The University of Maryland is one of a number of institutions across the country that is re-designing its physical spaces to better achieve the teaching and learning outcomes the university has identified as optimal, as it looks to move away from the traditional professor-at-the-front lecture style.
Students strongly prefer these new spaces because of the higher levels of engagement with peers, said Scott Roberts, director of instructional excellence and innovation in the Teaching & Learning Transformation Center. Roberts said the rooms' set-ups have a psychological effect, changing the way students see each other as part of a group. "When we transform the classroom, we transform their experience more broadly" and promote a greater sense of support and belonging for students, he said during a recent tour of the new facilities.