R1210 Ross School of Business

I looked at the spacious room R1210 in the Ross School of Business.

This learning environment was created to allow and instigate collaboration. The set up of the seats is designed to accompany the 80-90 students who attend class in here on any given day. The room was constructed by architect Jill Lerner from Kohn Petersen Fox Associates. Stairs line either side of the room, allowing the professor to have free access to the space. There is very little natural light in the room, however, there are many overhead lights. The large, horizontal lights line the ceiling in three rows. The lines in this space make it look hard to me. The chairs are identical, giving uniformity to the room. This room emanates professionalism in keeping with the entirety of the business school. The curvature of the desk organization, however, gives the room a softer feel when looked at from an aerial perspective. 

Technology is certainly emphasized in this particular room: chargers are laid throughout the desk units, there are multiple projectors, and pull down screens. Technology is and must be functional in this space. Additionally, white boards line almost every wall. This again, reiterates the ideas of collaborative learning.

The desks are shaped in a “U,” in this manner the students are facing each other, as well as the professor. This room seems to encourage collaboration, not only between student and professor, but student and student. This room seems to be oriented towards discussion based classes. Furthermore, it also seems to be a “hands on technology” environment. It encourages the students to be on their laptops and also encourages the professor to take advantage of presentations, etc.