---
title: Teaching Center Seeks “A” in Innovation
date: 2014-02-06T13:49:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/teaching-center-seeks-innovation-3db15dc0-3dc1-40a8-8260-33bade15b9cb"
section: Articles
---
# Teaching Center Seeks “A” in Innovation

*February 6, 2014* — by [Maryland Today Staff](/author/maryland-today-staff)



Construction will begin in June on the Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center, designed to be a national model of collaborative learning. Its 13 classrooms, along with other small-group spaces, will feature technology including video projection and capture for Web streaming, distance learning and audiovisual recording. In the ultra-modern lecture halls, wheeled chairs will allow students to seamlessly work together, while moving lecterns will allow faculty to teach from multiple locations.

The 186,415-square-foot building will also include nine labs in a new chemistry wing. Named for the Baltimore developer, philanthropist and 1961 alumnus who donated $10 million to the project, the center will be centrally located on McKeldin Mall with a face on Campus Drive. When it opens in 2017, it will also house the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Teaching & Learning Transformation Center.

Click on the slideshow to see more artist’s renderings of the new center.

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