Page 23 - EHDD ONEder Grant Report

COULD A SERIES OF COLLABORATION DENS REPLACE THE AUDITORIUM AS A NEW MODEL OF LEARNING AT
COLLEGE CAMPUSES?
7,000 sf / 6 “Collaboration Dens” ~
1170sf each. This is a larger space than
is typically required for a group of 25
students but flexibility often means a bit
more space. Let’s assume 1,000sf each to
make up for a loss in efficiency.
Divide into
6 spaces
425 = 17 cohorts of 25 students
+ REIMA GINING THE F U T URE OF HIGHER EDUC A TION | MAR CH 2 02 1
Is the auditorium
dead?
Many of the students we talked
to disliked large dark auditoriums
where they “got stuck in the
middle of a row”, couldn’t hear
or see adequately and had a hard
time paying attention. They felt
that these courses adapted well
to the online model, and in some
ways worked better virtually. The
~1,000 sf each
These 6 classrooms would need to be faculty we talked to didn’t like
scheduled 2-3 times or a little over 3 lecturing in these spaces for the
hours each to accommodate the same lack of ability to actively connect
number of students as the auditorium. with students.
When not in use, they are an ideal
size and configuration for a study hall, The pandemic has heightened
small classroom, large meeting space, sensitivity to the “healthiness” of
club and student activity space, or a these large spaces where students
presentation space.
and faculty are packed tightly
together for an hour or more.
These are environments that don’t
adequately tailor to a range of
learning styles and neurodiversity.
Additionally, these spaces are
inherently inflexible, most often
COME TO CAMPUS TO WATCH THE LECTURE IN A with tiered fixed seating that really
GROUP AND FOR COLLABORATION/DISCUSSION only serves one use well and that
2 hours
(4 groups of 25) sits vacant at other times.
Could the same square footage
be used on campus in a way
that provides a more engaging
WATCH THE LECTURE ONLINE learning experience? Could it be
COME TO CAMPUS FOR COLLABORATION/DISCUSSION replaced with flexible spaces that
1 hour accommodate multiple use and
(12 groups of 25) that promote faculty and student
agency?
Perhaps 1 cohort opts to take the course entirely online
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