1 A Descriptive Study of Informal Learning Spaces in the College of Business Administration, Northern Arizona University, Fall 2006 James V. Pinto Professor of Economics Sabbatical Semester

2 Overview 11 Breakout spaces,12 classroom front porches and lounges Sample of CBA faculty during the 1 st week of the Fall 2006 semester Other samples during the 7 th, 11 th and 15 th weeks Sample of students in informal learning spaces Sample of students in classes 11 th Week only CBA IT sample

3 Sample of CBA faculty Qualitative data Do you meet with students in these areas as a part of your classes? (n = 25) Yes = 32% No = 68% Do you think the learning process been enhanced by the use of these spaces? (n = 27) Yes = 85.2% No = 14.8%

4 Sample of Students in Informal Learning Spaces Thanks to MBA students Krista Conway and Eileen Maldonado for doing the surveys Both quantitative and qualitative data (in- person surveys ) Stratified sample across all stations and times of day (each day of the 7 th, 11 th and 15 th weeks of the semester) Detailed data by station and aggregated by floors and building totals Data from students who use the spaces

5

6

7

8

9

10

11 Sample of Students in Classes Cluster sample of two classes from each of six majors plus “BA” classes in the CBA 11 th week only Qualitative data (in-class surveys) Picks up students who never use the informal learning spaces

12

13

14

15

16

17 CBA IT sample Thanks to Dick Toeniskoetter, Damon Brown and MBA student Jeff Gilbert Sampling of all logons at all front porches and breakout space locations in the CBA (each day of the 7 th, 11 th and 15 th weeks) Quantitative data on location, day, time of day and duration of each logon Detailed data by station and aggregated by floors and building totals

18

19

20

21

22

23

24 Summary and Conclusions CBA Professors think that informal learning spaces enhance learning, but few use them for their classes. Reason using spaces: group work (teams), home work, e- mail and study account for 54.6% Why like spaces: space, convenient, quiet and computers account for 56.9% Given that the number one reason for using the spaces was for group work (teams) and given that the number one reason for liking the spaces was “space”, then one could conclude that teams need space to work. How to improve: more than 1 PC per space, more spaces, solid room dividers and printers account for 51.1% (continue)

25 Summary and Conclusions (continued) Where study before new CBA: home and library accounted for 66.5% Observed percentage of times used was less than percentage used reported by students in all but one category (breakout) Measured average length of logons was less than that reported by students in all spaces with PCs Uniform distribution of logons Monday through Thursday (continue)

26 Summary and Conclusions (continued) Breakout spaces average length of logon is 3.2 times that of front porches Highest percentage logons 10-11AM 13.6% 10AM-2PM accounts for 44.2% of logons

27 More Analysis Needed How can more disaggregation of the data lead to useful results? Identification of under and over utilized individual spaces Can aggregation by floors give useful results? Can analysis of the individual weeks lead to trends or patterns?