LTC13-P06
7 February 2013
Learning and Teaching Committee
Subject:
Origin:
Teaching Space Strategy Development Plan
Caroline Pepper, Facilities Management
Learning Space and Administration Manager
Executive Summary: Following an objective from Senate and Council to identify
minimum standards for teaching and learning spaces, this paper sets out a phased approach
leading to the creation of a comprehensive teaching and learning space strategy, applicable
to all space across campus. Centrally controlled teaching areas equate to 3.87% of the total
estate and school areas approx. 8.57%. There is a significant variance in quality,
consistency, utilisation and service support between these areas. It is critical that the
provision of teaching and learning spaces aligns with the developing estate strategy and fully
supports the academic strategy and the student experience.
The development plan has 3 distinct phases. Phase 1 will focus data collection; phase 2 on
planning the future service and development of the teaching space strategy and phase 3 will
consider implementation with the creation of a detailed delivery plan. The long term strategy
will enable targeted future investment in teaching areas ensuring the optimum stock of
quality teaching facilities to a defined standard and offer central management and support of
all general teaching space. This is a collaborative approach with IT Services to ensure
consistency with the provision of services to student IT labs. This paper has been approved
at Space Allocation Sub-Committee.
Recommendations of this review will be implemented during a 3 year period with an
allowance of £2M identified within the capital framework and £800,000 allocated for 2012/13.
Learning and Teaching Committee Action Required: This paper requests support
by the Committee for the overall direction of the strategy.
Context
Following a recommendation in the strategy review action plan of the joint meeting of Senate
and Council in October 2011, an extensive teaching space survey aimed at academic staff
was undertaken in Semester 2, 2011/12. The survey asked academics to rate the
importance of various elements of teaching and learning spaces including illumination,
ventilation and heating, acoustics, room dimensions, seating configurations and décor
against current provision. The availability of informal learning areas and collaborative /
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7 February 2013
innovative style spaces were also considered, together with the requirement for a minimum
standard of AV and the service provision of Teaching Support. 203 academics responded
with equal representation from all Schools. In addition to this, informal feedback has been
gathered from students on learning technologies and learning spaces. The results are
summarised and listed below:
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Consistency of core equipment in all spaces
Identification of a number of areas for refurbishment
Requirement for flexible / collaborative space with different seating configurations
Development of informal learning areas
Identification of a number of areas which are not suitable as central teaching space
Appropriate voice reinforcement
Limited alterations to building fabric to enhance quality
Development of the lecture capture service
An overwhelming response to technical requirements in teaching spaces is the need for
consistency of equipment enabling lecturers to use a room with minimal training and support.
‘Equipment should be consistent to enable lecturers to concentrate on the delivery of content
in their teaching sessions rather than worrying about whether they will be able to operate the
technology.’
There are currently 96 pool rooms on campus and the survey identified areas including
Matthew Arnold and Wolfson School which require further investment to support
expectations from both academics and students.
Academic research suggests that learning and teaching spaces should enable interaction
and engagement by addressing 3 critical elements; student to teacher, student to content
and student to student. 56% of respondents indicated space for collaborative work was
important or very important to the learning and teaching provision, however only 19% felt
that the current provision met their requirements.
There is a pedagogic requirement for differing styles and layout, therefore flexibility is critical
to the learning experience. This cannot be achieved in all areas including traditional tiered
lecture theatres, although flexible furniture can support increased interactivity and
collaboration in smaller rooms. 86% of respondents rated seating and desk configuration as
critical to the learning and teaching experience but only 32% were satisfied with current
provision.
Respondents were asked to provide an example of a good teaching room. There was a
range of differing responses, but a number of areas proved to be exemplar. These included
B111, a Harvard style designed to encourage interactivity. This space was replicated in the
Brockington renovation project. Other highly regarded areas by both staff and students
included Clyde Williams as they were appropriately illuminated, sympathetically configured
and self-contained. The teaching rooms within James France and Stewart Mason also
proved popular as they contain informal learning areas, however CC021 was strongly
criticised due to the dimensions of the room. A number of teaching areas on East Park were
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7 February 2013
identified as not appropriate for teaching space and these included Sir John Beckwith and
Edward Barnsley.
There was overwhelmingly positive feedback for the service provision of Teaching Support.
‘I have always found the Teaching Support services excellent, particularly as the technicians
turn up to offer hands-on support and help with creative ways of using technology to improve
learning.’
‘Technical support is excellent, but there is a need to be very clear that teaching is a human
relationship; technology is ephemeral, and should not be concentrated on to an extent that
undermines the provision of real teaching support, i.e. working with lecturers on their
communication with students.’
There is an increasing pressure on the team to support technology rich environments both
pool and school. There is a requirement to expand the ReVIEW lecture capture service, a
collaborative project with E-learning, ITS and Teaching Support, and although this is
managed within existing resources, these will need to be increased in the future to meet
demand.
Funding has been identified from the capital framework and a programme of improvements
to AV, décor and infrastructure within central teaching space has been planned, however,
further data collection and analysis will be required as set out in this document to enable the
development of a comprehensive teaching and learning space strategy, applicable to all
teaching space. It is critical that this aligns with the developing estate strategy and fully
supports the learning and teaching strategy and the student experience.
Principles
There is a requirement for quality and consistency across teaching space to meet the
requirements of all stakeholders which considers the following principles:
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Optimum stock of teaching space aligned with teaching modules numbers
Geographic demand of teaching space
Appropriate provision of learning technologies
Intuitive and consistent equipment across all teaching space
Requirement for blended learning to include informal learning areas, innovative
teaching areas and collaborative style spaces
Appropriate heating, ventilation and décor
Teaching space which is appropriately future proofed to support emerging
technologies
Encouragement of students to learn by conversation not isolation
Strategic Aim
To maximise the quality, flexibility and utilisation of all teaching space to ensure that the
ideal number, size, location and layout of this accommodation fulfils all the University's
teaching needs to support the ‘student experience’.
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7 February 2013
Phasing of projects
The first phase of the development plan is to collect data on the current state of the
estate looking at stakeholder requirements, and quantitative and qualitative data. 4
defined projects have been identified.
(i)
A qualitative student survey will be circulated to all students during semester 1,
2012/13 to understand pedagogic requirements. This has been approved in
principle by the VP (Education) and will be supported and promoted by the
Student Union. Questions to include:
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Teaching environments
Décor
Configuration of seating
Proximity of space
24/7
Technologies in the classroom to support teaching and learning
Informal student learning areas (relevant to item (iv))
Attendance monitoring
Digital signage
Space differentiated for PG use
Release of timetables and exam timetables
ReVIEW – lecture capture
(ii)
A comprehensive space utilisation survey should be conducted for both; centrally
bookable rooms for Estate Management Statistics (96) for semester 1 and 2 and
school teaching space (approx. 200 rooms) for semester 2. The same
methodology will be used for both areas. Most school teaching space is now
registered on the CMIS timetabling system in order to provide students and staff
with full visibility of timetables. This will enable access to booked data to be used
as a comparator against actual utilisation.
(iii)
A comprehensive Teaching Space Audit is required on all school space during
semester 2 of 2012/13 academic year. Defined measures will be used to assess
elements of teaching space for all central and school teaching areas. This will
include:
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A condition survey
Capacity
Location and proximity of room
Functional suitability for general teaching space
Classification of all space into
o Lecture theatre
o Seminar room
o Collaborative/innovative/flexible space
AV facilities
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7 February 2013
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DDA compliancy
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This will provide an understanding of all teaching and learning space mapped out
across campus and enable priorities to be set to upgrade of identified rooms.
Specialist teaching labs will be included in the scope of this project but at a later
phase, however preliminary work has commenced on lab usage to support the
‘super lab’ concept for the West Park strategy. In parallel with this the Archibus
space database is currently being rolled out to Operations Managers as a web
viewer to give more ownership of space and enable further understanding and
analysis. This could create opportunities for the sharing of specialist space.
Endorsement will be required at Space Allocation Sub Committee to support the
data collection and analysis of school teaching space.
(iv)
A review of informal learning areas is required across campus. The definition of
informal learning areas for the purpose of this project are; non-discipline specific
spaces frequented by both staff and students for self-directed learning activities.
Approval has been granted to undertake qualitative research and contextual
analysis of informal learning areas by a Masters’ student from Information
Science. In addition to this a second research project will be undertaken on
differing study patterns and the requirement for 24/7 access. Both projects will
provide valuable data to contribute to the learning and teaching space strategy. It
will also be valuable to both the Library and Facilities Management in defining
future service provision.
This project will help to inform the West Park strategy and aligns with the
objective from the joint Senate Council meeting ‘to give more prominence to the
academic environment in which students study,’ and ‘increase the number and
quality of student learning facilities’. Item (i) will help to inform requirements
together with an audit of existing facilities and their geographical location to
support school requirements. This will be undertaken during Semester 2 2012/13.
The second phase of the project will involve planning the future service and
development of the teaching space strategy. A preparation of options will be created
which also considers sector best practice. Areas already identified include the expansion
of ReVIEW, the lecture capture service and development of centralised co-located
teaching areas to align with the West Park strategy. The aim is to prepare proposals for
wider consultation during May 2013 to be presented and discussed at the newly formed
Learning and Teaching Futures Group, SASC, LTC and the Quality and Standards SubCommittee chaired by the PVC (T).
The final phase of the project will focus on implementation of the teaching space
strategy which will be based on selected options. A phased approach is anticipated to
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7 February 2013
enable approval of resources, scheduling of renovation projects and installations and
development of service.
This teaching space strategy development plan will provide a number of long term
benefits;
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Improve the quality and consistency of the teaching and learning spaces
Provide a potential cost saving to schools through reduction in the COMA
charging with the transferal of school teaching space to pool
Possible reduction in the size of the teaching estate and support carbon reduction
targets
Increase utilisation
Flexibility of spaces to match differing teaching and learning styles
Consistent service provision
Enable Schools to take more ownership of space through access to Archibus
The success of the project is dependent on support from all schools and endorsement
from the Academic Leadership Team.
Stakeholders for consultation
Stakeholders
Department / School
Interest
Morag Bell
Geography
PVC(T), Chair of Learning and
Teaching Committee
Chris Linton
SCI
Deputy VC, Chair of SASC
David Fulford
FM
Deputy Director (Development)
Simone Stevens
FM
Space Manager
Mike Earl
FM
Timetabling Manager
Aaron Turlington-Smith
FM
Teaching Support Technical Advisor
Lazar Zindovic
Student Union
VP Education
Ruth Kinna
SPGS
Academic input
Dave Coates
SBE
Academic input
Graham Matthews
Information Science
HoD and Student Tutor
Brian Jarvis
AED
ADT and Academic input
Peter Render
AACME
Academic input
Mark Elsegood
SCI
Academic input
Chris Garrod
Academic Registry
Attendance Monitoring
Nigel Thomas
Student Services
Director of Student Services, Chair
of Student Experience Team
Charles Shields
Teaching Centre
Head of E-Learning
Manuel Alonso
CDS
Head of Counselling and Disability
Graham Walton
Library
Learning Spaces