Transforming student, teacher experience with revitalized classrooms

The Alberta School of Business has a history of teaching excellence that goes back over 100 years.

That reputation, which helps cement the School’s position as a world leader in teaching and research, will continue for years to come with the revitalization of two classrooms, thanks to a gift from Richard (‘86 BCom) and Lorelei Jenkins, generous donors to the School for more than three decades.

“The Alberta School of Business expresses our deepest gratitude for Richard and Lorelei’s unselfish contribution to our students and the School as we continue to focus on enhancing the student experience and environment," said Sue Chaffey, assistant dean of advancement at the School. 

Named in honour of two former School of Business instructors — Elaine Geddes and Michael Gibbins — the classrooms are now optimized for experiential learning, a teaching method that’s integral to the success and development of business students.

“Our students graduate into the fast-moving world of business where they are expected to hit the ground running,” said Kyle Murray, vice dean at the School, adding that the classroom environments support hands-on experimentation with complex concepts and cutting edge ideas.

“This donation has allowed us to build a platform from which the School of Business can take experiential learning to the next level--creating immersive, interactive and engaging classes that open the door for students to learn-by-doing, learn from each other and learn from professors who are experts in their fields.”

Both fourth-floor classrooms have been retrofitted with six TV screens installed on the walls behind moveable collaboration stations, each with their own table and chair setup.

Teachers can organize the classrooms by colour-coding each TV station. Upon entering the classroom, students will log in to their respective TV to begin working on a project.

Students are able to connect with each screen using any personal device, such as laptops, smartphones, iPads and Chromebooks.

The installed TV’s help teachers with the small-group settings; they have control access via an external iPad which makes it easy to share content on all screens at the same time, or they can work on one or two separately. Teachers also have access to a moveable podium, as well as a more traditional, stationary workstation.

Richard and Lorelei Jenkins were motivated to honour two outstanding leaders who made a significant contribution throughout their careers with the Alberta School of Business.

Both tenured professors dedicated to improving student experience, Geddes was a long-serving assistant dean with the School from 1993-2017. Gibbins went above and beyond in his role as teacher, researcher and leader as Chair of the Department of Accounting from 2000-2005.

A sign will be installed outside of each of the classrooms recognizing both Geddes and Gibbins’ long-standing contributions. Signage will also be installed to celebrate Richard and Lorelei’s commitment to advancing education through the Alberta School of Business.