EXEMPLARY TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED CONTEMPORARY ACTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR STEM COURSES

Abstract

Unprecedented innovations have been experienced since the second half of the twentieth century although there have not been fundamental changes in learning environments throughout the history. The reasons of these changes can be grouped mainly into two categories: 1) The development of new learning-teaching approaches such as constructivism, active learning, lifelong learning, etc. 2) The fast incorporation of technology into education like in every part of our life. More developments in learning environments will not be surprising in the near future.  This study aims to present and analyze contemporary active learning classrooms (ALCs) which are technology incorporated, large enrolled, student-centered, and highly interactive. For this aim, literature review has been carried out about technology incorporated ALCs, which are being innovated continually and designed especially for STEM courses, and prominent contemporary classrooms have been compiled. Then, some ALCs such as SCALE-UP, TEAL, TILE and Next-Gen ALC v2.0 have been deeply analyzed in terms of their physical environment, pedagogical approach, teaching and learning processes, etc. Moreover, traditional classrooms and technology incorporated contemporary ALCs have been compared. It is concluded that the use of these ALCs should be disseminated and instructors should be prepared to guide and facilitate learning in these classrooms.