Bloom's Sixth

The new Earth, Energy and Environment Center is still a work in progress. Workers in hardhats still move through mostly empty hallways and rooms. Cardboard boxes are strewn about as tables, chairs, computer monitors and other equipment is unpacked, assembled and put into place. The sound of a hammer or drill echoes occasionally. The smell of new carpet, upholstery, paint or wood greets you around every corner. Even amid the clutter and clamor, though, this new complex attached to Lindley Hall looks like the future. Paleocon, an annual event for students in Geology 121: DNA to…

By Doug Ward SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Here’s a harsh question to ask about the classrooms on our campuses: What are they good for? Yes, there’s more than a tinge of sarcasm in that question – answering “not much” comes immediately to mind – but it gets to the heart of a problem in learning and, more broadly, in the success of our students. Oregon State drew from several models as it created new classrooms, including a learning studio, an emporium style (below) and the set of a television talk show (bottom). Tim Reynolds of the architecture firm …

Self and Oswald halls are the first new dorms to open at KU in nearly 50 years (There was a link, but the page no longer exist). The living spaces look much like what you’d expect from dorm rooms. The informal spaces, though, provide a modern, visually appealing take on informal, collaborative learning. (They are also great for just hanging out.) The new dorms were open for tours late last week. Here is some of what I found.

Earlier this week, I interrupted two students in a small room at Spahr Engineering Library at KU. Tom Ellison, left, and Nathan Marlow at Spahr Engineering Library. The students, Tom Ellison and Nathan Marlow, were working on problems for a dynamics class. Each had tablet computers and used styluses to work problems by hand in OneNote. Ellison’s computer was connected wirelessly to a large monitor on a wall, via an adaptor he checked out from the library, and the two of them conversed and shared ideas as they worked. It was an impressive scene of collaboration in a space that makes…

In a previous post, I wrote about my experiences with room design, student behavior and learning. I found that students were far more engaged when I moved class to a collaborative space, and that they reverted to passive behavior when class returned to the traditional space we were assigned. The March issue of …