This article describes an evaluation of a campus wide Active Learning initiative to examine instructors' experiences teaching in Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) at a Canadian University. ALCs at this university differ in size, layout, and audio-visual equipment. The participants were 21 instructors from different disciplines who had taught…

Recent years have witnessed the spread of purpose-built active learning classrooms throughout the higher education sector. While these innovative learning spaces are well-suited for a variety of active learning strategies, their lack of a single focal point means they are inconvenient spaces for lecturing. While educational developers often…

The goal of this study was to contribute to research on active learning by addressing the problem of disentangling the effects of classroom architecture, student characteristics, and pedagogical design as they relate to student achievement. The study utilized a quasiexperimental design where data was collected on student perceptions of their…

Learning spaces in higher education are fraught with colonial barriers such as teacher-centered, front facing, stark, feelingless, and unwelcoming classrooms that diminish students' feelings of well-being. For pre-service teachers, these are also the types of classrooms that they often inherit as they foray into the profession. Three Bachelor of…

This classroom technology pilot explored the ways in which three different tools yielded insights into instructors' and students' use of physical classroom space in a higher education environment. The tools of interest were a ceiling heatmap camera from Panasonic, small ultrawideband movement trackers from Pozyx, and an audio sensor from TSI. The…

Effective integration of active learning technology tools in classrooms is a key component of 21st century higher education classrooms. Challenged with outdated technology access and traditional classrooms, a local university in North Carolina initiated a strategic plan to update classrooms and laboratories with the 21st century technology. The…

COVID-19 forced universities to engage in rapid improvisation and adoption of online learning and teaching. This paper explores "real-time blended" learning in which online students are taught simultaneously with students who are experiencing proximate learning. Two cliques could develop with those learning online becoming observers…

To better support pedagogies of engagement, such as peer learning, team learning, and inquiry-based learning, Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are equipped with a range of physical and technological affordances, including movable furniture, ample whiteboard access, and immediate work-sharing capabilities using mobile technologies and displays.…

Although engineering education research has empirically validated the effectiveness of active learning in improving student learning over traditional lecture-based methods, the adoption of active learning in classrooms has been slow. One of the greatest reported barriers is student resistance towards engagement in active learning exercises. This…

Although learning spaces research is not new, research approaches that target the specific teaching and learning experiences of faculty and students who occupy active learning classrooms (ALCs) is nascent. We report on two novels data collection approaches: Flashbacks and Re-Captures. Both leverage faculty reflective practice and provide windows…

The traditional lecture-oriented teaching is still the norm in English as a foreign language education courses, but an innovative teaching model, expedited by recent advances in technology, becomes often popular across non-English-speaking subjects. The new model flips the usual classroom paradigm, in which students learn primary concepts outside…

Background: The characteristics of the classroom environment play an important role in shaping teaching practices and supporting research-based instructional strategies. One instructional strategy that has reimagined the classroom is the Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-Down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP). SCALE-UP uses studio-style…

The current work seeks to explore University professors' perspectives on teaching and learning in an innovative classroom characterized by flexible design of space, furniture and technology. The study took place during the 2015-2016 academic year at Fairfield University, a Masters comprehensive university in the Northeastern United States.…

"Flipping" the classroom refers to a pedagogical approach in which students are first exposed to didactic content outside the classroom and then actively use class time to apply their newly attained knowledge. The idea of the flipped classroom is not new, but has grown in popularity in recent years as the necessary technology has…

It is widely recognized that technology in the classroom has the potential to transform education at every stage from Pre-K, to K-12, to Higher Education and Adult Education. Using the Digital Teaching Platform as an exemplar of 21st Century classroom instruction style, the author offers an overview of classroom technology and its effects on…