If you have an older physics laboratory and/or classroom space, you've probably dreamed about how to make the space more adaptable to today's technology and the best teaching and learning practices. Yet, few articles exist in the literature to give us direction for this type of renovation, thus creating the potential of misspending funds that are difficult to obtain. This paper discusses how I determined to renovate my existing introductory laboratory/classroom space and how these changes improved the teaching and learning environment as well as accessibility to the physically handicapped.

Topics
Education, Teaching, Funding, Laboratories
1.
National Science Teachers Association Task Force on Science Facilities and Equipment, “Facilitating Science Facilities and Equipment” (NSTA, Arlington, VA, 1993).
2.
NSTA Pathways to the Science Standards: Guidelines for Moving the Vision into Practice, High School Edition, edited by Julianna Texley & Ann Wild (NSTA, Arlington, VA, 1996).
3.
Available online at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm; see, for instance, Section 4.32.4 “Height of Tables or Counters.” The tops of accessible tables and counters shall be from 28 in to 34 in (710 mm to 865 mm) above the finished floor or ground.
4.
Susan Ramlo, “A multivariate assessment of the laboratory homework component of a microcomputer-based laboratory in a college freshman physics class” (Dissertation, University of Akron, 2003).
5.
http://physics.dickinson.edu/∼wp_web/wp_lab&equip/wp_LabDesign.html.
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© 2007 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2007
American Association of Physics Teachers
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