After May 16, the two remaining active learning classrooms in Harrelson Hall were moved to Cox Hall. In the two classrooms, NC State physics professor Robert Beichner began his SCALE-UP classroom project, a class style that allows students to become teachers in STEM classes of over 100 students.
SCALE-UP (Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies) was first implemented at NC State in the mid-1990s.
“I was teaching an experimental class,” Beichner said. “I wanted to be able to apply all of the research based teaching methods in a larger section of 100 students or more.”
Beichner’s vision for the project included students working in teams of three around round tables and discussing research, inspiring a desire to learn through peer-to-peer interaction.
“It’s a fun way to teach because the students are enjoying the material,” Beichner said. “Students have opportunities to practice 21st century skills.”
Beichner’s new class philosophy continued to grow and develop over the following decade, gaining immense popularity and widespread adoption at approximately 300 universities worldwide. Most notably, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology instituted a requirement for all of its undergraduate students to enroll in one TEAL (Technology Enabled Active Learning) class; the program was based off of SCALE-UP concepts. Over the years, SCALE-UP drives international visitors to NC State from universities in South America, China and Indonesia, demonstrating the many successes borne from the program.
Most notably, SCALE-UP significantly reduced student failure rates, particularly in minorities.
“The overall failure rate is one-third of that of traditional lectures,” Beichner said.
From the statistics collected since the project’s beginning, the failure rate for African-American students is one-fourth of that of traditional classrooms while among female students it is one-fifth. Proponents of SCALE-UP attribute such difference in academic success to the classrooms’ interactive environment in that it encourages students to ask questions frequently.
Despite its clear, positive improvements in education over traditional, lecture-style classes, SCALE-UP was not widely adopted at NC State. Rick Johnson, the primary technician for the SCALE-UP classrooms in Cox Hall, elaborated on the subject.
“To fully implement a SCALE-UP learning environment, cost can be an issue,” Johnson said. “Technically, I believe 105 Cox and 110 Cox are the only true SCALE-UP classrooms at NCSU.”
Beichner affirmed Johnson’s claims.
“It’s expensive, and it takes a philosophical change,” Beichner said. “You [as the teacher] have to be willing to give up your role as the sage on the stage, and you become more of a coach, instead of presenting the material. It takes some time to make this switch. When you’re teaching you have to be willing to have students ask questions.”
With funding received from the Department of Education, public universities continue to incorporate SCALE-UP classrooms and better their technology. Moreover, with support from the National Science Foundation and a handful of companies, professors at NC State continue to enhance students’ hands-on learning with visuals from 55-inch LCD TV screens, Apple TVs and personal MacBook Pro workstations. Johnson described the classrooms’ move to Cox Hall.
“Fundamentally the structure did not change,” Johnson said. “It was enhanced with current technology. The ability for students to share (or present) their works has been improved with the AV inputs and microphones at each table.”
Presently, students remain strongly engaged in SCALE-UP on campus, roaming and conversing in otherwise silent STEM classes. SCALE-UP classes are offered in chemistry, physics, agricultural engineering and biological engineering. Beichner remains positive that SCALE-UP will continue to grow in the future, despite the small number of SCALE-UP classrooms on NC State’s campus.
“I think that it [SCALE-UP] is going to continue to spread,” Beichner said. “People are discovering that it’s not as expensive as they once thought. I think that people will recognize that it’s worth the change in approach.”
