Classroom Redesign Inspired by Field Trip to Steelcase

Last week, for our educational technology resources class we took a field trip to Steelcase, a furniture company bringing great designs for business, health, and educational scenarios.  Through observing their solutions for diverse needs, we learned about how an environment influences people's feelings and behaviors, and to our case, how we can make the learning environment benefit the students.

private study space 

Based on what I have learned and observed from the trip, I am trying to offer a solution to the classroom design task, which goes as follows: 

A middle school math teacher wants to transform her classroom design to support a more student-centered approach to teaching Algebra to her 20 students. Normally, there are 4 rows of 5 desks and a whiteboard at the front of the room. She wants to encourage more self-paced independent work, small group collaboration, and creative practices in her daily 50 minute class periods. Students have their own Chromebooks and there is a set of iPads available. Without worrying about budget (dream big!) what might her classroom look like? 

A principle I keep hearing about in design field is to know and to empathize with your users. Thus I try to recall the experience of learning algebra in my middle school. And in my opinion, the teacher in the case made the right decision since for students, working on their own projects is way more engaging than listening to lectures all the time. Therefore, I would design space for students to work on their own and to present what they've learned.

I really like this set of Steelcase, of which space got fully used and learners can work individually on the stools, discuss around the table, and watch the presentation altogether. 

And here is the draft of my classroom design. Both the table and the sofa are equipped with steels to meet different educational needs. When they are attached together, students can give presentations and the teacher can still give lectures or be the host of discussion. When the table is separated into four pieces, students can be divided into four groups to do individual projects. They can use screens to demonstrate what they come up with. When students are sitting on the stools, they study as individuals. Basically, the yellow regions are for group study and the blue regions are for individual learning or lectures.

I believe a classroom like this is student-centered and adjustable to diverse instructional scenarios. Please let me know what you think about this design!