Webcast:

Facilities for Today's Undergraduate Science Learning Communities:
What Works

Learn two dimensions of what works in shaping contemporary spaces for undergraduate science learning. We’ll examine of the process of planning—what questions to ask, who needs to be at the table, how to sequence stages of planning, and how to build community-wide awareness and ownership of the planning process. Then, we will examine the ‘products’ of planning—specific spaces for the research-rich, interdisciplinary learning environments that nurture the undergraduate natural science (STEM) community on a campus. 

This discussion will focus on three major threads now being woven into the shaping of spaces for undergraduate science (STEM) learning communities:

First is attention to the contemporary research-based pedagogies that are designed for collaborative, problem-directed, student-owned learning. These pedagogies are reshaping classrooms, integrating the lecture and lab, and calling for a diversity of spaces that serve groups of different sizes.

The second thread involves the relationship of space and learning—how students learn all the time, that every space is a learning space and that everyone is a learner. This means that attention to visibility, adjacencies and connections and the relationship between space and community is an essential part of the planning process. 

The third thread captures the many strands under the umbrella of sustainability/environmental awareness. This means thinking about the physical infrastructure as a tool for learning, as well as about linking programming of the curriculum to programming of the spaces.

What you will learn:

Prudent planning always incorporates significant benchmarking activities. This webcast will give you a virtual experience in benchmarking. From this webcast, you will see how the changing context—insights from research on how people learn, responses to the interdisciplinarity of the contemporary S&T world of practice and demands of today’s workforce, and the awareness that all undergraduates need access to a first-rate undergraduate STEM learning environment—is bringing a whole new set of questions to the planning table. Further, you will have the opportunity to explore some of the emerging answers to these emerging questions.

Who Should Attend?

• Campus leaders responsible for shaping the intellectual, social, and physical environments in which 21st century undergraduates learn about the nature of doing science
• Campus teams planning new/renovated spaces for science–particularly in shaping learning environments in which current and future students have access to robust learning experiences in STEM fields.
• Architectural firms may find this webcast of benefit in sharing with their institutional clients.
• Campus planning teams will also find this a valuable step in building a common vision for shaping a physical environment for learning that supports their vision for the intellectual and social learning environment.

Moderator:

Jeanne L. Narum, Director, Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL)

As PKAL director, Jeanne Narum’s responsibilities focus on transforming undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at the institutional and national levels to ensure that all students have access to robust learning experiences in STEM fields. A major responsibility is to coordinate the volunteer efforts of a national cadre of change agents, whose experiences shape PKAL institutes, seminars, workshops, and publications, illustrating best practices in the work of reform. Narum is editor of PKAL publications (electronic and print) on leadership in reform. PKAL's goal is to encourage the design and development of an intellectual, physical, and organizational infrastructure that supports strong learning in STEM fields. Narum is the project director for grants from the National Science Foundation, the W.M. Keck Foundation, and other funders that support the work of PKAL.

Presenter:

Robert J. Beichner, Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor, North Carolina State University

As a member of the Physics Education R & D Group, Beichner's research focuses on increasing our understanding of student learning and the improvement of physics education. His biggest current project is the creation and study of a learning environment supporting a new way to teach called SCALE-UP: Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs. This curriculum development, evaluation, and dissemination effort is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, Hewlett-Packard, and Pasco Scientific, and the approach has been adopted by numerous schools, including MIT, RIT, the University of Alabama, and Wake Technical Community College. The SCALE-UP project is part of Beichner's efforts to reform physics instruction at a national level. The textbook that he co-authored, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, is in its 5th edition, and was the top-selling introductory calculus-based physics book in the nation, used by more than a third of all science, math, and engineering majors.

Pete Sandberg, Assistant Vice President for Facilities, St. Olaf College

Pete Sandberg is assistant vice president for facilities at St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN.
Sandberg has been at St. Olaf for nineteen years, and higher education facilities management since 1980. He leads the facilities operations group as well as the planning, design, and construction of new projects. St. Olaf opened Regents Hall, a 200,000 square foot comprehensive natural science and mathematics facility for the fall semester of 2008, and expects it to achieve LEED Platinum. He has also developed St. Olaf’s Sustainable Design Guidelines that inform all major work. He is a past-president of MAPPA, the Midwest Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers, and has been the chair of APPA’s College Task Force and Small College Committee when they existed. A LEED accredited professional by the U.S. Green Building Council, he chairs the St. Olaf College Sustainability Task Force.

Douglas Weldon, Stone Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Neuroscience Program, Hamilton College

Douglas Weldon is the Stone Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Neuroscience Program at Hamilton College.  From 1997 – 2005, Weldon was the coordinator of Science Curriculum and Facilities, serving as the faculty shepherd for a $56 million unified science center at Hamilton. He has presented information on the planning, design, and outcome of this facility at the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) and Project Kaleidoscope conferences. Weldon earned his undergraduate degree from the College of Wooster, a master's degree from Towson State University, and his doctorate in behavioral neuroscience from SUNY at Buffalo.

To learn more about the webcast's sponsors, please visit:
Society for College and University Planning
www.scup.org

Project Kaleidoscope
www.pkal.org

Questions?
Please contact Kathleen Benton, kathy.benton@scup.org, or call 734.764.2001.