The Office of Education Research (OER), in collaboration with the National Library Board, held its seventh Education in the City lecture on 31 May 2019. Addressing the theme of learning environments, speakers shared on how design thinking and purposeful layouts can improve student motivation and educational outcomes.
Assistant Professor Loh Chin Ee from NIE’s English Language and Literature Academic Group delivered a presentation on the relationship between adolescents’ reading habits and the design of school libraries. Sharing the findings of her OER-funded project “Building a Reading Culture: a Nation-Wide Study of Reading and School Libraries in Singapore Secondary Schools”, Assistant Professor Loh highlighted the importance of purposeful design and understanding students’ use of informal spaces in encouraging students to visit the school library and engage in reading. She also described how factors like light, noise, temperature and colour could be taken into consideration when designing environments that are conducive for reading. | Read More |
Assistant Professor Joshua Comaroff from the Singapore University of Technology and Design then spoke about designing learning environments that promote inclusion. A member of the team that designed Kindle Garden, Singapore’s first inclusive pre-school, Assistant Professor Comaroff explained how the design of an educational space can be non-discriminatory yet cater to children with different needs and abilities. He also highlighted the potential of underutilised spaces, such as the area above a drain or multi-storey car park, which can be transformed into environments for learning and playing.
The lecture concluded with a Q&A session moderated by Ms Chang Tian Ju, HOD for English Language and Literature at Commonwealth Secondary School. Some of the questions posed to the speakers included the implications of technological advancements for libraries, digitisation of libraries, safety of learning spaces and design of teaching spaces that promote collaboration and innovation among educators.