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The aim of this study is to understand classroom settings desired by high school students and teachers in an active learning classroom. The research question is whether students and teachers will differ from each other when designing an active learning classroom.

In an effort to design a learning environment for an advanced placement programme, action research methodology was followed by conducting a participatory workshop in a real active learning classroom with future users. Working in isolation from one another, students and teachers designed their own classrooms by forming different learning centres. During the study, two groups, made up of ten high school students and seven teachers, respectively, were asked to arrange the furniture in an active learning classroom. The groups were free to form as many furniture arrangement configurations as they wished and were asked to write about their workshop experiences afterwards. Once they had completed both tasks, their plan layouts were examined.

All of the plan layouts were found to fall into one of three categories: a traditional layout, a small group layout or a single large group layout. The written texts were also analysed, which revealed different perspectives of each participating group. As students and teachers explore different learning opportunities, they appear to be driven by different kinds of experiences when they endeavour to organize their classrooms.

Never before has an active learning classroom been the site for a participatory furniture arrangement workshop that employs teachers and students.

Several books and articles about learning space design have recently been published, giving much needed attention to new types of informal learning spaces such as the library commons. This paper aims to address this issue.

This paper describes the redesign of a formal learning space: the general assignment classroom. In 2010, one of the University of Iowa's Main Library classrooms was converted to an “active learning” space. The library location was selected as home for this prototype TILE classroom – Transform, Interact, Learn, Engage. The university's goal is to create similar spaces in a variety of sizes and configurations across campus.

The classroom is technologically rich, but was designed first and foremost for its pedagogical potential in fostering engaged learning. Ease of use was a primary focus, allowing the technology to fade into the background. Early adopters participated in a faculty institute on active learning and were provided with institutional support for reworking their classes to make them more learning‐centric. The configuration of the room and the focus on active learning enabled support for larger class sizes, while retaining the intimacy and active participation of a small discussion group.

The TILE classroom is one strategy in the institution's overall goal of improving student learning, increasing undergraduate retention, and psychologically shrinking the size of the university.

The idea of active learning classrooms (ALCs) in post-secondary institutions across North America is not a new one and it continues to gain prominence (Davis, 2018; Ellern & Buchanan, 2018; Park & Choi, 2014). Research shows that these dynamic classrooms increased student comprehension of key concepts, problem-solving ability, improved attitude toward learning, and overall learning gains (Cotner, Loper, Walker, & Brooks, 2013; Park & Choi, 2014). Not surprisingly then, there has been a growing number of academic libraries which see the potential benefits and have incorporated ALCs, or elements of such, into their spaces (Ellern & Buchanan, 2018; Karasic, 2016; Soderdahl, 2011).

This chapter presents a case study on the 2017 redesign of a Canadian academic library, the Albert D. Cohen Management Library at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. Once considered a “study hall,” the renovated business library has been transformed into a modern student learning space. The library is outfitted with a modular ALC equipped to accommodate the varied learning needs of the twenty-first-century students at the Asper School of Business. The author provides a detailed first-hand account of the ALC planning process, key partnerships, challenges, and post-launch reaction.

The present study aims to investigate an unsuccessful implementation of an active learning methodology. Active learning methods have emerged in order to improve learning processes and increase students' roles in the classroom. Most studies on the subject focus on developing learning strategies based on successful implementations of such methods. Nevertheless, critical reflections on unsuccessful cases might also provide material for developing further contributions to this literature.

The authors conducted an intrinsic case study of an unsuccessful application of the flipped classroom method to an undergraduate basic statistics course at a Brazilian business school. The data collected comprised the course's syllabus, evaluation forms and two rounds of interviews with students and the professor.

The findings indicate that, apart from that which had been mapped by past literature, three additional aspects may limit the chances of successfully implementing a flipped classroom methodology: students' educational backgrounds, the course's structural issues and methodological and relational issues.

The present study contributes to the literature on active learning methodologies mainly by mapping additional aspects that should be considered in the implementation of the flipped classroom methodology. Additionally, the authors investigate an unsuccessful case of such an implementation, an investigation that is still scant within this literature.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze how one-shot library instruction sessions for large lecture classes can effectively be “flipped”, and can incorporate active learning activities as part of both online and face-to-face classroom.

This case study discusses the challenges of using flipped classroom methods with large enrollment courses and investigates the use of technology to facilitate the active learning components. Situated in flipped classroom pedagogy literature for both information literacy instruction and large lecture classes, the paper synthesizes practical information through the analysis of design and implementation.

Lecture classes present unique challenges for utilizing flipped classroom methods, but the obstacles can be overcome with a bit of preparation and faculty buy-in, balanced with the proper utilization of technology.

The paper offers other librarians practical design and implementation information for using flipped classroom methods, specifically for classes with large enrollments, filling a gap in the library literature that presently lacks examples of flipped classroom pedagogy being utilized for information literacy (IL) instruction with lecture classes.

The purpose of this paper is to serve as a summary of resources on flipped learning for workplace learning professionals. A recent buzzword in the training world is “flipped”. Flipped learning and the flipped classroom are hot topics that have emerged in K-12 education, made their way to the university and are now being noticed by the corporate world. Unfortunately many learning professionals have misconceptions about what it really means to flip a learning experience, and little literature exists to support implementation of flipped learning in the workplace.

The methodology adopted in this article is a literature review.

The paper presents several tools for moving lecture outside of the classroom and for making class time more student-centered through active learning techniques.

This paper discusses the benefits and challenges of a flipped learning approach, both in general and specifically in the workplace. Additionally, the paper explores several case studies of flipped learning use in the workplace.

The paper is a literature review that explores the definition of flipped learning as a learner-centered approach to education and looks at two models of flipped learning with applicability to workplace settings.

This paper serves as a case study, detailing an academic library’s three-year process of redesigning, implementing, and using a library electronic classroom. The purpose of this paper is to share the challenges and successes of a library’s attempt to create a high-tech space that both accommodates active learning and is entirely flexible and free of wires. The paper provides technical details for implementing features such as wireless screen sharing and offers practical advice for librarians who are creating new teaching and learning spaces at their institutions.

This is a descriptive case study, which details the lessons learned in implementing an active learning space that incorporates technology such as wireless display to multiple screens.

There are still major challenges in having a truly wire-free classroom including authentication policies, wireless display technology, instructor’s station mobility, and student laptop control. Successes include flexible furniture, battery-power management solutions, and using multiple wireless devices in a single room.

Practical implications of this paper include recommendations for planning this type of upgrade in a library electronic classroom.

The unique feature of this case was the effort to combine the mobile features of a flexible learning space with some of the robust technology of a hardwired active learning classroom. This paper features technical details beyond what can be found in the library literature. For example, very little has been written about the issues involved in wirelessly displaying a computer screen to multiple devices in a classroom.

The aim of this study is to understand the effect of class configurations in an active learning classroom (ALC) on students' self-perception of experiences and learning outcomes, namely participation, performance, motivation and creativity.

A self-administered survey (N = 131) was conducted in seven classes from the varied disciplines of communication, interior design and architecture. During the first half of the semester, all selected courses were conducted in traditional classrooms, whereas those in the second half were conducted in an ALC. ALC was designed to be used with several furniture configurations which could be easily set up by members of the learning community themselves. The survey was conducted at the end of semester before final exams, when students have a clear idea of the experiences in both the traditional and the new (ALC) classrooms, having spent equal time in each of these learning environments.

The main finding of the study is that students were eager to have future classes in the ALC rather than in traditional settings since the students experienced better learning outcomes in the ALC. During the second half of the semester, students who were in classes conducted following active learning (AL) pedagogies, with its supportive spatial configurations, were more aware of the learning outcomes facilitated by the physical environment. Further, the authors found that the increase in the number of furniture configurations has a statistically significant positive impact on learning outcomes.

AL pedagogy is often studied as a way of teaching and rarely with its associated classroom environments. In most of the existing studies, the configuration of furniture has often been overlooked within an AL environment by a learning community. This study fills the gap in emphasising the spatial aspects of the ALC by focusing on the specific pedagogy being followed.

The transition from a traditional lecture style method of teaching to the flipped classroom in sophomore-level Organic Chemistry I and II courses at an Historically Black University (HBCU) is described. The process of implementation was explained and the students’ performance was analyzed. The flipped teaching method made a much bigger positive impact to Organic I than Organic II Chemistry course. A higher percentage of A, B or better, and C or better were observed for Organic I Chemistry course. The DFW rate was also significantly lower for the Organic I Chemistry flipped classroom. However, Organic II results were very similar between the students from both teaching methods.

The purpose of this paper is to determine students’ and instructors’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of implementing active learning strategies in higher education courses conducted at a tertiary institution in Lebanon.

Pre-service education students completed a questionnaire, professors were interviewed, and class sessions were observed.

Main findings indicate that the majority of the learners as well as the instructors favoured active learning and are strong proponents of putting into effect this approach in all their courses. These findings indicate the positive perceptions towards active learning strategies and the possible impact that these perceptions have on students’ performance and learning.

Three major limitations have influenced the efficiency of this study. The number of participants is rather small. Only 37 education students were involved in this study. Furthermore, an additional limitation is that all the participants were females. Yet, it is worth noting that the majority of the students, who are majoring in education at that particular university, are females. Finally, it is worth mentioning that one of the researchers conducted the non-participant observations which might have influenced the data in one way or another.

Implications from the results of the study are far reaching. A major implication is for the programmes to reconsider the organization of the classrooms to have rooms that allows for cooperative and group work. Also, classroom organization should be student centred with the teacher’s place not necessarily at the front of the room but possibly at different places in the room or even sitting with the student for some of the assignments. A second implication is that the classroom is to be viewed as a learning situation where the teacher is a guide, a facilitator in the teaching/learning context which would be blended with the lecture method when needed. A further implication is that teacher professional development is a priority for the agenda of educational institutions to help promote teaching effectiveness of this clearly important active learning. After all, the students are doing the learning and the teachers need to guide them in this process.

The main value of this paper is to encourage university faculty members to change their teaching methods in order to engage and motivate learners.