Assistant Teaching Professor Uses Flex Space to Maximize Learning

The refresh that the physical space at the Whitman School has undergone also boosts learning with the kind of flexibility that some faculty members use to its full potential.  

Assistant Teaching Professor Elizabeth Wimer is not one for the traditional classroom. She likes to mix it up, particularly in her class Imagination, Entrepreneurship and Creative Problem Solving, which is offered to juniors and seniors from the Whitman School and across campus. A flexible space allows her to push the tables against the walls and lets students work creatively in small groups. This particular class utilizes different experiential learning that is appropriate for a less conventional setup, including entrepreneurial vision boarding and exploring scent therapy to unlock creative problem solving. 

“I like to use activities and some nontraditional methods in all the classes I teach, but this class in particular is designed to keep students ahead of the curve with skills they need to be successful ideators and problem solvers no matter what they decide to pursue,” she says. “Having access to flexible classroom space is very effective, particularly around the topics we’re exploring in this class, and I think it adds a lot to the student experience here at Whitman.”