Dive Brief:
- Higher ed institutions should design common spaces that are open and ideal for collaboration to maximize learning outside the classroom, according to one study.
- The study's authors also developed nine tips for creating ideal collaborative spaces, including designing them with a focus on letting students build new relationships, take "recess"-like study breaks and creating experiences for students to enhance learning while they are simply waiting around.
- Additional recommendations focus on tailoring communal spaces to the needs of today's learner, with a focus on letting them determine how the space should be used, providing flexible furniture, and accommodating students' needs to stay connected through technology.
Dive Insight:
The computer labs at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI, recently underwent an overhaul to make them more accommodating to the needs of today's student, including flexible furniture, on-demand laptops, and fixed and portable whiteboards. In addition, the school designed the space so it could be configured into three different modes: presentation, collaboration and open-lab mode, and allowed it to be scheduled at different times for different purposes.
The new open layouts aren't unique to education. Silicon Valley startups have touted flexible furniture and collaborative workspaces for years, and now major corporations are getting on board as well, creating office spaces designed to lure employees away from their desks and into common areas where they're more likely to form stronger relationships and have meaningful discussions. Such experiences in college may give students entering the workforce some idea of how they might work best in the future.