AAHESGIT: Classroom Design & Info Tech
Mark Guzdial (guzdial@cc.gatech.edu)
Mon, 9 Dec 1996 11:15:23 -0500 (EST)
>Date: Mon, 2 Dec 96 00:34:38 EST
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>From: "Steve Gilbert" <gilbert@clark.net>
>To: American Association for Higher Education <aahesgit@list.cren.net>
>Subject: AAHESGIT: Classroom Design & Info Tech
>X-To: "***AAHESGIT" <aahesgit@list.cren.net>
>
>(Approx. 40 lines from Maura O'Toole of Dublin City U.
><OTooleM@DCU.ie>
>
>asking for some help in identifying important and practical
>characteristics of "ideal classrooms." Note that she is
>offering to collect and summarize responses back to AAHESGIT.
>
>A couple of other factors occur to me. First, does the
>composition of the class -- the characteristics of the
>students -- also influence the preferred design of the space?
>Second, the importance of this set of questions is increasing
>as the number of faculty members who want to integrate
>technology into their teaching has increased rapidly in the
>past few years. Recently, I've also been getting more
>questions about retrofitting existing classrooms -- what are
>the key elements, how many rooms on campus need to be
>changed, what are the critical cost factors, etc... As some
>campuses think more seriously about building new spaces that
>might include Teaching, Learning, and Technology Centers as
>well as "electronic classrooms", it becomes more important to
>determine the most cost-effective approaches.
>
>As I travel to many different campuses, I've become more
>appreciative of those rooms where we have good control of
>lighting, flexible seating arrangements, and good acoustic
>separation from nearby interruptions. I've also been
>noticing which kinds of arrangements seem to require having a
>technician always present and which seem easy for a newcomer
>to figure out in a few minutes.
>
>I'm already convinced that the retrofitting and planning of
>teaching and learning spaces is a topic deserving of more
>attention in our TLTR program and other campus planning
>efforts.)
>
>Steve Gilbert ==============================================
>
>
>I am doing a small piece of research on the ideal classroom
>design - specifically whether the definition of an ideal
>classroom is subject or lecturer dependent (where the
>classroom characteristics are such things as overhead
>projector and screen position, whether the room is equipped
>for video/data projection, the size of the blackboard, the
>nature of the seating, lighting, sound control etc.). I would
>be interested to hear if anyone thinks, as I do, that the
>"fit" of a classroom to a particular class group has as much
>to do with what subject is being taught, as it does to who
>teaches the class.
>
>Also, if anyone knows of any formal research which has been
>done on this or a related topic, I would be grateful for any
>pointers in the direction of particular books or journal
>articles. The project is a piece of "Action Research" for a
>Masters program I am taking at night - the idea is that we
>pick a topic to research that impacts directly on our working
>lives and which we would like to investigate to improve our
>practice. Currently the university has no mechanism to take
>account of the teaching needs of individual subjects/staff
>when scheduling classrooms, so I think this research could
>make a practical difference to the quality of teaching our
>students are receiving, i.e. if the lecturer is comfortable
>in the room and has everything he/she requires, the class
>will be of a higher quality.
>
>Please send general responses to AAHESGIT but send specific
>replies to me, and I'll post a summary in a few weeks.
>
>Thanks for your help,
>
>Maura O'Toole, ( OTooleM@DCU.ie)
>Audio-Visual Manager,
>Dublin City University,
>Ireland.
>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> Information below last updated: 11/28/96
>Dec. 3-8, 1996 I'll be in Switzerland doing a presentation/consultation
>and unlikely to do much EMail.
>[I'M LOOKING FOR A BETTER LAPTOP COMPUTER. I'LL SUMMARIZE FOR AAHESGIT ANY
>USEFUL SUGGESTIONS! THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND HELP.]
>
> Steven W. Gilbert, Director, Technology Projects
> American Association for Higher Education
> 202/293-6440 X 54 FAX: 202/293-0073
> GILBERT@CLARK.NET
> http://www.aahe.org [includes TLTR Web Site]
>SCHEDULE FOR 1997 TLTR "LEVERS FOR CHANGE" WORKSHOPS AVAILABLE SOON
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> - Copyright 1996 Steven W. Gilbert
>
--------------------------
Mark Guzdial : Georgia Tech : College of Computing : Atlanta, GA 30332-0280
(404) 894-5618 : Fax (404) 894-0673 : guzdial@cc.gatech.edu
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/people/Faculty/Mark.Guzdial.html