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The Mabee Library Auditorium: A New Vision: Request For Funding of Instructional Technology Classroom
The Mabee Library Auditorium: A New Vision: Request For Funding of Instructional Technology Classroom
Request for Funding of Instructional Technology Classroom
University Library Committee Contacts: Mark McCallon <mccallonm@acu.edu>
October 30, 2008 Kyle Dickson, past chair <dicksonk@acu.edu>
Proposed Location
The proposed classroom request would upgrade the Mabee Library Auditorium, BL
235, to better serve the changing face of classroom teaching in the 21st century.
FiveYear Plan
In 2006, the library fiveyear plan emphasized the role of the new Learning
Commons in shaping a “vision of the Library of the 21st Century,” bringing academic
resources and services together with technology assistance to form a new
environment in which learning could take place. A redesigned Mabee Library
Auditorium would extend this vision to a classroom for the 21st century that helps
investigate the changing ways our students learn and share their learning.
Proposed Date
We would like this classroom to come online for Fall 2009.
Hardware, Software, & Peripherals
Requested hardware and software are listed in the attached preliminary budget
prepared by George Saltsman last spring. As the new MLA will be a prototype
classroom for 21st century teaching, changes to this listing before the upgrade next
year are to be expected.
Operation Budget
The Brown Library and other Learning Commons partners would assume the basic
operating costs for the classroom, including software upgrades and incidental
repairs not covered under warranty.
Rationale for Upgrade
As the Centennial wound down, the Brown Library concluded two groundup
redesign efforts that reconceived library spaces in order to better serve students. The
Learning Commons and the Theology Reading Room together asked how to create a
hospitable environment that brings resources, access, and expertise to students as we
enter our second century. During the same time, Mabee Library Auditorium became
the Centennial Theater, screening films on the university’s past and its future in a
movietheater setting.
Now that the Centennial is behind us, the University Library Committee has been
asked to consider what’s next for the Mabee Library Auditorium. After meeting with
Dean Mark Tucker and representatives from the faculty, the Office of Spiritual
Formation, and FilmFest, we propose the following redesign of the library
auditorium.
The proposed changes would serve as an extension of the Learning Commons’ core
values by offering an integrative learning space for new Gen Ed courses that ask
students to make connections between different areas of knowledge. The proposal
would create a technologyenhanced classroom that offers students a mediarich
environment in which to engage course content and integrative topics beyond the
single course. The space has also served other programs and offices, and a
revitalized Library Auditorium would continue to screen films and host lectures for
campus groups as well as providing an intimate venue for readings, performances,
and worship experiences.
Now that students are streaming into the library in greater numbers, we propose a
Library Auditorium that would leverage the expertise of its Learning Commons
partners and showcase faculty innovation in a 21st century curriculum as, together,
we educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world.
Proposal
MultiForm Theater/Auditorium a viewing, presentation, and performance space
with comfortable seating for a variety of group sizes, from 15150.
1) We identified three principal needs not currently served by campus facilities:
• a multiform presentation space that accommodates projection on 3 walls
(General Education integrative topics presentations, teaching “in the round,”
class lectures with concurrent projections and media)
2
• a welcoming student space for Learning Commons training and campus
presentations
(student workshops in ePortfolios, effective PowerPoint, strong resumés; Honors
project presentations, Spring Break Campaign interest meetings)
• a theater classroom with widescreen projection and comfortable seating that “does
video well”
(class movie screenings, Coffee House talks during Lectureship, Christianity and
Culture film nights, availability for onceaweek film classes)
2) We also identified significant, but less regular needs not currently served by
campus facilities:
• lab availability for approved longer scheduling and dedicated use
(Film Fest lab during 4week production phase, weeklong demonstrations by
technology vendors)
• a smaller format worship space with projection capabilities
(Chapel Forum on digital media, screenings of Invisible Children, prayer room
with looping video for International Justice Mission)
• continue to host meetings and receptions for other campus groups with a priority
given to student programming
Strengths of Space
ability to bring coffee from Starbucks
flexible seating for large and small groups
immediate tech support from Team 55 in the library
easy access from visitor parking and wheelchair accessible
connected to Learning Commons objectives and vision
Design Needs
3wall projection (widescreen in front) with audio control and switching
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comfortable seating for featurelength film viewing that can be setup and
stored easily
computer station installed on back wall with wireless keyboard and mouse to
maintain open design
3 powered screens that can be raised and lowered to define spaces
independently
some type of builtin buffet in back to accommodate Starbucks coffee urns,
water, snacks
spot and task lighting on dimmers that would allow spaces to be used
independently or all together
sufficient power to support nonpermanent lab installations and training
Students Served
Currently the Mabee Library Auditorium serves a variety of student, faculty, and
staff groups that include regular small group chapels, Abundant Life speakers, and
film screenings for classes or visiting groups. As the campus prepares for the new
General Education curriculum, early proposals include teamtaught integrative
classes that will meet regularly in super sections of around 100 students. The number
of lecture halls and learning spaces that currently accommodate even 100 students is
limited and most of these are tiered classrooms with fixed seating. One aim of this
proposal is to experiment with open learning space designs that allow a variety of
configurations, even within a particular class. The Learning Commons was
conceived in response to new teaching models that make greater use of teambased
learning, and this type of open plan would offer a wider use of these models.
The redesigned space will serve Gen Ed students from every major through
integrative courses drawn from a wide range of faculty. The auditorium would still
be available for scheduling by campus groups and speakers, but we believe the space
will energize discussions between faculty and technologists about what learning
looks like in the 21st century.
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Departmental and University Missions
According to its mission statement, the Brown Library seeks “to provide library
resources and services that are essential as the university educates its students for
Christian service and leadership throughout the world.” A central tenet of the
“Library for the 21st Century” proposal that resulted in the Learning Commons
funding was to help the library reclaim its place as “the university’s intellectual
center.” In cooperation with the Adams Center of Teaching and Learning, the library
believes a redesigned Mabee Library Auditorium would help achieve that vision.
Evaluation Plan
Much like the Learning Commons itself, this space will be evaluated in consultation
with the Adams Center through regular student feedback and focus groups.
Conclusion
In 1997 the Mabee Library Auditorium became the first smartclassroom on campus
offering faculty the chance to experiment with digital projection and a networked
computer in a new kind of teaching space that served a range of disciplines. A
decade and 107 smart classrooms later, these tools have become as pervasive as a
blackboard or overhead projector. The University Library Committee sees the value
in having a space on campus where the next generation of teaching and learning
spaces can be showcased and tested. We propose the new Mabee Library
Auditorium as a fluid space in which pedagogical as well as technological
innovation is refined as professional faculty collaborate to improve the quality of
undergraduate teaching at ACU.
Faculty Library Committee
Brenda Bender, Communication Sciences and Disorders
Junhui Bian, Biology
Kyle Dickson, English and Committee Chair
Mark W. Hamilton, Graduate School of Theology
Monty Lynn, Management Sciences
Mark McCallon, Library, ex officio
Dan McGregor, Art and Design
Charlie Pruett, Gerontology
George Saltsman, Adams Center for Teaching and Learning
Carolyn Thompson, Foreign Languages
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Signature of Department Chair: __________________________________________________
Signature of Dean: ______________________________________________________________
Signature of Provost: ____________________________________________________________