Teaching and Learning in the Cybertorium: Comments

Comment on "The rest of the story..."

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:00:28 -0500

Having been involved in some of the early planing of the Cybertorium and other teaching classrooms (Thomas, Willard, etc.) I really think the base problems were (a) unrealistic expectations, and (b) conflicting goals. The first may be excused because we were blazing new trails, but the latter was a real problem. The Cybertorium was not only conceived as a teamwork room but also as a showcase for important visitors. I believe the latter goal somewhat trumped the fist goal and as a result we ended up with a room that does NOT facilitate student team work but is great for visiting VIP's.

- GERALD SANTORO

Comment on "The rest of the story..."

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:15:16 -0500

Jeff, the Cybertorium was always intended for a)collaborative work and b) approximately 150 students. The “Preliminary Audiovisual Programming Report for Penn State University Information Sciences and Technology Building” dated Feb. 8, 2000 states that the room will be used for "student group work." Furthermore, the registrar's listing of General Purpose Classrooms dated 8/31/2004 (the first semester the room was in use), lists the room as a 150-seat capacity MTEC room with 2 PCs per 5 students. Many thanks to Becky Carolus, Manager of Technology Classrooms in ITS, for confirming this information.

- LISA FIRING LENZE

Comment on "The rest of the story..."

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:02:41 -0500

Several of us sat together in 201 IST about one month ago trying to figure out why the Cybertorium is such a challenging classroom, how it got to be so challenging, and how we could all make the best of it. Before the fall semester finished I had a very enlightening conversation with an ITS employee about the room. This employee told me that when he initially set up the Cybertorium and installed all of the computers in the room, there was only one chair per computer. That means that instead of there being a 2:5 computer-to-student ratio, there was a 1:1 computer-to-student ratio. The fact that the classroom now has 2-3 students per computer was news to him.

With this information we are able to gain some insight as to the root cause of the room’s main issues: the room is being used in ways which it was never meant to be used.

Some supporting numbers can be found here:

http://schedule.psu.edu tells me that the following courses were taught in 113 IST: IST 110, 210, 590; SRA 111, 211; COMPSC 203; CMPEN 431; CSE 590.

Of those courses, those with the lowest course limit allowed 80 students, however the vast majority of classes had a course limit of 150 students, and that’s just in the student accessible websites, there are always seats reserved for administrative and advising staff to use as needed.

https://clc.its.psu.edu/labhours/details.aspx?id=260 shows that 113 IST has 57 computers. Of those 57 computers, one is the podium machine and three are dedicated to managing the room’s systems. That leaves 54 machines for student use.

- JEFF

Comment on "Sound"

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:32:34 -0500

For the first time, I think I'm going to have to use a Mic for this room. When teaching there in the past or giving presentations, I just belted stuff out. But seeing as I nearly lost my voice this semester over 2 weeks teaching 3 sections of ~60 students...bring on the mic!

- BARTON KELLER PURSEL

Comment on "Class Structure (timing, etc.)"

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:47:20 -0500

I would like to share with you my teaching experience from 4 years (1994-97) as an adjunct professor at the Department of Physics, Sofia University. I taught a course in theoretical physics that was taking place twice a week for 2 academic hours, which is 4 academic hours per week and is probably translating to 4 credits. An academic hour is defined as 45 minutes which begin at 15 minutes after the top of the hour and end at the top of the hour. All classes in University were/are organized following that scheme. In the case of two consecutive academic hours for the same course, it depends on the instructor and the students whether the two consecutive hours will be merged or if there will be the regular break of 15 minutes between them. I have not heard from the students to be disinterested.

As I see Penn State offers 50 minutes periods. My experience tells me that the 45 minutes periods are not that demanding for the students.

- KRISTINKA IVANOVA

Comment on "Welcome"

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:32:23 -0500

We're using the blog in an odd way. (I think what we really want is a threaded discussion--that looks good and is easy to use, like movable type.) The "comments" are where faculty and students can posts their ideas. Once we see ideas in the comments that should be summarized as a main bullet point, Amy or I (as editors of the blog) can add bulleted points above. Not ideal, but a quick fix until we get the right tool.

- LISA FIRING LENZE

Comment on "Welcome"

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:27:11 -0500

Great idea! I don't know if the PSU blog system allows for multiple people to use this space, but it would be cool if we could convince instructors to blog individually about experiences, and have them aggregate to a space like this.

If nothing else, it would be a virtual place for instructors to share wins/losses in their experiments teaching in the 'tanic But I would hope it could also act as an archive for others.

- BARTON KELLER PURSEL

Comment on "Student Expectations"

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:26:05 -0500

When doing projects, typically only 2 members are active at a time as the others don't have computers to type up the report or to look up information, unless they bring their laptops - something surprisingly few students do.

- THOMAS ALLEN BIERLY

Comment on "Student Expectations"

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:19:06 -0500

Unfortunately printing in the cybertorium isn't free.

- THOMAS ALLEN BIERLY

Comment on "Room Layout"

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:16:13 -0500

* Sitting up front is awkward as the professors often look over your head.
* Sitting in the back, you feel very detached from class.
* As a result the middle section fills up fast.
* Sitting in the middle has problems of it's own. It is nearly impossible to get assistance from a professor as they have to climb over several other students in order to get to where you are.
* The dim lighting creates a sleepy atmosphere and when the professor is so far away, you feel disengaged and it becomes difficult to pay attention.

- THOMAS ALLEN BIERLY