There are several SCALE-UP based classrooms at the University of Queensland. The Axon Learning Lab at the University of Queensland was officially opened on 17 February 2010. The space features:
- 11 tables, each seating 9 students, with
- 3 fixed PCs per table (which hide under the table) with 17″ Wacom tablets, keyboards and mice on the tables. The tablets can be angled down (to write on) or up (to use as a traditional monitor)
- Additional power and data outlets accessible from the table top
- A continuous whiteboard “ribbon” around the room
- Wall mounted 46″ LCD screens (one per table)
- A central instructor’s station featuring
- PC with tablet display
- Ceiling mounted visualizer
- Electronically locked drawers (e.g. for storing handheld microphones)
- Touch screen control panel (for the AMX system which controls video sources, lighting etc)
- 2 pan-tilt-zoom video cameras enabling any of the whiteboards to be shared to the LCD screens
Photos:
Table Design
Tables in the Axon Learning Lab are not circular, but have the shape shown below. The area of each table is equivalent to that of a 7ft (2100mm) diameter circle but the shape allows slightly better circulation around the tables.
Contacts:
There is another room at Queensland that can only be described as humongous! It seats 603 students at 67 tables of nine. Carl Reidsema is the contact person for this engineering space. Information on the logistics can be found here.
The UQ Centre, typically used for large events such as graduation and basketball games, has been used since the beginning of 2013 as a ‘SCALE-UP’ type teaching space for 1200+ first year engineering students. For weekly sessions in ENGG1100 (Engineering design, 1st semester), ENGG1200 (Engineering problem solving and modelling, 2nd semester), ENGG1500 (Engineering thermodynamics, 1st and 2nd semester) and BIOL1040 (Cells to organisms), the space is equipped with 67 round tables each with 9 seats such that 600 students can be accommodated at any one time. There is comparatively little technology in the space: a document camera, computer, and an A/V system that affords two wireless microphones and projection onto three screens. There is also capacity for each student to connect to the internet. The sessions can be successfully facilitated by the course coordinator and four senior tutors (wearing high-visibility vests).
The sessions replace traditional lectures, and promote collaborative learning. However the four courses employ different delivery methods and these will change each week depending on the learning objectives. Methods include:
- 10 minute podcasts which students watch before attending the session;
- structured sets of problems which are often supported by a template distributed to the students upon entry (and sometimes collected for assessment);
- collaboration in pairs, triplets or as a table;
- using different table numbers which direct students to for example, sit within engineering-disciplines to deepen understanding or to sit anywhere and encourage inter-disciplinary thinking;
- the use of the document camera to display the best examples of student work; and
- the use of a Wordle-type virtual whiteboard on which students can ‘write’ using a connection to the internet.