By Emma Brown, TLS staff writer
It was 8:35 a.m.
Anne Bowker’s first-year psychology seminar had just begun. The first several minutes were spent reorganizing students into groups for discussion. Chairs were awkwardly formed around unmoveable desks until something like “groups” emerged.
It was not ideal.
That’s one of the reasons why Bowker is excited for Carleton’s new Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) which will have round tables and interactive technology. The Educational Development Centre and Instructional Media Services are converting two classrooms in Tory into ALCs which are expected to be ready in May.
Each room offers a different style active learning. 213 Tory is what IMS assistant director, John Strickland, calls the “tech-heavy room.” It consists of seven tables, each with a large flat panel monitor, a computer and a control system for students to use. The instructor has a desk at the front and a mobile cart to travel from table to table. The room also has a large interactive whiteboard.
431 Tory will be a “tech-light room.” All of its furniture is moveable, including the triangle desks which can fit together to form a large or small group table. The instructor has an interactive flat panel monitor at the front of the room (which can be written on with one’s finger) and repeater monitors throughout the room. The room also contains several whiteboards (which are not interactive but can be taken off the wall and used at desks). Another unique feature of this room is the lounge area with couch and chairs.
The cost of the rooms was approximately $150,000 each, according to Strickland (a traditional classroom costs $50,000). The project has been in the works at Carleton for a year and a half, after three years of research. There are ALCs at more than 40 universities across North America.
Why Active Learning Classrooms?
“[They] seem to excite a certain type of student that may not otherwise be excited by their learning… So they’re very nice for students who are at risk or struggling. It gets the students thinking in ways that they don’t normally think,” says Strickland.
Bowker agrees that these rooms can help students engage with their learning.
“You want them to feel that this is a safe environment to express [themselves] but it’s hard to do if you’re in a classroom with rows,” she says.
She was one of many instructors—from a diverse range of faculties—to express interest in the rooms. She hopes to use the room for group discussion on readings and videos, case studies, and for group quizzes/challenges. She thinks having one monitor per table will help students work together rather than just working on their own laptops.
Martin Geiger, who teaches migration studies, is also interested in using the new rooms. One of his classes this past year connected via Skype with a class in Germany. He says the technology in the ALCs would help in facilitating transnational collaboration. It would also allow him to more easily integrate video clips, Pinterest assignments, and “speed briefings” (a speed dating style of presentations).
He, too, sees the importance of diverse teaching methods.
“You have to have different formats and this increases the likelihood that you’re going to reach all kinds of students,” he says.
Strickland says IMS will be collecting feedback from instructors and students once the rooms are in use. If ALCs are successful, they hope to convert more classrooms in the future.
The bottom line is helping students succeed, says Strickland.
“I think it says to students, especially at-risk students, that you are valued and you are wanted here and we will work with you until you succeed,” he says.
If you are interested in teaching in one of these rooms during the Fall 2016 term, please contact oavptl@carleton.ca to discuss the possibilities.