Simpkins 309
Julie writes about the classsroom we use for 480. I got into a bit of a row with some other profs earlier this year about another classroom because I left the chairs in a circle after my class. So despite all our talk about decentering and the evil nature of the banking model, it’s still all about the sage on a stage…
But I digress. Julie’s criticisms are right on the money; the inflexibility of the classroom is a big problem, but it’s the bad acoustics that really make 309 difficult—not just for discussion but for workshops or lectures as well. In the past, we’ve dealt with this problem by using online discussion spaces. This semester, I planned to use weblogs for that instead; perhaps that should change.
Having said all that, 309 is better than some of our other classrooms. Too bad we don’t have the funds to renovate all of our rooms like we did to 027 (drop ceiling, carpet, etc). That should go in our master plan, even if it’ll never happen.
