Lecture hall

File:Henry of Germany delivering a lecture to university students in Bologna by Laurentius de Voltolina (21114437820).jpg in 1233]]

The use of lectures at universities dates back to the middle ages. A variety of different rooms and halls may have been used for lectures – one of the earliest images of a lecture shows Henry of Germany giving a law lecture at the University of Bologna in 1233, speaking from what appears to be a pulpit.{{cite web|url=https://teachingexcellence.leeds.ac.uk/is-the-large-lecture-theatre-really-dead-history-tells-us-no/|access-date=2 March 2025|title=Is the large lecture theatre really dead? History tells us no...|author=Norma Martin Clement|website=Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence|date=16 November 2018}}

File:Lecture Halls at Kom el Dikka (XVII).jpg interpreted as lecture theatres]]

Lecture theatres may go back further than this, however, with archaeological excavations at Kom El Deka, near Alexandria, having uncovered a complex of U-studies auditoria that have been interpreted as lecture theatres from the classical period.{{cite journal|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/i/icp/7523866.0025.158/--auditoria-on-kom-el-dikka-a-glimpse-of-late-antique?rgn=main;view=fulltext|journal=Proceedings of the 25th International Congress of Papyrology|author=Grzegorz Majcherek|title=The Auditoria on Kom el-Dikka: A Glimpse of Late Antique Education in Alexandria|editor=Traianos Gagos|year=2007}}

File:Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Edinburgh University - geograph.org.uk - 1518594.jpg gives all seats a clear view of the dissection table]]

Tiered lecture theatres developed in Renaissance Italy, where they were used for teaching anatomy. The earliest purpose-built lecture theatre of the modern era was in Padua in 1594, but the idea spread quickly with a lecture theatre being built in Leiden in 1597 and at the Barber-Surgeons Hall in London in 1636, designed by Inigo Jones.{{cite web|url=https://barberscompany.org/history-of-the-hall/|title=History of the Hall|website=Worshipful Company of Barbers|access-date=2 March 2025}} The steep rake of these lecture theatres enabled students to see the dissection table and was copied by scientific lecture theatres to ensure the demonstration bench could be seen.{{cite web|url=https://www.rigb.org/explore-science/explore/person/thomas-webster-1773-1844|website=Royal Institution of Great Britain|title=Thomas Webster (1773-1844)|access-date=2 March 2025}}

The "Harvard-style" lecture theatre developed in the late 19th century at Harvard Law School. These had a shallower rake than traditional lectures theatres and placed the seating in a U-shape rather than in arced or semi-circular rows, promoting exchanges between lecturers and students. Upholstered seating also became common in the 19th century, and desks became standard by the mid 20th century.

The 21st century saw the development of "collaborative lecture theatres", originally at the University of Queensland in 2009, with shallower-raked tiers and seating that could be turned to form small groups of student for collaborative work or to face the front for traditional lectures. These collaborative lecture theatres typically have between 100 and 200 seats. Above this size range, the early 21st century also saw the construction of "mega lecture theatres", with a variety of designs besides the traditional tiered theatre. The 630-seat mega theatre at Oregon State University is completely circular, with a raised stage for the lecturer in the centre and individual seats with writing tablets rather than desks, while the 1000-seat Klarman Hall at Harvard Business School is an auditorium, but again with individual seats and no desks. Such mega lecture theatres are designed for students to listen to the lecturer's exposition rather than to take copious notes, and the smaller writing tablets make use of laptops difficult compared to the larger desks in more traditional lecture theatres.{{cite web|url=https://ozarch.com/insights/hey-dont-lecture-new-generations-push-college-design-skip-traditional-lecture-halls|title=Hey, Don’t Lecture Me: New Generations Push College Design to Skip Traditional Lecture Halls|date=16 January 2019|author= Dave Schafer|website=OZ Architecture|access-date=7 March 2025}}

Lecture theatres come in various types, suiting different pedagogies and space restrictions. These include:

• Tiered lecture theatre: the traditional lecture theatre, with rows of tiered seats enabling the speaker and screens or boards to be seen by large numbers of people.

• Anatomical theatre or demonstration theatre: steep-tiered and designed to allow views of the dissection table or demonstration bench. Example: the Royal Institution Lecture Theatre.

• Flat lecture theatre: a flat room with a fixed lecture arrangement, distinguishing it from reconfigurable teaching rooms. Generally smaller than tiered lecture theatres; below a capacity of 50 such rooms are not normally called lecture theatres although they can be at some institutions.{{cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/isd/sites/isd/files/ucl-spaces-av-guidelines-v3-0-1.pdf|title=Section 1: Types of space|page=7|publisher=UCL|work=Spaces & Audio Visual Guidelines v3.0.1|access-date=3 March 2025}} Example: the Gillis lecture theatre at Balliol College, Oxford.{{cite web|url=https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/news/2024/june/unveiling-new-gillis-lecture-theatre-and-warburg-music-suite|title=Unveiling the new Gillis Lecture Theatre and Warburg Music Suite|date= 24 June 2024|website=Balliol College|access-date=3 March 2025}}

• Harvard-style or horseshoe lecture theatre: U-shaped arrangement of seats on shallow tiers, designed to promote interaction between students and the lecturer. Example: the UCL School of Management lecture theatre on level 50 of One Canada Square.{{cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/estates/case-studies/2021/aug/level-50-one-canada-square-ucl-school-management-expansion|title=Level 50, One Canada Square - UCL School of Management expansion|access-date=3 March 2025|date=9 August 2021|website=UCL}}

• Retractable lecture theatre: a flat room that can be converted to a tiered lecture theatre by deploying retractable seating, allowing for a variety of uses. Example: the Fonteyn Ballroom in Dunelm House at Durham University.{{cite news|url=https://www.palatinate.org.uk/lectures-to-be-held-in-durham-students-union/|title=Lectures to be held in Durham Students’ Union|date=3 October 2018|author=Lydia Blundell|work=Palatinate}}

• Collaborative lecture theatre: a lecture theatre with a shallow tiers designed so that seats can be turned to form collaborative booths for group work or forwards for use as a normal lecture theatre. Example: three lecture theatres in the Roger Stevens building at the University of Leeds.{{cite web|url=https://www.inavateonthenet.net/case-studies/article/group-learning-at-leeds-university|title=Group learning at Leeds University|website=Inavate|access-date=3 March 2025}}

The original conception of lecture theatres was as spaces for listening to a speaker talk or for viewing a scientific demonstration. The first introduction of technology was writing boards – originally chalk boards but now normally whiteboards. This was supplemented with projectors – originally slide projectors and now normally digital projectors attached to a computer. Computer systems control the audio-visual technology and may also give control of the lighting level in the room. Microphones and speakers are commonly used in larger lecture theatres to ensure the speaker can be heard.{{cite web|url=https://ats-techdocs.rutgers.edu/m/LectureHall/l/1451835-lecture-hall-technology|title=

Lecture Hall Technology |website=Rutgers University|access-date=7 March 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bath.ac.uk/guides/audio-visual-guide-large-lecture-theatres/|title=Audio Visual Guide - large lecture theatres|website=University of Bath|access-date=7 March 2025}}

Lecture capture technology allows for lectures to be recorded and watched later, or to be attended virtually when linked with a video conferencing system. Networking of lecture theatres can allow a lecture to be shown in multiple rooms.{{cite web|url=https://www.visavvi.com/case-studies/landmark-innovation-at-durham/|title=Landmark innovation at Durham|website=Visavi|access-date=7 March 2025}}

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Category:Educational environment

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