Archive for category: Classrooms

CAT Learning Spaces has reached a milestone with their Summer Renovations in 2019!  This is the fifth consecutive year that their partnership with Facilities Management and the Department of Project Management (DPM) have successfully collaborated on renovation projects. Ten newly designed rooms brings the number of renovated rooms to 73 overall.  While summer is the most active time for the Learning Spaces Design team, it takes an entire year from the first day of Fall’s zero week to plan and coordinate the renovations.

Here is a quick description of the process from the first day of Fall quarter. After the Design team, led by Daniel Bustos, completes the Audio Visual Upgrades in each of the rooms, the Audio Visual Services (AVS) team, led by Chris Dutton, takes instructors through the new setup. If any issues are found, AVS tries to find the best accommodation for the instructor, which is usually a new accessory needed for the instructor’s own laptop. Classrooms are closely monitored for the rest of the year for any issues, with the introduction to these rooms repeating with each new quarter. For the remaining three months of the year, Facilities, DPM, and Manager of Learning Spaces, Rob Rodgers, meet to discuss the next set of rooms to be renovated. The new year starts off with a final decision on the building, which rooms to be renovated, and what the renovation will entail. Winter quarter wraps up with a rough design of each room; Spring brings about the finalization of their design; Summer takes on all of the approved work. Once completed, the cycle starts again.

Rob Rodgers was asked about the milestone and he said, “This year we expanded the concept of Active Learning to larger spaces, giving faculty the opportunity to promote student interaction in lecture halls. In future years, we hope to enable the same pedagogical concepts in auditoriums.”

Rob Rodgers and Daniel Bustos would like to thank the entire Design team for their perseverance over these last five years: Nivi Chandra, Rene Lopez, John Lisiewicz, Mark Baquirin, and Jonathan Castro. A special thanks to the team at AVS for handling and highlighting professor needs: Chris Dutton, Juan Halcon, Brett Roller, Don Roby, Bobby Parker, Paul Park, Abigail Foster, and all of the student workers!

Summer 2017 brought new challenges to renovating classrooms: restoring one of the oldest auditoriums on campus and creating a new Active Learning Classroom.

Haines 39 Auditorium was completely redesigned in order to allow more space and audio visual technology. Once the Design and Project Management Office was given approvals, the renovation began the weekend of commencement, starting with the removal of the projection booth in the back. With the projection booth out, this allows an additional two rows for seating, which will be installed through the Winter 2017-2018 break.

Classroom Technology Design and Maintenance installed three high-powered laser projectors within the same footprint of the projection booth. Instructors can now have three separate projections at one time. With the all new multimedia lectern and touch screen controls, faculty can use their own laptop, access data from the classroom computer, and use the document camera at the same time. The lighting in the room was upgraded, complementing the new paint and refinishing of the classic wood framing along the perimeter. Control of the shades at the multimedia lectern can illuminate the room at a single touch, making clear and sunny days accessible. Seating and Flooring will soon be upgraded providing additional seating and completing the new look for Haines 39.

A44 is now the first Active Learning Classroom on the UCLA Campus. The style of the classroom promotes a new form of engagement among students and faculty. An instructor may ask students to sit in groups of four or six and maybe grab a seat to engage in a more personal discussion. They could also move tables to interactive boards at each end, giving students the chance to present their ideas to their peers before engaging with the instructor. New and unique forms of learning have been shown to provide a greater impact among learners.

Comparing the room to the past shows how dramatic the renovation was. Installing interactive white boards, accessible and movable seating, new lighting, and overall new audio visual system has provided the opportunity for the UCLA campus to engage in something new. Features of this space will be shown soon to interested faculty and staff. To have a tour of the area and insight into the equipment, please contact AVS.

Top to Bottom upgrades! A20 and A28

Haines’ collection of 10 smaller rooms were updated from floor to ceiling. New flooring in smaller seminar rooms and carpet in rooms with movable desks. Older writing surfaces with chalk were updated to whiteboards. Lastly, new lighting and lighting controls were installed to enhance the projection display with the ability to switch onto students and faculty when necessary. Each smaller seminar room has new movable tables and chairs. Larger classrooms have Steelcase nodes with rolling casters. Every small room has a unique color to ensure that they are kept in place and easier to find. Audio visual upgrades included new interactive projectors that display right onto the whiteboard. This takes away the need to pull down the projector screen in the smaller classrooms. New interactive boards can be used just like a traditional whiteboard but with more features. For example, saving slides that students worked on, or displaying media with new HDMI connection. A description of features and tutorials will come soon!

A2 and A18 received a dramatic renovation from floor to ceiling. Highlighting a more comfortable seating arrangement, getting rid of old chalkboards, new lighting/lighting controls and double projection. Faculty and instructors can now have two unique projections at one time. Touch screen controls on the media cabinet allow users to make these unique selections. In both rooms, the left projector will always have sound, while the right will have a traditional projection. For example with the new blu-ray player and touch screen controlled classroom computer, the left screen can show a film, while the right can be used to research more information. Because of the size of each room, it felt necessary to have this type of audio visual setup.

A25 received the same updates with attention to brand new auditorium style seating. Seating in A25 in particular was in need of an upgrade which expanded the capacity to 73. It received a new touch screen controlled classroom computer with blu-ray player.

For any assistance with any of the classroom renovations, please contact Audio Visual Services. Faculty and staff can receive assistance in class by picking up the phone and being transferred to our technicians (x66597), or inquiring here for any further information.