hedco post-occupancy evaluation poster
DESCRIPTION
"A Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Informal Social Spaces in the College of Education" Poster from student research symposium, College of Architecture and Allied Arts, University of Oregon 15 February 2014TRANSCRIPT
A Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Informal Social Spaces in the
HEDCO Education Building
Currently the Campus Planning Department at the University of Oregon requires that most new academic buildings built on campus include a certain variety of informal social spaces. This is based on a belief that good informal social spaces in university buildings can contribute to the intellectual life of the university by creating opportunities for frequent interaction between faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students, as well as foster interdisciplinary research and collaboration.
This post-occupancy evaluation, developed in cooperation with Campus Planning, investigates the social spaces in the HEDCO building and evaluates their effectiveness in terms of how many people use them, whether they like them, how well they create opportunities for interaction between user groups, and whether they are actually assisting or enabling interdisciplinary collaboration.
It identifi es problems that can be fi xed in the short term, and indicates successes and shortcomings that can be used to improve campus planning projects in the future using a variety of evaluation methods including a quantitative and qualitative space analysis, formal observation and trace analysis, an online survey distributed to College of Education members, follow-up interviews after the survey, and person on the street interviews.
Preliminary results suggest that HEDCO is very effective as a community center, and student-faculty interaction does appear to be well supported. However, there was no evidence found that the social spaces in HEDCO are contributing in a signifi cant way to formal research collaborations.
ABSTRACT
Ald
er S
t.
18th
Lokey Education Complex-Built in 1921 & 1980-Three Buildings-Exterior Circulation-Four classrooms and departmental space
HEDCO Education Building-Built 2008 - 2009-Classrooms, departments, and clinical spaces-First fl oor public areas: cafe and atrium.
Clinical Services Building-Built in 1970-Classrooms, departments, and clinical spaces
Main College of EducationBuildings
INFORMAL FACULTY-STUDENT INTERACTION: Informal interaction between students and faculty has been positively correlated with increased measures of student success like academic performance and student retention.
INFORMAL INTERACTION AND RESEARCH COLLABORATION: Informal interaction has been found to facilitate the formation of research collaborations, because frequent low-cost contact helps researchers become acquainted, identify common interests, and assess interpersonal compatibility.
ROLE OF SOCIAL SPACE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
HEDCO as a Center of Community
Student-Faculty Interaction Research Collaboration
0
5
10
15
20
Daily2-3 Tim
es per Week
Once per Week
2-3 Times per M
onth
Once per Month
Less Than Once per Month
Never
Ground Floor of HEDCO
0
5
10
15
20
Daily2-3 Tim
es per Week
Once per Week
2-3 Times per M
onth
Once per Month
Less Than Once per Month
Never
Education Station Café
How often do you spend time in or use the following common spaces within the College of Education Buildings?
Respondents whose primary workspace is NOT in HEDCO:
0
5
10
15
20
Daily2-3 Tim
es per Week
Once per Week
2-3 Times per M
onth
Once per Month
Less Than Once per Month
Never
Ground Floor of HEDCO
0
5
10
15
20
Daily2-3 Tim
es per Week
Once per Week
2-3 Times per M
onth
Once per Month
Less Than Once per Month
Never
Education Station Café
How often do you spend time in or use the following common spaces within the College of Education Buildings?n=59
0
5
10
15
20
Daily2-3 Tim
es per Week
Once per Week
2-3 Times per M
onth
Once per Month
Less Than Once per Month
Never
Ground Floor of HEDCO
0
5
10
15
20
Daily2-3 Tim
es per Week
Once per Week
2-3 Times per M
onth
Once per Month
Less Than Once per Month
Never
Education Station Café
How often do you spend time in or use the following common spaces within the College of Education Buildings?
“I love that I can come in to something visually pleasing, that feels more like home. I wish the space was a bit bigger, so that there were more spots to sit around the fi re. It is lovely because it is close to the cafe. I can almost always walk by someone I know in this area... creating a nice community place to reach out to others and connect.” - Grad Student
HYPOTHESIS: The social spaces in HEDCO provide a social center for the college and help foster a sense of community in by attracting members of the college who do not work primarily at HEDCO.
HEDCO appears to be a successful social center. Over 40% of the survey respondents who did not work in HEDCO use the ground fl oor at least once a week, and over 50% use the cafe every week.
HYPOTHESIS: The social spaces in HEDCO provide opportunities for casual interaction between faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students.
Behavior mapping showed that small groups frequently form and disperse in the atrium and main hall.
Alarm Clock
Busy Traffi c
Normal Talking at 3’
Quiet Offi ce
The results for this hypothesis are more ambiguous. HEDCO has a high percentage of people who think their department has an active hub for faculty and grad students.
But students rated HEDCO’s opportunities for interaction with faculty at only 55 out of 100.
0
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
No
Yes
Do you feel like your department has a"hub" where faculty and grad students frequently cross paths and interact informally?
n=112, p=.10
Please rate the following attributes ofHEDCO on a scale from 1 to 100, with 1 being poor and 100 being exellent.
Opportunities for interaction with...
90
80
30
40
50
60
70
0
10
20
Faculty Students
Grad Studentsn=65
Faculty and Staff n=31
100
55
Do you feel like your department has a "hub" where faculty and grad students frequently cross paths and interact informally?
Off campus
Lokey Education Complex
Clinical Services Building
HEDCO Education Building
Elsewhere on campus
Some faculty explained that they don’t spend time in the cafe area with students because of how loud it gets. We measured a high of around 80 decibels there. Perhaps some sound dampening materials would help.
Christopher Gebhardt
Student Research Symposium
15 February 2014
HYPOTHESIS: The social spaces in HEDCO provide opportunities for researchers to interact with each other and facilitate interdisciplinary research and collaboration.
The informal nature of the café area encourages me to talk with other researchers and share ideas there.n=25
0
3
6
9
12
15
Strongly Agree
AgreeNeither Agree nor Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
56%
How did you begin your research collaborations?
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
OtherChance Encounter
Casual Social Interaction
Professional Event or Conference
Long Distance Correspondence
56%
14%
9.5%
How often do you spend time in the ground floor of HEDCO Education Building?
How often do you spend time in the caféfloor of HEDCO Education Building?
Are you collaborating, or have you recently collaborated on your project with other researchers?
Who are you collaborating with? Choose all that apply.
How did you begin your research collaborations?
p-value= 0.81
p-value= 1.00
p-value= 0.95
p-value= 0.86
p-value= 0.97
p-value= 1.00
The informal nature of the café area encourages me to talk with other researchers and share ideas there.
0
3
6
9
12
15
Strongly Agree
AgreeNeither Agree nor Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
56%
How did you begin your research collaborations?n=35
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
OtherChance Encounter
Casual Social Interaction
Professional Event or Conference
Long Distance Correspondence
56%
14%
9.5%
p=.025
How often do you spend time in the ground floor of HEDCO Education Building?
How often do you spend time in the caféfloor of HEDCO Education Building?
Are you collaborating, or have you recently collaborated on your project with other researchers?
Who are you collaborating with? Choose all that apply.
How did you begin your research collaborations?
p-value= 0.81
p-value= 1.00
p-value= 0.95
p-value= 0.86
p-value= 0.97
p-value= 1.00
How often do you spend time in the ground floor of HEDCO Education Building?
How often do you spend time in the café floor of HEDCO Education Building?
Are you collaborating, or have you recently collaborated on your project with other researchers?
Who are you collaborating with? Choose all that apply.
How did you begin your research collaborations?
p-value= 0.81
p-value= 1.00
p-value= 0.95
p-value= 0.86
p-value= 0.97
p-value= 1.00
The survey results for this hypothesis suggest that while the social spaces in HEDCO do provide opportunities for researchers to talk about their work, they have no signifi cant effect on formal research collaboration.
It should be noted though that with this small sample size and HEDCO still being relatively new, this should not be taken as a defi nitive contradiction of the hypothesis.
The p-value is a measure of the likelihood that a result is the effect of random chance instead of a signifi cant relationship. 1.00 is perfectly random, and .05 would be 95% certainty that it is not random.
We cross-referenced the answers to several questions about research collaboration with the frequency researchers claim to use the social spaces in HEDCO, and found no statistically signifi cant relationship. It was, in fact, very close to perfectly random.
“I fi nd the building very conducive to meeting, collaborating and getting my work done in my offi ce.”-Faculty Member
Surprise Success: The Fireplace The fi replace in the HEDCO Atrium is one of the user’s favorite elements in the new building. It was mentioned more than any other feature in the free responses and interviews, and only once negatively. It is successful as a cognitive mapping landmark, and as a focal point or social interaction. In the behavior mapping there were almost always people there. It should be noted that this survey was conducted during a cold snap, but the interview responses claimed it gets constant year round use. The literal hearth in HEDCO’s metaphorical hearth space is easily the most successful social space in the college.
Please click on your favorite spot in HEDCO’s fi rst fl oor
The fi replace
“How about more fi replaces or a bigger fi replace. Often the area is crowded and I can’t sit near the fi replace like I long to do.”-Grad Student
My thanks to my primary advisor, Jenny Young, as well as the other members of my committee: Christina Bollo and Ocean Howell. This project also owes a lot of Martina Oxoby and Emily Eng from Campus Planning and Real Estate, as well as Ken Loge and Cody Pinkston from the College of Education. This project would not have happened without the help of too many people to name here. The researcher also appreciates all the interview subjects and survey respondents who provided the data that made this study possible.
0
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
No
Yes
Do you feel like your department has a"hub" where faculty and grad students frequently cross paths and interact informally?
Please rate the following attributes ofHEDCO on a scale from 1 to 100, with 1 being poor and 100 being exellent.
Opportunities for interaction with...
90
80
30
40
50
60
70
0
10
20
Faculty Students
Grad Studentsn=65
Faculty and Staff n=31
100
55
Do you feel like your department has a "hub" where faculty and grad students frequently cross paths and interact informally?
Off campus
Lokey Education Complex
Clinical Services Building
HEDCO Education Building
Elsewhere on campus