If you\nlive in the Hays community or have recently visited, you are probably well\naware of several recent construction projects on our beautiful campus,\nincluding the Center for Applied Technology, the Schmidt Foundation Center for\nArt and Design, and the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success. The opening\nof a new building on our campus gives us an opportunity to re-envision how a\nphysical space can directly enhance teaching, learning, and student success. These\nnew spaces were intentionally designed to meet our students\u2019 evolving\neducational, social, physical space, and technology needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nsummer meeting of our Alumni Board included a tour of our newer facilities.\nWhile touring Rarick Hall, our group bumped into Dr. Paul Adams, Dean of the\nCollege of Education. Impromptu, he was asked to discuss the reimagination of\nteacher education via the renovation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nnarrative that follows is based on Paul\u2019s description of the reimagined teacher\neducation spaces in Rarick Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of\nthe things we wanted to do for a long time was to have a room that models the\nenvironment and furniture types and arrangements our future teachers would see\nin the classrooms where they will launch their careers. We wanted to create a\nstate-of-the-practice teaching laboratory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\ngathered faculty members who had recent experience in school classrooms and\nasked them to envision a space to meet the experiential learning needs of our\nstudents and keep them \u201cahead of the game.\u201d We brought our students into the\ndiscussion by asking them what they thought would make this teaching laboratory\nan excellent resource for collaborative learning. The thoughtfulness behind\nthis whole process, as described by Dean Adams, was very impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we\nheard from our teacher education students is the importance they place on\nlearning environments that promote close collaboration with their peers. The\nTeaching Laboratory space was designed with this in mind. Everything in the lab\nwas built to provide a high level of flexibility and to enhance teaching and\nlearning. The area includes, for example, a u-shaped table with movable chairs\naround it. There are rocking stools that can easily be moved around the room.\nThere are modular tables with whiteboard surfaces that can be placed together\nlike puzzle pieces allowing multiple configurations to support students working\nin small and large groups. Other tables in the room have whiteboard surfaces\nthat students can gather around as they work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another\ninnovative space in Rarick Hall is the Tiger Stripes Lounge. It replaced the\nInstructional Resource Center (IRC). Previously, the IRC covered most of the\ncentral portion of the 2nd floor of Rarick Hall and was a repository for\ntextbooks, teaching materials, and anything one might need to borrow for a\nclassroom. With a wealth of online resources preferred and readily available,\nthis space reflects how students now use learning resources and technology.\nWe\u2019ve also installed a 75-inch screen projection Smart TV that students can log\ninto that includes a touch screen to facilitate collaborative work. Users can\nalso meet via Zoom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of\ncourse, we haven\u2019t forgotten some of the basics. We still have paper cutters,\ncolored paper rolls for bulletin board construction, a laminator, and die\ncutters. We will install even more technology soon. Students asked us to keep a\ncollection of books in the lounge, specifically trade books for future\nelementary school teachers to use in their coursework. We built a beautiful\nbookcase and will soon add a collection of Caldecott and Newbery Award-winning\nbooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adjacent\nto the Tiger Stripes Lounge is a great place for aspiring teachers to get\ntogether: a conference room that can also double as a quiet study space. \u201cThis\nis one of the things we didn\u2019t have before, a space like this one that our\nstudents designed. We feel this is very important,\u201d said Adams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our\ntour of Rarick Hall then took us to the first floor and another reimagined\nspace. Before the building was renovated, students didn\u2019t really have a place\nto get together right before or between classes to prepare for a team\npresentation or read and do homework. So, one of the ideas was to turn the\nlarge and soon-to-be-vacated \u201cFoundry\u201d space into something useful. Today, the\nFoundry is a well-lit and open gathering space for all students, not just\nCollege of Education students. The area includes small meeting rooms with smart\nTVs, rolling whiteboards, free-standing tables, restaurant-style booths, and\nvending machines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outside\nthe Foundry space, we\u2019ve installed picnic tables, outlets for various devices,\nand of course, Wi-Fi reception. And we\u2019ve installed landscaping that creates a\nbeautiful open-air setting for community gatherings, quiet study or just\nrelaxing between classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nintentionality built into the Rarick Hall renovation is also apparent in the\nsmallest details. Additional benches and furniture create nooks for students\nare new features on some floors. We\u2019ve also installed more glass boards for\nstudents to brainstorm, solve problems, or doodle. Faculty can also use this\nspace for small group work during class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So,\nwhen you come to Rarick Hall, take a moment and wander a bit. I think, like me,\nyou will marvel at the remarkable transformation of this facility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you live in the Hays community or have recently visited, you are probably well aware of several recent construction projects on our beautiful campus,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66151"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66418,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66151\/revisions\/66418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}