6.6 Layout - Unsupervised Group Work

Unsupervised group work, while an important element in learning, can also be one of the greatest sources of noise within a teaching space. As a result, this activity can be significantly detrimental to the acoustic performance of open plan design. The ideal solution is to provide individual areas for groups to work together. These spaces need to be laid out to promote group learning, but also to prevent casual and non-work related communication between group tables.

One of the worst table arrangements for group work is layout 1. This layout encourages non-educational interaction between tables, which not only loses the focus of the group (from an educational
point of view) but also significantly increases noise levels, as communication tends to take place over larger distances. Placing group work tables throughout the learning space focuses groups and results in reduced noise levels 2. However, a possible drawback is that teachers are required to move around tables more and may find it difficult to focus or address a larger group. Separating group tables is demonstrably one of the most important design requirements of open plan spaces.