What value is there in involving academics and students in the design of the learning environment? – efficiency lost in translation?

Learning Landscapes and the Idea of the UniversityEfficiency, Effectiveness and Expression

Jim McConnellDirector of Estates

Contents

• Estates Responsibilities• Estates Experience• Estates Skills• Academic, Student and Estates relationships• Speaking another Language• Translation and Interpretation

– Exercises– Design Processes– New Skills for Estates and Stakeholders

• Lessons from the Project

Estates Responsibilities

2008 SURVEY

Key areas directly affecting the development of Learning and Teaching Spaces

Estates Experience

2008 SURVEY

Estates Skills

• Surveyors @ 31% RICS

• Builders @ 22% CIOB

• Engineers @ 9% EC UK

• Architects @ 6% RIBA

• Facilities Managers @ 30% BIFM

• Members of HE Academy ?

2009/10Report & Review

Academics, Students and Estates Relationships

• Academics– Focused on research

– Aim to minimise Teaching Time

– Teach on a Tuesday and maybes a Thursday

• Students– Focused on value for money from Learning

– Aim to maximise Teaching Time

– Turns up on a Thursday and maybes a Tuesday

• Estates– Focused on cost, quality, timely supply of space

– Regularly disrupt Teaching Time

– Try to turn up Monday to Friday

• AV, ICT, Telecoms, Security, room booking?

Speaking another Language?

Didactic Blended

Modules

Distance

Peer to PeerGroups

Tutorial

Lecture

Debate

Role Play

Academics speak the language of Pedagogy

(Activity)

Simulation ImmersionIndividual

InformalLECTURETHEATRE

SEMINAR ROOM

BREAKOUTROOM

EXAMINATIONHALL

LABORATORIES

SPECIALISTSPACES

CONFERENCEHALL

Estates speak the language

of Location(Space)

SOCIALSPACE

LEARNINGCLUSTERS

EXTERNALSPACE

LIBRARY

The Lecture Theatre – A mature Pedagogy? Chalk Boards?

Exercises

• Translate– to turn from one language into another or from a

foreign language into one's own

• Interpret– to give or provide the meaning of; – explain; explicate; elucidate– to translate orally

www.dictionary.com

Beard and Wilson (2006) Experiential Learning

Beard, Colin., & Wilson, John. (2006), Experiential Learning: A Best Practice Handbook for Educators and Trainers, (2nd Ed.) London, Kogan Page.

Belonging - What do you Think?

Doing - Who do you think this space is for?

Sensing - What do you Feel?

Sensing - What do you hear?

Sensing - What do you See?

Belonging - What do you think?

Doing - Who do you think this space is for?

Sensing - What do you feel?

Sensing - What do you hear?

Sensing - What do you see?

Integrative, Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Design

Location, Location, Location

Postgraduate Centre

Learning Cafe

The Current Design Process?

The Future Design Process?

Skills for Estates

• Appreciation of learning styles and theory

– Kolb (experiential)– Gregorc (perceptual)

• Understanding of pedagogy

– The art or science of teaching– Flexibility!

• Awareness of Audio Visual and ICT options

– Integrated solutions – Standardisation? - Chalk or Visualiser!

• Recognise the opportunity for Marketing

– Learning and Teaching Space as the Student ‘Shop Window’– Use L+T spaces to promote marketing messages

Skills for Stakeholders

• Appreciation of Estates Processes

– Project Briefing– Design stages

• Understand every project is a prototype

• Awareness of technical limitations

– Building – AV/ICT – Flexibility – Sustainability

• Be prepared to take ownership

– Experiment pedagogically– Sign off accountability

Lessons from the Project

• Academics– Add value by taking the lead and embrace the client role– ‘Teach with space in Mind’ adopting approaches to pedagogy that are

clear and convincing

• Students– Add value by acting as a client, consultant and ambassador for the

learning landscape

• Estates– Remember there is no ‘standard issue’ academic or student– Use ‘Walk around’ and reconnaissance to experience the learning

environment– Translate and interpret what is possible rather than prescriptive– Use integrative , interdisciplinary and inclusive design approaches– Create a learning environment that is teacher-centred and student-

centred– Remember students don't want to dance like their Dad– Experiment and rehearse the play together with stakeholders

Conclusions and Lessons Learned from LLiHE Project

• Universities– Appoint a ‘Go-Between’ with Professional Expertise at

Senior Management level – Introduce committees that promote innovative,

creative and critical thinking– Don't have to be ‘funky’ or radical– Enable spaces to grow organically– ‘Talk your Future into Being’ by developing a

‘Common Language’• Articulated and documented• Through conferences, Imagineering, workshops

and projects• Local ‘dialects’ accepted

Hey Dude – where’s my Chalk?

Abdulwahed, Mahmoud., Nagy, Zoltan.K., & Blanchard, Richard. (2008) Beyond The Engineering Pedagogy: Engineering The Pedagogy, Modelling Kolb’s Learning Cycle Proceedings of the 2008 AaeE Conference, Yeppoon