The David B. Weigle Information Commons is a joint undertaking of the School of Arts and Sciences, the Office of the Provost and the Penn Library. The Commons supports study groups and collaborative learning and offers training, equipment and support for digital media. There are also services and support for students as they work to improve their effectiveness in writing, speaking and original inquiry. This flexible, technology-rich space occupies 6,600 square feet on the first floor of the Penn Library. It houses three complementary centers:
The College Technology Center
Class work increasingly emphasizes group projects and shared learning experiences, which has led students to voice a need for networked and collaborative environments. The College Technology Center provides a technology-rich place to meet, talk, research, draft position papers, debate, interact with texts, work on presentation skills and develop final presentations—all with support staff nearby.
The Digital Media Lab
The new Digital Media Lab offers training and equipment for working with digital media—including video, audio, imaging, and web publishing. The lab has extended operating hours and is staffed by people who know the equipment and the craft. It is the first facility of its kind available to Penn's general population.
Academic Consulting Services
Several academic support programs use facilities in the Information Commons, where their combined presence provides a single point of contact for students. In addition, the services collaborate on new, integrated services and approaches to teaching and learning. These include Research Skills, Data Analysis, The Critical Writing Program, Communication within the Curriculum (CWiC), Learning Strategies, and Peer to Peer Learning.
Collaboration in the Information Commons: An Example
A Cinema Studies instructor assigns a group paper on the use of film for delivering a political message.
- Students in the class meet in the College Technology Center to consider their approach. They get advice from Library staff on finding videos through the catalog system.
- At a training session in the lab, they learn to use audio/video editing tools. Later, at workstations, they excerpt movie clips to illustrate points made in their paper.
- Finally, they consult with tutors from the Critical Writing Program for a critique on the paper's style and composition.
