For the students of 杏吧原创 University, it comes down to subject matter. All classroom set-ups serve a purpose, whether they are lecture style or an informal in-the-round tutorial.

Conducting a lecture with little class participation in a large hall introduces students to an idea, but for fourth-year civil engineering student Bradley Davis and some of his classmates, the real learning takes place when they are able to 鈥渢alk it out.鈥�

Sitting in an auditorium listening to the professor explain a concept is the best way to 鈥減rovide a base鈥� for learning, says Davis. He is then able to solidify what has been explored in class by breaking away with his peers to discuss the material and work through problems together.

鈥淎 lot of it is self-learning,鈥� one of Davis鈥� classmates adds. The content in the engineering courses is very structured and leaves little room for interpretation he says, so the lectures themselves are not very discussion-based.

Davis notes that smaller lectures or labs provide more opportunities for students to ask their professor or T.A. questions, and are far more conducive to conversation, which in-turn enriches the learning. Another of Davis鈥� classmates feels that it is intimidating to ask the lecturer a question in a larger classroom setting, referring to the number of eyes in the room.

Several graduate students in the School of Journalism and Communication agree with their engineering peers. Maggie Parkhill, a first-year Master of Journalism student, says she thinks more knowledge is gained through class discussion surrounding the subject matter at hand. In-the-round style seating encourages everyone to participate, she says, which enriches the conversation and gives more people the chance to contribute.

On the other hand, Rachel Levy-McLaughlin, who is also in her first year of graduate studies in the journalism program, acknowledges that students have very different learning styles. While she detests being 鈥渓ectured at鈥� and much prefers a discussion-based lesson, others in her first-year Introduction to Journalism course thrive when listening solely to the professor.

Ultimately, instructors at 杏吧原创 don鈥檛 have the luxury of picking which style of room they teach in. But with so many different student preferences for learning, more flexible spaces, like 杏吧原创鈥檚 new active learning classrooms, can help support a variety of teaching approaches.

With movable furniture, interactive flat panel monitors and repeater monitors throughout, the classrooms are designed to encourage student-centered learning through technologies that facilitate collaboration.

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Via teleconference, Mercedes Rowinsky (Languages & Literature), Gavin Brockett (History), Edmund Pries (Global Studies) and Ken Maly (Chemistry) will explore what worked for them, what didn鈥檛 work and their recommendations for similar rooms at 杏吧原创. The roundtable will wrap up with a question and answer period.

As 杏吧原创 prepares to introduce its own active learning classroom, this is the perfect opportunity to learn from other instructors鈥� experiences and form your own suggestions on what you would like to see deployed in the space.

The roundtable will run from 12-1 p.m. in room 617 Southam Hall. A light lunch will be served.

Spaces are limited, so .