- Location: 688 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC
- Capacity: 24 students per room, with breakout rooms
- Type: Flat classroom
Alignment with principles for designing Teaching and Learning Spaces
Academic challenge
Promote individual, active engagement with content.
Layout
Work surfaces for notebooks, laptops, and textbooks: large, shared tables.
Furniture
Comfortable furniture: adjustable, ergonomically approved chairs.
Technologies
Access to infrastructure: power for student laptops, networked printing, 1:1 laptops for students at tables. Access to resources: LMS, internet (via lab-provided or personal laptops).
Lighting & colour
Appropriate natural and overhead lighting for individual work.
Learning with peers
Promote active engagement with one another.
Layout
Promote face-to-face communication: oblong tables encourage students to communicate with one another in groups of up to 6. Individuals can move about easily, and sight lines are unobstructed.
Acoustics: Sound zones support multiple simultaneous conversations at student tables.
Furniture
Comfortable chairs on wheels permit students to turn to discuss and work with those next to or behind them.
Technologies
Shared workspaces (writable walls throughout the room, each table has their own projector to work on). Further, low-tech videoconferencing via an installed camera that permits bridging to another location with skype, adobe connect, etc. allows student to interact with external participants.
Lighting & colour
Appropriate overhead and natural lighting for individual and group work.
Experiences with faculty
Promote interaction and communication.
Layout
Easy access to all students: Instructor can easily move around room with small mobile podium and can circulate from table to table.
Acoustics: Sound zones support multiple simultaneous conversations.
Furniture
Small podium does not interfere with sightlines, movement and interaction, while wall shelf provides extra space for instructional materials. Mobile chairs support different teaching strategies (e.g., group work in various sizes, student presentations).
Technologies
Dual-source projection and multiple classroom technology sources (Smartboard, document camera, instructor computer) and multiple screens permit simultaneous display of different learning materials.
Lighting & colour
Different lighting patterns to support multiple types of teaching tasks.
Contributions to the campus environment
Classrooms that incorporate elements of active and collaborative learning are part of a vision for a variety of flexible campus learning spaces. 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. IT is consistent with teaching and learning needs, and durable furniture contributes to sustainability efforts. Both physical and virtual affordances help maximize High Impact Practices (HIPs) for student learning within and beyond this classroom.
