Incubator Classroom at Conversations in Celebration of Teaching

Incubator Classroom at Conversations in Celebration of Teaching

On Friday (Sept 20), I participated in Auburn University's first Conversations in Celebration of Teaching, an internal conference allowing faculty to showcase how they are using new methods in their teaching.  This year's focus was definitely on the e-portfolio, with lots of posters on assessment, rubrics, assignments.  However, some of the posters covered other aspects of innovative teaching as well, such as flipping the classroom or taking an introductory Spanish course completely online.

I was invited to participate as one of the supporting units, focusing on the Incubator Classroom.  My oldfashioned poster brought some interested folks to my table, so I am hoping that I will get more of the word out and more faculty interested in teaching in this kind of setting.

Poster at Conversation in Celebration of Teaching.

First meeting of Faculty -- Feedback and Exchange of Ideas

We had our first meeting of the faculty who are teaching/going to teach in the new classroom space for feedback and an exchange of ideas.
The first few minutes were dedicated to issues with the room -- the consensus is that the teaching station needs to move into the corner, and that this would not create the illusion of a front of the room but instead will improve site lines and possibly remove the teacher from the center of activity (which is still perceived as a position of privilege).  Some reports on the touch screen -- apparently buttons are preferred rather than a touch screen that allows for more flexibility.
One interesting point about the glass boards -- glare is an issue, though that is controlled through the dimmable lights.  And of course the monitor size and height.

Positive feedback:

traditional table chair

Steelcase chairs

Students have commented on the chairs as being very comfortable, especially in comparison to our regular tablet chairs.

They also like the amount of work space on the tables, although the orange table is not that popular.


Faculty exchanged ideas about what they were doing in the classroom, including gallery walks, role playing, individual and group assessment to measure the level of preparedness, negotiation of assignments between groups and faculty and within groups.  One recurrent theme was that this rooms allows for the application, practice of learned concepts -- whether this is in reading education, game theory, or health administration.
Students love that they can work on their projects in class, with the help of others and immediate access to the faculty member.  When students work on the glass boards or use the monitors to work on their projects, one additional effect is that other groups see what the level of presentation is and rise to the challenge -- the design, complexity, and depth of student work appears to increase.

Incubator Classroom: Two weeks in!

Incubator Classroom:  Two weeks in!

The incubator classroom has its first two weeks completed, and I keep getting feedback from faculty and, more second hand, from students.  In addition, now we have ten courses scheduled in the room (up from the original seven).

We need to work on the height of the monitors -- they need to come a good bit lower, so we are going to start with one and see if just a few inches is enough of a difference or if we need to be more radical -- maybe think about a swivel arm that will get the monitors further down.

We need to work on the noise level of the equipment -- hopefully, when the cabinet furniture finally arrives, that issue will be contained.

Faculty are concerned with students not paying attention to their classmates when others are talking - so, either faculty need to set clearer boundaries and/or student groups need to use the microphone to get though to the other groups who are busily working away on their own project.

Undergraduate students in particular like the colors of the space -- graduate students not so much -- and a large group of faculty entering the room is quite the experience in terms of what comments they come up with.

Question -- is there some good color evaluation theory out there that can be used as the basis for evaluating color in the space?