Assessing Technology Needs in the Classroom

What do instructors and students really need from classroom technology? What is it actually like to use the classrooms day to day in teaching and learning?

The Learning Experience Designers (LxDs) are partnering with the Learning Spaces Technology (LST) Team to document the experiences of instructors and students when they use classroom technologies. The goals are to uncover the most pressing needs and to identify the best ways to incorporate those needs into future classroom upgrades and redesigns.

Approach

Initial Discovery

In Summer 2019, LxDs observed and interviewed three faculty members in their classrooms to document technology usage and faculty pedagogical approaches. Findings were used to determine the methods and structure of the project. Data on the CASE E250 active classroom have been provided to Facilities Management.

Summer 2019 Case Studies

• CASE E250, Active Classroom - Writing Course
• Humanities 1B20, Large Lecture Classroom - Classics Course
• Duane G1B50, Large Lecture & Demonstration Classroom - Chemistry Course

Data Gathering

For the ongoing project, LxDs are using a formal case study approach to triangulate data from contextual inquiry with instructors (interviewing them within their actual teaching space), classroom observation, and student surveys. Our questions focus on the decisions instructors make to use, or not use, particular technologies, and the orientations toward technology those decisions reveal. For students, we ask about their experience with the technology their instructor uses in that particular classroom, and about their technology expectations in general.

Fall 2019 Case Studies

• VAC 1B20, Large Lecture Classroom - Political Science Course
• Hale 455, Department-Owned Seminar Classroom - Anthropology Course
• Hellems 241, Midsize Classroom - Asian Studies Course

Spring 2020 Case Studies

• 8-12 case studies will be targeted to cover a variety of disciplines and classroom spaces

Other Data Sources

• Spring 2019 FCQ Comments
• ASSETT Faculty Technology Survey
• Classroom A/V Technology Usage Statistics

Project Participants