First step towards “Flipped education”
KU holds a groundbreaking ceremony for the SK Future Hall: The first of its kind to have no lecture rooms
Breaking the stereotype: A space from receiving to producing knowledge

▲ From the left: Joo Jinsoo (Vice President for Campus Planning), Park Gil-Sung (Dean of the Graduate School), Sun Jeong Gyu (Executive Vice President for the Sejong Campus), Lee Namho (Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs), Yeom Jaeho (President of Korea University), Kim Jae Ho (Chairman of the Korea University Foundation), Lee Hak Su (President of the Korea University Alumni Association), Kim Soo Won (Executive Vice President for Research), Park Do Kwon (CEO of SAMOO Architects & Engineers), and Jung Kwang Yul (Director of SAMOO CM Architects & Engineers) attend the groundbreaking ceremony.

Through its Three-No policy, scholarship reform, and the KU pioneer village (π-Ville), a space for knowledge creation, KU is leading an educational innovation in higher education and presents a future-oriented education suitable for the great transitional period in the history of civilization.

For the first time in the history of private universities in Korea, KU is creating an educational space with no lecture rooms by building the SK Future Hall. A university is a not a place where students should be put into lecture rooms for rote learning, but a place where students should be guided and encouraged to produce knowledge. Future-oriented intellectuals need to possess problem-solving abilities. In this light, this building is a special space that embodies KU’s philosophy towards education.

Designed to celebrate KU’s 111th anniversary, the SK Future Hall is composed of 111 small seminar rooms and 111 carrels. KU intends to present a new standard for future universities where students can immerse themselves in autonomous learning, research, and discussion.

The SK Future Hall will help to bring about such educational innovation. KU expects “flipped-classes” which allow students to watch online lectures before attending classes and to meet peers to freely exchange ideas through discussion and the “tutorial system” to be established. KU also expects to see students carry out their studies through discussions and in the carrels. Carrels are of importance in addition to discussion when it comes to autonomous learning. An individual carrel is a 3.3㎡ space adequate structure for self-directed learning.

Moreover, Agora, a creative playground, and Living Labs will be located in the building. They will be open to students 24/7 as places for sharing their ideas and experience of learning for knowledge creation.

On Thursday, November 17, KU held a groundbreaking ceremony for the SK Future Hall. The SK Future Hall will be built on a 27,350.35㎡ area and will be composed of five floors above ground and two floors below ground. It is scheduled to be completed in December 2018.

The Community Plaza, an area that will connect the Grand Auditorium and the SK Future Hall, will have a glass ceiling, will be able to accommodate up to 700 people, and will be utilized for various interactional purposes. Moreover, the building will employ cutting-edge ICT technology and top energy efficiency rated products such as building energy management system (BEMS), geothermal system, and LEDs. It is expected to serve as a monumental building that will complete the master plan of KU campus.

At the ceremony, Kim Jae Ho, Chairman of the Korea University Foundation, said, “Without podiums or desks, students will be able to freely contemplate, discuss and learn how to autonomously think creatively in this new space. Through various types of interactions, students will become intellectuals with expertise.”

Yeom Jaeho, President of KU, said, “The SK Future Hall, where SK’s management philosophy meets KU’s pioneering spirit, will be a space where KU students create knowledge together and be the first to experience future education. I hope to see students experience future education driven by data science through utilizing this space as a playground for knowledge creation. Meditating on what KU 111th anniversary means to the Republic of Korea, I hope we can come together and mark a new era in the world’s higher education.” He asked the students to pursue connectivity and creativity and become pioneering intellectuals through convergence and trans-disciplinary, problem-driven learning.