Baylor University

The Education Service Center (ESC) Region 12, in Waco has partnered with Huckabee, an educational architectural, engineering and management firm, to design and test the next-generation of innovative classrooms and laboratories in a near-6,000-square-foot educational research facility to be located in the BRIC. The partnership constitutes the first project fully dedicated to one of the founding objectives of the BRIC: furthering education and research in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

The research partnership will allow teachers and students to “test-drive” the Huckabee-designed learning spaces developed in the BRIC for periods of days, weeks and even months. During this time, Baylor researchers will observe both teachers and students, compiling data to evaluate the effectiveness of each new concept. Based on data collected, Huckabee will provide new or improved designs, with the most successful design elements eventually deployed in school districts throughout the state.

Dr. Jerry Maze, ESC Region 12 executive director views the opportunity as a “three-way-win” for everyone involved.

“It’s such an exciting concept because it will give our teachers and students an opportunity to be trained on state-of-the-art equipment and designs. At the same time we will have the benefits of the metrics and of knowing the impact we’re having on student achievement,” he said. “In addition, Huckabee will know which design concept they can best refer to their clients, and Baylor will perform the research that’s associated with the project.”

The architecture firm’s CEO, Christopher Huckabee, is a two-term member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. He says that, for his firm, the facility constitutes an invaluable “flexible-classroom laboratory” that will focus on developing modular spaces that can be easily and quickly reconfigured into learning environments specifically tailored to teaching each subject in a way that accommodates how middle- and high-school students learn in the digital age.

“Our learner today is a very unique learner even from just ten years ago,” Huckabee explained. “Today’s students don’t necessarily learn from a teacher standing in front of a classroom lecturing to them; they learn through individual study and group collaboration, from distance learning, video conferencing and different types of media. The classroom is changing dramatically.”

Expectations for success are high among all participants as they anticipate a BRIC move-in this fall. “We are all very excited,” Maze said. “It is a powerful opportunity for three entities such as Baylor, Huckabee and ESC Region 12 to work together for such a large number of teachers and students in our 12-county region. It’s a unique, intellectual challenge and we certainly look forward to the partnership and the benefits it will have for education in this region.”

Dr. Truell Hyde, Baylor vice provost for research and director of the Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics and Engineering Research, is also very pleased with the development of this major STEM initiative in the BRIC.

“Educational research and STEM programs are essential to the economic development of the region,” Hyde said. “Long-term, quantifiable research providing data accurately evaluating the effects of both the classroom environment and curriculum intervention does not exist. This partnership establishes Baylor, ESC Region 12 and Huckabee at the cutting edge of this fundamental question.”