The University of Arizona has made a strong commitment to the improvement of teaching quality. Hundreds of studies show that students learn more and fail less when active learning strategies are used. To this end, Collaborative Learning Spaces (CLSs) that facilitate collaborative active learning have been created. In these spaces, faculty members are using innovative teaching and learning strategies that promote higher order thinking that leads to better understanding and improved ability to transfer knowledge to other applications. These rooms are an important component of the University's commitment to continuous improvement and culture change because numerous studies provide significant evidence that engagement is critical to the success of students. As of Fall 2021, UA has over 40 Collaborative Learning Spaces.
CLS Updates
Steward Observatory Room 204 Awaits Students!
Completed shortly after fall semester began, this 51-seat, multi-tiered CLS was combined out of two smaller rooms located in the Steward Observatory. White boards and monitors circumference the room, and students can turn their chairs to comfortably have smaller group discussions with other classmates.
Veronica Rodriguez, Sr. Media Specialist, Office of Instruction and Assessment
Student Union Room 364 Seats 100
Over summer, the Union Gallery located in the Student Union Memorial Center, was renovated into a 100-student-capacity classroom. Incoming and full-spirited freshmen students began actively learning as they attended their first college math class.
Tina Deemer, Director of Academic Resources & Special Projects
It's a campus-wide, collaborative effort to transform a wide variety of centrally-scheduled classrooms into Collaborative Learning Spaces.
Determine if a CLS is a good fit for you and become a Preferred Instructor. Learn how to request a CLS for your upcoming class.
CLS Instructors and their team of Learning Assistants need to prepare for the unique learning environment in the Collaborative Learning Spaces.
Background
The first initiative was a fast-paced pilot project to develop and test an active learning classroom. This pilot was conducted in the Science-Engineering Library’s Journal Room (Rm 200S) which was transformed into a large, 260-seat collaborative classroom. During the month-long pilot, the space was used by eight University of Arizona classes to explore active learning spaces in order to better understand the technology, physical space requirements, and pedagogical needs for building effective collaborative learning environments at the UA. Based on the encouraging results of the pilot, a decision was made to convert the Science-Engineering Library space into a permanent Collaborative Learning Space and to aggressively pursue opportunities to transform existing classrooms and other campus spaces into Collaborative Learning Spaces.
Video
Summary of the CLS Pilot Project