Have you ever entered a building or room for the first time and felt enhanced--felt your body relax and spirit elevate? The effect of human-made environments on learners’ brains is not subjective. According to research studies, we all have measurable responses to the design of a space. However, despite the many resources discussing how to decorate and design elementary school classrooms, few resources on middle and secondary level classroom design are available. This book fills that gap. Moreover, the purpose of this guide is to enhance learning spaces, boost student performances, and positively extend teachers’ influence.

Readings, resources, lesson plans, and reproducible student handouts aimed at teaching students to question the traditional ideas and images that interfere with social justice and community building.

Since the first edition was published in 1994, Rethinking Our Classrooms has sold over 180,000 copies.

Classroom accessibility to meet the diverse needs of students in higher education can be challenging. The ADA (1990) was enacted into law in the United States more than 25 years ago. Yet despite legislative reform, many U.S. colleges and universities struggle to meet accessibility standards in their instructional facilities. The purpose of this case study was to explore the perspectives of undergraduate students served by the University of Georgia Disability Resource Center on how the physical classroom space impacts learning for students with disabilities. Results from an explanatory mixed methods design indicated that how classroom designs impact learning depends on individual student needs. That said, the data showed concurrence across several classroom design features impacting the learning experience, including furniture, access, technology, and environmental features of a space. Participants indicated these features impacted their learning experience in various ways, including impeded access and participation, barriers for learning, and distractions and sensory impacts. The results of this study indicated that accessibility is a complex process involving many constituents on campus, from facility planners to institutional leaders to faculty. By adopting more inclusive principles such as Universal Design, we can broaden current accessibility practices that focus solely on users who are disabled to address a broader consideration: "How can we rethink classroom design so it benefits all?"

Based on the latest research about how children learn, this book helps elementary school teachers make their classrooms into creative spaces that facilitate teaching and learning. It also delves into specific areas of classroom design such as use of color and plants, room arrangement, learning centers, and the impact of clutter. With before and after photos of real classrooms, teachers can examine each area and determine their own classroom's need for improvement.

Based upon the authors' many years of classroom experience and consulting work this volume is filled with practical, research-based and tested strategies to help teachers create an environment that supports students' sense of self-esteem, influence and autonomy whilst preventing possible conflict.

Despite the promise of competency-based education (CBE), learner-centered issues related to support, retention, and program completion rates remain problematic. In addition, the infrastructure for higher education, including issues related to faculty (intellectual property, workload, and curriculum), pose barriers and challenges in the design, development, implementation, and delivery of CBE. In response, administrators, faculty, designers, and developers of competency-based experiences must incorporate innovative strategies that are foreign to the traditional institution. A strong emphasis on retention and graduation rates must surround the student with support, starting with the design and development of the CBE system. There are few resources that can help prepare instructional designers, advisors, academic administrators, and faculty to meet the many challenges of designing, developing, implementing, and managing CBE. Career Ready Education Through Experiential Learning is an essential reference book that includes strategies for design and development of competency-based education (CBE) programs, as well as administrative and delivery strategies as examples of how CBE can be implemented. Through a strong theoretical framework, chapters present the best practices, strategies, and practical tips as examples and scenarios that can be used in higher education settings. While highlighting education courses, programs, and lessons across various institutions and educational domains, this book is ideal for higher education administrators and policy designers/implementors, instructional designers, curriculum developers, faculty, public policy leaders, students in curriculum and instruction and instructional technology programs, along with researchers and practitioners interested in CBE and experiential learning in higher education.