I recently read an interesting article on the design of learning spaces. It featured research into how students rank the design of space in Colleges in the US. I was not entirely surprised to discover that less than 30% found any space inspiring, and even fewer found designated spaces effective for study and learning.
I was interested that more than 70% of students said they prefered to work alone, as opposed to in a group. We struggle in this library to provide enough quiet study space, and that is partly due to the fact that many students seem to prefer to study collaboratively, in small groups, with lots of discussion. Perhaps Polytechnic students are different, or the nature of assignments?
Future plans for the CPIT Library space will include more individual study space, and quiet corners, and more flexibility in how a space can be configured and used, in the hope that we can be both inspiring and effective.
