Tiered Classrooms at St. Olaf College: Faculty and Student Perceptions of Three Different Designs

Abstract

In designing St. Olaf College's Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, we attempted to create learning spaces to accommodate classes of 50-100 students and a variety of teaching pedagogies. In this study, we compare three different 72-seat classrooms furnished with half-round tables for four, straight tables, or a serpentine shaped table with crests that fit four students. We found that faculty prefer the learning environment of the half-round tables for all pedagogies. Students prefer the half-round tables for group work or a combination of group work and lecture, but prefer the straight tables for lecture classes.