BİLİŞİM TEKNOLOJİSİ SINIFLARININ MEKÂNSAL KALİTESİNİ ARTIRMAYA YÖNELİK BİR ARAŞTIRMA

Education is many-sided, and it is a complex process that takes place under the influence of many factors. Teaching materials, teacher's professional competencies, students’ preferences, and curriculum are the ones that come to mind immediately. Equally important are the physical conditions and design of educational environments. This study aims to determine features that an Information Technology (IT) class with high spatial quality must have. It is multi-stage research conducted in mixed-method completed in four stages. First of all, ICT teachers’ views about the spatial quality of ICT classes in their schools were collected through a questionnaire. Then, interviews were held with experienced ICT teachers on what should be done to improve the spatial quality of an IT classroom. The quantitative and qualitative findings from the questionnaires and interviews were used to recommend different designs to increase the spatial quality of secondary school IT classrooms. In developing these proposals, the opinions of an IT field 10.19171/uefad.839736 expert and an architect expert on educational structures were consulted. Third, six different IT classroom models were designed based on the recommendations. The draft designs were transformed into two-dimensional and three-dimensional images. Finally, questionnaires were given to find out both teachers’ and students’ preferences about IT classroom designs. As a result of the research, the spatial quality indicators present in an ideal IT class were revealed. These were presented under headings of equipment, infrastructure, materials and security, installation, and spatial arrangement. ABSTRACT There is common a misunderstanding that an educational institution can overcome all its problems with well-trained teachers and sufficient course materials and resources. However, previous research shows that these are not enough for quality education because teaching and learning take place within a context, not in a void. Many factors enrich this context during teaching. Negative or positive characteristics of the teaching environment decrease or increase teachers’ effectiveness and students’ performance, respectively (Al, 2014). According to Woolner (2010), physical setting may have direct effects on learning as well as indirect reflections by affecting students' and teachers' health and behaviors. Physical environment can be said to be deeply influential on the attitudes, behaviors, thoughts and perceptions of education stakeholders. Therefore, physical conditions of educational buildings are seen as an important issue to be studied through an interdisciplinary approach. This research aims to identify what characteristics an Information Technology (IT) class with higher spatial quality must possess. The research problem can be stated as "What features should an IT class with high spatial quality in secondary schools have?" The research attempted to answer the following questions accordingly: