By: Patrick Lyons, Director, Teaching and Learning
Carleton has about 150 classrooms, ranging in size from the KM Theatre in Southam with seating for 444, to breakout rooms in River Building, with seating for six. Many of our spaces are great learning spaces, with natural light, flexible and comfortable seating, excellent acoustics, great sight lines, and the appropriate teaching aids and technologies. Other classrooms not so much…
We recently asked our instructors to tell us the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ classrooms on campus (this is an ongoing initiative, so feel free to continue sending in responses) with the goal of helping identify great spaces on campus and spaces that we need to do a better job at improving.
The submissions are interesting and shed real light on what instructors feel make for ideal teaching and learning spaces. Several instructors remarked that Loeb 164C and 264C are excellent learning spaces… with modern and reliable technology, and that while both are large spaces (both rooms sit about 130 students), the seating arrangement ‘shrinks’ the space, making it feel more intimate.
Many instructors indicated natural light as an important feature in defining what makes a good classroom, so rooms in Tory, River and Canal Building appear frequently in their responses. Some instructors specifically reference that teaching technologies are critical parts of the room and make some great spaces.
In terms of the least liked classrooms, Mackenzie and Southam spaces are right at the top of the list. Internal classrooms with no windows and loud ventilation noises (or no ventilation!) don’t make good spaces to teach in. Other classrooms have poor sight lines or technologies that don’t quite work for the space (lots natural light + data projection usually means washed out images). It’s clear that there is a lot of work that needs to be done to make our teaching and learning spaces better.
There is a committee at Carleton that is working to prioritize classroom refurbishments, but with 150 classrooms on campus and tight budgets it can be a struggle to make significant impacts in many rooms. We will need to find a way to be creative.
As we asked instructors for their input in ‘best’ and ‘worst’ classrooms, it occurred to me that we should ask students too. Will they have the same answers? What makes a good classroom for them? What makes a poor classroom? I’ll get back to you with some answers soon! In the meantime please do keep sending your feedback on classroom space on campus.