ACEF Webinar - The Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies Project
Channel: Texas Center for Educational Facilities
Date: 07/06/2013

How do you keep a classroom of 100 undergraduates actively learning? Can students practice communication and teamwork skills in a large class? How do you boost the performance of underrepresented groups? The Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP) Project has addressed these concerns. Because of their inclusion in a leading introductory physics textbook, project materials are used by more than 1/3 of all science, math, and engineering majors nationwide. The room design and pedagogy have been adopted at more than 150 leading institutions across the country. Physics, chemistry, math, astronomy, biology, engineering, earth sciences, and even literature classes are currently being taught this way.

Educational research indicates that students should collaborate on interesting tasks and be deeply involved with the material they are studying. We promote active learning in a redesigned classroom for 100 students or more. (Of course, smaller classes can also benefit.)  Class time is spent primarily on "tangibles" and "ponderables"—hands-on activities, simulations, and interesting questions. Classroom furnishings (round tables) allow nine students sit in three teams. Instructors circulate and engage in Socratic dialogues. The setting looks like a banquet hall, with lively interactions nearly all the time. Furniture dimensions and locations are dictated from years of research.