Unique lecture hall focused on collaboration and interaction for AMC

Tuesday, February 18, saw the official opening of the completely renovated lecture hall 3 of Amsterdam UMC, location AMC Meibergdreef. Unlike a classic lecture hall, the layout is not as in a theater, but in groups of 6, the chairs can rotate to quickly change arrangements and a break-out area has been added for creative sessions. AAARCHITECTEN drew the design, while Van Wijnen provided realization.

The special lecture hall came about based on the ideas of the AMC think tank and the new curriculum of the Medical Information Science program. Tom Broens, program director: "It has now been demonstrated that students learn better when they actively engage with the material. Listening is important, but the information sticks much better when they are directly challenged to do something with it." In the new room, it is easy to quickly switch between (1) frontal teaching, to get theory across, (2) active teaching, in which students collaborate with each other, and (3) stand-up teaching, to quickly work things out in a creative way.

The lecture hall is special not only because of its arrangement, but also because of its use of the latest technologies.

Technology

The lecture hall is special not only because of its arrangement, but also because of the application of the latest technologies. A student can share his screen with the room from his seat, has access to a microphone to easily communicate with the lecturer and through the screen an international speaker can easily contribute.

Future-proof design

The lecture hall accommodates 117 students, where previously there were 250. This fits the trend of small-scale education seen everywhere. Bart Steenkamer of AAARCHITECTEN: "The ambiance of the space has worked out well; it is spacious and comfortable, without looking 'empty.'" There has also been a lot of attention to reuse of existing materials and sustainable material choices. Floor Biemans, manager educational logistics at the AMC: "This is the first lecture hall in the Netherlands with this design and we expect many more to follow. The first experiences we have are downright positive."