Researchers in the First-Year Writing Program implemented a new flexible classroom layout which encourages alternative teaching styles and decreases costs. 

The Flexible Classroom Project is a joint effort between Susan Miller-Cochran, associate professor of English and the director of the First-Year Writing Program and Dana Gierdowski, a doctoral candidate in communication, rhetoric and digital media.

The purpose of The Flexible Classroom Project is to give instructors more flexibility, engage students more in the writing process, and lower costs, according to Gierdowski.

To accomplish these goals, project designers made furniture in the classroom mobile and eliminated in-class computers Miller-Cochran added.

“We wanted to make all of the furniture mobile so that things can be adjusted depending on the class,” Miller-Cochran said. “Instructors can arrange the classroom furniture whichever way they choose.” 

The pilot classroom is Tompkins 126, which is used for English 101 classes. The classroom features moveable chairs, tables, whiteboards, several LCD screens, and a wall of windows. It has been used for three semesters now. 

Jenna Shouse, a freshman in first year college, was in the classroom for an English 101 class. 

“I liked that we could move around the chairs and tables. It made class less stale and more interesting,” Shouse said. 

Michael Cartwright, a sophomore in microbiology, was another student who had class in the flexible classroom.

Cartwright said the classroom helps students analyze and work with digital media.

“Overall, it was a very relevant and well-designed classroom, Cartwright said.” It made the digital age that we live in easier to interpret because each type of media was available to work with and easily accessible through the provided technology.”

Having mobile furniture and teaching aids allows for a decentralization of the classroom, Miller-Cochran explained. 

Laura Giovanelli, a lecturer in the First-Year Writing Program, prefers the flexible classroom for this reason.

“I don’t always have to be in the front of the classroom,” Giovanelli said. “The design breaks down the hierarchal system.” 

Because the classes are so small and the furniture is so easily moved, she would often have the students move from one LCD screen to the next to view different group projects. This creates a more intimate environment according to Giovanelli. 

Giovanelli no longer teaches in the flexible classroom, but her experiences in the room influenced the way she teaches in traditional classrooms. 

“Since I don’t have LCD screens in other classrooms, I place large pieces of paper on the walls of the classroom for students to brainstorm or work together on group projects,” Giovanelli said.

The aesthetics of the room are also important to learning. The large windows provide a lot of natural light and the color of the room is lavender with color coordinating upholstery Gierdowski said. 

“One of the students we surveyed commented that she didn’t feel like she was in a prison because of the windows and color,” Gierdowski said.

To decrease costs, computers are no longer going to be provided in the classrooms.

By eliminating in-class computers, N.C. State is decreasing the costs associated with constantly updating technology.

Miller-Cochran also explained students prefer to bring their own technology regardless. A checkout system is in place to provide laptops for students who do not have their own. 

In addition to saving money, allowing students to work on their own computers helps students learn to write in an environment that they can then transfer out of class, according to Miller-Cochran. 

All of the instructors and students who had class in the flexible classroom completed surveys about the classroom. 

Gierdowski reported that 66% of the 195 students surveyed in spring 2012 indicated that the design of the classroom had a positive influence on their learning.

In the same survey, 78% of students said they would prefer to have class in a flexible classroom than in a traditional classroom.

You can read more about Gierdowski and Miller-Cochran’s research in an article which will be published in next month’s edition of the Journal of Computers and Composition.

The Flexible Classroom Project is “important work,” according to Gierdowski, especially if N.C. State wants to continue to be a leader in learning design.

“We already have great learning spaces like the Hunt Library, but we need to continue to push the envelope,” Gierdowski said.  

Miller-Cochran and Gierdowski are currently developing another flexible classroom in Tompkins, which should be finished in the “near future.”