Better class design makes for better classes

Contemporary classrooms should be integrated into the UDM environment.
How often have we been asked to join "circle time" to better facilitate discussion among classmates?
I am not opposed to this style of learning - it's highly effective placing everyone on equal footing visible to all - but long rectangular tables don't make the best circles. Too often it takes more time to make a "circle" than it should.
UDM should look into designing classrooms in this manner; effective classroom design is an emerging market.
While there are semi-circle classrooms that rise up, it's not the same.
The entire point of the circle is to allow everyone, including the professor, to be on equal level physically and mentally. The majority of professors who embrace this teaching style situate themselves among the students.
This helps alleviates some pressure on students, especially in public speaking. While all eyes may be on you when you talk, you do not have the same feel as standing in front of the classroom while students look up to listen.
In my experience, this style leads to lengthier discussions that get more of the class involved than simple "Q and A" sessions.
Additionally, something is to be said about the professors who enact this practice.
The professors who do engage in such a classroom style appear to be more dedicated to the educational experience.
More likely, if you've had a discussion style classroom, it's been one of your favorites. While the style may appear more laid back, you get the most interaction in this manner.
Students can learn so much more just from the back-and-forth discussions, practicing and exercising what they've just learned. This shared learning process is more inviting than stoic, monotone lectures.
Breaking down the archaic classrooms and teaching styles of yesteryear can be difficult, but the rewards can be bountiful. The amount of knowledge shared and learned in the discussion classroom is beneficial for both student and professor alike.
But not all professors enjoy this communal learning, and some even become hung up on their titles.
How many times have you heard professors correct students for the calling them Professor Doe instead of Dr. Doe?
Yes, I understand they went through all the trouble of getting a graduate degree and feel as if they've earned the right to their titles, and they have.
But what does it matter if their students call them Doctor, Professor or by their first name?
Sometimes I believe "titles" become so important that the actual teaching ends up on the back burner.
Some of my favorite classes and professors at the university do not hold onto the hierarchal classrooms of the past.
While many professors - especially in my experience in Liberal Arts - seem to be moving towards the discussion circles for teaching, only a handful do not seem caught up in the desire to be called by a title.
Personally, I have found that when professors go by their first names they can engage students far more effectively than some who sit behind a lectern "preaching" to a class.
While I know not all would be willing to give up their titles and be on a first-name basis, I would encourage more professors to engage in the discussion-style classroom - and if they do decide to "throw away" their titles to get more involved with their students, we can still recognize the professor-student relationship, and, dare I say, more strongly.