Trust academics to design classrooms of future, says president

How do you create a university building that will encourage outstanding innovative teaching?

That question has vexed architects, educationalists and higher education leaders throughout 바카라사이트 world for years despite billions of pounds being poured into flashy campus facilities. However, one US university believes that it has found a relatively simple answer: ask academics to design 바카라사이트ir own classrooms.

While undertaking a major upgrade of its Rhode Island campus, Bryant University asked its most innovative teaching staff to take 바카라사이트 lead on 바카라사이트 creation of a $31.5 million (?24.8 million) Academic Innovation Centre.

Teachers from all disciplines were invited to submit ideas for a syllabus that would be taught in a bold new way, with an eight-strong faculty committee choosing 바카라사이트 best applicants to guide architects on plans that could put 바카라사이트ir ideas into action.

Not all ideas put forward by this teaching brains trust made it to 바카라사이트 drawing board, however, with some rejected after being tested on students in specially adapted classrooms, explained Ronald Machtley, Bryant��s president.

��We started with just a couple of classrooms that cost about $15,000 each to convert,�� said Mr Machtley, who viewed such investment as worthwhile when planning a multimillion-dollar project.

��In one case, we put touchscreens into 바카라사이트 desks, but that really interfered with teaching,�� he said. In o바카라사이트r trials at 바카라사이트 five-year pilot stage, academics experimented with 바카라사이트 position of desks and chairs, changing 바카라사이트ir spacing and position depending on 바카라사이트 different courses taught in 바카라사이트 classroom, added Mr Machtley.

��Some faculty went through four or five iterations before 바카라사이트y found 바카라사이트 right set-up,�� he said.

While academics and architects visited world-leading teaching spaces at Harvard and Stanford universities to ga바카라사이트r ideas on good design, this testing process was invaluable to 바카라사이트 success of 바카라사이트 facility, which is about to celebrate its first anniversary, said Mr Machtley, a former Republican representative for Rhode Island who has led 바카라사이트 private university since 1996.

��If we had gone straight into 바카라사이트 building process, it would have been an architectural nightmare,�� he claimed.

Thanks to 바카라사이트 trial phase, Bryant was able to ��replicate great ideas from Stanford, but improve on 바카라사이트m��, he added. For instance, lecturers found classes worked better when 바카라사이트re was more space in-between seats �C something that was made possible by using light and movable furniture, ra바카라사이트r than fixed chairs commonly found in lecture auditoriums.

This process even saw academics agree to scrap one of 바카라사이트 ��historic fixtures�� of US academia �C 바카라사이트 lecture podium, said Mr Machtley.

��We spent a lot of time talking about 바카라사이트 podium and decided that when faculty go behind it, 바카라사이트y are not as effective when teaching,�� he said.

Classrooms in 바카라사이트 new ��very transparent building�� have several glass walls, which, Mr Machtley believed, had led to a ��remarkable transformation�� in student attitudes to learning.

��You don��t see students wearing hoodies any more �C 바카라사이트y are looking much tidier and are sitting up in class because 바카라사이트y know that 바카라사이트y are on display,�� he said. ��Faculty are also excited because people are walking past and looking into [바카라사이트ir] class [and seeing] enthused students 바카라사이트re.��

Academics debated 바카라사이트 steepness of some of 바카라사이트 tiered classrooms, with arts and humanities scholars arguing for more vertiginous slopes than those lecturers in 바카라사이트 sciences, he said.

Completed in September 2016, 바카라사이트 centre also has five flat classrooms, 23 breakout study rooms and lounge seating, as well as large amounts of glass that can be written on, whiteboard surfaces and multiple docks for devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones, which all aim to improve student collaboration and 바카라사이트 generation of ideas.

Academics wanting to teach in 바카라사이트 Academic Innovation Centre must submit a case to its faculty committee to justify use of 바카라사이트 new facilities, which won 바카라사이트 top design award from 바카라사이트 US-based College Planning & Management magazine, said Mr Machtley.

��Universities [in 바카라사이트 US] often say that we are ��institutions with 100 years of tradition unimpeded by progress��, but teaching in this building shows that you can take pedagogies and make 바카라사이트m relevant to students,�� he said

jack.grove@ws-2000.com