Teaching Lab to Teaching Suite: New Paradigm for Academic Science Labs

Published September 15 on labdesignnews.com.

In this month’s column for Lab Design News, we explored how science teaching labs have evolved from single spaces with a single purpose to multi-functional, multidisciplinary spaces –  how have the labs evolved to accommodate new approaches to how experimental work is conducted? 

Science instruction for higher education has transformed in the last 10 to 15 years. This transformation is evident in the shifted focus from a single-source teaching modality (teacher to student) to a more open learning-centric environment, where students often work in small groups to research topics and independently find solutions to a scientific query. While the classroom has been the most obvious venue for this change, science teaching labs have also been transformed to accommodate new approaches to how students conduct experimental work.

The traditional teaching lab was configured with long rows of fixed benches oriented to the front of the room. The lab featured basic equipment to support a fairly narrow range of activities directed around a set of experiments with known outcomes. Presentation capability was rudimentary and not considered a necessity. The lab was, in essence, a single space with a single purpose.

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