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Exploring the perceptions of school children and their relevance in future proofing learning space design
Session outline Pilot study – 4 groups from 3 schools, ages 11-15 2 activities:
classroom voting activity, designing a library – group activity
In this session we will be recreating these activities, sharing the results, exploring common themes and the challenges of designing learning spaces
Background to the Study About Roehampton University Developments in the existing library Library review, new library building
Background to the Study
Annual library student survey
Question – who should we be asking?
Activity 1: How do you study? Using and audience response system, we ask
groups of school children how they study. The following slides present some of the
things we asked – for each question, select what you think would have been the most popular choice.
We asked 86 school children where they preferred to do their homework. Which of the following was the most popular response?
Sitti
ng at a
desk or t
able
Lounging on th
e sofa w
i..
Sat o
n your bed, li
stenin...
In th
e gard
en
Quietly
in a lib
rary
0%
36%
0%0%
64%1. Sitting at a desk
or table2. Lounging on the
sofa with TV on3. Sat on your bed,
listening to music4. In the garden5. Quietly in a
library
Our survey said …
0 20 40 60
Sitting at a desk or table
Lounging on the sofa with
TV on
Sat on your bed, listening
to music
In the garden
Quietly in a library
Where do you prefer to study?They also told us:
Most prefer to work alone (42%) or with a friend (47%).
They occasionally use school libraries (28%) and public libraries (25%)
Our students want to study:
At a deskIn a quiet areaOn their ownWith access to PCsDuring the dayWith food and drink
We asked ‘Who would you be most likely to ask if you needed help with your homework?’
Friend
Family
Teacher
Oth
er people
68%
0%4%
28%
1. Friend2. Family3. Teacher4. Other people
Our survey said …
Our students tell us:
They want help to find resources (77%, n=944),
Where would you most frequently go for information to help with homework?
School te
xt books
Librar
y books
Wikipedia
Oth
er people
0% 0%4%
24%
72%
1. School text books2. Library books3. Google4. Wikipedia5. Other people
Our survey said …
Our students tell us they want:
“more books, longer loans and higher amount of books you can take out”
“It would be great if we had more electronic resources, so if we cannot find the books we need there is an alternative.”
How do you prefer to communicate with your friends when you are not together?
MSN
messa
ging
Texting
Phone
Bebo, Face
book, etc.
28%20%
0%
52%1. MSN messaging2. Texting3. Phone4. Bebo, Facebook,
etc.
Our survey said …
Our students tell us:
They also communicate in a variety of ways, but when it comes to us communicating with them they prefer email or information on web pages.
When you are not doing homework, which of the following are you most likely to do to relax?
Liste
n to m
usic on iP
o...
Play on a games conso
le
Surf
the in
tern
et
Chat to fr
iends onlin
e
Watch
TV/DVD
8%
21%
25%25%
21%
1. Listen to music on iPod or MP3 player
2. Play on a games console
3. Surf the internet4. Chat to friends
online5. Watch TV/DVD
Our survey said …
Activity 2: Designing a library / learning space In groups, sketch / plan / list features you
would wish to have in an ideal Library / Learning Centre
Present to the group (recorded) Looked at recurring themes
Building design
Building design (12/18) “The outside is all glass and in the summer it lets the light in and in the winter, it’s like the back of a car with the lines, they like heat up, collects the sunlight and heats up all of the library.”
“…and it has windows for brightness it will be a relaxing and soothing place to be, it has high-tech equipment and will be more like a fun place than work place.”
Social areas, comfy furniture and refreshments
Social areas (10/18) Comfy furniture (18/18) Refreshments (16/18)
“There’s a relaxing area that’s basically loads of cushions and sofas and televisions.”
“We’ve got a brain booster bar, like cocktails but brain boosting like lucozade, and then there’s beds if you want to have a nap.”
TV, Music, Chill out TV (16/18) Music (13/18) Chill out (13/18)
“Well this is our like learning place and we have like the rest room to do what you want like relax. Then you have like the leisure room and then you have like the learning place with the MyPod and the TV.”
“We’ve got the MyPod, its like your bed, you fall asleep in it and in your sleep learning flows in to your brain and its only 15 milllion pounds.”
Books and computers Books (17/18) Computers (18/18)
“Room with a slide and a firemans pole, and theres all books and a personal book assistant, vending machines, in here you can hire a geek and there’s a library mum.”
“Computer room has got laptops and ipods in there, you can like take the laptops anywhere cause there’s wireless and you can just get an ipod to listen to your own music.”
They also wanted A comfortable environment That is colourful And has staff on hand to help
As well as …Art work on display, events and
performances, vending machines / stationery shops, desks, quiet areas and games consoles
What does this tell us? Very mixed responses to questions and in plans
Some recurring themes and some similarity to what our students say
Maybe it raises more questions than it answers?
Is social learning space just fashion? How do we meet a huge variety of differing needs? Who do we ask to get the answers?
Your views, your questions?Faye Jackson
Phil Cheeseman
Presentation available at
http://www.slideshare.net/p.cheeseman