Creating Dialogical Spaces in Blended Environments: A Case Study of Classroom Design in Two English Literature Courses

Abstract

This chapter presents a case study of two English literature courses (one graduate course taught in the Spring 2010 semester and one undergraduate course in the Fall 2011 semester) at Troy University's Dothan, AL, campus analyzing student engagement in relation to the learning environment. Both of these courses presented challenges in facilitating classroom discussion inhibited by the physical design of the learning space. To compensate for these physical limitations, both courses incorporated blended learning. One course was moved outdoors, thereby blending the traditional classroom with a non-traditional learning space, while the other incorporated a blended learning approach that used an online discussion board. Although such “relocations” of the learning space overcame initial barriers to student engagement and success, even the blended approach suggests that further research and investment in classroom design would improve student engagement in both traditional and blended classes by promoting dialogism in the classroom.