DOES THE PHYSICAL ACTIVE LEARNING CLASSROOM MATTER? FACULTY EXPERIENCES PRACTICING ACTIVE LEARNING DURING AN ERA OF RAPID TRANSFORMATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The purpose of this exploratory descriptive case study was to understand the experiences of faculty learning community members practicing active learning strategies in virtual learning environments (VLEs) to discover how teaching in virtual spaces for an extended period of time impacted the use of active learning strategies in physical classrooms. Ten faculty interviewed in this study experienced an abrupt and forced transition from active learning classrooms (ALCs) to VLEs in March 2020 and continued teaching virtually until August 2021. Through interviews conducted at the case study institution, three overarching themes emerged about practicing active learning strategies in VLEs and subsequent changes when participants returned to physical classrooms: (1) Working the Room highlighted how participants adapted existing active learning models designed for physical spaces to fit the VLE and replicate physical elements from ALCs. (2) It’s Not in the Syllabus reframed Lewin’s (1947) change model and included a “pivot” that provided faculty the flexibility needed to address unpredictable challenges. Finally, the emergence of (3) Virtual In-Person Classrooms (VIPCs) that included tools that transferred from VLEs allowed participants to imagine new ways of practicing active learning strategies in physical classrooms and helped to overcome learning space barriers and ALC shortages.