From coffee shops to online platforms: students’ construction of and experiences in multiple higher education learning spaces

Abstract

Learning space has expanded to spaces outside the traditional classroom, such as public transport, cafés, or parks, where students can easily engage in learning activities. In order to understand whether students use classrooms outside class time, where their learning takes place, why, when, and with whom, students’ experiences should be at the forefront of the inquiry. This study is among the first that attempts to understand students’ experiences of learning spaces in a non-Western higher education context. Data collected from weekly reflective journals and interviews with 10 university students sheds light on their engagement with multiple learning spaces in their everyday life, and their navigation of and their transitions between formal, timetabled and informal, non-timetabled learning spaces. The paper reveals the way personal space is carved from public space and personal time for learning, and how learning involves students’ arrangements to take advantage of different spaces for educational purposes.