University of Florida

Contact person is Jason Meneely

The College of Design, Construction and Planning’s new Media:scape LearnLab — informally known as the “co-Lab” — breaks down the traditional barriers of teacher-to-student lecture rooms.In the space, students and faculty from across disciplines co-create classroom content in real time. Essentially, learning is no longer a one-way transmission from faculty to student, but emerges as a collaboration among students with the professor as a guide.

“If you think about the design of the classroom, it has not changed much over the centuries, students still sit in soldier rows of seating waiting for faculty to impart knowledge upon them,” said Jason Meneely, assistant professor of interior design. “This space turns the tables on faculty as the sole gatekeepers of knowledge and information — it’s really about collaboration, problem-solving and connection.”

Alecia Monteiro wrote her PhD dissertation on “Preparing Faculty to Teach in an Active Learning Classroom.” You may find it useful:

monteiro_a.pdf