Lecture hall

A lecture hall at Baruch College, New York City, US

Lecture hall at the University of Paris, France

"Kali Chemie" lecture hall at the Leibniz University Hannover, Germany

A lecture hall (or lecture theatre) is a large room used for lectures, typically at a college or university. Unlike a traditional classroom with a capacity normally between one and fifty, the capacity of lecture halls is often measured in the hundreds. Lecture halls frequently have tiered seating, with those in the rear sat higher than those at the front. Some schools of architecture have offered courses exclusively centered on their design. The noted Boston architect Earl Flansburgh wrote numerous articles focusing on achieving efficacious lecture hall design.

Lecture halls differ from other types of learning spaces, seminar rooms in particular, in that they allow for little versatility in use, although they are no less flexible than, for example, chemistry laboratories. Experimentation, group work, and other contemporary educational methods are not practicable in a lecture hall. On the other hand, lecture halls are excellent for focusing the attention of a large group on a single point, either an instructor or an audio-visual presentation, and modern lecture halls often feature audio-visual equipment. A microphone and loudspeakers are common to help the lecturer be heard, and projection screens may be used for large displays. The acoustic properties of lecture halls have been the subject of numerous international studies, some even antedating the use of electronic amplification.

Studies into the use of the lecture theatre teaching space have found that students sit in specific locations due to a range of factors; these include being noticed, addressing anxiety or an ability to focus. Personal and social factors are also thought to determine students' lecture theatre seating choice and the resulting effects on attainment. Studies into the way students use the space indicate that peer group formation exerts a strong impact on attainment and engagement, with groups of similar ability sitting together.

History

Henry of Germany delivering a law lecture to students at the University of Bologna 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.

Tiered lecture theatres developed in Renaissance Italy, where they were used for teaching anatomy. The earliest purpose-built lecture theatre 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.