Pedagogy, Andragogy and Heutagogy

My presentation on "Learning Commons Technology" went well at the 2nd Annual Learning Commons Development and Design Forum, here in Brisbane. It happened that many of the examples of good design I used were detailed in other presentations by library staff and is some cases by the architects of those buildings.

Dr. Ken Fisher Associate Professor, University of Melbourne talked after my presentation to the Learning Commons Forum. This worked well, as while I showed examples of learning commons I did and did not like, he provided a theoretical framework to say why the spaces did and did not work.

Ken mentioned CDIO: Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate developed for engineering education. This appeared to be a hi-tech interpretation of studio based trainings, as popularised for architects by the Bauhaus.

Also Ken mentioned Heutagogy, a term for self-determined learning.

Ken showed a diagram from University of Melbourne campus research collaboration analysis. This showed which staff worked together, based on names on joint papers. This is similar to the analysis used law enforcement use to identify relationships between members of organised crime. It would be interesting to apply this to traffic analysis of email and phone calls (as used by military intelligence). This could show what less formal collaborations there are across campus.

Ken showed the web site for Pen State University which accommodates on and off campus students. He saw this as a good thing. I would prefer to support students who may be full or part time, on or off campus, or overseas at some point in time. The range of facilities would be made available to all the students and then they could choose what they need.

Ken then discussed the University of Adelaide, which is on the edge of the Adelaide CBD. The campus is gradually expanding into the CBD and evolving a vibrant "Chinatown". As a result the student union building is not on the edge of the campus, rather than in the middle. The university is adding satellite learning hubs. Hughes court at the university will have a glassed roof and the top floor cut through to make a mezzanine. This reminded me of the UoC learning centre.

Ken showed a pedagogy space map, which is the floor plan of a building with areas identified for different learning styles.

University of Massachusetts Amherst has detailed research on use of learning spaces. This applies Ken's view of evidence based design.

I would have liked to hear more on studio work.

ps: A less serious idea which came up over drinks the night before was the use of learning centre after hours. There is a shortage of student accommodation, so why not Murphy beds built in, so the students can live in the commons? ;-)

Architectural Design of Library Buildings

Sitting in a session of the 2nd Annual Learning Commons Development and Design Forum, in Brisbane, I noticed the delegate next to me reading the March 2011 edition of Architectural Record magazine on Library Design. There are about 241 articles in AR mentioning unviersity libraries. But I could find no mention of "Learning Commons" in AR. This is odd, as I found thousands of references to learning commons in other McGraw Hill Construction Publications. A little frustrated by this I did a more general search of images of learning commons floor plans and ended up with, amongst other things, my presentation for this forum tomorrow.

ps: This is a curious forum, where everyone is either a librarian, an architect or a facilities manager.

pps: Anita Crotty, Librarian, University of Canberra Library, is on next.

University of Queensland Librarian on Change in Library Design and Role

Greetings from the 2nd Annual Learning Commons Development and Design Forum, Brisbane. The first speaker was Keith Webster, Librarian, University of Queensland.

He started with the good old days where academic libraries were for scholars. The students were only admitted under sufferance and provided they were silent. He used the 1970s UQ biological library as an example of the old style, where the building was there to house the collection (the building massing reminded me of a mainframe computer). Libraries of the 1980s had desks to help students access CD-ROMs. In the late 1990s a variety of learning spaces were added for group and individual use. Keith commented that the present has connected leaning experiences, where the library information can be accessed on-line from anywhere.

Keith suggested the campus map should be relabeled to indicate the type of learning experience for each space. He cataloged the educational changes, continuous assessment, national standards and access beyond the campus. He commented that researchers tend not to come into the library, so the library services must go out to them.

Keith commented that university students today will have grown up with computers and the Internet. He claimed that there is evidence they therefore use the technology differently. But I am not sure today's student are any better at using technology for a course than previous students. Keith commented that today's students will expect to take notes on an iPad not paper. But I don't think they will be any better at taking good notes that past generations.

Keith mentioned research from London on Immersive technology and Information Behavior of students. Unfortunately I could not read the details on the slide (or any of the slides) as the text was too small. He then showed a graph of the decline in book borrowing at libraries and but another showing increasing number of visitors (I could see the lines on the graph, but not the scale).

Keith commented that e-publishing is changing the research role of libraries. By 2014 China is predicted to be the largest source of peer reviewed academic articles (according to the BBC). Libraries now buy bundles of journals. It seems to me dumb that librarians do this. It would be simpler and cheaper for them to provide good e-publishing facilities, the researchers would then type their papers directly into the library computers. The librarians could then use the publications for free and even put ads on the material to cover the cost, or make a profit.

Keith then discussed research with US students on library facilities. The new students were asked what they would need. Then in semester two they filled in a log book (on paper I noticed). Then with architects they had focus groups of students discussing room design. This found group work early in the semester, less group work mid semester and individual space needed at the end of semester panic. He asked how to provide these different needs without wasting space. What occurred to me was how to redesign courses to remove the end of semester panic, which is not good for the student's learning or for the staff's piece of mind (my course designs have, I hope, largely eliminated this problem).

Keith commented students came to the library with good intentions to student but then met their friends. Students tend not to talk to library staff; they do group work, have coffee and even borrow books. There were short, medium and long visits. The long visits have security problems and as a result food and drink bans were relaxed. Keith commented that students will typically put their bags and computers on the desks and then sit on the floor.

UQ designed a new Princess Alexandra Hospital/UQ Library. Design Nest architects did the interior design (like many firms of architects, Design Nest do not appear to have an accessible web site, so I can't provide a useful link). Designs were created for different types of spaces. Keith described this as "Ikea kitchen-like" but I would see it as using a pattern language. The architect then tried to fit these different types of spaces into the old building floor plan.

Keith commented that the large "service desk" was not needed. There were board room type meetings with a large table, flat screen display and writable walls along the outside with the windows. The center open space has informal group areas with sofas. Individual study spaces alongside widows have removable privacy panels. What struck me was how much the layout looked like a hotel lobby or airport lounge.

There were still some stacks of books. These were separated with movable glass walls for security.

The foyer has a large custom designed rectangular couch. This looked like King Furniture's modular systems. It strikes me that such a module system might prove useful.

Keith mentioned the "cone of silence", which is a Perspex hemisphere suspended over some desks to focus conversation down on the group and reduce the perception of outside noise. It would seem to me better to integrate this with the light fittings, rather than have funny looking plastic domes hanging around. These light fittings might also have speakers for multimedia and video conferencing integrated into them.

ps: I will be speaking on "The dos and donts in developing learning commons" at the Forum, 9:50am Thursday.