New Interactive Classroom Increases Collaboration, 
Enthusiasm For Western Kentucky University 
Students

"I was expecting to sit in a class and have lectures," said Bowers, a physics major from White House, Tenn.

Instead, Bowers and other students in six physics classes are participating in the collaborative, hands-on and technology-rich Interactive Engagement Classroom in Thompson Complex Center Wing 251.

The classroom features laptop computers on four round tables and computer projection equipment to enhance the interaction among students and the instructor.

"It makes for a more interesting class," Bowers said as he worked on a physics problem with freshman Sarah Witten.

"This class is more interactive," added Witten, a pre-vet major from Elizabethtown.

Other students in Dr. Doug Harper's Physics 250 class agreed that interaction and collaboration make the Interactive Engagement Classroom special.

"We do a lot more group work," Matt Dawson, a freshman from Portland, Tenn., said as he worked on the in-class assignment with freshman Brittany Sutherland of Lawrenceburg and senior Mark O'Brien of Belize.

WKU administrators, faculty and staff will have an opportunity to see the classroom's capabilities during a Nov. 27 open house. A session for department heads and administrators begins at 1:30 p.m. followed by a session for faculty and staff at 2:15.

The science complex classroom was renovated during the summer thanks to funding from the Office of the Provost and the Ogden College of Science and Engineering.

The room's rectangular tables, stools and laboratory sinks were replaced by round tables, comfortable chairs and laptop computers.

"The main focus of this classroom is to allow our students to interact and work together," said Dr. Harper, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

In traditional classrooms, opportunities for interaction among students and the instructor are often limited, he said. The classroom's four tables can accommodate up to 36 students who share access to laptop computers and specialized software.

"Having the round tables creates a community of learning," said Dr. Scott Bonham, assistant professor of physics.

The interactive classroom is based on model Dr. Bonham worked with at North Carolina State University called SCALE-UP (Student Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs).

"Increasing student learning was the whole motivation for developing this curriculum" and the interactive classroom, Dr. Bonham said.

In the past, students could complete a physics course without really learning the basic key elements or without having interaction with the instructor on a routine basis, he said.

"In this classroom, there really is no back of the room," Dr. Bonham said. "The instructor is two steps from any table. You can't hide in this classroom."

The laptops, software programs, the projection screens on two sides of the room and the dry erase boards on each wall allow students to work on problems in class. "We really do encourage collaboration," Dr. Harper said.

Class materials, including the syllabus and homework assignments, are available online. During a typical class, the amount of lecturing is limited so students can work on hands-on or computer-based problems. "This approach moves the work from being a textbook problem to seeing it and doing it yourself," Harper said.

In the Interactive Engagement Classroom, student learning isn't passive, Bonham said. "I'm convinced that students really do learn more," he said.

Additional information on the Interactive Engagement Classroom is available online at http://physics.wku.edu/classroom/

Photo caption:

Doug Harper, associate physics professor at Western Kentucky University, helps Sarah Witten, 18, from Elizebethtown, and Jonathan Bowers, 17, from Whitehouse, Tenn., to solve an equation in his Physics 250 class in Western's new interactive classroom.
 

WKU Photo by Sheryl Hagan-Booth

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