The ARH and Carnegie Classroom Committee would like to hear your opinions regarding 
possible furniture changes to a few ARH classrooms.  We hope that the information provided 
below will help inform discussions among the Social Studies and Humanities 
departments concerning how we might optimize teaching spaces in the ARH.  We 
welcome your suggestions.


To view charts entitled: "Classrooms Available on Campus Fall 2002," "Courses by Enrollment," 
and Anticipated Additional Classroom Space," please click the following link.
classcharts.pdf

Background
In the spring of 2001, the Teaching and Learning in the Humanities and Social Studies 
Committee recommended to the Dean to replace the existing tablet-arm chairs with small 
tables in either ARH 120 or 131 and in one of the third floor ARH classrooms  (314, 315, 
324, or 325).  It also noted that many of the classrooms in ARH were crowded for 
discussion-style teaching, and recommended the reduction of the number of chairs in 
several rooms.  


The Teaching and Learning Committee made these recommendations after lengthy 
discussions with the chairs of all of the Social Studies and non-Fine Arts Humanities 
departments and using departmental statements regarding teaching styles, technology use, 
and teaching in offices and other places outside of the classroom.  The committee 
recommended small tables that would be easy to move so that teachers and students could 
employ a range of configurations.  The recommendation to convert the furniture of one or two 
classrooms to tables and chairs wasinformed by the way in which many Social Studies and 
text-based Humanities courses are taught and the fact that tablet arm chairs do not 
provide sufficient space for a notebook plus book or document packet, or for a laptop 
plus book or notebook.   Similar recommendations were made for Carnegie 313 and 314, 
which were equipped with small tables and chairs in the summer of 2001.  For examples 
of how tables adn chairs might work in Carnegie 313 and 314, please visit these two classrooms 
and consult the configurations depicted at 20_20class.pdf

The Teaching and Learning Committee concluded that providing some variation in the 
furniture in ARH classrooms would better support the range of pedagogies represented by 
those who teach and have the offices in ARH and Carnegie.  In making that 
recommendation, the committee was aware that some pedagogies are best served by 
tablet-arm chairs.   


For the final report of the Teaching and Learning in the Humanities and Social Studies 
Committee, please see the report: TLreport.pdf


Current Efforts
In the course of the past two years, the discussion of the spaces in which we teach and 
learn has continued to develop.  Some positions have changed dramatically, such as the 
desire to remain in or near ARH and Carnegie (the English and History departments, 
along with the Center for International Studies, Off-campus Studies and Grinnell-in-
London/Washington have moved to Mears Cottage).   In some cases, recommendations 
supported by particular departments have been modified.  


As a consequence of this developing conversation about what we need in teaching spaces 
of all sorts, the Dean organized a successor to the Teaching and Learning Committee to 
look in particular at spaces in ARH and Carnegie.  In the fall of 2002, the ARH and 
Carnegie Classroom Committee began considering which, if any of the classrooms in 
ARH might be converted to tables and chairs.  The committee has taken into 
consideration the fact that conversion to tables and chairs reduces seating capacities.  It 
also has taken into consideration the construction of new classroom space in Science 
Phase 2 and meeting spaces in the planned Campus Center that can be used as classrooms 
for much of the day, and the kind of furniture planned for these rooms.


Below is a summary of the committee's deliberations concerning possible furniture 
changes in one or two ARH classrooms.


ARH 120 or 131
Should the departure of the most of the English and History faculty allow the 
modification of 120 by straightening out the angled north wall, the capacity of this room 
can be increased somewhat.  For some plans of how an expanded ARH 120 might look 
with tables and chairs, please see arhplans.pdf


ARH 314, 315, 324, 325
Two considerations inform the ARH and Carnegie Classroom Committee's deliberations 
on whether to replace the existing tablet-arm chairs with small tables and chairs in one of 
these rooms, and whether to attempt to reduce the crowding in these rooms.  First, these 
rooms are favored by the foreign language faculty, who find tablet-arm chairs to be the 
most efficient and flexible seating for language courses.  Second, the committee must 
consider the impact of reducing the capacity of any room when recommending that it be 
changed over to tables and chairs.  ARH 322 is not a good candidate for tables because 
of its irregular shape.  ARH 318 has a large custom-built table.

Some language courses use two time slots.  The total number of time slots used per semester 
is indicated in parentheses.  


For possible configurations, please refer again to the photographs of the arrangements in 
Carnegie 313: 20_20class.pdf


See also  the tables at the Kaplan educational furniture site to see a University of Wisconsin 
classroom furnished with Portico tables (slide #11).


Better tablet-arm chairs in the third floor classrooms
The ARH and Carnegie Classroom Committee has also begun to investigate classroom 
desks that might better suit our faculty's needs.  Please see the Dorsal oversized desk (slide #4),
the Ivy League desk (#5), and the Dorsal student desk (#7) at the Kaplan site for three types of desks.