Learning Space Reflection

Location: 2nd Floor Computer Lab in Sweet Hall

Unlike the typical Stanford computer lab where there are Windows or Mac computers, the Sweet Hall computer cluster consists of Solaris and UNIX-based systems. Thus, the general population of students who are not familiar with this type of computing environment are unable to operate these computers. As a result, this location is used by mostly by computer science and electrical engineering students. There are well over 100 workstations in the cluster.

Figure 1: Students working in Sweet Hall

Observation

When I went to observe the location, I saw students working both together in groups and individually on computers. The space is messy, with food wrappers and other trash on the desks and floor. Based on my personal knowledge, I know that many students go out of their way to avoid going to Sweet Hall because they would rather work at home or another location because Sweet Hall is messy and at certain times of the quarter very crowded with many students tried to finish their projects. At the time of my observation, Sweet Hall was fairly empty, with about 10-15 students in there.

Figure 2: A computer desk with a empty snack-n-go and Bud Light can

Reflection

For group work, the space has many advantages. Its large 20-inch monitors and chairs on rollers make it easy for students to all sit at one computer and view what’s going on on the screen. There are also some disadvantages to the space, as I observed one student doing all the typing while the other one looked on. Although they were involved in a conversation together, it was difficult for both students to interact with the computer simultaneously. One way to improve this space would be to have some type of movable borders or walls so that students working in groups could simultaneously be working on multiple computers side-by-side, and not just huddled around one computer. Although some workspaces do not have a tabletop divider/wall, most of them have a wall that goes from the table to the floor. This makes it hard for a students working at the next computer over to "slide" over to his parter's computer. Having fewer walls and partitions would allow them to see what was going on on their partner's computer, while working on a related part of the project on their own computer. This way, everyone could be actively working together more efficiently.

Figure 3: Two students working together at one computer

Kristle: I think that your ideas to increase group collaboration are excellent! When programming in Sweet, I have often slid my chair to another station to help a student, so I agree that the sliding chairs are key. Besides just taking down partitions between stations along one row, it would also be good to have spaces in the rows to let people working at different rows collaborate more easily. For example:

Spaced rows of stations:

As opposed to regular rows:

It might even be beneficial to have a more specialized set-up area for groups and other areas that are more closely tailored to individual activity. This could include an oversized monitor that can accomodate two or more people. Also, I've noticed that the space does not have any white or black boards, which prove to be much faster at explaining concepts than going through code on a computer.

There used to be a Help Desk in Sweet Hall, but that no longer exists. Despite this, there are very few instructions posted in the computer cluster to help students who are new to the space. There are signs telling them what not to do (e.g., don’t turn the computer off, and don’t knock of the doors of the surrounding offices on the second floor). To improve this, a users’ guide that explains the features and benefits of the space would be useful for new users.

Figure 4: A sign telling you to call for help.. Where is the phone located?

Kristle: This is a great idea/observation! A users' guide is definitely needed, not only of the benefits of the space but on how to use the system. Many students don't know how to use the systems, so even if they knew of the benefits, they would not choose to work in Sweet Hall in order to utilize them. Also, because the signs only say what a student cannot do, it creates an environment that doesn't promote creativity and experimentation.