- Location:
- Capacity: 48 students
- Type: Flat classroom
Alignment with principles for designing Teaching and Learning Spaces
Academic challenge
Promote individual, active engagement with content.
Layout
Students can work individually, in pairs, or in teams of up to six people at movable rectangular tables. Each table has ample work surfaces for classroom materials (e.g., notebooks, laptops, and textbooks).
Furniture
Wheeled chairs and adjustable-height chairs allow individuals to set their seat to their preferred position. Whiteboards by the student tables facilitate group work.
Technologies
Networked printing. Access to resources: LMS, internet. Multiple sources and screens for simultaneous display different learning materials.
Lighting & colour
Appropriate overhead lighting permits individual work during or outside of laboratory and class sessions.
Learning with peers
Promote active engagement with one another.
Layout
The tables can be moved to accommodate group work, in groups of up to six students. Students are able to easily circulate in the classroom due to sufficient passing space between tables.
Acoustics: Sound zones support multiple simultaneous conversations among students.
Furniture
The table layout permits collaborative approaches to coursework, and improved communication (both verbally and line-of-sight). Chairs on wheels permit students to easily move their attention from small-group to larger group activities.
Technologies
N/A
Lighting & colour
Sufficient lighting for group work.
Experiences with Faculty
Promote interaction and communication.
Layout
Instructor’s podium is located towards the centre of the room and has plenty of space for all equipment and for the instructor’s materials. A second small, mobile podium allows the instructor to move around the room with even greater flexibility. The instructor has access to all students due to a layout that permits ample passing space, and clear sightlines. A partial partition permits preparation of lab materials for the next course without distracting the students and instructor.
Acoustics: Sound zones ensure that not only are students able to hear the instructor, but that the instructor is also able to hear the students.
Furniture
Tables are easily accessible and have sufficient space surrounding them for the instructor to check in with a given group. Standing-height tables and adjustable-height lab stools reduce hierarchy between instructor and students.
Technologies
Two projecting surfaces display of different learning materials at the same time (e.g., from the document camera, instructor’s computer).
Lighting & colour
Lighting patterns provide a bright, pleasant environment and support multiple types of teaching and learning tasks.
Contributions to the campus environment
This classroom is designed for all populations using the space: well-lit, with a standardized room control panel that simplifies instructors’ use of equipment in classrooms across campus. University standards were applied, including improved ventilation and sustainable building practices. IT is consistent with teaching and learning needs, and standardized room controls permit instructors to become familiar with a system for managing the technology used in multiple classrooms. Both physical and virtual affordances help maximize High Impact Practices (HIPs) for student learning within and beyond this classroom.
