Classroom Utilization - Detailed
This section examines the utilization for each computer classroom Spring 2005. The graphs below provide details on each the computer classroom utilization. The superimposed line represents the average utilization for all the computer classrooms for comparison.
73 Hutchison is heavily reserved by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences for the college’s AMR 21 course. The quarterly course utilizes the room for lab discussions and to complete assigned projects. Often students who have used the room for AMR 21 classes, labs, or class tutorial sessions, return to use it for academic work when not reserved. Also, teaching assistants regularly hold office hours in the facility thus providing additional support for students.
Between 10:00 am and 9:00 pm, 73 Hutchison has above average utilization. 73 Hutchison is by far the most popular PC computer classroom with 379 class-reserved hours. 93 Hutchison computer classroom continues to have few reserved hours, but is still highly utilized throughout the day. Likely the utilization of 93 Hutchison is due to drop-in computer use.
The graph above shows a high utilization level for the 1102 Hart computer classroom. The 1102 Hart facility is unique as a high-end multimedia classroom. It is reserved primarily for teaching students how to use multimedia hardware and software. The 1102 Hart facility offers high-end Apple Mac G5 computers with access to flatbed scanners, slide scanners, ZIP drives, and support for audio functions as well as specialized software for multimedia design, layout, and illustration.
The 1131 Meyer facility continues to present an anomaly to the typical utilization trends. While other computer facilities show a flattened peak during the 9:00 am to 6:00 pm times, this facility shows peaks and valleys in usage throughout the day.
Though there could be numerous explanations to this behavior. The strongest explanation is the distance of Meyer from the central campus and that few classes are scheduled in that area of campus. As a classroom, its distance from central campus may also discourage some instructors from using the facility. For open access, students prefer to wait in long lines for central core campus facilities instead of traveling to rooms located at the periphery of campus. In the evening, Meyer's proximity to available parking may make it more attractive for evening use.
Olson Hall facilities are heavily scheduled for classes between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm. The graph above reflects the heavy utilization of the four Mac and one PC classrooms in Olson. The University Writing Program (formerly part of the English Department) primarily reserves these Mac computer classrooms for their Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) writing courses. In the past, various departments reserve the PC classroom in 27 Olson which has often resulted in lower utilization of the lab. As mentioned in the previous section, 27 Olson will be converted in a Mac classroom. CLM expects this change to increase utilization, especially during core instruction time.
During Winter 2005, CLM opened a new computer classroom in 2020 Science Lab Building (SLB). At 41 seats, 2020 SLB is the largest computer classroom managed by CLM. While few classes were scheduled in 2020 SLB during Spring 2005, more clients took advantage of the open access hours than in Winter 2005. During Winter, utilization of 2020 SLB was significantly lower than the classroom average. This lower utilization was due in part to the time it took for clients to become informed about the new computer room. However, in Spring this classroom’s utilization has increased and is approaching the overall computer room average indicating that the computer room is becoming more well known by clients. CLM is currently working to increase the utilization of this lab, especially by encouraging classes to be held in the room.
