Our Facilities
Physics Studio
Classroom design based on physics education research
In the summer of 2010 the Department of Physics renovated the two classrooms that serve as our primary teaching spaces. You might notice from the pictures below that they look a bit different than the typical classroom. This is a summary of the key design principles behind our classrooms, and how these principles relate to physics education research.
Learning communities within learning communities
The classrooms contain a number of round tables, each accommodating nine students. Each table has three groups of three students, with one computer per group. This creates a multi-tiered learning environment described by the following diagram:
If a student has a question, she can ask someone else in her group. If a group has a question, they can ask another group at their table. If a table has a question, they can ask another table in the classroom. And if the classroom, or any of the subgroups mentioned above, have a question at any time, they can also ask the professor!
In such a classroom the division between lecture and lab dissolves, and the learning becomes based more on discovery and joint problem-solving. Whiteboards cover the walls to aid in these tasks.
Spatial symmetry of the learning space
You might also notice that there are two projector screens at opposite sides of the room. This in addition to the round tables aims to make the room as symmetric as possible so that there is no front or back to the room. There is no place to hide! This serves to increase accountability between those in the room since students cannot lay low as they can in the back of a typical classroom.
Optimization of interpersonal communication
The rooms are carpeted to absorb sound and reduce background noise. Great pains have been taken to preserve line-of-sight between individuals in the room. In order not to have power cords hanging from the ceilings or running along the floor, a false floor was installed under which lie all of the network and power cabling. This also enhances personal mobility as all chairs in the room roll and are not impeded by cabling.
These classrooms were designed based on the North Carolina State University physics department's SCALE-UP project, a twenty-year research project on optimizing a learning environment to best implement results from physics education research.