Engineering Fundamentals<\/a>\u00a0(EF) team created a wishlist for the design of classrooms in the Zeanah Engineering Complex. They shared the ways they wanted these spaces to work with building planners, and their input was utilized extensively.<\/p>\nThe over-arching idea was for the spaces to welcome students into the world of engineering and to begin that experience from their first moments in class. They wanted to encourage group work that immediately engages students in collaboration.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t want the traditional lecture hall, where students are just sitting and listening,\u201d said Richard Bennett. \u201cWe wanted them actively involved in the learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
They now have the classrooms they imagined, and the approach has worked wonders in practice.<\/p>\n
EF faculty looked at the ways other institutions applied their engineering pedagogy and how they used their teaching spaces. They tried out various aspects of this through use of large auditoriums in Strong Hall and the Mossman building. They saw the need for the space to allow students to learn from each other, as well as instructors.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that led to \u2018no-front-of-the-classroom.\u2019 That led to tables where students are working in teams of four to six, roughly,\u201d said Bennett. \u201cIt\u2019s very interesting in the classroom now\u2014there\u2019ll be some that work in two or three and then you get these groups that are moving chairs from the other table and they have eight there. And it\u2019s all good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The flexibility of the space has helped the EF team hit a new stride\u2014evident from their very first day in the ZEC classrooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cI teach three classes back to back, so with the 25 minutes between classes, you know, that\u2019s about four hours that I\u2019m in there,\u201d said Bennett.<\/p>\n
It was both taxing and exhilarating for him, especially following the pandemic year of classes via Zoom.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was physically exhausted but I was, emotionally, on a super high,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just said, \u2018Wow, this is working like we wanted it to.\u2019 I\u2019m in my 39th year of teaching and I\u2019m having the most fun I\u2019ve ever had\u2014to see the energy of the students teaching each other, working together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The very size of these spaces is flexible, as well, offering the ability to host a full room 128 students collaborating in groups or\u2014with the deployment of a few walls\u2014offering more intimate spaces in which students can interact more closely with instructors during lab sessions.<\/p>\n
Bennett points out the combination of elements that make it all work, from the flexibility of the rooms to the flexibility of the furniture. All of the tables and seating in the classrooms can be moved and arranged however it best serves the day\u2019s purposes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also important that the groups of student working together at any given table can communication with other groups or the instructors via interactive multiple screens throughout the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re sort of pushing the envelope here in a sense,\u201d said Bennett. \u201cThe ability for me to not be tied to an HDMI cable, to be able to walk around\u2014that\u2019s really helpful. Students can use the monitor to write together, get on the internet, or a variety of things. We\u2019re still, admittedly, figuring out the best way, all the capabilities and stuff, but it has really worked out well.\u201d<\/p>\n
It all comes together to produce the original desired effect: that students are learning in an active, collaborative way\u2014and even teaching each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell the students all the time that the best way to learn something is to teach it,\u201d said Bennett. \u201cIf you\u2019re helping somebody that\u2019s struggling, that\u2019s really helping you, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
In that way, the Volunteer Spirit echoes throughout the Zeanah Engineering Complex.<\/p>\n
See the full article<\/a> on the UTK TCE Website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Engineering Vols love it when a plan comes together. TCE\u2019s\u00a0Engineering Fundamentals\u00a0(EF) team created a wishlist for the design of classrooms in the Zeanah Engineering Complex. They shared the ways they wanted these spaces to work with building planners, and their input was utilized extensively. The over-arching idea was for the spaces to welcome students into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[10,75],"class_list":["post-1734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlights","tag-richard-bennett","tag-zec"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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