CrookMitchell_accepted.pdf (119.38 kB)
Ambience in social learning: student engagement with new designs for learning spaces
journal contribution
posted on 2015-10-15, 10:34 authored by Charles Crook, Gemma WitcombGemma WitcombAn imperative to develop the social experience of learning has led to the design
of informal learning spaces within libraries. Yet little is known about how these spaces are used by students or how students perceive them. Field work in one
such space is reported. The general private study practice of undergraduates was
captured through audio diaries, while activity in the learning space was directly
observed, and students provided reflective perspectives in focus groups and through spot conversations. Results suggest such spaces are popular and yet stimulate limited group work. Yet other, less intense, forms of productive collaboration did occur and a taxonomy of four such types of encounter is offered. Of particular importance to students was access to a ‘social ambience’ for study. The results encourage institutions to design for a mixed economy of student choice over learning spaces and to consider modes of encouraging diversity in
their use.
Funding
This research was funded by the University of Nottingham CETL for Integrative Learning.
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Published in
Cambridge Journal of EducationVolume
42Issue
2Pages
121 - 139Citation
CROOK, C. and MITCHELL, G.L., 2012. Ambience in social learning: student engagement with new designs for learning spaces. Cambridge Journal of Education, 42(2), pp. 121-139.Publisher
© University of Cambridge, Faculty of EducationVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Publication date
2012Notes
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Cambridge Journal of Education on 22nd May 2012, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/0305764X.2012.676627ISSN
0305-764XeISSN
1469-3577Publisher version
Language
- en