Tom Nolan

tnolan@mtsu.edu

Dean John McDaniel

College of Liberal Arts and Department of Geosciences

Smart Classroom

KOM 308

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Geosciences uses KOM 308 for the following classes: GIS, Advanced GIS, Remote Sensing, Cartography, Image Interpretation, and Computer Field Methods in Geology. These classes require specialized software unavailable in other student computer classrooms. Demand for these classes is high. For example, GIS is required for Geosciences, Anthropology, Environment Science, and Outdoor Recreation and also attracts students from History, Biology and Aerospace. GIS is full every semester. During 2007-2008, over half of the available 18 seats per semester went to non Geosciences majors. In the past, we accommodated students who required the course for graduation but were unable to register by overbooking beyond the 18 seat capacity. However, to comply with various codes, the maximum seat capacity of KOM 308 has been reduced by four students. In order to comply with codes and serve our students, we propose enlarging KOM 308 by removing an internal partition and reconfiguring the room as a master computer classroom with a maximum student capacity of 20. Additionally, the classroom reconfiguration encourages teaching of GIS with more collaborative instructional methods utilizing flat panel displays and provides more faculty control over the student computer. This is a joint proposal from the College of Liberal Arts and Geosciences.