The impact of learning space on teaching behaviors.

In traditional classrooms the teacher stands at the front of the room and rows of students face forward. Many academic institutions have chosen to renovate traditional classrooms and turn them into spaces more conducive to collaboration. Few data exist supporting the notion that changing physical space affects teaching behaviors. We used a mixed method design to evaluate teaching behaviors in traditional and collaborative classrooms. Expert teachers viewed classroom videos and described behaviors observed. After qualitative analysis, we identified the frequency of themes and found no significant differences in teaching behaviors in traditional versus collaborative classrooms.