A look inside different learning spaces at McMaster University

Emily Vukovic toured the different learning spaces at McMaster University.

Black Student Success Centre

The BSSC is a home base and community hub for Black students at McMaster. The newly expanded lounge provides space to study, connect, recharge and celebrate Black culture and achievement, while the Centre offers mentorship, wellness, academic and career support from high school through graduation.

Physical Activity Centre of Excellence (PACE)

PACE brings together research, rehabilitation, education and community engagement to better understand how physical activity can improve health and quality of life. PACE has approximately 500 community members enrolled in research-based programs created specifically for seniors, people recovering from heart attacks and cancer and people living with MS and spinal cord injuries. More than 200 McMaster undergraduate students volunteer at the centre, working directly with community members under staff and faculty supervision.

McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery

A brand new 10-storey hub for collaborative learning and innovation at DeGroote School of Business. Designed around open, flexible learning spaces, the building brings together students, faculty and business partners to work in flexible spaces designed to spark new ideas and solve real-world problems.

McMaster Learning and Discovery Greenhouse

McMaster’s greenhouse provides a unique environment for teaching and research involving plants, biology and environmental science. It gives researchers and students the opportunity to study plants under controlled conditions while supporting hands-on learning and experimentation. A living laboratory where McMaster researchers and students can grow, experiment and test how plants respond to different environments, giving them the ability to control conditions and ask questions they can’t answer outdoors.

ARIEAL Lab

ARiEAL stands for Advanced Research in Experimental and Applied Linguistics. This lab is where researchers get inside the science of language to study how we learn, process and use language and what that can tell us about the human mind. Researchers at ARiEAL focus on reading, language-learning (including English as an additional/second language), language comprehension, dyslexia and other language difficulties, and linguistics.

LIVELab

LIVELab, which opened in 2014, is the world’s first and only purpose-built performance theatre and neuroscience laboratory – it’s a bridge between art and science. It is used to study the importance of music, sound and movement in human
development and health, and the technology in LIVELab allows for monitoring and tracking all the ways our brains and bodies respond to live performances – both audiences and performers.

CANDU Core

This fall, first-year engineering students at McMaster will be the first class to learn in the new Candu Core—a 5,000-square-foot design studio equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters and other rapid-prototyping tools. The former manufacturing research space has been transformed into a bright, hands-on environment where students can design, build, test and improve their ideas. The space supports McMaster’s pioneering project-based approach to engineering education. Rather than spending first year learning theory in isolation, students begin working with robotic arms and developing coding, design, communication and teamwork skills. By winter, they are designing prototypes for real clients—including people with special needs who need practical solutions to everyday challenges.