I attended a lecture by Stephon Alexander (professor at Brown; author of The Jazz of Physics) at the Brandeis physics department. After about 20 minutes I noticed that the hard wooden fold-down seat and the limited legroom were nowhere near as comfortable as what AMC Theaters provides to its customers at a much lower price per hour.
Given that colleges refuse to give up on the lecture method of instruction and that they insist on raising tuition every year, why not try to reel in a wealthier and more mature population of students with recliner seating?
For students who like to be on Facebook or watch YouTube during lecture, the seats could have built-in mobile phone holders.
Readers: Given rising rates of obesity, falling rates of physical fitness, rising tuition, and rising expectations of college-as-Four-Seasons-resort-like-experience, what should the lecture hall be like?
Standing desks in a Faraday cage.
In what country do you think young ambitious people should attend college these days?
Make in nicer and they’d just vandalize it.
Putting older, wealthier attendees in comfy reclining seats presents an enormous challenge to the lecturer: Keeping them awake.