{"id":140460,"date":"2015-04-13T12:12:12","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T16:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/?post_type=case-study&#038;p=140460"},"modified":"2023-01-14T04:09:22","modified_gmt":"2023-01-14T09:09:22","slug":"going-beyond-campus-lecture-halls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/learning\/going-beyond-campus-lecture-halls\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Florida Focuses on Active Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>University of Florida &#8211; Gainesville<\/h3>\n<p><a title=\"Education\" href=\"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/discover\/information\/education\/\">Steelcase Education<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There are two sides to education. An objectively driven pedagogy presents the world to the learner, with a focus on acquiring information. There\u2019s also a developmentally driven education that positions the learner within the world, with a focus on self awareness, observation and the ability to synthesize and construct knowledge. We need to balance those two approaches so students not only acquire knowledge but learn to be problem solvers, to be able to innovate and operate when they don\u2019t have all the information,\u201d says Jason Meneely, associate professor in the Department of Interior Design at the University of Florida (UF).<\/p>\n<p>UF\u2019s philosophy on education is transparent in its learning environments. Two active learning spaces which showcase this thinking and break down the physical and social barriers between students and teachers, information and peers, while fostering communication, collaboration and problem solving are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>media:scape LearnLab, which was converted from an existing classroom in the College of Design, Constuction and Planning (DCP)<\/li>\n<li>AHA! Colab, an open classroom and collaborative suite of breakout rooms which was converted from an enclosed classroom, break room and elevator lobby in the College of Journalism and Communications<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Enriching Student Engagement \u2014 And Student Life<\/h3>\n<p>The LearnLab was the first of the two spaces to be created and it helped pave the way for the AHA! space, but it faced an initial challenge: UF\u2019s need \u2014 as at all institutions of higher education \u2014 to hold down the amount of real estate allocated per student.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuch quantitative assessments are important but only half the story,\u201d says Meneely. \u201cBeyond student headcounts you also have to measure the quality<br \/>\nof the learning environment: how well students connect with their instructors and peers, how engaged they are. Does the space allow instructors to teach in the way they need to for the course? Can students work collaboratively or does the room force them to sit passively in fixed rows of seating? If you only have lecture rooms, you\u2019re not addressing a critical need for active learning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Four media:scape settings gather students around tables, each with connections for up to six digital devices and dual flat screen monitors for displaying content. With full- height magnetic whiteboards on the walls and four different projection surfaces, content is readily accessible to everyone in the room. Discussion flows freely around the table, between students and the instructor, even if that<\/p>\n<p>instructor happens to be a student presenting material to the class.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudents are coming on to a campus with 50,000 students, so when they can work in small groups in the LearnLab, they\u2019re more engaged, they\u2019re communicating right away, and you can have more impact as a professor and create the kind of learning environment everyone wants to be in,\u201d says Margaret Portillo, Ph.D., professor and chair of Interior Design.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe classroom exemplifies a long- term effort to provide a better learning experience in our college, one that reflects how design professionals practice,\u201d says Christopher Silver, Ph.D., professor and dean of the College of DCP. \u201cThe architecture and design profession is a collaborative business and we want our students to learn that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pull-quote pull-quote-left \"><p>&#8220;If you only have lecture rooms, you\u2019re not addressing a critical need for active learning.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The DCP LearnLab hosts five different regularly scheduled courses, is frequently used as an impromptu breakout room for studio courses, and is booked for seminars and other events when available. Officially it\u2019s scheduled 26 hours a week, but rarely goes unused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m starting to hear from faculty, \u2018I can\u2019t get in there; it\u2019s always full.\u2019 We could probably use two more LearnLabs,\u201d says Silver.<\/p>\n<h3>Repurposing \u2018Old School\u2019 Space<\/h3>\n<p>The LearnLab also helped inspire the learning space Meneely designed for the College of Journalism and Communications. \u201cStudents today need to learn more skills, and the challenge is, how do you do that without increasing the number of credit hours? The answer is collaboration,\u201d says David Carlson, professor in the college.<\/p>\n<p>The college took 2,500 square feet of space on the third floor, beginning at the elevator doors, and created an open classroom and four smaller enclosed rooms with media:scape collaborative settings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I arrive to teach at the AHA! Colab, the students are already there, meeting, working together, studying. The nature of the space changes students and learning,\u201d says Juan- Carlos Molleda, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Public Relations.<\/p>\n<h3>A Classroom Where Students Want To Linger<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThe class period just ended, but did it really?\u201d asks Meneely, as students continue working in the AHA! Colab, equal parts classroom, study hall, commons area and project space with a kitchen, coffee machine, and workspaces that range from a standing height group table to booths and small tables, all outfitted in untraditional colors and materials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;ve taught courses in many different places at the university, but I\u2019ve never seen the results I get in this space,\u201d says Ann Christiano, a professor in the Department of Public Relations. \u201cI wish every classroom was like this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She points out that students are not only learning how to collaborate and solve intricate problems, but are building key professional skills and relationships that will last long past graduation. \u201cHere students meet, collaborate, talk, group, regroup, and it all happens naturally because this space helps create a community. And that sense of community will last them all of their lives. Their friends and future colleagues will be around much longer than I will.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pull-quote pull-quote-left \"><p>&#8220;This space helps create a community. And that sense of community will last them all of their lives.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>How Space Changes Teaching And Learning<\/h3>\n<p>Despite sophisticated technology in both the media:scape LearnLab and the AHA! Colab, students and faculty comment less on the tools than on how effectively students work with their content and each other, perhaps because the technology is so well integrated into the learning space.<\/p>\n<p>Meneely tells his students to work on the wall as if it was their desk. \u201cI ask them not just to display their work but to use it as a primary thinking space, a vertical extension of their desk. Since work on the wall continuously morphs, I get a quick read on how they\u2019re approaching a project each day, what needs more discussion or more focus, and which students require some extra guidance or support.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Proof In Numbers<\/h3>\n<p>Each week, Pam Driza, graduate teaching assistant and dissertator, teaches two sections of IND1020: Design Innovation, a course in understanding creative problem solving and human- centered design. Students include interior design majors but also those in the sciences and the arts. Each Tuesday the class meets in a traditional, standard issue classroom: rows of wood desks with tablet arms, chalkboard in front, off white walls. Then every Thursday the class meets in the media:scape LearnLab. Same instructor and students, vastly different results.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor starters, there\u2019s a difference in attendance. Out of 42 students, an average of three to five don\u2019t show for Tuesday\u2019s class in the traditional classroom. I\u2019m the same teacher, same teaching technique.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut for the Thursday class that\u2019s held in the LearnLab, there\u2019s almost perfect attendance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Driza assesses the LearnLab from her experience as both teacher and designer: \u201cIdeally, you want a classroom that\u2019s flexible, that can grow and change as pedagogy changes. You want to create opportunities for spur of the moment conversations, where people can bounce ideas off of each other on whiteboards, screens, and where students feel they have a license to really use the space. That\u2019s what we have in the LearnLab.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>College of Design, Construction + Planning Media:Scape Learnlab \u2014 By The Numbers<\/h3>\n<p>800 square feet<\/p>\n<p>24-32 student seats<\/p>\n<p>4 media:scape settings with 72&#8243; x 60&#8243; tables and dual monitors<\/p>\n<p>24 media:scape PUCKs (6 per setting)<\/p>\n<p>4 walls with floor to ceiling magnetic whiteboards<\/p>\n<p>4 short-throw projector locations<\/p>\n<p>1 \u0113no interactive whiteboard for digital sketching and annotation<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>College of Journalism And Communications AHA! Colab \u2014 By The Numbers<\/h3>\n<p>2,500 square feet<\/p>\n<p>30 student seats in the open classroom\/study\/break space<\/p>\n<p>4 media:scape settings in enclosed spaces with seating for 6-8 in each<\/p>\n<p>1 collaborative kitchen with coffee vending<\/p>\n<p>1 standing height table with seating for 10<\/p>\n<p>2 short-throw projectors<\/p>\n<p>9 magnetic whiteboard surfaces<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>University of Florida<br \/>\nGainesville<\/p>\n<p>OEC Business Interiors, Inc.<br \/>\nGainesville, Florida<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><sup><em>January 2014<\/em><\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The LearnLab was the first of the two spaces to be created and it helped pave the way for the AHA! space, but it faced an initial challenge: UF\u2019s need \u2014 as at all institutions of higher education \u2014 to hold down the amount of real estate allocated per student.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":140465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"topic":[1351],"class_list":["post-140460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","industry-education","topic-learning"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - 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