To say that State Hall's fourth floor has changed is an understatement.

In fact, it now is unlike any other floor at 5143 Cass, home to the university's second-largest general purpose classroom site.

Following more than a year of planning, design and construction, students are now experiencing the latest in classroom design and technology, moving away from traditional lecture style and embracing collaborative, flexible instruction.

Formerly offices and labs, State Hall's fourth floor features six classrooms, five seminar rooms, five break-out rooms and lounge areas scattered throughout.



Each room boasts its own character through color, furnishings and layouts, and is equipped with large monitors, whiteboards and instructor workstations. Numerous electrical outlets and cabling are available for students to plug in their iPads, tablets and laptops.

Classrooms feature group areas - called pods - with interactive capability through monitors, microphones and cameras. 



A collaborative team worked together from start to finish including faculty and representatives from Computing & Information Technology, Facilities Planning & Management (FP&M) and University Libraries Media Services.

"We did a great deal of research into the new teaching methods during our design process," said Frances Ahern, FP&M design and construction services. "Classroom design needs to be an ever-evolving process."