe how these conditions influence the process and experience of learning. In this case study design, we used learning environment theories and methodologies as they applied to both the design and evaluation of the learning environment (both physical and psychosocial) for a new international field school conducted in Tanzania in a partnership between East African and Canadian Universities. Twelve undergraduate, environmental students from Canada were involved in the case study and were enrolled in a course in Environmental Education as part of a Resource and Environmental Management (REM) program as part of the Bachelor of Science. At the outset, ideas about the physical campus environment informed extensive campus renovations at the learning site in Arusha, Tanzania –beginning one year prior to the commencement of a one-month field school experience. As part of the design process, students’ learning preferences were assessed prior to the start of formal instruction by two field school instructors (one Canadian, one Tanzanian). Two instruments: the Place-based Learning And Constructivist Environment Survey – PLACES, and the School Physical And Campus Environment Survey – SPACES (Zandvliet, 2013) were used in the design and evaluation processes and these data were corroborated by interviews and focus groups before, during and after the program. Comparisons of preferred and actual forms of the PLACES instrument (pre and post experience) indicated that the design of field school activities contributed to a positive learning environment for students. Post experience, the actual form of the SPACES instrument was used to assess influences of physical design features, and how these worked to augment the campus learning environment. When paired, these assessments demonstrate that purposeful design of the learning site and field school activities together created a robust and positive learning environment that augmented the learning outcomes for students.

AKU Student

no

Publication (Name of Journal)

Learning Environments Research

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-026-09570-7

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