In a recent article I wrote — Arguing Against Corridor Teaching — I made the case that students must be required to think universally and not in narrow niches of comfort.  Today, I challenge universities to honor that teaching code by requiring intimate learning opportunities in all circumstances they control.  You create that kind of careful environment using small class sizes and not
giant auditoriums.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is setting about to raise funds for “Arena Learning Buildings” where students become cattle for processing through a system of barns without pausing for intimate
intellectual conversation:

And about two years ago, a consultant found UNL was in serious need of more classroom space, particularly large lecture halls often are used for freshman- and
sophomore-level classes.

According to the consultant, UNL would benefit from a facility with the following classrooms: one 400-person hall, two 300-person halls and four 100-person halls, said
Bill Nunez, director of Institutional Research and Planning.

UNL now has only one hall that seats more than 250 students, and only a handful more seat more than 200.

That often forces faculty to teach the same class two or three times in a row, Perlman said.

A 300- to 400-person hall would allow the faculty member to teach the
class just once, freeing up time for a wider variety of course offerings or more one-on-one time with students, he said.

“We could do a more efficient job of teaching undergraduates — without
reducing the quality of instruction — by having larger rooms,” he said.
“That would allow us to do more teaching and better teaching.”

Students must never be punished for the enrollment successes of their universities.

The university is required to “teach small, using big ideas” and that can never happen in a giant auditorium where boredom and non-interaction with the instructor are the purposes and methods of the modern day.

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