Learning Ecosystems

Rethinking classroom design guidelines — from CampusTechnology.com by Michael David Leiboff

In the last decade, much has changed in the way classroom-based learning is accomplished. As a result, there is a need to take a fresh look at classroom guidelines.

Studio Classrooms
One important teaching trend is moving the instructor away from their didactic role as sage-at-the-stage to one of active facilitator. In this model of problems-based learning, students work in groups, at shared work surfaces, with chairs on wheels. Tables, which may also be on wheels, can be reoriented to allow for different workgroup methodologies. The instructor moves about the room interacting with different groups, offering suggestions and guidance. This so-called studio classroom configuration may accommodate as few as 25 students or as many as 100.

Studio Classrooms necessitate a rethinking about how classrooms should be designed. Perhaps the most important is the fact that these rooms have no formal centralized “front.”