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CEE instructor Renate Fruchter shares experiences and findings from teaching in Wallenberg Hall

Teaching in Wallenberg Hall allows professors and instructors to expand their repertoire and experiment with in-class technology with sometimes surprising results. From utilizing the computerized Webster white boards that allow group analysis and annotating of web sites, to reconfiguring the dynamic flexible furniture and carrying out real-time videoconferences with leading figures in other parts of the world, the high performance classrooms facilitate pushing the teaching envelope.

But quantifying and reviewing the impact of varied new teaching techniques and technologies is just becoming possible since Wallenberg Hall only opened its doors in late 2002.

This fall, Eric Grant, a graduate of Stanford’s LDT program who is serving as SCIL academic technology specialist, gathered his observations from the class taught by senior research engineer Dr. Renate Fruchter, a veteran of teaching in Wallenberg Hall. His analysis of this class and Dr. Fruchter’s techniques, as well as the impact of the classroom technology on both teaching and learning, is the subject of Grant’s recently completed publication.

“Moving Courses to Experimental Classrooms in Wallenberg Hall, A Case Study: CE222” explores the ways in which an instructor can measure the success of her course when it is taught in Wallenberg Hall. The examination includes discussion of student and teacher performance as it is affected by the classroom technologies, from flexible furniture to centralized computers, large screen displays and networked in-class laptops.

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