Learning spaces - The University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham is renowned for its parkland campus, and we are continually investing in modern purpose-built buildings and facilities to provide a stimulating learning environment for our students.

The learning space at Nottingham also extends into the virtual world. Through the technologies that our staff use to enrich our course our students collaborate with:

their peers
academic staff
other institutions
professionals in the field

Lectures

Our lecture theatres are equipped with the latest in audio-visual technologies so that staff can use the full range of video and Internet resources in their classes.

For more interactive sessions, some lecturers use the optional voting keypads to:

ask students about their opinions on a topic
make sure that the lecture is an effective learning environment by checking students' understanding

Study areas

Learning with, and from, other students is an important part of your University education.

We’ve built:

specially designed facilities with well-equipped small group study areas
more open discussion zones to create the right environment for learning together

A range of visual learning facilities, including electronic whiteboards, are available for all students to use.

Learning together online

At Nottingham, staff are using technology to support collaborative learning in new ways. Our School of Veterinary Medicine and Science brings together students and lecturers with a common interest in veterinary education from across the world in a project called WikiVet.

WikiVet is an online space where students and professional vets have worked together to create more than 2,000 pages of information as part of their learning. These pages are supplemented with a combination of video clips, photographs and interactive material.

WikiVet provides a more comprehensive and engaging overview of a subject than any textbook.

High quality facilities

Our world-leading research reputation is built on work that our science staff undertake in purpose-built laboratories, and that our humanities staff undertake with access to exclusive museum and art collections.

As a student at Nottingham, you will benefit from top quality teaching facilities. Being taught by our staff:

takes you closer to the latest research technologies
allows you to benefit from their involvement in the development of new ways to study the subject

Learning to read the landscape

3D models

Where the subject being taught is difficult to convey with explanations, interactive visual frameworks can really help. In Geography, for example, students can look at the landscape in a 3D model and relate that to maps as a way of understanding the spatial relationships between geographical features.

3D modelling is also used in a range of disciplines to help students see and understand processes that are too small, too slow, or too fast to see and explore first hand.

In the VLE you will only see materials directly linked to your
studies and prepared by those who teach on your course.

Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)

Our Virtual Learning Environment is available to support you in your studies. Our academics use the VLE in a variety of ways depending on your course and the topics you’ve chosen.

You might use the VLE to:

keep track of lecture notes online
follow up the supporting information such as a glossaries, reading lists, and external web sites
practice your skills and test your knowledge with self-test exercises
work with other students on group projects and place your work online