Learning Commons Renovations

The Learning Commons Now…and Coming Changes

After several years of planning by a dedicated group of faculty, staff, and student representatives, spaces within Ladd Library will be renovated during Summer 2013 to accommodate more Learning Commons programming for collaborative learning and innovative teaching.  Read on to find out more about the mission of the Learning Commons and plans for changes inside the library.

What is the Learning Commons?

The Bates Learning Commons promotes collaborative learning across the College, with students, faculty, and professional staff learning from peers and colleagues and from each other.  The Learning Commons supports a number of workspaces in which these collaborative conversations can take place; it also offers programming meant to foster ongoing campus dialogue about the ways we all think, learn, communicate, and teach.

How does the Learning Commons support the Bates mission and curriculum?
The mission statement of the Learning Commons echoes that of the College as a whole: The Learning Commons at Bates promotes and supports a College community that, while diverse in its creative and scholarly endeavors, holds in common a love of learning.

The Bates curriculum emphasizes writing, quantitative reasoning, and research experiences that are intended to build toward a capstone experience.  In addition, Bates asks students to become proficient (both through their coursework and in their everyday lives) in public speaking and in critical and creative uses of technology, all while exploring a wide range of liberal arts disciplines.

What services does the Learning Commons provide?
The Learning Commons works with faculty, staff, and students.  Offerings for faculty and staff include workshops on pedagogy, scholarly writing groups, consultations about syllabi and assignments, and the annual May Conference.

Trained peer consultants and learning professionals support and collaborate with students whose academic and creative projects incorporate writing, speaking, mathematics and statistics, research, digital media, and technology.

In addition to these support services, the Learning Commons sponsors events throughout the year to engage the entire campus in conversations about scholarship and creativity, such as the “Fits and Starts” lecture series.

Where is the Learning Commons now?
Most services provided by the Learning Commons are currently housed in two buildings: Ladd Library and Coram.  As of Fall 2012, Ladd hosts peer-to-peer support in writing, speaking, and math and statistics, along with research librarians, while Coram houses professional Writing Specialists and the Imaging Center (a close partner of the Learning Commons).  Some academic tutoring, including the work of the Peer Science Leaders and Technical Writing Assistants, takes place throughout campus.