Hybrid Active Learning Classroom

The best room for giving interactive tutorials.

Video impression

In this video, you get a general impression of the Hybrid Active Learning Classroom.

An Hybrid Active Learning Classroom (HALC) is a space where interactive, student-oriented learning takes place, and which stimulates active learning through its layout. Students work in groups using their own laptops (BYOD) at adjustable sit-stand tables, with a screen and whiteboard for each table. A teaching station is located in the middle of the room, which an instructor can use to select which information is visible on the various screens; either the lecturer’s screen, the screen of a group at a specific table, or the work of students from another table. The group tables, shareable screens and whiteboards facilitate easy collaboration between groups and individual students. By adding additional screens and communication devices, hybrid education is also possible. The HALC also allows the instructor to provide classical instruction and one-on-one interaction. 

How is the space used?

We have compiled a list of some of the characteristics of an Hybrid Active Learning Classroom and tips on how to use one, to provide a glimpse in how the HALC is used in practice.

Use of space 

In the HALC, the instructor teaches from the middle of the room. This puts him/her close to each of the students, who are only a few steps away. This may take some getting used to, however; for example, some of the students will always be behind the instructor when he/she is teaching. Evaluations have shown that students are not bothered by this, as long as the instructor moves around to face each group of students during the instruction.

Focus on tasks

The layout of the Active Learning Classroom is geared towards encouraging interaction between students. As an instructor, it is important that you direct how and when this interaction takes place. Instructors that use the ALC have indicated that some groups can concentrate longer on their work by alternating between sitting and standing.

This room gives you new ideas for teaching methods and approaches.

Interaction with the lesson materials and the instructor

Each group table is equipped with a whiteboard and screen. Instructors have indicated that they gain better insight into the learning process and can intervene more effectively when students are able to use these resources, because the instructor can monitor the learning process from the middle of the room.

The space offers plenty of opportunities for screen management, for example by sharing one student table’s screen with the rest of the class. That allows the instructor to discuss the group’s results with the rest of the students. But there are other options as well.

The room offers an interactive space where the lecturer can have more contact with the students than usual.

Popular teaching formats

The Hybrid Active Learning Classroom is a popular choice for working on projects in groups, but it has also been used successfully for other teaching formats:

  • Computer labs (Bring Your Own Device): The HALC is often chosen for these lessons because it is easy to show one student’s results to the rest of the group, and because the instructor is easily accessible to all of the students.
  • Digital poster presentations: The posters are displayed on screen, and they can be switched out for new posters in the course of the lesson.
  • Tutorial: in which students are encouraged to brainstorm about a problem as a group.
  • Game-based learning: especially when it has an explicit competitive element, because student groups can see each other’s progress on their screens.

In the Teaching & Learning Lab, there have been many experiments with an active learning classroom set-up in previous years. Read more about one of these experiments here. 

Practical information

Hybrid Active Learning classrooms have been furnished in the following locations:

  • Bolognalaan 101; room 2.049
  • Capacity: 48

Reservations:

For recurring use of a Future Learning Space, please contact your faculty scheduler. An introductory interview is part of the process. Please note! Deadlines for booking an FLS for regular education are communicated via intranet.

For the occasional use of a Future Learning Space outside of regular education, you can use the self-service module TE Reserve.

Do you have questions or would you like a tour? Send an email to fls@uu.nl

Suitable for: interactive learning, group work, one-on-one interaction, computer labs (Bring Your Own Device), digital poster presentations, instruction for part of the lesson (this room is not ideal for lessons that are entirely composed of classroom instruction).