UIC News Off-center learning In new classroom, not a ... - Steelcase
UIC News Off-center learning In new classroom, not a ... - Steelcase
UIC News Off-center learning In new classroom, not a ... - Steelcase
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uic<strong>new</strong>s/articledetail.cgi?id=13462&print=1<br />
Page 1 of 3<br />
10/13/2009<br />
<strong>UIC</strong> <strong>News</strong><br />
For the community of the University of Illinois at Chicago<br />
http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uic<strong>new</strong>s/articledetail.cgi?id=13462<br />
By Christy Levy<br />
09/23/09<br />
<strong>Off</strong>-<strong>center</strong> <strong>learning</strong><br />
<strong>In</strong> <strong>new</strong> <strong>classroom</strong>, <strong>not</strong> a bad seat in the house<br />
Students in English 161, taught by instructor Aaron Krall in the Learn Lab, located in Burnham<br />
Hall. With the <strong>new</strong> <strong>classroom</strong> design, students are “doing more talking and produce more work,”<br />
he says.<br />
Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin<br />
When Aaron Krall teaches, he’s <strong>not</strong> always the <strong>center</strong> of attention.<br />
Sometimes, his English 161 students work collaboratively in groups. Other times, they write out their<br />
ideas on moveable whiteboards to share with classmates.<br />
What makes it so easy to transition from lecture to group work, Krall says, is the space where he<br />
teaches.<br />
Krall is one of the first instructors to use the <strong>UIC</strong> Learn Lab, a <strong>classroom</strong> in Burnham Hall that’s<br />
designed for versatility.<br />
“It’s a really flexible space so we can do a lot of group work or collaborative projects,” said Krall, an<br />
English lecturer.<br />
“I find myself walking around a lot. It’s a very comfortable place to teach.”<br />
The Learn Lab, in B10 Burnhall Hall, was designed so that there’s no real <strong>center</strong> of the room, said David<br />
Taeyaerts, director of the <strong>Off</strong>ice of Campus Learning Environments.<br />
“It completely moves away from the sage on the stage and more to the guide on the side,” Taeyaerts<br />
said.<br />
“It’s all about supporting collaborative and active <strong>learning</strong>. There’s no bad seat in the house.”<br />
Students sit in swivel chairs at one of four tables strategically placed in the room so they form the shape<br />
of an “X,” with an opening at the <strong>center</strong>. The design promotes the idea of instructors moving around the<br />
<strong>classroom</strong>, Taeyaerts said.
http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uic<strong>new</strong>s/articledetail.cgi?id=13462&print=1<br />
Page 2 of 3<br />
10/13/2009<br />
Every wall in the room is covered with writable surfaces, from whiteboards to glass boards. Moveable<br />
whiteboards let students bring tablets to their seats for group work, Taeyaerts said.<br />
“If you move from a short lecture to group work, the segue is instantaneous and there’s no movement of<br />
furniture,” he said. “What’s lost in traditional <strong>classroom</strong>s is that train of thought, those ideas.”<br />
The <strong>classroom</strong> has high-tech multimedia capabilities, including a copy-cam that retains information<br />
written on whiteboards so instructors can post it online.<br />
Krall has <strong>not</strong>iced a change among his students as they collaborate together in the Learn Lab. When he<br />
asks them to analyze readings, talk about paragraph organization or draft sentences on the moveable<br />
whiteboards, they seem more productive, he said.<br />
“<strong>In</strong> more traditional <strong>classroom</strong>s, there’s a tendency for students to hurry through it and in this room,<br />
students tend to work on things longer,” he said.<br />
“They seem to be doing more talking and produce more work. They have all of that white space, and<br />
they seem inclined to fill it up.”<br />
The Learn Lab is available to all <strong>UIC</strong> instructors and can still be reserved for the spring semester,<br />
Taeyaerts said.<br />
An open house will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 14 in B10 Burnham Hall so instructors can see what it<br />
has to offer.<br />
The campus <strong>learning</strong> environments office started planning the renovation last year after researching the<br />
Learn Lab concept, developed at <strong>Steelcase</strong> University Learning Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.<br />
Renovation work began over the summer.<br />
There are only about two dozen Learn Labs across the country and <strong>UIC</strong>’s is the first in the state,<br />
Taeyaerts said.<br />
“It’s the best <strong>learning</strong> space to build community,” he said. “It could be one of the most powerful<br />
<strong>learning</strong> spaces on campus if it’s used effectively.”<br />
For information on the Learn Lab, call 413-5121. To schedule a course in the lab, call 413-3640.<br />
christyb@uic.edu<br />
Related stories<br />
Renovation brightens lecture <strong>center</strong>s (10/15/08)<br />
New look for lecture <strong>center</strong>s (09/26/07)<br />
Transforming BSB concrete into comfort zone (01/25/06)