2001: providing space for a learning centre

Abstract

In an environment of restructuring and shrinking budgets, Learning Advisers in Learning Centres, like all those in University support services, must undertake research and seek to involve stakeholders in an ongoing process of communicating, evaluating and, if necessary, redefining their roles. For the past two years, a Learning Centre at James Cook University, Cairns, has provided a home for the Learning Advisers and the Student Mentor Program. Using a „mosaic‟ of evaluation techniques, this study examines how the allocation of space for a Learning Centre has allowed learning communities to evolve amongst students, mentors and Learning Advisers. The physical, organisational and virtual dimensions of this space have facilitated a model of learning support that has changed the way in which Learning Advisers meet the academic needs of students. The study concludes that the Learning Centre, Learning Advisers, mentors and all of the collaborative activities they are involved in, do combine to form a vital force that is worthy of continued institutional support.