All entries for Friday 13 May 2016

Our new teaching and learning building

Last week, whilst campus was looking glorious in the sun (which makes a change from this week’s rain!) I was part of a group who took a look behind the hoardings at how our new Teaching and Learning building is coming along.

The building will be a cornerstone of our teaching space, and is emblematic of our commitment to student experience. The building, the first of its kind on our campus, will be dedicated to teaching and have a range of flexible spaces, as well as a new 500 and 250 seat lecture theatres. It will give us space to showcase the innovative ways in which we teach, and experiment with new approaches; building on the great work that already happens here, supported by fantastic state-of-the-art AV and a video wall.

My favourite physical part of the building is the huge amount of light the roof lets in, but more exciting is that it’s a living building with spaces for students to be educated in, as well as new social learning spaces to allow our students to take control of their own learning, together, outside of their formal contact hours.

It’s a physical space, but what’s most inspiring is that it’s really about the people using it. How they’ll learn, how they’ll teach, how they’ll share knowledge in a new way. Having new facilities and spaces is wonderful, and the benefits shouldn’t be overlooked, but great spaces are nothing without great people – we have plenty of those.

We have some fantastic examples of amazing teachers, real beacons of teaching excellence. We recognise some of this through our WATE awards, but also know that a wealth of other great teaching happens across campus on a daily basis. Having, for the first time, a space solely dedicated to teaching and learning will help us to explore and experiment with new approaches, working with our students to enhance their experience at Warwick.

We’ve engaged with our students throughout the process of the build, and it’s been a true collaboration across academic, administrative and student communities. At the ceremony last week, it was heartening to see representatives from the Students’ Union, Estates and other departments all celebrating the space and the benefits it will bring to our student community. I hope this enthusiasm and anticipation can continue on through the last phases of the build. We will continue to use this channel and others to update you on progress, as we look forward to the completion of the building in the autumn.

Professor Lawrence Young, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Academic Planning and Resources

See more of our new building in the below video.

Execblog Resource : 13 May 2016 18:59 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem