Anyone who has been in the Scott Library this fall will have seen a dramatic transformation - the new Learning Commons @ Scott officially opened this fall on October 20th.   The newly renovated space encompasses 17,000 square feet of the second floor offering over 300 new seats for students in areas such as the Hub, the Salon and the Collaboratory. 

The response from students has been tremendous. They have quickly adopted the new areas; it took no time before they were full of students studying and working. Even on opening day, the Hub and the Collaboratory were both packed with students chatting and working in groups and individually, and students engaged in silent reading were dotted around the Salon study spaces. 

At the Open House on October 20th we set up a “Speakers’ Corner” and asked students for their first impressions of the spaces.  The responses were very positive; click this link to see and hear what students were saying.

The Learning Commons is, however, not just a beautiful, newly renovated study space; it is also a model of academic support for students.  As an instructor it will be helpful for you to know what kind of support is available in the Learning Commons for your students. 

Academic Support Services

At the heart of the Commons is an area known as the Hub. Here you will find various kinds of assistance aimed at helping students improve their study and research skills, including:

The Information Desk – The best place for quick help, including directions, referral, policy or catalogue look up questions. (at right, on opening day)

The Research Drop-In Desk – Librarians are available to help your students get started with their research.  Here they can obtain advice on the best research strategies and learn about print and electronic scholarly resources.

The Research Consultation Desk – Students can make a 30-minute appointment with a librarian for in-depth research help. They can book an appointment online.

Writing Instruction – Students can meet with an instructor from the Writing Department for guidance on writing strategies.

Learning Skills – Here, students meet one-on-one with a Learning Skills counsellor (from Counselling and Disabilities Services) who can provide advice on how to organize their time, take notes, study, improve their reading, etc.

In addition to the drop-in assistance available in the Hub, the Learning Commons also offers a variety of workshops focused on  research, writing and learning skills.

The Learning Commons is unique on campus in its holistic approach to supporting student learning.  The Learning Commons partners—the Libraries, Writing Department, Learning Skills Services (Counselling and Disabilities Services), and the Career Centre—collaborate in providing integrated programming in the belief that writing, research and learning are not separate domains, but interrelated processes.

Instead of having to visit different offices and locations across campus, students can come to one place for help on research, writing, learning skills and even career services.

Beyond our drop-in assistance and workshops, the Learning Commons is also open to collaborations with faculty who wish to integrate academic literacies (such as research, writing and learning skills) into the curriculum of their programs or courses or into class assignments.

  For more information, contact Mark Robertson, Associate University Librarian, Information Services.