TEACHING IS AN EVOLVING SCIENCE

"Today’s engineer doesn't have the same profile as his counterpart a few years ago. And tomorrow’s engineer will be even more different. The world is changing. Today, two-thirds of EPFL graduates work in small or medium-sized businesses, not in large corporations. They are increasingly confronted by new types of problems that have no obvious solutions. They work with specialists in a variety of fields, and they have to be ready with convincing arguments for their legal and commercial colleagues.

The education they receive must give them the capability to study complex problems, evaluate the reliability of information, and synthesize what they’ve learned. Education must adapt to meet these needs, and as a result the space used for education must change as well.”

Pierre Dillenbourg, Craft director (center for education research and support technologies) is convinced that the Learning Center is the logical extension of changing approaches to education and teaching methods.

In an EPFL survey most students complained of the lack of work space and places for relaxing and socializing. “Put a table in the hallway, and it is used immediately,” says Pierre Dillenbourg. “The Learning Center does not open until 2008, so it’s important to increase the number of areas for student interaction and informal group work. Between now and the opening of the center we will add more and more work corners, putting in tables, a sofa, a microwave, and a sink. Some spaces like this already exist, for example the String, which is an old room that students in mechanical engineering have outfitted to meet their needs.”

According to Craft’s director, flexibility will be a key word for the new center. The space itself will not be rigidly fixed but will be able to adapt according to need. It is designed to encourage people to meet there. Areas for work and relaxing will be shared rather than separated. The furniture will be comfortable and there will be relatively noisy areas. “Real space and virtual space will become one,” says Dillenbourg. “The Learning Center will be like a huge computer. Information will be posted on walls—the concentration of colors will signal hotspots of students’ gatherings and activities. We are also looking into the possibility of an interactive table that would show, during a discussion, who is talking too much and who is not participating enough. There is a real convergence here between information technology and physical elements, such as furniture or walls.”

But why can’t students meet off-campus, at home, for example - work in groups, but elsewhere? “Anything is possible, in other places, too,” says Dillenbourg. “But the Learning Center is primarily about learning. It is a place entirely devoted to the acquisition of knowledge. Education and research are, after all, the principle mission of EPFL.”