Learning Resources

Abstract: Student learning takes place both inside and outside of the classroom, yet a general understanding of student-user experiences in spaces outside of a classroom and the effect of those spaces on student experiences is limited. A collaborative research project conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology and Herman Miller, Inc., aimed to understand the modes of use and behaviors among students at the G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons (Clough Commons). In particular, researchers wanted to study the relationship between physical space and the user experience in that space. Researchers referred to this as the “lived experience” of Clough Commons. The research took place over the course of a semester, and methods included the application of digital ethnography tools, observation, walk-up user interviews, and analysis of existing building-use data. From our research, we developed 11 use modes that describe the user activities and behaviors in Clough Commons. The use modes are meant to help designers take a more empathetic approach to design and problem solving by understanding the lived experiences of students within physical spaces. Use modes can also uncover opportunities for improving the environment to best serve student engagement and interaction. In this article, we discuss the use modes and design recommendations from our research at Clough Commons and how they may be applicable to other learning environments.

Abstract: Book Review of A Guide to Decision Making in Student Affairs: A Case- Study Approach, by Stanley R. Levy and Charles E. Kozoll. Charles C. Thomas, Publishers, Ltd., 1998. 178 pages. ISBN 0-398-06871-2

Abstract: Examines educational practices that depend on new technologies and considers how those practices are shaping the way we think about what it means to educate. Also assesses how planning is impacted as a result. Explains how a campus might integrate new technologies into its existing modes of educational services delivery, resulting in a more comprehensive, "technologically responsive" institution.

Abstract: Facing storms of change within and outside the academy, higher education officials have realized that major realignments are underway creating demographic, economic, political, and cultural imperatives. Quality, accountability, and institutional effectiveness have become part of the culture for stakeholders in higher education. Program directors, department chairpersons, academic deans and their associates, and academic vice presidents are anticipating continued change and are ready to respond in a timely fashion using new planning approaches and techniques.

In assembling this reader, the selection of materials was guided by a sensitivity to provide academic planners with tools to facilitate the transformation of higher education institutions from provider-centered cultures and organizations to leamer-centered franchises. Readings examine partnerships and alliances needed for higher education institutions to survive, if not lead, the transformation of society into the information age.

This book tells how planners can best situate themselves and their organizations in the emerging network of collaborative resources. It is organized into the following sections: Environmental Scanning, Curriculum Planning, Enrollment Management, Human Resources Planning, Planning for Information Technology, Student Services, Academic Planning Within the Larger Context, and Linking Quality and Accountability.

Abstract: Consortia, their impact on cooperating institutions, and critical factors in inter-institutional planning were the subject of a recent study for the United States Office of Education, directed by Harold L. Hodgkinson of the Center for Research and Development in Higher Education at the University of California at Berkeley. The critical issues, according to the study findings, are problems of reciprocity and autonomy, coordination of programs among diverse institutions, and strategies for campus involvement and leadership. The following article, by three staff members of the New Hampshire College and University Council—one of the consortia in the Hodgkinson study—is devoted to a discussion of the process of consortium decision-making, touching on the three key issues. The authors are: Lynn G. Johnson, the Council's associate director in charge of academic programs; Dr. William W. Barnard, consultant and coordinator of a two-year Cooperative Curriculum Project, and Douglas W. Lyon, coordinator of January Term Programs and communications coordinator.