Spring courses explore new subject matter and technology

In Wallenberg Hall's room 127, Professor Joanna Mountain and Academic Technology Specialist Claudia Engel, from the Department of Anthropological Sciences, explore how the genetics of different species have evolved over generations. Down the hallway in room 120, History Professor David Holloway delves into his freshman seminar on the challenges of nuclear weapons. As the quarter progresses, his students will use the multi-media capabilities of the room to present their own arguments about the uses of specific weapons.

In the Peter Wallenberg Learning Theater, Visiting Scholar Aleta Hayes leads the class entitled "Compositional and Social Strategies from the African American Continuum: 20th into 21st Century Social Dance," a course that utilizes the two-story open space and high performance audio system in an entirely new way, as students learn about artistic and social expression through movement.

Spring quarter at Wallenberg Hall highlights the diversity of curriculum and faculty that transform the state-of-the-art facilities into thriving learning communities. For 12 hours most days, professors and their students leverage web cameras, video conferencing, in-class lap tops, multiple Webster boards and moveable chairs, white boards and tables, to create unique environments that allow them to best experience the course material.

What was once most attractive to “early adopters” and “techies” has become, as it was intended, a broadly utilized teaching space sought after by almost every department and school on campus.

“Every quarter we've been here the range of classes has grown,” says Dan Gilbert, Academic Technology Specialist for the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning. “We have a nice balance of first-time and returning faculty and instructors. What's great about those who are returning is they are using the technology in different ways. They gain confidence in using the space so they can come back and do something completely different.”

For example, Biochemistry Professor Doug Brutlag is back in Wallenberg Hall after teaching three class sessions here last year. “This spring, he's teaching his whole course in here,” says Gilbert. “He saw what he liked, he thought about what else he could do, and he's coming back.”

View a complete schedule for spring quarter in Wallenberg Hall.

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