A Preliminary Summary of Interviews with Staff & Students[i]
“Our Learning Commons: What Do You Want In It?”
Summarizing what was said about what our learning commons might/should be like, based upon 10 small group discussions is nearly impossible. I am reminded of an old joke about members of the Democratic Party in America: “Whenever you get 5 Democrats in the same room together you will get 10 points of view.” What we heard was not a cohesive vision. Yet the comments of those who participated are useful and very interesting. Clearly, what is described is not either your mother’s library or university.
Atmosphere
Many of the comments heard dealt with the overall atmosphere that they hoped would be there. Our LC will be a place where differences of discipline, function, etc., will be pushed down out of sight. This should be a place where people come and meet – to see and even be seen. A place where they can do their own thing but others are invited to join in or at least watch. It should be a place that encourages active learning but also provides tranquil spots for those who want to read by themselves or simply look out at lovely scenery and think: there needs to be noisy as well as quiet places. I got the impression that what was needed to make all of this happen would be a recreation director as on a cruise ship: making sure there is always a lot happening for everyone. Glass walls or other ways of not blocking the view of what is going on should be used.
Physical Facilities
It is hard to distinguish the atmosphere hoped for and the physical facilities that will make that atmosphere possible. In any event, there were an enormous number of comments on the need for informality and flexibility. It should be an informal place with space set aside for things to happen: a place where groups of students can come and put on a play; perform; run a learning activity; debates; speakers; poetry readings; club meetings/activities; and the sorts of things that now take place outside the Main Library. This area might be like a village square or green. There should be extra tables for students to work on projects, where a certain amount of mess and chaos is permitted -- experimental places. There should be places where student art or projects could be displayed. There do need to be formal classrooms of all sizes and many small rooms for group study, breakout groups, as well as a small performance theatre where productions might be staged; filmed/video recorded; or where students could practice presentations, develop presentation skills. A suggestion was made that there should be at least one space designed to allow teachers/students to observe teaching and learning process without the observers becoming part of the activity itself. There should be consultation rooms/desks where a student and teacher could meet to talk. The furniture, tables, chairs need to be modular so that they can be rearranged to fit the need of the moment. There was also a call for carrels for graduate students and for lockers for students to store their materials while they are away doing other things. And all of this must be available 24X7 since many students don’t get around to doing all of this until night time.
Equipment
The web must be accessible everywhere so wireless connectivity is critical as well as places to get power, have their laptops recharged while the owners are doing something else, and there is still a lot of sentiment that connectivity to the campus computing backbone is critical – including the continued need for computer terminals (Macs as well as PC’s) – particularly in the small group study rooms. There were thoughts expressed that this could change radically by 2010-11 because of advances in hand held computing might render even laptops a thing of the past. There was a call for wireless projectors, wireless printing, equipment needed for multimedia display, tablet and laptops available for use by those who don’t want to lug them on campus, and lots of big screens everywhere. There was a call for classrooms to have desks for laptop users and not just chairs with swivel side tables and that they be set up for interactive computing with teacher and students all working together – more big screens. There was a call for flip charts, white boards, connections to wall mounted big screens, and other sophisticated ways of recording and working with information in a group. The psychology department called for more computer lab like facilities for group and individual use. It was clear that basics like copy machines, printers, etc., were expected. One group suggested that what was needed was a huge screen that showed what was going on all over the commons so newcomers could decide where they wanted to go to see what.
Services
Many called for general composition help services (scheduled courses as well as drop in help) and proofreading as well as specialized help like filling out grant applications, careers counseling (with regularly scheduled staff), academic counseling, etc. There was a call that the needs of students with special needs should not be forgotten including international students who don’t speak Cantonese, academically challenged students needing extra tutoring/help, students with physical disabilities, etc. The opinion that all of these services should be available to staff as well as students was expressed. Interestingly, more than one group noted the need to give outsiders space in which to meet and work with/sell to students, e.g., companies wanting to provide training opportunities, sell goods that students value, etc. The need for food and leisure related services was expressed. The group of students with whom we met described the ideal learning commons as a very large Starbucks because it provides an informal exciting atmosphere with tables around which students could gather and food and drink. It was noted that even for staff, Starbucks was already the preferred place to meet on campus. Staff expressed the opinion that the recreational activities should be spontaneous and not programmatic – the focus should not be on leisure per se, but rather facilitating people taking a short break from learning with a coffee or chat.
Management/Staffing
Opinions were mixed on how the LC should be managed. One group emphasized that students should be involved, that they needed to have a feeling of ownership of the facility with the service providers being unobtrusive, pop ups when needed. Others felt that there needs to be very clear management structure with accountability and reporting to a PVC. There was a feeling that all the service providers needed to have some say in how the facility would be managed. Certain concerns were expressed because of the cyclical nature of student demand and how and if staffing might be financed. Another concern was that all of these wonderful new services were great but that more staff would be needed to be successful, that they would compete for existing resources, e.g., it would be great to have drop in foreign language help with part time teachers to work with students – but that the Language Centre was already stretched and wouldn’t be able to assign many to help at the Learning Commons. Most people seemed to agree that for the LC to be a success, having well trained staff was critical.
Library Issues
The major library related issue was disappointment that this facility would not be loaded with books since the Arts Faculty will be located on the Centennial Campus. The opinion was expressed that departments which have their own small collections like History would want to continue and even enlarge these collections. Some wondered if they might all be brought together including the Music Library (which it was supposed would be provided for on the new campus), the Law Library, and the books placed on Reserve in the Main Library. The need for rapid delivery of books from the Main Library was also discussed.
Non Learning Commons Issues and Services
Everyone wanted to talk about the Centennial Campus and what they hoped would be there in addition to the Learning Commons – if not in the Commons. There is a clear feeling that there needs to be a sense of community and the components of a community or small town need to be evident: a super book store (uniform favorite), a cinema, post office, barber/beauty shop, travel agency, real estate office, shower room/gym, and health care services including a small clinic, pharmacy, optometrist, etc., and just in case you missed it: a super book store (uniform favorite).
In addition to extra services/facilities, there was quite a bit of talk about the need for places to meet, have presentations, projections, etc., that are outside of buildings – or at least have this feeling of being outside with nature but perhaps within a glass canopy. If really outside there would be the need for shade, a way to escape the rain, etc. It was noted the porticos of the Main Hall did a nice job of this. You are outside but sheltered, you have ready access to courtyards.
Notes Taken During the 10 Meetings
1? / For Education faculty, a common ground to being teachers and students together is assessment. There are no tutorials in the education faculty. 7= Mentioned in Group 7.
1 / It is important that the LC is not a common designate but to integrate to reflect the University’s priorities; link to other physical spaces in the rest of the campus to support learning and teaching. 7
1 / A need for a programming brief for prospective architects of the centennial campus. Programming in terms of what components, how many of these components, requirements etc is critical in architectural design submissions. 9
1 / Learning platforms, e.g., WebCT, need to be carefully selected to ensure capitalizing the full capabilities of wireless online resources and facilities. 4
1 / Success of the LC will largely depend on careful articulation with university strategic initiatives, e.g., 4 year curriculum and how to best use space, facilities and staff to meet the objectives set. 4
1.1 / What about “distributed” satellite LCs - in different locations? Need to think about the East campus. 2
1.2 / How much should we be thinking about the physical aspects in relation to the virtual opportunities in curriculum and programme planning? By 2011, the physical access/technical provisions planned now may be become obsolete. Let’s think about virtual space. What can we offer that can be accessed by the LC community virtually? 3
1.2 / Potential to serve the LC virtually: Creative support such as how to make available digitized resources, databases of targeted texts to correspond to the appropriate genres useful to students. 3
1.3 / A basic challenge to provide needs of both teachers and students who have different work flows, culture and interactivity. It may be difficult to establish a “common” across different faculties with a wide range of programs within each faculty. 7
1.3 / The LC should have variations in a common. The common needs to reflect a variation and to bring people together and addressing the varieties of needs. 7
1.3 / Service areas may take up too much space, a trade off between space for students’ needs and services. Need to consider allocation of space to strike a balance. 5
1.3 / Important to visualise a concept of the LC, instead of focusing on the “hardware and functions” as defined by the physical space. 9
1.3 / How will services in LC relate to the providers of these same services elsewhere in the University? For example, IT, writing labs, advisors etc. Are these expected to be out posted in the LC if they are already available elsewhere? Services not replicated in LC –maybe be acceptable if already provided in existing service points on campus. 5
1.3 / Hall and General education are currently far from the University core, hence a need to integrate in the common. 7
1.3 / Service providers can station representatives in LC to promote and advertise their prevailing services on the main campus and elsewhere. This is to reduce the competition for space for students and service providers. 5
1.3 / Combination of different sized and types of rooms and facilities that can be located close to the faculties but not exclusive to a single faculty. Examples, writing labs, language centres etc. 6
1.4 / It is hard to predict the work and activity flows of management and students. What problems are we trying to solve? 7
1.4 / The questions – are we doing things in a new way based on what we are currently offering OR are we doing NEW things in new ways to transform learning and to change the cultural levels? 10
1.5 / Need to cater to Part time students need services and facilities in the later evenings.
1.6 / To what extent do we allow public access? (MTR being the entry point for public and HKU community). To what extent we make of any this available to the community is a tricky issue, because of priority and security questions. 6
Atmosphere / Atmosphere Atmosphere Atmosphere Atmosphere Atmosphere
2.1 / 1, Vision of the Learning Commons: 4
a physical space for breaking down the artificial divide between disciplines
a space for blending together disciplines on campus
a venue for everyone as a meeting point
an opportunity for people to experiment in research based learning environments
an opportunity for scholarly research into learning and teaching practices
showcase of good learning and teaching practices
2.3 / The Learning Commons should be a good showcase for the shift in power to more learner centred activities in HKU. 4
2.3 / It should facilitate learning in a relaxed and inviting environment. 4