Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? no
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Additional Comments on Priorities: I have experienced
a lot of problems this year in Southam 501 with temperature in the classroom -
it's been like a sauna. In addition, the classroom has been changed so that
chairs cannot be moved. I am running a first year seminar in that room and the
inability to move seats makes it very difficult to organize small group
discussions and class presentations. Next year I will demand a real seminar
room - this factor has really detracted from the students' experience.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: I
haven't yet used an electronic classroom but would like to move toward
increased use of web resources in the next couple of years. This would be very
difficult now - we need more electronic classrooms and also training on how to
use them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: in focus
machine that connects to laptop extremely important
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Yes.. students who require
space for a wheelchair often have no option but to sit past the desks up at the
front of the room (particularly in Southam Hall). Often student #s exceed #
desks in a room and this makes accessibility even more difficult. Also,
students with special seating needs require a chair which is not connected to
desks and often have great difficulty even finding a wooden chair.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: Sight lines in
261TB urgently need to be improved. A large improvement at little cost would be
to install a platform at the chalkboard and to raise the chalkboatd by the
maximum amount possible.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: (Make sure every
room has a lectern - not true of 4th floor DT; remove extra chairs, e.g., 146
Loeb)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: (fix
existing screens so that they go up or down on a regular basis - not true now
in many rooms)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? (no, but I am told wheelchair
students do not like new fixed furniture rooms)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: (get existing equipment to
work before adding whistles and bells)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: In general, the
state of the classrooms and equipment is very poor. I had to switch my class
for 56.316 from SA 402 because this was a windowless room that had no air
circulating. The rooms are not properly cleaned. Students complain about the
dust and cobwebs. The equipment is old and often not functioning. The highest
priority is attending to the quality of air - e.g. Loeb is a sick building and
it is making us ill and is certainly not a conducive environment in which to
teach.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? It is impossible to navigate
through the mess of desks in ME 3380.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Furniture at Carleton in general is ancient and in pretty bad shape. It is
embarrassing, sometimes, to have visitors see it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It should be possible to bring a laptop and hook up to the web and a data
projector in virtually every classroom.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Not that I know of
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: The washrooms in
Southam are fit only for pigs by the end of the evening
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: More electronic
classrooms with data projectors, Power Point capability, etc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: We need
'em!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: Survey is a good idea.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: There is a need for
a few "case-type" rooms (30-50 capacity), with flexible tables and
chairs that can be easily arranged to accommodate group work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: There is
a pressing need for more "wired" classrooms for the types of courses
taught in Business.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: Corner
screens should only be installed in classrooms that are large enough to
accommodate them without impairing sight lines, unduly crowding the seating, or
impairing access. Corner screens should be installed so that they will work
with OH projector as well as data projector if the room is in the general pool.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: Using one's own laptop is
problematic when that use is occasional only. You forget the setup and
connection routines between times and more importantly you lose confidence.
Hopefully connecting to a permanently installed projector would be easier.
These responses are based strictly only my own teaching needs, not on those of
a department, faculty or the university as a whole. Taking into account these
larger communities would modify my responses somewhat.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: Premises Higher
education's fundamental goal of encouraging self-motivated learners may be
enhanced by utilizing the technology of a Web site. "If we consider which
factors of computer mediated communication will be most important to education
in the information age, it seems our goals should be to develop self-motivated
learners and help people learn to find and share information." The intent
of my Web sites is not only to infuse technology into the curriculum but also
to encourage students to think critically and work cooperatively and
collaboratively with their peers. Given this premise, I have been using the Web
as a teaching resource for about 3 years. Good Points Use the Web as a means of
giving students a different kind of educational experience: one that is both
dynamic and intellectually rigourous. Design and functionality of the course
Website should be simple (i.e. conform with the principle of Occam's Razor)
Design should be consistent, with common features throughout Interactivity is a
paramount consideration The course must be dynamic, i.e. constantly evolving
and improving Humor should be included. Especially significant are the built-in
assessment tools that provide evidence for the effectiveness (or lack of it) of
Web-based teaching. Clearly the Web is a medium that promises almost limitless
opportunities to experiment and to find better ways to promote student
learning. If Web-based courses are developed in such a way as to be dynamic,
then innovations can be incorporated as they appear. Perhaps the greatest
advantage of Web-based teaching, then, is that it retains its freshness through
a process of evolution directed by faculty themselves. Interactive assignments
for each course have been developed. Additionally, in an effort to reduce the
amount of wait time for feedback on assignments, on-line "forms" can
be created with a confirmation page to immediately notify the student of their
results. The theory-based Web pages provide the student with access to
additional information for class discussions as well as assignments and
opportunities for more advanced learning of the specific subject matter from
the convenience of the student's home. Observations based on using the web last
semester include: 1. E-mail from students increased providing opportunities to
interact on a more personal basis that would ordinarily never happen because
they may not come into the office. 2. While there is considerably more work at
the front end getting web pages designed and operational, the back end is
simplified because hard copies are eliminated and forms and responses can be
accessed via the web or E-mail. Things to try: 1. Videotaping student
presentations with a digital camcorder, downloading the videos to the web, and
having students view and evaluate their oral presentations. 2. Posting
anonymous examples of student work. 3. Increasing the use of discussion forums.
In biochemistry one of the most difficult subject areas for undergraduates is
to master the structure-function relationships for large molecules of
biochemical significance. Structure-function relationships are a key tenant of
biochemistry. "If you know what atoms makeup a molecule and how they are
arranged you understand the physical and chemical properties of that
molecule." The teaching of structure-function relationships begins early
in first year chemistry where concepts for model building are introduced. The
goal was to give students the tools needed for their explorations into the
structure-function relationships of biochemical macromolecules. The first
program we have used extensively is RasMol (Raster Molecules). It was written
by Roger Sayle and is available from several sites on the web. (RasMol version
2.7.1 is available for download from
http://iucr.sdsc.edu/iucr-top/cif/software/rasmol/). RasMol translates a
structure file in pdb (Protein Data Bank) format from the x-, y-, z-,
coordinate of each atom based on x-ray crystallography or nuclear magnetic
resonance studies, into a 3-dimensional structure that can be manipulated. The
program is available for Windows, MacOS and UNIX platforms. pdb files can be
found at several web sites including the Research Collaboratory for Structural
Bioinformatics (RCSB) at Rutgers University (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/). RasMol
lets one display pdb files in a number of formats including wireframe,
spacefilling and ribbons. RasMol also lets one select specific parts of a
molecule to highlight for display via its command line editor. Bad Points
Reliability. The connections in classrooms have to be reliable. A little over
half the time, I cannot connect to carleton.ca from my classrooms in 312
Steacie and 290 Tory. This problem has been reported to IMS and CCS many times,
and has been ongoing for two years now. THIS NEEDS TO BE CORRECTED!! Space. I
am trying to run three fourth year biochemistry courses and a graduate course
in 40 MB of memory. This is ridiculous, but CCS will not give any additional
space for course work. Perl and CGI. The Rideau server does not support Perl or
CGI. This makes it incredibly more difficult to make course pages interactive.
To overcome this problem, I have gone to an off campus service provider that
supports Perl and CGI. Shovelware. A common error by a great many professors
attempting to combine technology and education is to only use the Web site as a
"bulletin board" to post course requirements and the syllabus (also
referred to as "shovelware"). With the resource problems mentioned
above, many course webpages are basically shovelware. Textual materials, such
as syllabi and lecture notes, have simply been "shoveled" onto Web
pages, with little use being made to use graphics, hyperlinks or streaming
media. When value-added effort is missing, the Web's teaching and learning
potential remain untapped or unrealized. Don't put the screen in front of the
blackboard, sometimes we need to use both media. Don't put the ethernet jack at
the front corner of the classroom because you then have to run an ethernet
cable all the way across the classroom to the projector, and students will
inevitable trip on it and pull it out of the socket. Most of these points are
just common sense, which seems to be lacking....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: See my
comments above
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Yes, scheduled elevator
maintenance is done during class time. Several buildings on campus have only
one elevator, so this means that students using wheelchairs cannot get to
class. I have complained about this extensively, to the Dean of Science, Dean
of Students, Paul Menton Centre, etc. but no one seems to give a shit!!! Second
point, with construction going on, it is pretty much impossible to lecture over
someone in the next room drilling into concrete. This has happened several
times. I have also complained about this, but still it goes on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: I think I have commented
enough. Please let me know if anything comes out of this survey besides
recommendations that are ignored.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: The current
classrooms including the changes in Southam do not lend themselves to
interactive classes and classes using o/h projectors. More flexible furniture
is needed to allow students to break out into groups. More space at the front
of the classroom is needed for the instructor and any equipment and student
presentations. More space between rows in fixed seating classrooms for students
to get out if they need to go to the bathroom and for instructors to get to a
student to help if they are working on a problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: It is
important to come to some kind of equitable scheduling of these classrooms as
it will be a long time before supply meets demand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: Please make sure that you
consider various teaching styles in your selection of teaching experts who are
helping with the design. Not everyone does three hour lectures and not everyone
uses electronic media exclusively.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: rather
than network and power for student laptops, a simple keypad entry system for
real-time polling of students would be nice!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? no
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: It is remarkable that you are
not using the web for this survey!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: I am totally
disgusted in this my first year of teaching at Carleton. o The classrooms are
not equipped as intelligent classrooms, leaving me to drag a tech. trolley from
Loeb. In one of the classrooms the trolley will not fit into the classrooms.
All the work I have done for the past 2 years to make my courses user friendly
and web connected with important links for students is a waste. The tech.
trolley is a poor alternative to an intelligent classroom. Only students
sitting in the front can see the screen, as the data projector cannot enlarge
the image enough for the other students. o In addition, the classrooms are
filthy with garbage from days of student use piled up. I had a classroom last
semester in Tory that stunk of body odour every week. o A related matter is
that faculty do not follow Carleton standards and vacate the classrooms at the
appointed time 20 min. after the hour. Consequently, the students and I are
forced to wait in the corridor sometimes until the half hour. This results in
me beginning my class late, as well rushing to connect the microphone and
speaker and other equipment needed for the lecture (if classrooms contained
such tech. this would not be a problem). o I have been wholly unimpressed with
the Carleton classroom infrastructure. Classrooms are jam packed with student
bodies. This semester I had to drop students from the class as the classroom
could not accommodate the numbers registered and no other classroom was
available. * I refer to Carleton (to my academic friends) as the
"ghetto". This is one of the reasons I decided to leave Carleton
after just one year. I ensured the university I am going to next year supports
student instruction. The current disgusting state of classroom infrastructure
at Carleton is just one of a number of indicators that Carleton does not
support student learning.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: my
requirements for electronic classrooms include: o data projector o front screen
o PC with connection to the internet, and all standard software (power point;
word perfect/word), sound card etc. o vcr o telephone to call for assistance
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: Monitor
is hard to see because there is dirt on inside of plexiglas shield.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No, but it may be difficult to
see from the back.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: I don't
teach in an electronic classroom, so these features are not important to me.
when I do occassionally do powerpoint, I get it from IMS.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? See above comments about
accessibility.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: With respect to the
condition of the classrooms, a routine problem is the absence of chalk! I have
finally, and with a degree of resentment, purchased my own. With respect to #3
- The question is difficult to answer out of context, with the context in
question being the nature and quality of projection equipment. Ideally, with
high quality projection, I would want to be able to darken the space around the
screen totally, with some light for students to write. But with the equipment
available now, i.e. overhead projectors, high quality light control is a
meaningless frill.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: I have
left blanks for many of the questions above, for the following reasons: 9/10 -
I haven't been using 35 mm slides or videos/data because of no equipment, and
have felt no urgent need for them recently. However, if the equipment were
there, I would probably use it and find it invaluable. 12 - Have never used a
computer to lecture, so don't know how much walking around I would tend to do.
Judging by how irritating holding the slide changer in your hand can be, a
wireless mouse would probably be a good idea though. Can't promise not to walk
away with it absent-mindedly but often. 15 - no media yet available for my
courses on DVD. Might appear soon, in which case I would want a DVD player. 16
- haven't needed a microphone in any of the rooms in which I've lectured,
including the Egg. Would use one only for really large rooms.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Seats with writing tablets
attached are too small for comfort for "mature" adults, i.e. for
anyone of more than average height or ideal weight.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: I very much hope blackboards,
or their equivalent, will NOT be eliminated. Writing on the board slows me down
(a good thing), allows me to be spontaneous in explanations, and lets me
correct mistakes easily and unmessily. But I've only used relatively small
classrooms...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
204AA (Architecture): Broken chairs, inaccessible
blackboard, insufficient seats
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: We need
more electronic classrooms !!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: None of this stuff
is high priority. The classrooms are pretty good as they are now.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Yes, in Theatre B, students in
wheelchairs invariably end up at the very back of the class, ask fewer
questions, are required to stay late more often in order to talk to instructor,
etc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I would like to see a corner screen for overheads so that the
black board can be used at the same time. Ideally, it would be best if the
black board could be used together with either the computer projection or the
overhead, but with the huge screen in the middle of the room, I don't see how
this could be accomplished. Is it really necessary that the computer projection
is as large as it is. The microphone controls should be accessible without
having to log into the computer. Additional Comments on Priorities:
There is one set of lights that I can turn off only sporadically, they do not
seem to respond to either of the two light on/off pads. There were several days
this past winter where the room was exceptionally warm. I find the room very
dark and gloomy even with all of the lights turned on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: Fixed seating
presents a real problem for tutorials. I much prefer moveable desks and chairs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms?No
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: In my view,
ventilation is a very high priority. Many classrooms, like faculty offices in
Loeb, are extremely overheated and stuffy, which makes everyone sleepy and
sickly. We need windows that open so that we can get some fresh air - and if
this is not do-able, a serious overhaul of the heating and fresh-air intake
systems. Virtually all of the buildings I have taught in bear all the signs of
sick buildings - the air quality is appalling and in my experience, hazardous
to health.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: I do not
wish to be forced into using computers for teaching - it's all bells and
whistles and detracts from CONTENT, for which we, in social sciences, at least,
do not need flashy technology, but up-graded regular technology such as good
overhead projectors, VCR/TV monitors etc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Not that I am aware of, except
that the nailed in swivel seats attached to bench desks are very awkward for
EVERYONE to get into and out of. They also make it impossible to change the
room layout to a more interactive, seminar style of teaching. They commit us to
a lecture format that is not the most effective way of teaching.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: The main thing from
my point of view is electronics installation and upgrading -- the model number
one clasroon is 5050MC -- wow what a difference to go into that room with or
without my laptop -- the electronic console, lighting, seating, etc. etc. is
just great -- I do some lectures straight from web housed material, among other
things)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms:{Room
5050MC is a model classroom -- fantastic -- if they could all be like this}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? no
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? 3075ME is pretty tight for the
students when you have a full class. I don't think it's accessible at all for
handicapped students.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: I would use a data projector
if there was one in the classroom, plus a computer wired into the university
network. It's too much hassle to bring a data projector up from IMS every week
before class.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: Outdated equipment
(or lack therof) has been an obstacle in many lectures. More notable has been
the condition of the blackboard area and front table in room 4499ME and 3275ME.
The latter in particular was an embarrassment to me and students; a few minutes
was required in every class to wipe them clean with wet towels brought by us.
The source of the problem (cleaning staff vs preceding faculty) was not
evident.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: I
currently use 35mm slides and video extensively. I also use (and would
increasingly like to use more) DVD projection through a portable LCD projector.
This equipment is carried by me each class to the room.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: The acoustics in
many rooms in Loeb and Tory are bad due to hissing of ventilation system. Also
it is hard to control the temperature in many rooms and offices. THis makes
teaching and learning more difficult.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: These
should be prioritized. It is inconvenient to have to keep booking equipment and
then transporting it thru the tunnels. Rooms should be allocated to faculty who
intend to make use of these new features - many will not! Carleton should take
stronger steps to encourage and train faculty in the use of these technologies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: Improved climate control in
classrooms and offices is essential. It would be nice to have windows that
opened.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Yes. Acoustics in rooms with concrete
block walls in Southam are terrible: I cannot hear students' questions.
Sometimes ventilation is too noisy and acts as "white noise",
especially when combined with overhead projector fan. I also have a mobility
problem but still pace around. This makes classrooms with a platform for the
prof impossible for me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: Overhead projectors must be
cabled in such a way that the prof can get the projector far enough from the
screen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: Blackboards need to
be upgraded: the writing does not show well in many portions of the board. Bell
Theatre console blocks the blackboard.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: Heating and cooling
is a disgrace in many buildings
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? no
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: If this applies to
Room LA900, we need new seating to reduce dependency on Buildings and Grounds.
Also, the air quality/heating causes problems from time to time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? no****************************
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: In computer
science, we have up to 150 students per class. We need larger classrooms.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: The indications
below refer to large lecture halls
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: Heating/cooling and
furnishings matter above all, pluse ease of video access.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: Some classrooms are
far better than others- for language classes, which I teach. Classrooms in
Southam are often miserable, dark, echoing. Problems of equipment arise when we
have classes far from the centre of campus- now that we can no longer borrow
VCR/cassette player from St Pat's resource centre, (why not?) any language
class in Res Com can virtually forget about using video or audio for most of
the year. This is absurd & extremely inconvenient. As for cleanness of
rooms, we might help each other by cleaning boards & getting students to
clean up after themselves- I go into a room in Paterson in the evening with
boards covered in notes & junk all over tables & floors.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: Physical
environment (no. 4) is becoming, to me, a fairly high priority because of the
fact that much of the campus is old and dingy and it becomes very depressing
for both faculty and students working in such an environment year after year.
Such upgrades may seem cosmetic, but can do much to raise morale.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms:
Technology changes quickly, and I anticipate using these media in the future
though I have not in the past. This year I've been using videoconferencing room
to link with a classroom in Europe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: to appeal to a
professional audience and to reflect a serious, professional attitude towards
the education being provided, we need a much higher general level of
facilities. what i think would help the courses i am teaching is smaller class
sizes. given such large classes, the room layout should be better than i
generally have experienced, so that at least some kind of interaction becomes
easier.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: the
current electronic classrooms are very poor. it should be easy to: interact
with prepared powerpoint (electronic) slides switch between electronic slides
and hand-written overheads switch between board use and projection change the
room lighting right now, i would say the electronic classrooms are probably
more trouble than they are worth. they constrict, rather than giving more
options.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? not that i know of
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? There are only a few
classrooms on campus that I can use from a wheelchair. I need a sloping floor
or the students in the back cannot see me, I cannot use a raised platform in
the front.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: Be very careful
when deciding to convert a room with movable furniture to fixed seating.
Movable furniture offers much more flexibility and is essential for certain
type of classes (tutorials, in class tests and exams). We have lost too many of
those movable furniture rooms this year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Not that I know
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: A good blackboard is still
the best mean to deliver certain lectures (in particular math). In the current
trend to high-tech this simple and effective device should not forgotten or
neglected. There are, unfortunately, big lecture halls on the campus with
expensive electronic equipment and no decent blackboard (e.g., TH. B, Bell
theatre), there are also many boards that are hard to write on, or hard to
erase.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: Obviously
accessibility is critical, but there is no point making it a priority unless it
has proved to be a barrier to students. Upgrading equipment also does not need
to be universal, as long as there are enough classrooms that have the
facilities such as power point etc.. Some faculty will simply not use this
equipment anyway.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: I hope the refurbishment is
done intelligently. Not all classrooms will need this equipment, and some would
be better off as standard seminar/lecture theatres. The process should be
demand driven. I think it wuld be absurd to refit all of Southam Hall if that
is not the usual classrooms for faculties or departments that are likely to be
using the equipment as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: We need a wider
range of class room sizes. There are very few rooms that comfortably hold a
seminar class of 30 to 35 which is frequently the size of seminars. And all
class rooms need to be set up to accomodate small group work -- ie movable
chairs, desks etc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: These are all
lowish priorities for me because I have no serious complaints concerning them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: I use
some of this equipment all the time; some of it never.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Yes, in Theatre B --
wheelchair students are forced to a corner in the back and when I once broke my
leg it was impossible for me to continue lecturing, I couldn't get down the
steps.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: The weakest link in
teaching at Carleton is access to computer files during class. As we are
supposed to be enetering the electronic age and our students are supposed to be
computer literate, the provision of computer-internet access in class has been
limited to a few very large rooms and every one else is still in the stone age
of chalk on black boards or markers on overheads.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: DVD and
wireless mikes are necessadry in the big rooms only.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Additional Comments: I do not currently use
laptops in class because of their high cost. This problem will not be solved
until the university recognizes that to do the teaching task which they
advertise as their prime activity there is a minimum necessary set of equipment
which they need to provide. Either that or provide a tax exemption for personal
tool ownership the same as carpenters and other trades.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities:The areas that need
immediate attention are: 1) cleaning..our classrooms..in fact the whole campus,
is incredibly dirty 2) older rooms are extremely neglected to the point of
falling apart. ...furniture is torn or non-functional, tattered curtains fall
off the rods etc. we do not need upgrading just take care of what we have...fix
things. In Steacie 103, I found fully 25% of the writing arms on the chairs
damaged beyond use and the back of one chair ripped off and hanging in the
aisle.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms?Generally speaking no, but
there is a problem at the back of Steacie 103. A metal edge of about 4cm in
height forms a rectangle in front of one of exit doors. I suspect that this may
have been installed for wheelchair parking or some similar purpose. Because the
door is used for rapid entrance and exit, there is a serious danger that
someone will trip. There needs to be some control on access or the metal should
be removed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Not known
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments on Priorities: Re #4 above,
reducing the sound of ventilation systems would be highest priority for me, eg
in DT517.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? NO
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Additional Comments on Priorities: The type of
teaching we do REQUIRES *MOVABLE* desks + chair combinations for group work and
desk-top writing.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Sometimes the elevators don't
work which is tough for me since I trolley my books and materials for class
use. I have had students in wheelchairs in the past who've faced the same
problem.
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Additional Comments on Priorities: The configuration
of classrooms also requires some thought. Providing enough and appropriate av
equipment should be a top prrority.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: The
answers to questions 13 and 16 depend on the course, the instructor, the
paedagogical approach,and the size of the class,and are threrfore
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Yes. I like to teach in a
tiered semicircular room, but the one I most commonly use has no ramp, so
people who can't do stairs must sit in the
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No
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Additional Comments on Priorities: Chalk and erasers
should always be available in classrooms Students have complained that some
rooms are too hot/cold
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Not to my knowledge
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Additional Comments on Priorities: B149 Loeb has major
ventilation problems It is sometimes unbearably hot)
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Additional Comments on Priorities: I couldn't comment
on question #5 since accessibility has never been a problem in any classrooms
in which I have taught.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No
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Additional Comments on Priorities: The problem I
encounter most is that there are too many seats in the classrom to position
overhead projectors, and other equipment properly without shuffling seats
around.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: My
answers are based on the assumption that sessions that require individual
workstations for students will be held in special laboratories rather than
general purpose "classrooms"
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? I have not come accross any
identifiable situations
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Additional Comments on Priorities: The classrooms are
dirty and disorganized, often without the chairs required to accommodate the
students in the class.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: Simply
need more of these, particularly for large classes, but even seminars would
make use of the data projector.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Not recently.
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Any Additional Comments: Glad to see the survey. I
hope the input is useful.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Yes
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Additional Comments on Priorities: The students should
be able to write their notes on the lectures with reasonable facility. Chairs
with a wide arm rest are MOST UNSUITABLE for math classes. It is much better to
have chairs and desks.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: When a
station is left locked by the previous occupant, it should NOT be necessary to
phone CCS. The new instructor should be able to log in and thereby disable the
previous session. The abilty to put files in to the system from this computer
(in my office) and then retrieve them in the classroom would be useful. I
hardly used the computer in 360TB because I could not do this.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? no
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Additional Comments on Priorities: Re Question 2 - -
but not with the type of furnishing that have recently been used in Southam.
The rigodity arising from the seats attached to the long table greatly
decreases the ways in which the classroom can be used. Table with chairs, which
would allow across=table discussion would be satisfactory Re Question 5 - -
elevator upgrade in Southam
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: Even
electronic classrooms must have a manual means of presenting information -
preferably a chalkboard because the so-called white boards are problematic.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Physical access to Southam
Hall classrooms is problematic for students unable to climb stairs. The
elevator is far too slow.
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Any Additional Comments: The furnish upgrade carried
out this year in Southam made the rooms look better but decreased their
utility. That type of furnishing should not be used anywhere.
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Additional Comments on Priorities: When screens in
particular and other equipment are placed in classrooms someone with some
knowledge of the requirements rather than the installer should make the
decisions as to where to place them.
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Additional Comments on Priorities: Certainly students
have a right to expect classrooms that are neatly kept, properly furnished and
in good working order. With the upgrading of computer labs in the St. Pat's
building the last last couple of years, we've come a long way on the latter two
points. However, with computers there is always the need to keep up and we
already have students who find the existing ones frustrating due to slowness
and options which aren't available. We certainly must never let the labs fall
as far behind standard technology as they did in the mid/late '90s. The change
in custodial arrangements initially produced embarrassing results, but that has
improved -- at least for now. I find it amazing the cleaners remain unable to
completely clean a black/greenboard, however. The best they seem able to do
(now that they no longer just write "PLO" on the board and leave it
as-is) is to leave it streaked with lines and swirls of chalk dust once the
washing dries. Before the change in cleaners, board were perfectly clean every
morning. Frankly, I think this seemingly minor point undermines the appearance
of professionalism and morale of those of us to teach.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: My
comments above refer to the computer labs on the third floor of St. Pat's and
not to lecture theatres. Being able to project from both an overhead and/or a
computer on demand -- without having to compete for/book/borrow/set up/etc a
projector for specific classes -- would be a wonderful additional tool for
these labs. We teach reporting courses in them, and it would be very helpful
for us to show work that's in progress, and also to display stories while we
alter them.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? I have not as yet run into
this problem, though mobility with the computer labs is limited by narrow
aisles clogged with chairs. This leaves the computers around the edges as the
only ones open to students in wheelchairs. It might be useful to ensure each
computer lab has at least one larger-than-standard monitor for students who
have visual impairments. We've had several come through our program and they
often have to get their nose right to their screen, especially when doing
research on deadline on the Web. The same applies to video and audio editing
suites for our TV and Radio classes -- each should have a large monitor on at
least one set of editing machines.
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Any Additional Comments: The critical need is for
teaching supports which are easy to use -- and easy to remembe HOW to use from
one occasion to the next. I've seen so many presentations by others bog down as
the speaker wrestles with technology, so I tend to rely on chalk and voice --
and in doing so, I do quite nicely overall. However, there are things I'd like
to be able to ALSO do -- as long as I could count on them working when I need
them. Given this, I would strongly suggest that any installation of projection
equipment, etc, in the computer labs on the third floor of St. Pat's be done
with direct consultation with the reporting instructors who use those rooms. I
further suggest steps be taken to ensure this consultation is with a RANGE of
those who use the rooms, because we each have different needs and levels of
technical aptitude which others may not be able to anticipate. Consultations
with others in the department who do not teach these courses on a regular,
ongoing basis would not constitute consultation at all, even if there was a
well-meaning belief that those responding were taking into account what would
be best for the actual course teachers. I would strongly suggest those
proceeding with such a project insist they be put in direct contact with those
who use the rooms in question, rather than leaving it to the departments
involved to work out who will be involved.
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Additional Comments on Priorities: Not enough
blackboard space in many of the room I am supposed to teach in.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: Need
data projector only for large 1st classes. Not otherwise
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Additional Comments on Priorities: Not sure what you
mean about classroom equipment. If you mean the VCR which has had broken
buttons for about 4 months, I think parts were ordered.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? N/A
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Any Additional Comments: More often than in the past
the chalkboards were left with notes from the previous lectures. It may help if
the instructors were reminded during the IMS introduction about the courtesy of
cleaning.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? yes, a second year course I
was teaching was scheduled for a room in ME which was not wheelchair
accessible. The poor student ended up outside in the hall for the first
lecture, which was embarassing and stressful. We had the class moved to an
accessible building and room, but that also caused stress and hassle for the
other students, especially because it was a full year course and we had to
change rooms again after Christmas. It wasn't a very positive experience for
anyone. I think that all the large rooms and theatres (i.e., 80+ people) should
be accessible AND that classes being held in unaccessible rooms should be
clearly indicated, so that students who need accessible rooms can know ahead of
time that there will be a problem.
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Any Additional Comments: I would really appreciate
having data projectors available to use with my laptop. I taught a class in
Patterson this year and the elevator was constantly broken, meaning that I
couldn't use the university equipment. So I borrowed a data projector from a
friend and used my own laptop. It meant I used it less (because sometimes he
needed the projector) and it was hard to schedule. All of the students used
power point to give their presentations as well, so it was critical to know
that the equipment would work. The university equipment is unpredictable -- in
the past, I've been given incorrect passwords, or the version of the software
is the wrong one .... It adds to the stress of the experience.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Very limited space for those
in wheelchairs in some classrooms that have sloped seating.
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Additional Comments on Priorities: Chairs with minimum
ergonomics, so no body damage from sitting, would be great. Acoustics are truly
lousy in Dunton -- air circulation drowns out voices, often -- and Southam --
the architects should have their license removed. In all cases, flexible
seating, possibilities for group work etc., are crucial.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: I've
answered in terms of my CURRENT teaching practice -- could well change.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Only once, with four hearing
disabled students all receivint various accommodations.
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Additional Comments on Priorities: I do most of my
teaching in Res Commons and Theatre B. The former classrooms are really quite
uncomfortable -- ugly, beat-up tables, uncomfrotable chairs, and the rooms are
always a mess. (Furniture pushed here and there, trash etc.) Theatre B is,
well, Theatre B. The lighting is the worst feature -- in order for the students
to see me, I have to have the TV lights on. But that means I can't see them.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: Your
list doesn't mention a tape player. It should. And let me be really emphatic
about the microphones; we should have lots of them in stock. Lots. (I know;
they're expensive. But they're essential equipment in a big room.)
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Any Additional Comments: My biggest frustration with
multi-tasking this year was that I could not mute the VCR without muting the
wireless microphone. I have one class where I like to talk about the images on
a TV newscast. Can't do that in Theatre B, because if the sound is turned down
on one thing, it's down on them all.
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Additional Comments on Priorities: It is not clear
what you consider to be an "improvement". I have noticed a tendency
to replace moveable seating with fixed seating which is not suitable for group
work. I believe students learn best when they are actively engaged in the
process and thus I do a lot of group work in class. What I need are classrooms
with moveable furniture which can be arranged into small group seating.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: Again,
it is not clear what kind of classroom you are talking about -- some of this
equipment is only necessary in large lecture halls and there they are very
important but in other facilities they are completely unimportant.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? Yes. Students in wheelchairs
have great difficulty accessing many of our classrooms because they are so
crowded. Trying to pack as many bodies as possible into each space inhibits
accessability. Also in one classroom I was in this year, there were 3 tables at
the front of the room. With all this furniture you could not get a wheelchair
or a TV cart into the room.
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Any Additional Comments: I find the design of our
classrooms to generally be poor. I think they should all be reviewed by a group
of faculty who represent different teaching styles because one size does not
fit all.
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Additional Comments on Priorities: Improvement for
classroom furniture, physical environment and setting: Acoustics is very
important for language classrooms. Also, the setting of a language classroom
should consist of small tables, which could accommodate 4-6 students; thus
students could do group activities; and the instructor could interact easily
with each group. Eliminate horseshoe seating (they are too small to hold books,
notebooks, etc. and things tend to slip off and disrupt the class). Add blue
boxes for recycling (paper, glass, at least) and (why not?) coat racks.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: For
large classes wireless microphones are important
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Additional Comments on Priorities: Sometimes, the
heating of the Paterson building is unbearably high.
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> Additional Comments on Priorities: >The
priorities are to allow for flexibility and group work among different
students, hence the need for moveable furniture that is not fixed
permanently.This is an absolute necessity. >
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> Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms:
> >
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> Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties > in classrooms? No > >
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> Any Additional Comments: > >
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? no
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? no
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Additional Comments on Priorities: I would really like
to make these all the same priority as they are very inter-related. New
technology without proper lighting could mean the technology investment isn't
effective. I also want students to be able to see to the bottom of the screen
and for me to easily point to it so classroom layout is also critical. Any one
of these, without attention to the other items will lead to problems. I would
rather see us get it right one classroom at a time, then to be frustrated in a
series of rooms that sort of meet my needs, but not entirely.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: Screen
doesn't have to be in the middle. It should be somewhere such that students can
still see and so that I can keep writing on a board. 100 StP for example - once
screen in down, can't write on the board. Appreciate that there is a moveable
board on the side, but it is awkward to move and not many places to put it when
classroom is full.
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Additional Comments on Priorities: It is important
when replacing the furniture not to replace desks and seating with FIXED
seating. Fixed seating prevents essential interaction from taking place between
students.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms: If more
classrooms are going to be made into electronic classrooms, it is important to
provide additional technical staff to maintain and service these classrooms so
that other IMS services (which are excellent now) do not suffer.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No
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Any Additional Comments: IMS does a great job -- the
staff are helpful and the equipment is in good working order. It is important
to maintain this level of service. Thanks.
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Additional Comments on Priorities: movable furniture
enabling group work around tables is an urgent necessity.
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Additional Comments on Priorities: Flexible classroom
seating is required, i.e. not fixed seating, but rather seating which allows
for small group work integrated into whole class work. Table space rather than
small notepad space is required for work integrating laptop, book and notepad
use, again both individually and in small groups (4-6) within a class of 25-30.
ELectronic classrooms for classes of 25-30 are required.
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Additional Comments on Electronic Classrooms:
Electronic classrooms for small classes (24-35 students) are urgently required.
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Any Additional Comments: My own priorities would be
for flexibility in classrooms, both in terms of physical arrangement of
seating/tables and equipment available, increased number of electronic
classrooms and access to electronic classrooms for small classes (enrollment
24-35).
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Additional Comments on Priorities: #2 & #6 : For
language teaching : preferred furniture : movable tables & chairs for
groups of 4 or 6. Round tables preferred (as in 201 PA)
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms? No
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Any Additional Comments: To identify language-teaching
classrooms, for ESL, French and other languages and equip them appropriately
with furniture & equipment.
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Have you or your students encountered any physical
accessibility difficulties in classrooms?
*****no*************************
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