11 million SEK to research in school improvement

As part of the Vinnova project on laboratory activity-based school environments in Hudiksvall, Anneli Frelin and Jan Grannäs, researchers in curriculum studies at the University of Gävle, are studying how physical changes affect school environments in Hudiksvall.

The project, which runs until 2020, is a collaboration between Hudiksvall Municipality in Sweden, Fiber Optic Valley and RISE Acreo. The researchers will follow the work to change the learning environments in three of the schools in the municipality, as their premises are redesigned to make them more activity-based.

New environments tested

Teachers and pupils will test what it is like to have lessons in the new environments and then, later on, there will readjustments on the basis of how the environments worked for the purposes of the teaching in case.

“It is very interesting to look at the environment from a holistic perspective, because it is affected by teachers, pupils, the physical environment and by other factors,” Anneli Frelin says. “No single environment is optimal for all purposes in a school, but there is a potential to improve the learning environment to make it more suitable for the school and working life of tomorrow.”

A lot to gain

Other parts of the project will investigate what other aspects of a good learning environment may look like. For example, sensors that measure light and air quality have been installed.

“Since it is expensive to rebuild and to buy new things, there is a lot to gain from creating a laboratory environment where different solutions are tried out before being launched,” Jan Grannäs says.

For more information, please contact:
Jan Grannäs, senior lecturer in in curriculum studies at the University of Gävle
Phone: 026-64 84 97, 070-518 15 15
Email: jan.grannas@hig.se

Anneli Frelin, senior lecturer in curriculum studies at the University of Gävle
Phone: 026-64 81 43, 072-011 74 94
Email: anneli.frelin@hig.se

Text: Douglas Öhrbom
Photos: Anneli Frelin