Stuart Fowler

stuart.fowler@mtsu.edu

Stuart Fowler

Economics and Finance

Master Classroom

BAS S337

N/A

N/A

BAS S337 is unique among the Business and Aerospace Building classrooms as the home of the only business Ph.D. program and oldest master’s program (M.A. in economics). This classroom typically holds all of the master’s, Ph.D., and M.B.A. courses taught by the economics faculty. I am proposing this master classroom upgrade with added features to make S337 the “classroom of the future.” By classroom of the future, I mean to say that S337 can be purposed for HyFlex deliveries. Per President McPhee’s request, our department desires to convert our in-person graduate programs to online programs. A downside of converting our M.A. and Ph.D. programs to online programs is the potential loss of international students, whereas HyFlex overcomes this problem by offering an in-person option. The requirements for the HyFlex class are: (i) multi-directional microphones for student participation, (ii) one large annotation monitor to replace the center whiteboard, (iii) multiple high definition cameras that capture lectures, including the two whiteboards, (iv) a dual monitor podium where the right monitor is annotatable, (v) mobile student tables with wheels, and (vi) high definition monitors in the back of the classroom for zoom grids. Like all classrooms in BAS, S337 can conduct elementary remote teaching. However, most of the technology and furniture are original to the construction of the building, which is now 24 years old. Suppose S337 is upgraded to the master classroom of the future. In that case, I am optimistic that this room can be a leading example of how technology can simultaneously increase domestic and international student enrollment.