Summary

Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) have the potential to revolutionize the way classes are taught in a variety of disciplines. While they have been shown to be effective in promoting better conceptual understanding and retention of information, it is important to understand how the designs of these classrooms can affect teaching and learning. I conducted an 8-week fieldwork study within the Active Learning Classrooms at Odegaard Library to assess the user experiences of students and instructors using them.

Goal

To use fieldwork and ethnographic methods to observe and interview students and instructors using the space.

To understand students’ and instructors’ use of the space, and identify challenges and opportunities for future improvement.

Industry & Audience

• Industry: IT; classroom design; user experience
• Audience: Instructors who conducted classes; students who attended classes and used the space for informal study after hours

Constraints

Fieldwork could only be conducted for 8 weeks, the duration of the academic quarter.

My Role

This was an individual project; I did everything.

Process

• Acquired background information for adminstration about use and features of the space.
• Conducted hour-long observations for 8 weeks during a regular class and informal study hours.
• Wrote up extensive fieldwork notes and created visual maps of the room layout.
• Conducted multiple interviews with instructor and students.
• Qualitatively analyzed fieldnotes and interview transcripts through a process of open coding, creation of high-level thematic categories and follow-up deductive coding.
• Identified areas of challenge and potential improvement in the future use of the space as a formal classroom and informal study space.
• Provided insight about potential ideas for redesign of the library website for the Active Learning Classroom space.

Key Insights

Having great tools in a learning space is of no use unless users know they're there.

Most of the students who used the ALCs for informal study were unfamiliar with the great features of the space, like the ability to connect laptops to the large TV screens at each table, or the ability to use the walls as whiteboards to draw on as they studied. In my final report, I proposed adding simple stickers somewhere visible at each table, directing students to the library website, where explanations of the space’s features were already available.

Features can sometimes be used for purposes other than what they were intended for, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

360-degree cameras installed in the classroom were originally intended to be used only for video-conferencing and remote learning purposes. However, instructors also used them to simply zoom in on themselves as they lectured or drew on the whiteboard, so that students at the opposite ends of the large room could see them the instructor on the closest TV screen. In a space designed with round tables, where students faced each other and the closest TV screen rather than the front of the room, this was a great idea to help increase visibility.