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LEARNING CENTREDuncan McHugh and Morgan ReidMacMillan Learning CommonsShortly after the MacMillan Learning Commons officially opened in thefall of 2009, the Learning Centre conducted a series of focus groups toidentify how students are using the space.Twenty students recruited from our core LFS courses and from theMasters of Food and Resource Economics (MFRE) program wereasked how they use the Learning Commons, what they liked about itand what they felt needed improvement. Although the participantsexpressed some concern about noise levels during class times, overallfeedback was positive.“The Learning Commons is primarily regarded as an informal learningspace,” said Duncan McHugh, the Learning Centre’s MultimediaDeveloper. “It’s used very dynamically by the students; they move thefurniture around and repurpose it for their use.”McHugh added that the Learning Commons is gaining a wordof-mouthreputation around the university. “It’s become a bit of adestination study space on campus. Students come here from otherparts of campus just to enjoy it.”TA TrainingThe Learning Centre held several training sessions on Vistaand Problem-Based Learning (PBL) during 2010 for the Faculty’steaching assistants.“There was a strong interest in still using the PBL format, but TA’s werefinding it difficult to commit to a three day workshop,” said MorganReid, Learning Technologies Specialist. “We responded by adapting thetraining and creating a high value, four-hour session.”The workshops were a partnership between the Learning Centre andUBC’s Centre for Teaching and Learning Technologies (CTLT). Sessionparticipants reported exceptionally high levels of satisfaction, with98% strongly agreeing that the sessions were useful and shouldcontinue on a regular basis.How Can We Help You?In mid-2010, Learning Centre staff completed a detailed needsassessment in order to gain a better understanding of the needs of ourinstructors and students.The first phase of research included a focus group of facultymembers and staff from different LFS program areas. Led by RangaVenkatachary, Director of the Learning Centre, and Morgan Reid,Learning Technologies Specialist, the focus group helped to pinpointconcerns as well as identify opportunities.“Our purpose was to define faculty members’ beliefs and actionsabout their teaching practices, perceptions on how their studentslearn, and their needs in terms of learning technologies, facilities andinstructional support,” said Venkatachary.The Learning Centre then created an online survey based on the issuesidentified by the focus group, which was sent to a wider audience toelicit more detailed feedback.“The results from the survey indicated that our teaching communityis interested in community engagement and collaboration, as well asuser-friendly technology,” said Reid. “This information has helped us toidentify services that are important to the LFS community.”And the LFS community isn’t the only group interested in the results.The data is currently being used by UBC’s Learning TechnologyAdvisory Council (LTAC) as part of the selection process of a newuniversity-wide learning management system. As well, other UBCfaculties have approached the Learning Centre for advice on how toconduct the process.“It’s definitely raised our profile on campus as a faculty that isconcerned with high quality teaching and learning, community basedresearch and student engagement,” added Reid.Faculty of Land and Food Systems Annual Report 2009 | 2010 11