Redesigning Collaborative Learning Spaces: How to Get the Information You Need to Get the Transformation Right the First Time

How do students work collaboratively, what do they need to do so in library spaces, and how do librarians find out this information? For a recent space redesign, our library's learning technologies team applied qualitative and quantitative methods and tested products such as Tidebreak's Teamspot collaborative software (http://tidebreak.com/prodteamspot.shtml) to find out from users at our research-intensive university exactly what it takes to work together. We'll outline our research process, share our results, and show changes the library has made to help others who are considering their own collaborative space redesign.

OUTCOMES: Identify student needs for collaborative work space and tools required to investigate similarities or differences at your institution * Describe a variety of qualitative and qualitative research methods in consideration for your own learning space research * Examine a learning space redesign to get ideas for implementing your own redesigns