Thinking Outside the Circle:

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Thinking Outside the Circle the Design of
Face-to-Face Collaborative Learning Facilities
Robert W. Cavenagh Director of Instructional
Technology Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013,
USA cavenagh_at_dickinson.edu http//dickinson.edu/
cavenagh
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This paper is about fostering collaboration among
learners who work together in face-to-face
environments and use computers (or video
monitors). Our mechanism for doing this lies
in careful facilities design.
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So far, it seems to work! Our first proof of
success Fingerprints on the monitors. Lots of
them.
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The use of collaboration to prompt learner
interaction has been much noted in the
educational literature. -Collaborative groups
are more likely to play active than passive
roles. -Participation can lead to social
reinforcement from other group members. -Negotiati
ons required in collaborative activities are also
useful in other forms of social
interaction. -Such results are not automatic,
however, and faculty need to understand how to
nurture these processes.
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Background
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The actual use of technology by groups can
occasion some difficulties. Computer labs are
often designed for single users, arent easily
shared by groups. When more than two learners
attempt using such facilities, one or more tend
to hold back, to be passive, to observe at some
distance. This is not useful in facilitating
group goals. Visualize crouching, kneeling,
squatting, leaning, or just not participating.
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One clue to the effectiveness of group
participation is the length of time a group will
spend on a task. Short times spent on complex
tasks should be regarded as a signal that
something isnt working right. And that flaw may
well lie in the facilities used. Crowded or
uncomfortable facilities can be
disfunctional. Of course, not all problems are a
function of space.
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My concerns led me back to an old graduate school
favorite Personal Space, by Robert Sommer
Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall (1969) (see
esp Chapter 5, Small Group Ecology
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I began making corrugated cardboard prototypes of
new computer workstation furniture. I set up
equipment, tested with learners, cut and
tried. Much cardboard later
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Our earliest group workstation proto- types, c.
1997-8
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Horseshoe Table Wedge of Pie Table
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Monitor fields of view
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The Wedge of Pie units do function adequately and
prove useful in certain locations where corners
or rooms are available. The optimal dimensions
for these units require a radius from 4 to 5
feet, and, as with the Horseshoe units, larger
installations require larger monitors. They are
slightly less popular with our users.
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Something new Our early units were in computer
and technology work areas, not in
classrooms. They have worked and we have built a
number of additional stations. Faculty wanted to
take the group workstation concept into their
classrooms.
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Concept 1 Folding stations in classrooms. Room
can change modes quickly.
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Concept 2 A room dedicated to collaborative
work.
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The Alden Collaborative Learning Space is a
state-of-the-art digital classroom which is ideal
for teaching and learning in small groups. It
features space for collaborative work for up to
24 students in 6 groups of four.
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Alden Collaborative Learning Space Survey
Protocol Sheet Name 11 faculty/librarian
respondents, 45 class sessions Date (n.b.
Investigator should record respondents comments,
follow with questions, not just record
responses. Space was used for what kind of
class? 75 library instruction with librarian
and faculty participating 25 was a mixture of
web writing, image design, web searching,
presentation building How many times did you use
the space? 1-8 times, average 4.25 Approximate
number of learners? 8-23 Average number of
learners per station? 3.3 Did you use a laptop
auxiliary computer? 15 Did you structure
assignments to match groupwork concept? How?
Will you make changes in future? (explore concept
with respondents) (A wide range of answers
popped up here. It is obvious that some faculty
are at home with groupwork while others are just
getting started.)
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How long did groups typically spend on
tasks? 20 minutes to 75 minutes per task What
of class time was spent on group
tasks? 60-99 How did students respond to
groupwork in this arrangement? (either from
their comments, or your own observations) Comme
nts ranged from Used it without thinking about
it to they commented very positively. How
well did room layout support your pedagogical
needs? No negatives, many very positive
remarks. What worked well? Moving around the
room. Seeing student work. Joining
discussions. What could be improved? Fix the
heat (tcontractor forgot to install exhaust
vents.) Provide lab control software (cited
example is Imperata by Divace, used elsewhere on
campus) 13 Will you use the room
again? 100 YES
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Collaborative Learning in face-to-face groups
("f2f")
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Faculty have a range of motivations for wanting
to use collaborative learning. Some simply seek
a change from more traditional modes of
instruction. Others are committed to group
processes because they believe it reflects much
of the actual work and learning that takes place
in the real world. Still others subscribe to
constructivist theories of learning and believe
that it is only through their own self-aware and
active engagement in the learning process that
learners can be come autonomous.
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Many forms of collaboration can take place within
a single event. The group cycles rapidly between
modes. Some work in our facilities is simply
targeted at acquiring technology skills. In
these cases we tell learners to pass the
mouse. Other work targets higher order tasks and
critical thinking. The design of a presentation,
rather than the mechanics of creating it,
requires learners to share in analysis,
information gathering, etc. Virtually all groups
engage in some social collaboration, and this is
a good thing within limits. Faculty have to help
identify those limits, manage them.
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A PowerPoint Parable
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Creating heuristics for collaboration in group
learning spaces. Group discussion.
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This has been Thinking Outside the Circle the
Design of Face-to-Face Collaborative Learning
Facilities
Robert W. Cavenagh Director of Instructional
Technology Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013,
USA cavenagh_at_dickinson.edu http//dickinson.edu/
cavenagh