1. Creating Collaborative Classrooms
L. Kay Abernathy – Assoc Prof Ed Leadership
Sheryl R. Abshire- Asst Prof Ed Leadership
Melissa Hudler – QEP Director
Steven Zani – CTLE Director

2. Creating Collaborative Classrooms
 Goal: To create new learning spaces
for teaching and learning at
undergraduate and graduate levels.
 Purpose: To implement facilities,
spaces, and faculty development for
engaging 21st century learners.

3. Lamar University Center
for Teaching and Learning Enhancement

4. Creating Collaborative Classrooms
Shared Voices from Three University Entities
 Center for Teaching
and Learning
Enhancement
 ACES
 Academic information
Technology Committee

5. Creating Collaborative Classrooms
Center for Teaching and Learning
Enhancement

6. Creating Collaborative Classrooms
 A strong commitment to student and faculty
engagement and teaching and learning
excellence.
 Supports faculty, administrators, graduate
students, and staff in their academic pursuits.
 Provides a range of instructional services to
assist all members of the LU teaching
community.

7. Creating Collaborative Classrooms
 Mission Statement for Center for Teaching and
Learning Enhancement
 To promote deep understanding of the scholarship
of teaching and learning.
 To cultivate dialogue about teaching pedagogies
and learning theories
 To foster the use of research-based best practices,
models, and approaches to university teaching and
learning.

8. Quality Enhancement Plan: The ACES Project
The Lamar University Quality Enhancement Plan, Active &
Collaborative Engagement for Students (ACES), focuses
on improving student learning in core and developmental
courses by promoting active and collaborative learning.

9. Creating Collaborative Classrooms
ACES Project
 Focused on the core courses.
 Focused on enhancing faculty understanding
of the importance of active and collaborative
learning for student engagement.
 Focused on enhancing faculty skill at utilizing
innovative educational pedagogies.

10. Creating Collaborative Classrooms
ACES Project
Faculty are chosen through a competitive
process to serve as ACES Fellows and are
committed to implementing active and
collaborative teaching methods in their
courses.

11. Academic Information Technology
Committee April 2012
LAMAR UNIVERSITY
2011-2012 UNIVERSITY COMMITTEES & COUNCILS
Academic Information Technology Committee
 Appointment of Subcommittee to study new learning
environments for 21st century learners
 Membership & Reporting: Recommendations from the
Committee presented to Lamar Provost

12. Recommended Action Items
 Further research the Active Learning Classrooms
concept.
 Investigate other University and/or Department efforts.
 Create a subcommittee to design a local research
initiative plan and a presentation to share with
Academic Information Technology Committee and
University administration.

13. Why Do We Need New Learning Spaces?
From where they enter our halls of academia?
https://vimeo.com/scil/scil-building
http://vimeo.com/28448313

14. University Models
Concept Lab vs. Lecture
http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/MinnVideo/MinnVideo.html
According to Dr. Robin Wright, University of
Minnesota:
http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/groups/adopters/wiki/817e4/
Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology.html
http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/

15. Active Learning Classroom Features
Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are
designed to foster interactive, flexible, student-
centered learning experiences, and operate
using central teaching stations and student-
provided laptops.
 ALCs feature:
 A 360-degree glass-surface marker board.
 Multiple flat-panel display projection systems.
 Round tables that accommodate nine students each.
 A centered teaching station that allows selection and
display of table-specific information.
 Transitions to online learning.

16. Creating Collaborative Classrooms Example
http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/wiki/pages/12m1C9c6/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology.html

17. How Do You Know it Works?
 Rigorous evaluations of learning have been
conducted in parallel with the curriculum development
and classroom design efforts.
 Besides hundreds of hours of classroom video and
audio recordings, different schools have conducted
numerous interviews and focus groups, conducted
many conceptual learning assessments (using
nationally-recognized instruments in a pretest/posttest
protocol), and collected portfolios of student work.
 NC State has data comparing nearly 16,000
traditional and SCALE-UP students taking physics.

18. How Do You Know it Works?
Their findings can be summarized as the following:
 Students' ability to solve problems is improved.
 Their conceptual understanding is increased.
 Their attitudes are better.
 Failure rates (especially for women and minorities)
are drastically reduced.
 “At risk" students do better in later courses.
Beichner, R. J., Saul, J. M., Abbott, D. S., Morse, J. J., Deardorff, D. L.,
Allain, R. J., Bonham, S. W., Dancy, M. H. Risley, J.S. (2007). The
Student-Centered Activities for Laerge Enrollment Undergraduate
Programs (SCALE-UP) Project. NC Scale-up Research
http://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=4517

19. Creating a Collaborative Classroom at Lamar University

20. Creating a Collaborative Classroom at Lamar University
45 person classroom
Eno board 2 $ 2,777.99 $ 5,555.98
Media Scape Mobile 4 $ 8,467.56 $ 33,870.24
Projector 2 $ 793.61 $ 1,587.22
Tables 6 $ 562.50 $ 3,375.00
Chairs 46 $ 326.34 $ 15,011.64
Teacher Station 1 $ 863.16 $ 863.16
Furniture installation 1 $ 3,100.00 $ 3,100.00
TOTAL $ 16,891.16 $ 63,363.24

21. Creating a Collaborative Classroom at Lamar University

22. Creating Collaborative Classrooms at Lamar University
Classroom at Lamar University
30 person classroom
Qty Unit price Extended price
Eno board 1 $ 2,777.99 $ 2,777.99
Media Scape Mobile 2 $ 8,467.56 $ 16,935.12
Projector 1 $ 793.61 $ 793.61
Tables 4 $ 562.50 $ 2,250.00
Chairs 31 $ 326.34 $ 10,116.54
Teacher Station 1 $ 863.16 $ 863.16
Furniture installation 1 $ 2,265.00 $ 2,265.00
TOTAL $ 16,056.16 $ 36,001.42

23. Resources
http://edudemic.com/2013/03/the-10-skills-modern-teachers-
must-have/
https://vimeo.com/scil/scil-building
http://vimeo.com/28448313
http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/faculty/Thurnau/ThurnauVideos.php

24. Closing
Questions?
Comments?

25. Contact Information
 Dr. L. Kay Abernathy - lkabernathy@lamar.edu
 Dr. Sheryl Abshire - sheryl.abshire@lamar.edu
 Dr. Steven Zani – steven.zani@lamar.edu
 Melissa Hudler – melissa.hudler@lamar.edu
http://tinyurl.com/crnldw6