Learning Spaces

Diana G. Oblinger, Editor

Learning Spaces
Diana G. Oblinger, Editor

ISBN 0-9672853-7-2
©2006 EDUCAUSE. Available electronically at
www.educause.edu/learningspaces
Learning Spaces
Part 1: Principles and Practices
Chapter 1. Space as a Change Agent
Diana G. Oblinger

Chapter 2. Challenging Traditional Assumptions and Rethinking

Learning Spaces
Nancy Van Note Chism

Chapter 3. Seriously Cool Places: The Future of Learning-Centered

Built Environments
William Dittoe

Chapter 4. Community: The Hidden Context for Learning

Deborah J. Bickford and David J. Wright

Chapter 5. Student Practices and Their Impact on Learning Spaces

Cyprien Lomas and Diana G. Oblinger

Chapter 6. The Psychology of Learning Environments

Ken A. Graetz

Chapter 7. Linking the Information Commons to Learning

Joan K. Lippincott

Chapter 8. Navigating Toward the Next-Generation Computer Lab

Alan R. Cattier

Chapter 9. Trends in Learning Space Design

Malcolm Brown and Philip Long

ISBN 0-9672853-7-2
©2006 EDUCAUSE. Available electronically at
www.educause.edu/learningspaces
Chapter 10. Human-Centered Design Guidelines
Lori Gee

Chapter 11. Designing Blended Learning Space to the Student

Experience
Andrew J. Milne

Chapter 12. Sustaining and Supporting Learning Spaces

Christopher Johnson

Chapter 13. Assessing Learning Spaces

Sawyer Hunley and Molly Schaller

Part 2: Case Studies

Chapter 14. Learning How to See
Diana G. Oblinger

Chapter 15. City of London: Sir John Cass Business School

Clive Holtham

Chapter 16. Denison University: MIX Lab

Scott Siddall

Chapter 17. Duke University: Perkins Library

Marilyn M. Lombardi and Thomas B. Wall

Chapter 18. Eckerd College: Peter H. Armacost Library

J. Michael Barber
Chapter 19. Estrella Mountain Community College: The Learning
Studios Project
Homero Lopez and Lori Gee

Chapter 20: Hamilton College: Science Center

Nikki Reynolds and Douglas A. Weldon
• History • Process • The Building • About the Authors

Chapter 21. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis: The ES

Corridor Project
Nancy Van Note Chism

Chapter 22. Iowa State University: LeBaron Hall Auditorium

Jim Twetten

Chapter 23. London School of Economics: BOX

Andrew Harrison

Chapter 24. Messiah College: Boyer Hall

Dennis Lynch

Chapter 25. Michigan Technological University: Center for Integrated

Learning and Information Technology
Paul Urbanek

Chapter 26. MIT: The Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex

Phillip D. Long

©2006 EDUCAUSE. Available electronically at

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Chapter 27. MIT: Steam Café
Scott Francisco

Chapter 28. North Carolina State University: Flyspace

Hal Meeks

Chapter 29. North Carolina State University: SCALE-UP

Robert Beichner

Chapter 30. Northwestern University: The Information Commons

Bob Davis and Denise Shorey

Chapter 31. The Ohio State University: The Digital Union

Victoria Getis, Catherine Gynn, and Susan E. Metros

Chapter 32. Olin College of Engineering: Academic and Olin Centers

Joanne Kossuth

Chapter 33. The Pennsylvania State University: Smeal College of Business

Peter Nourjian

Chapter 34. St. Lawrence University: Center for Teaching and Learning
Sondra Smith and Kim Mooney

Chapter 35. Stanford University: GroupSpaces

Richard Holeton

Chapter 36. Stanford University: Wallenberg Hall

Dan Gilbert
Chapter 37. The University of Arizona: Manuel Pacheco Integrated
Learning Center
Christopher Johnson

Chapter 38. University of British Columbia: The Irving K. Barber

Learning Centre
Simon Neame and Cyprien Lomas

Chapter 39. University of Central Florida: Collaboration and

Multimedia Classrooms
Ruth Marshall

Chapter 40. University of Chicago: The USITE/Crerar Computing

Cluster and Cybercafé
Shirley Dugdale and Chad Kainz

Chapter 41. The University of Georgia: The Student Learning Center

William Gray Potter and Florence E. King

Chapter 42. Virginia Tech: The Math Emporium

Barbara L. Robinson and Anne H. Moore

Chapter 43. Virginia Tech: Torgersen Hall

J. Thomas Head and Anne H. Moore

©2006 EDUCAUSE. Available electronically at

www.educause.edu/learningspaces
 Chapter 20

Science Center
Hamilton College

Nikki Reynolds and Douglas A. Weldon

History
Hamilton College is a small, selective, residential liberal arts college located in
central New York State. The college emphasizes the importance of communica-
tion, student responsibility, and rigorous study. Personalized education and high
levels of faculty and student interaction are considered hallmarks of the Hamilton
College experience.
By the 1990s, it became obvious that the science programs at Hamilton suffered
from overcrowding and out-of-date facilities. Teaching methods have changed, with
an increased focus on hands-on learning. Emphasis on student research and public
presentation of the results has increased, as well. Moreover, new interdisciplinary
programs at the college require close proximity of the various science departments.

Process
The decision was made to renovate and expand the existing main science
building. As part of the programming and design process, teams of faculty trav-
eled to more than 20 institutions that had recently completed science facilities.
Campus committees consisting of administrators, faculty, staff, and students met
continually with architects and participated in the decision-making processes. The
outcome was a building designed around the following principles:
 The Science Center celebrates the learning and discovery of science by making
the activities that occur inside the building visible. (See Figure 1.)
 Classrooms and seminar rooms are distributed throughout the building, so
student traffic keeps the building “alive.”
 Classrooms and laboratories are designed to maximize flexibility and to ac-
commodate different pedagogical approaches.
 Teaching labs allow the combination of lecture and hands-on activities in a
single class session.

©2006 Nikki Reynolds and Douglas A. Weldon

20.1 Learning Spaces

Figure 1. Science Center Stairway

Photo: Bob Handelman

 Laboratories are designed to allow students to engage in hands-on research,

with student labs and faculty research labs placed near each other. All of
Hamilton’s seniors are required to complete a research project, and there is
also an active summer research program.
 Faculty in different departments are located near each other to maximize
interdisciplinary connections in the sciences.
 Student study spaces are arranged throughout the building in close prox-
imity to faculty offices to support access to faculty during informal or ad
hoc study periods.
 Up-to-date technology in the building includes network connections made via
wireless technology or 1,000 hard ports. Technology is built into all spaces in
the building, not just the classrooms and labs.
 The Science Center is environmentally friendly, using a heat-recovery system,
geothermal technology in the atrium area, and certified wood (i.e., wood from
forests maintained in a sustainable manner) in casework and millwork.

Science Center, Hamilton College 20.2

 The Building
The resulting 208-gross-square-foot Science Center (20 percent renovation and
80 percent new construction) is a pleasing amalgam of traditional and new ele-
ments, blending the stone typical of the existing college architecture with new
materials. (See Figure 2.)
Figure 2. Science Center Front Façade

Photo: Peter Finger

The front atrium of the Science Center (see Figure 3) is both the aesthetic
centerpiece of the building and an instructional area that highlights green archi-
tecture. In this area, air cooled and heated via a geothermal loop system powers a

Figure 3. Science Center Main Atrium

Photo: Marianita Amodio

20.3 Learning Spaces
displacement ventilation system integrated with a double-glass façade that serves
as the front of the building. A touch screen and flat display explain many green
features of the Science Center; sensors provide dynamic information on outside
environmental conditions, inside environmental conditions, and operation of the
geothermal and heat-recovery systems.

Classrooms
Each classroom has a touch screen to control projection of computer, DVD, or
video images. Of the three tiered classrooms, the largest seats 125 students. This
main auditorium (see Figure 4) has a full complement of presentation technologies,
including three data projectors, a surround-sound system with speaker micro-
phones, and a separate projection booth with a 16mm projector and additional
DVD/VHS and sound equipment.

Figure 4. Science Center Main Auditorium

Photo: Marianita Amodio

The remaining two tiered classrooms have two data projectors each without a
separate projection booth, but they are fully equipped otherwise. A touch-screen
interface controls the rooms’ facilities. One of these classrooms is designed with
two rows per tier, to make it convenient for students to form discussion groups
(see Figure 5) and then return to a lecture format.
Each of the flat-floored classrooms has a single data projector with touch-
screen control for all the technologies. To maximize flexibility, classrooms are
equipped with standard tables that have wheels at one end so that they can be

Science Center, Hamilton College 20.4

 Figure 5. Science Center Tiered Classroom

Photo: Bill Denison

moved easily for different pedagogical arrangements (seminar, small groups, or

lecture). Each of the eight general seminar rooms is equipped with a data projector
and computer with a wireless keyboard and mouse that can be passed around as
students make presentations.

Laboratories
Laboratories were designed to facilitate specific pedagogical approaches. For
example, the geosciences microscope laboratory contains pods with four micro-
scopes each, networked together. (See Figure 6.) When students locate items of
interest, they can present to the entire class, and the instructor can project images
from two different microscopes onto two wall screens using ceiling-mounted
projectors for the class to make comparisons.
Another specialized teaching laboratory clearly visible through windows in the cor-
ridor walls is the electron microscopy lab. In addition to two electron microscopes, this
lab has a wall-mounted flat-screen display and desktop computers. (See Figure 7.)

20.5 Learning Spaces

Figure 6. Geosciences Microscope Laboratory

Photo: Bill Denison

Figure 7. Electron Microscopy Laboratory

Photo: Bill Denison

Science Center, Hamilton College 20.6

 Student Study Areas
To make the building effective as a location for student work, many kinds of study
areas were included in the design: private study rooms, departmental common
areas, and the main atrium. Each set of two to four faculty offices contains a glass-
enclosed tutorial area immediately outside (see Figures 8 and 9), where students
can wait to see one of the faculty members or work with them. Common areas

Figure 8. Biology Department Student Study Lounge

Photo: Marianita Amodio

Figure 9. Biology Faculty Office Tutorial Area

Photo: Marianita Amodio

20.7 Learning Spaces

outside faculty offices are furnished to support student study and tutorial sessions.
Wireless technology throughout the building lets students use their laptops in any
of these spaces. Additionally, many spaces are configured as effective areas for
students to study, either alone or in groups. (See Figure 10.)

Figure 10. Student Study Areas

Photo: Bob Handleman

Overall Effect
The combination of aesthetics and effective spaces for learning encourages heavy
use of the Hamilton College Science Center by students and faculty from all areas
of the campus. The technological support, comfortable areas for individual or
group study, and easy access to faculty promote student engagement and learn-
ing, contributing to the Hamilton College experience.

About the Authors

Nikki Reynolds is the director of instructional technology services and
Douglas A. Weldon is Stone Professor of Psychology at Hamilton College.

www.educause.edu/learningspaces 20.8
 ISBN 0-9672853-7-2
©2006 EDUCAUSE. Available electronically at
www.educause.edu/learningspaces

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