ELI Web Seminar, October 16, 2006 1:00 p.m. ET (12:00 p.m. CT, 11:00 a.m. MT, 10:00 a.m. PT); runs one hour

Assessment of Learning Spaces

Special Guests

Sawyer Hunley
Coordinator of the School Psychology Program and a Learning Teaching Fellow at the University of Dayton

Sawyer Hunley is the coordinator of the School Psychology Program and a learning teaching fellow at the University of Dayton. She has been leading the Living Learning Project, which is investigating the impact of built space and academic programming on teaching and learning at this Midwestern Catholic university. Her professional and research interests include systems change and academic development for K–12 and higher education. Her publications have focused on the nature of the changing field of school psychology, the use of assessment to guide data-based decision making, and the relationship between learning space and teaching and learning.

Molly Schaller
Assistant Professor, Coordinator of the College Student Personnel Program, and Fellow in the Learning Teaching Center at the University of Dayton

Molly Schaller is an assistant professor and coordinator of the College Student Personnel Program and a fellow in the Learning Teaching Center at the University of Dayton. Prior to her faculty position, she worked for 10 years in student affairs administration. Her research, in partnership with Sawyer Hunley, has been to understand the relationship between learning space, learning engagement, and pedagogy. Schaller also conducts research on college student development, specifically on sophomore students and the sophomore-year experience. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from The Ohio State University, a master’s degree in college student personnel from Miami University, and a PhD in higher education administration from Ohio University.

Summary

EDUCAUSE Vice President Diana Oblinger will moderate this Web Seminar with Sawyer Hunley and Molly Schaller, in which they will discuss how to assess the effect of learning spaces on teaching and learning.

The impact of learning space on student learning and faculty approaches to facilitate learning has become a topic of interest over the past few years. Learning space is linked to learning through engagement, both theoretically and practically. How do we assess the relationship between learning space, engagement, and learning?

This Web Seminar offers a look at theoretical perspectives, a guide for developing an assessment plan, some specific examples of assessment instruments, and a brief discussion of results from the University of Dayton's assessment of learning spaces. Assessment is reviewed as a cyclical process which should inform our decisions about learning spaces on our campuses.

Related EDUCAUSE Resources

• Learning Spaces, An EDUCAUSE e-Book
• Learning Space Design, EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 40, no. 4 (July/August 2005)
• Proceedings, ELI 2005 Fall Focus Session, “Design of Informal Learning Spaces”
• Proceedings, NLII 2004 Fall Focus Session, “Learning Space Design for the 21st Century”
• ELI Learning Space Design Page