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The UK government, under the Primary Capital Programme, is planning to rebuild or refurbish approximately half of all primary schools by 2022/23. The aim is to create primary schools that are equipped for 21st century teaching and learning. Around £7 billion will be invested in the scheme with £1.9 billion of the budget being spent 2008-11, £650 million for all local authorities in 2009-10 and £1.1 billion in 2010-11. However, this substantial investment will only meet the target of providing a 21st century educational environment, with opportunities for exemplary teaching and learning, if the design of new and refurbished schools is fit for this purpose. The research set out to answer the question ‘How can all user groups be involved in the evaluation of newly built primary schools?’ This question was addressed by achieving the aim of developing a post-occupancy evaluation toolkit specifically for primary schools which accounted for the views of all stakeholders. The research focussed on primary schools in the city of Coventry in the UK West Midlands and was conducted in two phases: an examination of schools built before the introduction of a model brief in 1996 and an evaluation of schools that were built using its guidance. The findings from the initial case studies indicated issues to be addressed in the design of the toolkit. Following the initial case studies in pre-1996 schools, the research focussed on five recently built primary schools that were constructed according to the guidelines contained in Coventry’s model brief. At the time of commencing the research, six primary schools had been built using this framework. However, there had been no attempt to evaluate the schools to establish whether they met the needs of all stakeholders. The post-occupancy evaluation toolkit that was developed took a multi-stakeholder perspective on primary school builds and resulted in findings which indicate the variability in responses between different stakeholder groups and schools. The research concluded that the post-occupancy toolkit can provide information on school buildings, from a multi-stakeholder perspective, which may be useful architects and designers. It also proposes an approach to primary school design which accounts for the variability in the needs of diverse stakeholder groups and the individuality of each school, including their geographical location.

abstract: Learners' attitudes and beliefs during the initial stages of learning have a profound impact on their future decisions, practice habits, and persistence. In music education, however, surprisingly little research has explored how physical equipment design might influence novices' attitudes and beliefs. The current study addresses this gap by examining how novices' motivation and perception differ based on the physical design of the musical instrument they interact with while learning. Fifty-two adult participants completed an online survey measuring their expectancies (e.g., confidence), value beliefs (e.g., enjoyment, interest, and social merit), and anticipated persistence while attempting to learn the electric guitar. Afterward, participants attempted to learn and perform several beginner-level tasks while using a conventionally designed or ergonomically designed guitar. The conventionally designed guitar was a commercially available model marketed toward beginner and intermediate-level guitarists. In contrast, the ergonomic guitar was a custom model based on expert design recommendations to improve ease of use, comfort, and user experience. Participant learning expectations and values were assessed before and after a one-hour practice session. Results revealed that novices who used the ergonomic guitar reported significant gains in anticipated learning enjoyment. Alternatively, novices who used the conventional guitar exhibited no such change. Beyond this relationship however, the ergonomic guitar was not found to meaningfully affect participants' confidence, interest, physical discomfort, and task difficulty perceptions. Additionally, the ergonomic guitar did not have a statistically significant influence on learning persistence ratings. One important implication extracted from this study is that a single practice session may not provide enough time or experience to affect a novices' attitudes and beliefs toward learning. Future studies may seek to remedy this study limitation by using a longitudinal design or longer practice task trials. Despite this limitation however, this exploratory study highlights the need for researchers, music educators, and instrument manufacturers to carefully consider how the physical design of a musical instrument may impact learning attitudes, choices, and persistence over time. Additionally, this study offers the first attempt at extending the equipment design literature to music education and Expectancy-Value Theory. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Applied Psychology 2016