The additional space also includes four up-to-date , ICUlevel care simulation rooms that will be used to simulate adult critical and chronic diseases , infant illnesses and emergencies , and childbirth . “ We have the capacity now to give students the best environment to practice what they ’ re learning . Here , they can make a mistake and not hurt anybody , and they can go back and correct the mistake ,” Geiger-Brown explains . “ This allows the students to develop confidence and competence in their critical-thinking skills — they go beyond learning tasks to thinking like nurses .”
Medical laboratory science students will benefit from a new microbiology lab where they can focus on identifying organisms that cause disease . This , she says , will prepare them to more immediately contribute to their first jobs after graduation .
“ All medical laboratory science and nursing students take anatomy and physiology , and the new teaching area supports what students need to learn in these subject areas ,” Geiger- Brown adds . “ I think that when students look at the facility , they ’ ll see that it ’ s a place of active learning , a place where they can be fully immersed in the life of a healthcare professional .”
For the School of the Sciences , Dean Meredith Durmowicz , Ph . D ., foresees much of the same . “ First and foremost , the Center has so much more space , particularly dedicated space for independent research and active learning ,” she says . “ We ’ ve had a research-rich culture for some time now , and we ’ re going to be able to do that in a nicer space with the opportunity
to do more and different types of research throughout our curriculum .” One example she cites is cell culture research . “ Faculty who already conduct this research will have more and better support , and faculty who don ’ t now have the capacity to pursue their research in whatever direction it takes them .”
Two other programs in the School that will further flourish are environmental science and biochemistry . Environmental science has a research and teaching lab that it previously lacked as well as a freestanding green house , and biochemistry now has a dedicated teaching lab .
“ Having these spaces is great ,” Durmowicz says . “ We ’ re not trying to fit these programs into other spaces that are not designed for them .”
One particularly welcome new feature is the SoLVE Center , an innovative academic support program focused on developing students ’ relational and problem-solving skills . “ The SoLVE Center allows students to take information learned in a chemistry or math course , for instance , and apply it to realworld problems ,” she says . “ It ’ s a different way of approaching academic support and teaching and learning and it helps our students retain the information better . It keeps their interest : They ’ re learning without knowing they ’ re learning .”
Although the School of Design has been on the Owings Mills North campus since 2013 , Dean Amanda Hostalka , M . F . A ., believes that the additional spaces in the Academic Center will enable the School to more fully realize its vision of
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