Active Learning Classrooms Project
Beginning fall 2007, DMC researchers partnered with the Office of Classroom Management to conduct a pilot study of two innovative classrooms that are designed to be student-centered, integrated, flexible, active learning spaces. These classrooms, which were built using flexible classroom design and construction techniques, feature large round tables that seat nine students each; switchable laptop-based technology; multiple fixed flat-panel display/projection systems; an instructor station that allows selection and display of specific information; and a 360-degree glass markerboard around the circumference of the classroom.
Research questions for this project included:
- What are faculty attitudes and expectations for the new learning spaces as they start the semester? Do their attitudes and expectations change over the term, and are they fulfilled or not?
- How do students perceive the new spaces? Are they comfortable in the new arrangements? How do the new spaces affect their relations with their classmates? With their instructors
- How is the technology in the rooms utilized by the pilot groups, both from faculty and student perspectives? What teaching/learning strategies were used, and how did the rooms facilitate or inhibit those strategies?
- In what ways did the non-technical considerations, such as seating, sightlines, lighting, ventilation, acoustics, and power affect teaching and learning? Were any adjustments made by faculty in their teaching approach specifically in light of room design/function?
Results
Overall, the Active Learning Classrooms were well received by both instructors and students. The data suggest that the ALCs changed the classroom experience by deepening the relationship between instructors and students and among students themselves, facilitating collaborative projects and class activities. All of the instructors interviewed expressed a strong desire to continue teaching in the ALCs and more than 85 percent of the students surveyed recommended this space for their other classes. The instructors who were interviewed enjoyed teaching in the rooms so much that their only concern was a fear of not being able to continue to teach in these new learning spaces.
