Learning has evolved since 1936, when the old chemistry building at the University of Arizona was built. That’s why nearly 90 years later, the UA has spent $42 million to renovate and expand the historic building on the edge of the campus mall.

When the 78,000-square-foot complex opens to students and faculty next semester, it will have nine new classroom spaces, replete with the latest technology designed to promote active learning. Additionally, it will house new research spaces, faculty and administrative offices, three learning studios where faculty can hold online and hybrid lectures, and the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance facility.

Each semester, approximately 5,000 UA students take introductory-level chemistry and biochemistry courses, which are required to move forward in a number of majors, including biology and nursing. And although sitting in a big lecture hall trying to make sense of a professor’s slides is how so many of today’s medical professionals and research scientists got through school, it’s not necessarily the best way to engage the most students.

In the renovated and expanded chemistry building, the lecture halls have tables instead of individual seats, which will allow students to work in groups and engage in more hands-on lessons. Several professors in the chemistry department have already started taking an active learning approach to teaching these courses, which can have high attrition rates.

The University of Arizona is in the last stages of remodeling the school's chemistry building. The new construction is expected be completed by the time students return for the spring semester. Video Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

“What we find is that active learning helps with student retention and performance — to have those students working in groups,” said Craig Aspinwall, head of the UA’s chemistry and biochemistry department. “It’s really beneficial, especially for underrepresented and first-generation students.”

‘Deeper learning’

Gail Burd, senior vice provost for academic affairs, was herself a first-generation college graduate and knows the value of making challenging courses less intimidating. For almost a decade, she’s been leading the UA’s initiative to make learning — especially in the hard sciences — more accessible and relatable to a broad swath of students.

“You want students talking to each other. They can help each other learn and they develop these teaching-learning groups, and can study together later,” said Burd, who added that active learning can be applied to all disciplines, not just those in the sciences. “It’s a very effective way for the information to be conveyed for deeper learning.”

In 2014, the UA received a grant from the American Association of Universities to reform five foundational STEM (science, technology, engineering and math courses with an emphasis on active learning and collaborative discussion. The pilot was a success, but faculty members said the physical spaces they had to teach in limited their ability to do certain activities with their students.

The UA has since converted 42 classrooms into collaborative learning spaces across campus, but Burd saw potential in renovating the old chemistry building to further expand the concept’s reach. The original 1930s building had been expanded in the 1940s and ‘60s, but by the 2010s most of its research spaces, with the exception of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance facility, were so outdated they weren’t safe to use. Moreover, the main UA Mall entrance to the building was inaccessible for people with disabilities.

“It sat there and I kept waiting for someone to start the renovations,” said Burd, who was thrilled when the UA got state funding to start the project in May 2021.

Noted Tucson architect Roy Place designed the original brick chemistry building in the 1930s, along with several other buildings on the UA Mall, including Bear Down Gym, which the UA renovated last year to accommodate active learning as part of its $81 million Student Success District project.

A view of the old chemistry building at the University of Arizona, ca. 1936.

Like the old gym, the old chemistry building is on the National Register of Historic Places, so the architects on the project had to make an effort to preserve its integrity.

“We decided the 1936 part, which sits at the elevation of the Mall and established the dimensions of the mall, was the most important to save,” said Corky Poster, an architect with the local firm Poster Mirto and McDonald, which worked on this and several historic renovation projects at the UA.

While architects were able to preserve the 1936 portion and part of the 1940s addition, renovating the other portion of the 1940s addition and the 1960s addition was going to be just as costly as building an entirely new space. So, Sundt Construction, which also built the original 1930s structure, demolished those parts before starting work on erecting a new addition called The Commons.

The Commons, which is joined to the old building via a lobby, is where the majority of the collaborative learning spaces are located within the complex, which is now fully accessible to people with physical disabilities.

For Alison Rainey, principal architect at Shepley Bulfinch which designed the new building in collaboration with Poster’s firm, the completion of the project is an example of the UA’s evolving approach to education.

“Reimagining (the use) of the building,” Rainey said, “reinforces the university’s dedication to sustainability, pushing 21st century education forward, and inclusion.”

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Kathryn Palmer covers higher education for the Arizona Daily Star. Contact her via e-mail at kpalmer@tucson.com or 520-496-9010.

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