Education Space Consultancy

Providing expert timetable and space management consultancy services within the education sector

5 Reasons To Carry Out A Teaching Space Utilisation Survey

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Many institutions carry out a Teaching Space Utilisation Survey at least once each academic year throughout a teaching week, with each of these surveys recording the number of people using their teaching space as well as sometimes checking who is using each teaching space against the timetables for that week. At Education Space Consultancy, Teaching Space Utilisation Surveys are one of the core services we offer to HE and FE institutions, as they are often a seasonal, time consuming and stressful survey to put together, manage and analyse for those working within an HE and FE institution.

So why carry out a Teaching Space Utilisation Survey in the first place? What is it that the institutions are looking to understand and accomplish by carrying out these surveys? This article takes a look at what, in my experience, I believe to be the 5 core reasons and benefits of carrying out a Teaching Space Utilisation Survey.

1) Increasing The Availability Of Teaching Space

I have found that is common amongst institutions for there to be  a perception amongst [Read more…]

Should Timetabling And Social Media Mix?

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At a conference I attended recently, one of the speakers spoke about their use of social media for timetabling at their institution and how they have explored using Facebook to not only let students know about last minute cancellations and timetable changes, but also to remind students about timetabling related news with the addition of the occasional timetabling related internet meme!

The use of social media for timetabling hadn’t been something I had properly considered before, however I use it every day to let people know about these articles as well as the different services Education Space Consultancy offers and see the use of social media as a key element of Education Space Consultancy’s marking strategy. I use social media for a variety of reasons and I believe most businesses do so to.  Hubspot recently (2014) published stats stating that 92% of marketers claimed that social media marketing was important for their business, with 80% indicating their efforts increased traffic to their websites.

If social media is now a focal point for businesses could it not similarly be beneficial for those in the timetabling world?  [Read more…]

Hard And Soft Timetabling Constraints – Not Only A Working Timetable But A Great Timetable

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Soft and hard constraints  are fundamental elements behind not only creating a great timetable, but also a working one. The make up of a timetable (any timetable) consists of a variety of constraints that are either hard or a soft, but what are they? and what is the difference?

Let starts with hard constraints, these are the fundamental elements of a timetable that you and the software use to create the timetable and must be abided by. For example, the number of hours in the teaching day is likely to be a hard constraint. If you teach Monday – Friday 09-17:00, then the timetable must ensure that all timetable activities are placed within this time frame. A timetable booking placed on a Thursday at 18:00 or a Saturday at 12:00 will not be of any use, therefore the software and those who use it must abide by this constraint in order to create a working timetable i.e. a hard constraint.

Each hard constraint, is an element of the timetable that is equally weighted a [Read more…]

Informal Learning Space – Make Better Use Of Your Space

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Due to the nature of the work Education Space Consultancy carries out I get to visit a lot of Universities and Colleges from around the UK and am always interested to take a look at the different types of spaces they offer their students. No one institution is the same, with each offering a different assortment of spaces each with their own unique features.

One type of student focussed space that has become more and more popular over recent years within University and College estates, is Informal Learning Space. To briefly define what “informal learning space” is, I am going to use a section taken from the very interesting report on informal learning spaces, put together by by Sheffield Hallam University; informal learning space are”non-discipline specific spaces frequented by both staff and students for self directed learning activities and can be within and outside library spaces.”  A study exploring learners’ informal learning space behaviors, attitudes, and preferences

University of South Wales

University of South Wales

I see these spaces as the type of learning environment that fills the void between quiet library spaces and busy refectory spaces, as they provide the type of space that both students and staff can drop in and use to discuss ideas, practice presentations, carry out group work etc. They are a more relaxed [Read more…]

When Should You Survey Your Teaching Space?

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Most institutions survey their teaching space at least once a year in order to collect data on how the teaching rooms are being utilised. This data is then typically used to build strategies for making the most out of the teaching space available. However, usage typically fluctuates significantly throughout the semester and therefore similarly so will you results depending on which week you chose.

Therefore, when deciding on when and how many weeks to survey you want to clearly define what it is you want to get out of carrying out a survey. I have given some examples below of the different objectives and options, as well as the week(s) I would recommend as a result. I would be interested to know how you choose your survey week and if you have anything to add so please feel free to leave your comments at the bottom of the article.

  • What is timetabled and what is booked

I start with this one, as I feel it is one of if not the most important objectives of a Teaching Space Utilisation Survey. This survey provides you with an opportunity to not only find out how well the teaching space is being used but also compare the [Read more…]