In its renovation of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville sought to overhaul the traditional higher education lecture by dedicating an entire classroom building to this collaborative learning/teaching style.
The 48-year-old building was previously known for its dirty whiteboards, tunnel-like hallways, aged furniture and bland projection technology. Today, the building welcomes students with 36 classrooms filled with vibrantly colored furniture, new whiteboards on all four walls, interactive smart boards, high-definition video capability, WiFi, and new seating.
The rather dramatic renovations were considered for multiple reasons, including demonstrating the value of campus-based learning, adapting to new student learning styles, harnessing new technologies and creating a people-based alternative to online learning.
“What we are involved in is an institutional culture change,” said Stan Guffey, a member of the subcommittee and faculty scholar with the Tennessee Teaching and Learning Center. “The brick-and-mortar university is going to persist because we are offering something better. We have the added value of the collaborative learning, the social elements, which is how we operate in a professional environment.”
The $3.5 million redesign was paid for by the students’ facilities fee. The project was a collaborative effort between the Classroom Upgrade Committee, Facilities Services, the College of Architecture and Design, the Tennessee Teaching and Learning Center, University Libraries, and the Office of Information Technology.