Focuses on TEAL, SCALE-UP style classrooms

1. Active Learning Spaces:
Trends and Perspectives
Joan K. Lippincott
Coalition for Networked Information
January 11, 2012

2. Motivation for change:
Engagement in learning
 New modes of pedagogy inspired by National Academies’ How People Learn
www.nap.edu/books/0309070368/html/
 Learning that is:
 Active
 Social / Collaborative
 Built on a framework of disciplinary knowledge (scaffolding)
 Problem-based learning

3. Motivation
 “Intellectual curiosity is a strong predictor of
future academic success…That conclusion was
based on a meta-analysis of 200 previous
studies…”
 CHE 10/27/11 citing study in Perspectives on Psychological Science

4. Motivation for change
 Problems with
 Persistence
 Success
 Retention in majors
 Especially in STEM disciplines

5. Components
 New style of pedagogy
 Content delivery outside of class time
 Problem-based, collaborative learning in class
 New learning space configurations
 Group tables; no “front” of the room
 New technologies in the classroom
 Wired tables for laptops and other devices
 Screens on wall for each table
 Instructor can control what is on screens

6. Key models
 SCALE-UP at NC State
 TEAL at MIT
 Studios at Rensselaer

7. Most common curricula
 Science: physics, biology, math, chemistry, computer science, astronomy
 Health sciences
 Business

8. What do the classrooms look like?
http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/

9. SCALE-UP NC State
http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/FAQs.html

10. TEAL at MIT
http://web.mit.edu/edtech/casestudies/teal.html

11. U. Minnesota Biology Classroom
U
U. Minnesota http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfT_hoiuY8w&playnext=1&list=PL6DD8FB89A9E60F33

12. Is it effective?
 “A variety of assessment techniques used by TEAL have shown the
effectiveness of interactive engagement across a range of student
backgrounds. The teaching methods used in the TEAL classroom produced
about twice the average normalized learning gains for low-, intermediate-,
and high-scoring students when compared to traditional instruction. These
findings replicate the results of studies performed at other universities.”
http://web.mit.edu/edtech/casestudies/teal.html

13. Is it effective?
 “students' ability to solve problems is improved
 their conceptual understanding is increased
 their attitudes are better
 failure rates (especially for women and minorities) are drastically reduced
 "at risk" students do better in later courses”
 http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/FAQs.html

14. Is it effective?
 “faculty teaching in new learning spaces and students learning in them both had
strongly positive attitudes toward the spaces at the end of the term;
 faculty thought the overall relationship they had with their students deepened;
 students had the sense that their professors were closer and more accessible to
them than in traditional classrooms”
 Reports on learning environments, pedagogies, and learning at U. Minnesota
http://www.oit.umn.edu/research-evaluation/selected-research/learning-
environments/index.htm

15. Planning underway at
 University of Washington (biology)
 Johns Hopkins University Gateway Sciences Initiative
 http://web.jhu.edu/administration/provost/GSI/index.html

16. Don’t underestimate the importance of:
 Faculty commitment to new style of pedagogy
 What training is needed?
 What support is needed for “content” materials, e.g. lectures
 Technology support for classrooms and class time

17. Other considerations: gathering spaces
U. Puget Sound Hallway spaces

18. Other considerations: Visual displays
Duke U. The Link McMaster Media Centre

19. Some key resources for learning spaces
 EDUCAUSE ELI
http://www.educause.edu/ELI/LearningPrinciplesandPractices/LearningSpac
eDesign/5521?bhcp=1
 Learning Spaces Collaboratorywww.pkallsc.org/
 NC State Learning Spaces Toolkit – coming this year

20. Contact
Joan K. Lippincott Joan at Duke U. – The Link
 Coalition for Networked Information
 joan@cni.org
 http://www.cni.org/about-
cni/staff/joan-k-lippincott/