This session was given by Susan Gibbons, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester.

• Growing rhetoric about being ‘Student-Centered.’
• So how do we become student centered.
• Lots of resources out there to help us understand these students… lots from EDUCAUSE.
• They did a study where they looked at all the user groups on campus and then make decisions about what they are doing, see the world through their eyes, and then make digital decisions based on that information.
• Applying methodologies and ethnographic information to better understand campus communities.
• To do this they used the following tools:
  • Photo elicitation exercises – give camera and let them take pictures and tell us why they took those pictures.
  • Gave assignments to take pictures of favorite study areas, places they feel lost, what stuff they carry with them, etc. etc.
  • Mapping Diaries – where do they go and when do they go where they go?
  • They are leaving early, not eating a lot, and carry a lot of stuff with them (that’s why they don’t carry the laptops with them).
  • Very structured and VERY busy!
• Design Workshops
  • Had students design their ideal learning space… they wanted flexibility and comfort (not big heavy desks that can’t move!).
  • Easy access to food and drink.
  • Lots of technology and tools – from plasma’s to staplers.
  • Staff Support – Generic all-purpose… they don’t want to have to figure which department to go to for all things!
• Retrospective Interviews
  • What activities occurred in between the time when a paper was assigned and when it was turned in.
  • Every picture had a call to a parent about where to get topic, information, or help edit a paper. (Really? I didn’t expect that… )
  • Laptops
  • He have high level of laptop ownership
  • They aren’t carrying laptops around
  • Not enough Power Outlets
  • Security is an issue … don’t want to pack up laptops when they need food.
  • Too Heavy
  • They are using public computing computers instead.
  • Solution: Local computers and extension chords.

So what can we do with all this data?

• ‘Helicopter’ Parents (the ones that just hover)
  • Solution: Drop Student Orientation and Add Parent Orientation
  • They come because they are dying to learn about where their students are going to be.
  • One Message: Every class has a librarian. Let them know what is going to happen in the coming months when the students get a paper. Use the parents as the channel to get the students to the librarians.
• Renovations – New Student Spaces
  • The designs encourage quiet study, but we are encouraging collaboration…
  • Need 24/7 access
  • Need more power and data
  • Importance of Food!
  • Comfortable Seating!
  • Lots of Big Tables – in front of windows so you don’t feel like you are cut off from the world. Need double the space of a normal study desk to spread out stuff.
  • Whiteboards form the walls of these spaces for lots of writing and drawing! (Great idea!)

Faculty

When you make getting research from professors all about them they respond to it much better. “I just read this article you wrote. It was fascinating. Tell me how you got from the idea to the final product…”

Overall impressions

This information is great information for designing and understanding how students learn today and designing learning spaces that help those students! Let the students tell us what they want and you will be better of EVERY time!

Resources:

Book – “Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester” (Direct PDF)

Email Susan with questions