Treffer: Split-Site Course Design: A Pilot Study on Integrating Traditional and Active Learning Classrooms

Recent years have witnessed the spread of purpose-built active learning classrooms throughout the higher education sector. While these innovative learning spaces are well-suited for a variety of active learning strategies, their lack of a single focal point means they are inconvenient spaces for lecturing. While educational developers often encourage instructors to implement active learning strategies in these classrooms, lectures persist. This article reports the results of a pilot study where course meetings were split between two sites each week: some of the course time took place in a lecture hall and some of the course time took place in an active learning classroom. We suggest that this split-site design offers at least two promising indicators, from the perspectives of both students and instructors: 1) an easier transition compared to a full-active learning classroom course; and 2) availability of active learning classroom time to a larger number of courses. Responding to existing literature on the relationship between lecturing and active learning (classrooms), this article presents the results of student surveys and instructor interviews, and outlines future directions for research in split-site course design.

As Provided