Lunch meeting "Ideal Teaching Space?”

How would you prefer to teach? And what does the subsequent ideal learning space look like? This question was the focus of the meeting of the Co-Creation Community Learning Spaces on December 9. 

After an initial introduction, the teachers and students present got to work themselves. By sketching on whiteboards, they provided insight into how they experience the learning spaces within the UU and what limitations they encounter while teaching in these spaces.  Where one teacher feels restricted in his or her room to move around and make contact with students in the lecture hall, another teacher drew a U-shape in a workgroup room that does not offer enough room for group work. On the contrary, another expressed a need for a more circular theater setup and proper projection equipment to project art images. 

Terms that reflected the limitations of current learning environments were: large physical distance between teacher-student, limited room for movement and flexibility, the space determines, insufficient opportunities for group work, inappropriate projection equipment, no cozy atmosphere. In the next drawing assignment, participants depicted their dream image of the ideal learning space. From these sketches it became clear that connection, interaction between the teacher and students and among students, collaborative learning and flexibility are seen as the most important conditions for a successful learning environment.

After this pictorial exchange of current situations and dream images, some teachers shared their experiences of teaching in Future Learning Spaces. For example, Joséphine Daub taught her subject two blocks in the Hybrid Active Learning Classroom where the group tables with their own screen promote intrinsic motivation of the student. Jip Leenderts took advantage of the Learning Plaza where, with large groups, a mix of self-study, group work and short instructional moments can easily follow each other. And Julia Kasch talked about her experiences in the Virtual Classroom with alliance education. 

An interactive and inspirational meeting like the one held on Dec. 9 contributes to learning from each other and thinking about how to improve learning environments at UU. How do we move forward with this? To properly address the needs of faculty, staff and students, we ask that you answer a few short questions here about the Co-Creation Community Learning Spaces.