University of Warwick - The Learning Grid

Background & Context

The Learning Grid is a centrally managed resource that complements other centralised student services: careers, academic enquiries, counselling service, work opportunities, which are located adjacent to the entrance to The Learning Grid and to a café/social area on the ground floor of the University House.

The Learning Grid was developed with active support and input from the Students' Union, IT Services (including e-Lab and Audio Visual services), the Centre for Academic Practice, Warwick Skills Certificate staff and Careers. Other parties across the University e.g. CELTE (the Centre for English Language Teacher Education) and the International Office were also involved in discussions about the new facility prior to its opening. It was designed primarily to support group problem-solving activities, team working and presentation work, including an emphasis on facilitating the development and delivery of student presentations and supporting students in the use of digital multi-media for their assignments.

The Learning Grid is also home to the Reinvention Centre, a CETL and collaborative project based in the Sociology Department at Warwick and the School of the Built Environment at Oxford Brookes to promote new methods in teaching and learning with a focus on research-based learning.

The University of Warwick looks on the Learning Grid as a 'physical expression of an ethos: the more power students are given to manage their own approaches to study, the more motivated and independent they will become as adult learners.' It follows the principle that 'many students require the stimulus of social interaction to construct meaning for themselves'. The facility is designed to 'foster the development of independent adult learners'.

It is a 'flexible social learning space designed to challenge and motivate students, encouraging them to explore new ways of responding to their courses and course assignments'.

The physical space was originally open plan offices.

The aim of the Learning Grid is 'to provide students at the University of Warwick with a facility that actively supports the development of study, transferable and professional skills.'

The University House is a modern building close to the main campus which has been repurposed - it was formerly the corporate headquarters for the National Grid. A two-storey area within the building, The Learning Grid is adjacent to centralised student services e.g. careers and student support. This places student learning symbolically at the heart of the university's administrative centre.

The Grid is open 24/7 to University of Warwick card-holders and is recording approximately 8-15,000 entrances a week in term time. In addition to the flexible and technology-rich space within the centre, the staff also offer drop-in workshops in generic and subject-based skills development, designed to be accessed at the point of need. The Learning Grid occupies a space of about 1350 square metres on two floors in University House, with capacity for approximately 300 students. It is managed by the Library and is open 24/7, closing only on Christmas Day.

All central student support services are co-located in the same administrative building, adjacent to the Learning Grid and this makes it easier for students to access services as and when they need them.

You can read a detailed description of the Learning Grid here.