Background
As one of the 74 national Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), SOLSTICE was established in April 2005 and is a method of programme delivery that uses supported online and blended learning designed on sound pedagogic principles and developed as a result of ongoing evaluative research.
This project was a refurbishment to create a flexible teaching space in order to explore the use of that space and inform practice elsewhere in the University. The project ran from Summer - October 2005 (the work was not continuous). At the time of writing the case study, a new build was due for completion in late 2007.
Type of Project:
Refurbishment to create a flexible teaching space in order to explore the use of that space and inform practice elsewhere in the University.
Start and End dates:
Summer 2005 - October 2005 (work not continuous)
New Build due for completion late 2007
Case Study tags: learning spaces, edge hill university, north-west england, refurbishment, higher education
Context
The SOLSTICE approach involves the use of supported online learning or blended learning designed on sound pedagogic principles and seeks to capture the power of new technology to deliver programmes flexibly, using a VLE alongside other methods of support.
The project involved turning what was previously an IT room into a multiple-use room to provide a flexible teaching space, but also a place where staff development events and meetings could take place.
A new teaching and learning building is already under construction (which will include the permanent SOLSTICE Centre), but to make best use of the capital afforded through the CETL initiative the University utilised some of the capital to do a quick and reasonably cheap refurbishment on some existing space. This is helping to inform spaces in the new development.
The space is a teaching room that has standard audio visual technology (data projector, interactive whiteboard, PC with amplifier and DVD/VHS playback) but the room enables a more flexible way of working - instead of typical rectangular tables it has four large round tables that enable group work; it has 3 dry whiteboards (instead of the institutional standard of one) to encourage group work and the progression of workings out and ideas across boards; there is a set of 12 wireless laptops and the technology can come out and go back as required and can be integrated into teaching sessions.
The space is used for teaching and learning as an opportunity to explore a slightly different way of working and learning; the space is also staff development events and formal meetings.
The space isn't centrally timetabled within the University. Some existing taught programmes are taught there which allows SOLSTICE to evaluate both student and staff experience of being taught in that space.
Some tutors have had training and development in relation to the space, technology and equipment, but in a lot of cases staff are simply discovering the space for themselves, doing what they would have either liked to have done or may have tried to do in other spaces where it wasn't appropriate. It was noted that the staff who are keen to use the space tend to be the enthusiasts; as a result, more staff development on how you might want to teach and learn in the space may be needed in future.
The principles behind the design were to try and find something that aligned more with constructivist approaches to teaching and learning and the idea of personalisation of space for students. Also with the idea of integrating technology more into teaching spaces.
In the new building (under construction) we are creating a slightly larger version of this flexible teaching space and another slightly different space that will use a mixture of formal classroom and open access area to see how students utilise that space.
The only environmental issues considered were related to student reactions to how heating, lighting, sound and comfort are issues in terms of how user friendly a space is. However in terms of the new building, the University and architects are trying to create a much more environmentally friendly building generally.
Finance
Funding Sources
HEFCE CETL funding
Cost of Project
£1.4 million CETL funding for new build, a small proportion of which went on the temporary SOLSTICE centre which includes this flexible teaching space.
Technology
Wireless laptops, data projector and interactive whiteboard. It is a fairly standard AV fit out so that any staff coming to use it are generally familiar with the basic technology. There is DVD and VHS playback and an amplifier. Anything played through video or DVD goes straight onto the interactive whiteboard. A portable voting system has been purchased but not yet deployed.
The laptops stay in the room in a storage cabinet, which is also a charging unit, and there is digilock security on the door. The team are considering whether to take the doors off the cabinet completely. This might pose slightly more of a security risk for the laptops but in some respects having the doors on the cabinet locked almost goes against the principle of making the technology feel very accessible in the space.
Adding Value
It has added value in that lecturers have been able to integrate the technology into teaching sessions as and when it is required. They are no longer tied to just having a standard teaching room with desks or an IT lab. This has also meant that not all students have to do the same thing at the same time; depending on activities that the students were doing some could be using technology while others weren't.
It allows the tutor to make decisions on the day as to how much they want to integrate technology into the session. For example, on one module where the students had just come directly from another session that was very much focused on ICT, the tutor did not necessarily always want to bring out more technology straight away.
Success Factors
In one evaluation students were asked 'If there was one aspect of this teaching space that you would want to transfer to other teaching rooms what would it be?' and the resounding majority said it was the round group tables. Knowing that the team wanted to develop a space where technology could come out and go back as appropriate they mulled over for sometime what kind of chairs to put in there. Standard teaching rooms have static chairs with standard legs, and IT labs have operators chairs on wheels. In the end the team went for low back operator chairs which look like normal chairs but when using the technology it allows students to move together easily to look at things and work on things.
What has happened well in the space is the integration of the technology. Some low-tech aspects of that have worked particularly well e.g. the multiple dry whiteboards.
Students have said they like the warm inviting feel of the space (a warm terracotta colour on the wall and the chairs have a matching fabric). The overall ambience along with the group tables means that they feel it is a very inviting space to work in.
Top Tips
Having a clear idea about how you want that space to be used. Thinking how you might want students to work in that space and how you might want the tutors to enable them to interact with the space and the technology. In this case it involved thinking about multiple uses (teaching, staff development and meetings).
Not ignoring the low tech solutions was key e.g. the dry whiteboards so when you have groups of students in there, and tasks assigned, each group can work on a board at the same time.
Lessons Learned
Because it was a separate room that was taken out of use first there were no major implications in relocating site and/or moving legacy systems and equipment.
The furniture, although it is flexible for group work, could maybe have been done slightly differently to allow other uses as well.
Getting the environmental factors right. Heating is an issue which still needs resolving to a certain degree to make sure it is absolutely right.
Small things like the idea of doors being removed on the laptop storage.
The institution is still developing its wireless network system and there have been some problems along the way with logging onto the wireless laptops. It was noted that these were minor issues but when you are asking people to integrate technology into the sessions you want to make that as easy and as effective as possible.
The room happens to be located in one corner of the building so it has been an advantage that other students do not walk by the room while it's in use. That has been in problem in some other buildings which have a lot of glazing. In long corridors that are transitional spaces it can become very distracting to have people walking past - it is more about movement than noise in these instances but the combination of movement and noise can be a distraction.
In trying to create a space that fits with that idea of enabling constructivist teaching and learning principles it was interesting that one tutor who had used that space said that they felt it was a more democratic space. This aligned with that idea of creating something where it was less about the teacher as the figure of authority and more in line with the idea of people working together and learning and constructing knowledge together. Another tutor said that idea of democratic space fell down with the use of an interactive whiteboard as being a central point from which the teacher will deliver something. The group tables and the integration of the technology through the laptops are very much conducive to that idea of sharing and it being a more democratic space. In theory you can start to involve students more by getting them to use the interactive whiteboards as part of the sessions but tutors often tend to use them simply to present PowerPoint.
Within the new building the team will be exploring the idea of a space that can be used for formal teaching sessions but also could be utilised by students for open access, including being able to make use of the facilities to work together on presentations and work as a group.
Post Occupancy
Changes Made As A Result Of Feedback
There has been some in-depth research based on ethnographic principles. An observer spent time sitting in the room observing what students and tutors were doing and how they were using things, then went back at a later stage to do a group interview with questions based on some of the observations on the earlier stages. This was found to be much more enlightening than just giving people a questionnaire.
The team hasn't really made any changes to the room as yet following feedback. Things that have become apparent are that the round group tables are really well liked by the students in terms of what it means for them in their sessions.
There isn't as much flexibility in the furniture as the team would have liked so in future developments they are looking at using semi-circular tables (perhaps combined with rectangular ones) so that if there are times when students need to work quietly on their own they could move those tables and put them up against a wall quite easily.
It is apparent that the heating level in the room isn't quite right and this can have a big impact on how well students can engage in a session. A chapter on environmental factors in 'Teaching with the Brain in Mind' by Eric Jensen highlights how important those issues are. The focus group interview with the students asked them about their teaching room experiences when they were children at school and what rooms were like then. All the responses were about how they had really hard chairs or the rooms were really cold or they were really echoey which emphasised how much of an influence those factors do have.
Contact Details
John Davey, daveyj@edgehill.ac.uk
Case study written early 2007.
