All faculty, especially those teaching in active learning classrooms in Horizon, Innovation, Peterson, or Exploratory, are invited to register for a 30-minute workshop in Horizon Hall on Friday, January 21, 2022 (on-campus or virtual). Faculty and staff will be on hand to explain the features and suggest teaching strategies for these classrooms. For more information and to register, click here.
Horizon Hall Resources
With the opening of Horizon Hall, there is now a much larger selection of active learning classrooms (ALCs). ALCs have been designed so that the furniture can be moved around into different configurations to support students’ working in different sized teams. They are also outfitted with whiteboards all around the room, so that students can easily collaborate and share their work for other students to see (pro tip: the Stearns Center recommends that you ask students to purchase their own markers and bring them to class).
All classrooms are equipped with technology designed to enhance active instruction; while specific technology features may minimally vary across buildings, the classrooms are designed to enable a consistent experience for teaching and learning on Mason’s campuses. Please know that the Classroom and Lab Technologies suite is also located in the building, just a few steps away from your classroom.
The systems in Horizon Hall are a little different from other classroom systems and offer some new functionality. Classroom and Lab Technologies (CaLT) provides support, services, and equipment (e.g., adapters) to help faculty take full advantage of the technology available in all classrooms. The CaLT team have collaborated with the Stearns Center to provide several video and informational resources. To view the videos and a quick overview of the room features, please see the Horizon Hall resources on the Stearns Center’s Classroom Guide.
You are also invited to register for a 30-minute workshop on Friday, January 21, 2022, for guidance on and practice with the room features. If you have other questions, please do not hesitate to contact Fairfax Classroom Support at 703-993-3456.
Active Learning Resources
There are numerous additional resources on the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning website. In particular, the Active Learning page may be of value as you plan for and experience teaching in your classroom and design for the larger spaces that support more collaborative learning, even in content-focused courses. These resources will also help you incorporate small changes that can have a large impact as you design your course to take advantage of the room’s amenities to support engaged student learning.
You can also read about faculty and student experiences when teaching in our earlier ALCs on our Learning Environments website. You will also find information about managing student expectations, course design and class activity preparation – including considerations around quizzes and testing, classroom dynamics, using groups, and student accountability.
January 10, 2022
