　This paper examines the recent trends of active learning spaces (ALS) in university libraries in Japan, and provides a brief description of the ALS in Kiryu University.　It also presents the problems and tasks facing libraries in private universities.　
Among the problems raised are the following: securing skilled personnel, clarification of the library's role in the university, and
the establishment of systems which enable the library director to take a leadership role in the university.

　アクティブ・ラーニング・スペース（ALS）を設置している大学図書館は毎年，増加している．これは，学習パラダイムの変化との関連が見られる．
　本研究では，本大学におけるALS設置における，大学図書館が直面している問題や課題を挙げた．それらの中で，
専門性を有する人材の確保，大学全体における大学図書館の位置付けの明確化，学内における図書館長のリーダー
シップを発揮できる体制の整備は，取り込むべき課題と思われる

Herchel Thaddeus, Machacon

マチャコン, ヘルチェル

English

Gunma University Academic Information Repository

1桐生大学紀要．第28号　2017Active Learning Spaces in University Libraries: Trends and Challenges大学図書館におけるアクティブ・ラーニング・スペース：その方向と課題Herchel Thaddeus MachaconAbstract　This paper examines the recent trends of active learning spaces (ALS) in university libraries in Japan, and provides a brief description of the ALS in Kiryu University.　It also presents the problems and tasks facing libraries in private universities.　Among the problems raised are the following: securing skilled personnel, clariﬁcation of the library's role in the university, and the establishment of systems which enable the library director to take a leadership role in the university.Keywords: active learning, active learning spaces, Science Information Infrastructure SurveyIntroduction　The English word “library” was derived from the Latin word “liber” which means book.　It has come to mean a place where not only books but also manuscripts as well as other sources of information are kept and stored.　Tra-ditional libraries, as they are often called, centers on the storage and upkeep of physical library materials with the librarian as its custodian.　Walton [1] offers an in-depth view of trends in university library spaces.　In the pre-1970's, lack of space was given utmost importance, while in the 1980's digital technology took precedence over all other concerns.　In the 2000's, change in learning and teaching methods led to the concept of the library as a social space where students gather and exchange ideas.　Currently, space along with ﬁnancial constraints are major concerns of library directors.Active Learning Spaces　Active learning has gained considerable attention over the past years.　Active learning has been defined as any instructional method that engages students in the learning process [2].　According to Ito [3], active learning (AL) has gained popularity in Japan after its importance was given emphasis by the Central Council for Education and then by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) in 2012-2015.　MEXT [4] defines active learning spaces (ALS) as spaces that are provided for students to engage in group discussions using information resources either in digital or in print form, or both.　Stu-dent support services for students who use these spaces are also considered an integral part of a university library's ALS.ALS trends and tasks facing university libraries　Data used in the succeeding ﬁgures represent responses from universities in surveys (Science Information Infra-structure Survey) conducted by MEXT [5].　Figure 1 shows the percentage of universities implement-ing Active Learning Spaces (ALS) for a three-year period from 2014-2016.　In 2014, less than half of all univer-sities in Japan have implemented ALS.　The percentage increased to slightly over 50％ in 2015, while in 2016 it increased to nearly 60％.　Since one of the differences between national, local public, and private universities in Japan is the type of funding allocation methodology [6], it is important to examine the percentage of universities with ALS for each type of university.　The percentage of na-tional universities with ALS increased 16.3％, from 75.6％ in 2014 to 91.9％ in 2016.　However, for local public universities, there is only a slight increase of 7.4％, from 23.3％ in 2014 to 30.7％ in 2016.　On the other hand, 2桐生大学紀要．第28号　2017the percentage of private universities with ALS increased 16.0％ which is closely equal to that of national universi-ties.　These ﬁgures indicate that more and more universi-ties, especially national and private universities, increasing-ly recognize the importance of building ALS.　Figure 2 shows the component spaces of ALS in uni-versity libraries.　Here, the five basic component spaces (refresh space, quiet space, presentation space, group study space, and the common use space) along with the percent-age of universities with libraries having these component spaces in their ALS.　For all three university types, group study space (98.2％ average) ranks ﬁrst.　This is not sur-prising given that the main goal of ALS is to foster group discussion.　Presentation space ranks second (73.07％ average）, followed by common use space (68.6％ average).　It is interesting to note that more local public universities, unlike national and private universities, have common use spaces than presentation spaces.　This ﬁgures may suggest that local public universities give a greater priority on com-mon use space.　On the contrary, national universities, as Fig. 2. Active Learning Spaces in University LibrariesFig. 1. Percentage of Universities with Active Learning Spaces3桐生大学紀要．第28号　2017well as private universities place more emphasis on provid-ing spaces for presentation rather than common use space.　Figure 3 shows the locations of ALS in universities.　A signiﬁcant number of universities locate their ALS within their libraries.　Perhaps these may be due to space consid-erations, as well as the ease of managing ALS within the li-brary environment itself.　Locating ALS outside university libraries requires more library staff that can readily attend to students' needs.　Regardless of where ALS is located in the university, the establishment and implementation of ALS, and sub-sequently, students' evaluation not only of ALS but of the whole library as well, will depend on the number of library personnel.　Figure 4 shows the composition of library staff in private universities.　Library personnel and student staff compose 72.2％ of library staff.　Non-library staff and faculty only account for 14.1％, and 13.7％, respectively.　Table 1 shows the average number of personnel per library in private universities.　Based on the average ﬁgures giv-en, it is clear that this university's library is understaffed with only 1 full time and 1 part-time (5 work-hours) staff.　In order to accomplish its goal of addressing students' li-brary-related needs, including the much-needed support for students using ALS, there is a real and urgent need to in-crease the number of library personnel.　It should be noted that this university's library is open 11 hours (9:00 am to 8:00 pm）, Mondays to Fridays.　Last year, it had roughly 37,493 visits (door-counts) by students and faculty, as well as non-student library users.　There were also 3,301 book loans for that year.　Aside from interlibrary loan requests, it also handled 271 paper copy requests (122 requests to, and 149 requests from other university libraries）.　Figure 5 presents the problems and tasks facing private university libraries.　The survey shows that the three ma-jor problems are namely, cooperation with faculty, securing skilled personnel, and staff career path.　Although they are small percentage-wise, four other problems or tasks, namely the clariﬁcation of the library's role in the univer-sity, planning and evaluation, use of outsourcing, and the establishment of systems which enable the library director to take a leadership role, have been raised by other private university libraries as well.　It may be surmised that librar-ies in small universities, such as ours, are faced with these daunting tasks.　It is important to note that more than half (55.4％) of the libraries in private universities consider the clarification of the role of the library in the university as one of the main problems that need to be urgently looked into by the administration.　The centuries-old concept that considers the library as place where books are kept, and that the only job of the librarian is to lend books to users, should be abandoned.　The advent of ICT technologies Fig. 3. Locations of Active Learning Spaces in UniversitiesTable.1. Number of personnel per library in Private University Libraries4桐生大学紀要．第28号　2017has already changed the role libraries play in the academic arena.　Several studies have focused on the importance and the role of the library in the university.　Whitmire [7] has identiﬁed academic library experiences as a factor relat-ed to the development of students' critical thinking.　Kuh and Gonyea [8] in an exhaustive study of 300,000 students between 1984 and 2002, found that undergraduate students' experiences with the academic library were related to im-portant educationally valuable activities.　Thus, the im-plementation of ALS at this university's library is not only timely but imperative as well.ALS at Kiryu University Library　The proposal to implement ALS at the university library was made by the author himself who serves concurrently as the university library director.　It was submitted for consid-eration and approval by the university's management com-mittee composed of the university president, vice-president, faculty director, chairmen of the respective departments, the academic affairs chief, the admissions ofﬁce and public re-lations chief, and even the property custodian.　However, the university library director is not a member of this com-mittee.　This may suggest that the role of the library in the university needs to be clariﬁed, and systems that enable the library director to take a leadership role in university affairs need to be seriously and urgently reconsidered.　With the already existing library facilities, namely, the computer space, quiet space, and common use space, the following were added: DVD/video viewing spaces for in-Fig. 5. Problems and Tasks facing Libraries in Private UniversitiesFig. 4 Composition of Library Staff in Private Universities5桐生大学紀要．第28号　2017dividual or group viewing, group study spaces, a space for presentations, and a refresh space.　Laptop computers for student use within the library, a color printer/scanner, and projectors were also added to the library's existing equip-ment.　Wireless internet access is also accessible from anywhere within the library.　Pictures of active learning spaces are presented in Table 2.　At the end of this school year, students' use of ALS will be examined and evaluated.　Feedback from students and faculty will be solicited to improve not only ALS but also the whole library services.　The survey responses may help shape future directions for library services and initiatives.Table2.  ALS at Kiryu University Library(a) Presentation and discussion space (b) Group study spaces(c) DVD/video viewing spaces (d) Refresh space(e) Computer Lounge (f) Common use space6桐生大学紀要．第28号　2017Conclusions　There is an increasing trend of the number of universities (national, local public, and private universities) establishing ALS in their libraries, which suggests the importance of active learning in line with current changes in the learning paradigm.　Problems and tasks facing university libraries are presented.　A brief description of the Active Learning Space (ALS) in this university's library is also provided.Acknowledgement　The author thanks the library staff, K. Yoshida and M.　Iwata (part-time librarian) for their cooperation in setting up the ALS at Kiryu University.References[ 1 ] Walton G.: University libraries and space in the digital world. Routledge(London), 2-10, 2016.[ 2 ] Prince M.: Does active learning work? A review of the research. J Engr Educ, 93(3): 223-231, 2004.[ 3 ] Ito H.: Rethinking active learning in the context of Jap-anese higher education. Cogent Educ, 4(1): 1298187, 2017.[ 4 ] Science Information Infrastructure Survey – Terminol-ogy, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology: Japan　　（学術情報基盤実態調査（旧大学図書館実態調査）- 用語の解説）　　http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/toukei/chousa01/jouhoukiban/yougo/1266773.htm　　(Date accessed: Sept. 4, 2017).[ 5 ] Science Information Infrastructure Survey, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology: Japan　　学術情報基盤実態調査　　ht tp : / /www.e-s ta t .go . jp /SG1/es ta t /NewLis t .do?tid=000001015878　　Date accessed: May 18, 2017.[ 6 ] Yokoyama K.: Government, Policy, and Ideology. Uni-versity Press of America(Lanham, Md.), 101, 2010.[ 7 ] Whitmire E.: Development of critical thinking skills: An analysis of academic library experiences and other measures. Coll Res Lib, 59(3): 266-273, 1998.[ 8 ] Kuh G.D., Gonyea R.M.: The role of the academic library in promoting student engagement in learning. Coll Res Lib, 64(4): 256-282, 2003.大学図書館におけるアクティブ・ラーニング・スペース：その方向と課題マチャコン　ヘルチェル要　約　アクティブ・ラーニング・スペース（ALS）を設置している大学図書館は毎年，増加している．これは，学習パラダイムの変化との関連が見られる．　本研究では，本大学におけるALS設置における，大学図書館が直面している問題や課題を挙げた．それらの中で，専門性を有する人材の確保，大学全体における大学図書館の位置付けの明確化，学内における図書館長のリーダーシップを発揮できる体制の整備は，取り込むべき課題と思われる．キーワード：アクティブ・ラーニング，アクティブ・ラーニング・スペース，学術情報基盤実態調査

Active Learning Spaces in University Libraries: Trends and Challenges

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Active Learning Spaces in University Libraries: Trends and Challenges

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