Abstract:

At a private, vertical school nested in the heart of New York City, a library becomes the nucleus for students and faculty engagement with technology and support. Yet, from this synthesis of modern technology with a traditional source for knowledge, emerged a hub of creativity, collaborative activity, and participation that is simultaneously conducive to many learning styles, while fostering benefits that extend beyond the conventional school environment. However, this space was not always set up for this purpose and, as such, was transformed by using a Learning Commons Transformative Model (LCTM) - a distinct model created by the author of this research. This study will explore the relationship between the LCTM and the students, faculty and staff, who actively use the transformed Learning Space, thereby allowing an assessment of its effectiveness, as well as potential strengths and weaknesses. The conceptual framework for this study is based on the implementation of the learning commons transformative model (LCTM). Therefore, it is unique to this particular model, as well as the application to a private secondary school population within the context of a vertical school. However, it loosely builds upon the many essentially similar (or slightly varied) frameworks for LC within the literature, selecting relevant components and revising them, as necessary, to fit the sample population and goals of inquiry. This study will employ a descriptive, mixed methods approach. The analysis of the effectiveness of the LCTM, presented as the core of this study, will first involve an introduction to the study and its purpose with all participating staff. This will be supplemented with a staff and student survey, which will measure the key elements according to the students’ perspectives, as well as from the teachers’ perspectives. The students’ survey will ask them how they feel about their experience in the learning commons, pertaining to Integrative Learning, Fostering Literacy, Collaborative Engagement, Creativity, Social Development and Knowledge Building. Data analysis will entail descriptive data, as well as assessment of what components were effective, liked and not liked. This will involve mean scores for each item and standard deviations, supplemented with t-tests, where appropriate, to identify if notable variations between items appear significant. In addition, student responses will be analyzed in correlation analysis with the respective items on the teachers’ responses to identify if there is any correlational relationship between teacher and student perceptions. This will be supplemented with regression analysis to identify what aspects of the model appeared to predict the students’ like and dislikes or items that may be related through multivariate analysis. Similarly, multivariate regression analysis will be used within the teachers’ survey responses to identify related items, as well as predictors of outcomes. All analyses will be conducted with regard to a standard alpha level of .05 and assessed with regard to correlational significance reliant on the resulting sample size.

Keywords:

Learning Commons, Transformative Learning spaces, K12, Secondary Education, High School, Vertical School, Private School, Learning Commons Transformative Model.