A MULTILAYERED APPROACH TO UNDERSTAND AND IMAGINE DOCTORAL STUDENTS’ SPACES OF LEARNING

Abstract

Aim/Purpose The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the main conceptualizations of learning space from doctoral students’ perspectives. The aim was to develop a participatory approach to make students’ multiple voices heard. Background Doctoral experience is viewed as being influenced by social practices of the scholarly communities; learning space in this context is a collective resource that can be altered through imagination of its inhabitants. The intersection of Lefebvre’s Production of Space in architecture and situated learning theory in education enabled building an integrated conceptual framework to explore learning space of doctoral students in its complexity. Methodology Three research questions reflected theoretical and practical aims. To answer them, drawing on Design Based Research, I developed multi-phased research through three sequential phases: questionnaire, Photovoice, and prototyping, which respectively addressed subjective, objective, and co-constructed aspects of learning spaces. Contribution This study is one of the few studies that looks at doctoral students learning spaces within the literature of learning spaces. It supports the development of a participatory procedure to design learning spaces for doctoral students.