The Community College of Rhode Island has received a $300,000 grant from the Champlin Foundations as part of an $893,000 project to establish an interactive learning center for health sciences students at the college’s Flanagan Campus in Lincoln.

The grant will outfit three classrooms with screens, projectors, 70-inch monitors, podiums and equipment, video conferencing gear and audio systems, including a system for hearing-impaired students.

The college will contribute the remaining $593,000 to the project for new seating, electrical work, staging, carpet, a nonslip epoxy floor, painting, ADA access, and architectural and design work.

“Technology helps students practice decision-making safely, giving them real experience in what health care providers do every day: make decisions in a rapid period of time with expert knowledge and efficiency,” said Dr. Rosemary Costigan, interim vice president for Academic Affairs. “We emphasize quality care, safe decision-making and good patient outcomes, and we will use this technology to support our students’ learning of those components.”

The grant-funded technology will support the introduction of concept-based curriculum in theory courses. This includes learning strategies to “flip the classroom” and make students active participants in the learning process, helping them better understand and retain information.

New podium systems will include camera technology for demonstrations of hands-on activities. Cisco videoconferencing equipment will allow collaboration with faculty in the Simulation Lab or with a presenter, doctor or instructor anywhere in the world. Students can use computer monitors to wirelessly share their computer or iPad screens with the rest of the class. Faculty can see students answering their own questions and sharing the knowledge with others.

“Technology like this that allows us to simulate and interact in real time improves health care,” said Costigan. “Students can fine-tune their skills so they are really ready to enter into practice when they graduate.”