A case for space: exploring the role of collaborative learning spaces in supporting first-year university students’ sense of belonging
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56433/27w00p72Keywords:
first-year university students, sense of belonging, peer interaction, collaborative learning spaces, learner-centred educationAbstract
First-year students often face considerable challenges adjusting to university life and integrating into the academic community. Facilitating peer interaction and collaborative learning can ease this transition by enhancing academic outcomes, and fostering a sense of belonging and connectedness with peers and the broader university community. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of these connections, as campus restrictions and social distancing severely impacted belonging and academic motivation.
Physical learning spaces, and specifically their lay-out, can play an important role in enabling interactions among students and between students and educators. In response to the limitations of the traditional classroom configuration, educational developers of the Faculty of Science at KU Leuven (Belgium) launched a bottom-up initiative to convert several flat-floor seminar rooms on the science campus to official collaborative learning spaces with group islands, without additional costs or loss of seats.
In this paper, we briefly outline the rationale for the initiative, reflect on the implementation process, and consider its implications regarding formal and informal interactions and sense of belonging. Preliminary survey results suggest that the redesigned spaces encouraged peer and teacher interactions, which support students’ sense of belonging. Given the role that learning space design can play in fostering interaction and belonging in first year-students, this initiative offers reflections for universities to consider (simple) spatial interventions and the physical learning environment as part of a broader education policy aimed at supporting student transition.
References
Aga, K. (2023). Challenges and motivation for teachers transitioning to active learning spaces. European Journal of Engineering Education, 48(4), 724–746. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2023.2193552
Beery, T.A., Shell, D., Gillespie, G., & Werdman, E. (2013). The impact of learning space on teaching behaviors. Nurse Education in Practice, 13(5):382-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2012.11.001
Bowman, N.A., Jarratt, L., Jang, N., & Bono, T.J. (2019). The unfolding of student adjustment during the first semester of college. Research in Higher Education, 60, 273–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-018-9535-x
Brooks, D.C. (2011). Space matters: The impact of formal learning environments on student learning, British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(5), 719-726. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01098.x
Brooks, D.C. (2012). Space and consequences: The impact of different formal learning spaces on instructor and student behavior, Journal of Learning Spaces, 1(2), ISSN 21586195. Available at: https://libjournal.uncg.edu/jls/article/view/285
Brooman, S., & Darwent, S. (2013). Measuring the beginning: A quantitative study of transition to higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 39(9), 1523-1541. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.801428
Brouwer, J., Jansen, E., Severiens, S., & Meeuwisse, M. (2019). Interaction and belongingness in two student-centered learning environments. International Journal of Educational Research, 97, 119-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2019.07.006
Crawford, J., Allen, K. A., Sanders, T., Baumeister, R., Parker, P., Saunders, C., & Tice, D. (2023). Sense of belonging in higher education students: An Australian longitudinal study from 2013 to 2019. Studies in Higher Education, 49(3), 395–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2238006
Deslauriers, L., McCarty, L.S., Miller, K., Callaghan K., & Kestin, G. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(39), 19251-19257. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821936116
Dingle, G. A., Han, R., & Carlyle, M. (2022). Loneliness, belonging, and mental health in Australian university students pre- and post-COVID-19. Behaviour Change, 39(3), 146–156. https://doi.org/10.1017/bec.2022.6
Falkner, K., & Munro, D.S. (2009). Easing the transition: A collaborative learning approach. ACE ’09 Proceedings of the 11th Australasian Computing Education Conference, New Zealand: Australian Computing Society, 95, 65-74. https://doi.org/10.5555/1862712.1862725
Finkelstein, A., Ferris, J., Weston, C., & Winer, L. (2016). Research-informed principles for (re)designing teaching and learning spaces. Journal of Learning Spaces, 5(1),26-40. Available at: https://libjournal.uncg.edu/jls/article/view/1213
Finkelstein, W.A., & Winer, L. (2020). Active learning anywhere: A principle-based approach to designing learning spaces, The Routledge international handbook of student-centered learning and teaching in higher education, 1st edition. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429259371
Freeman, T.M., Anderman, L.H., & Jensen, J.M. (2010). Sense of belonging in college freshmen at the classroom and campus levels. The Journal of Experimental Education, 75(3), 203-220. https://doi.org/10.3200/JEXE.75.3.203-220
Freeman, S., Eddy, S.L., McDonough, M., Smith, M.K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M.P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415.
Hausmann, L.R.M., Schofield, J.W., & Woods, R.L. (2007) Sense of belonging as a predictor of intentions to persist among African American and white first-year college students. Research in Higher Education, 48(7), 803–839. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-007-9052-9
Hoffman, M., Richmond, J., Morrow, J., & Salomone, K. (2002). Investigating “sense of belonging” in first-year college students. Journal of College Student Retention, 4(3), 227-256. https://doi.org/10.2190/DRYC-CXQ9-JQ8V-HT4V
Loes, C.N., An, B.P., Saichaie, K., & Pascarella, E.T. (2017). Does collaborative learning influence persistence to the second year of college? The Journal of Higher Education, 88(1), 62–84. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26772050
Loes, C.N. (2022). The effect of collaborative learning on academic motivation. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 10. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.10.4
Meehan, C., & Howells, K. (2019). In search of the feeling of ‘belonging’ in higher education: Undergraduate students transition into higher education. Journal of further and higher education, 23(10), 1376-1390. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2018.1490702
Pedler, M.L., Willis, R., & Nieuwhoudt, J.E. (2021). A sense of belonging at university: Student retention, motivation and enjoyment. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 43(3), 397-408. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2021.1955844
Swart, W., & MacLeod, K. (2021). Evaluating learning space designs for flipped and collaborative learning: A transactional distance approach. Education Sciences, 11(6), 292. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11060292
Tinto, V. (2017). Through the eyes of students. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice, 19(3), 254-269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025115621917
Thomas, L. (2012). What works? Facilitating an effective transition into higher education. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 14(Special Issue), 4-24. https://doi.org/10.5456/WPLL.14.S.4
Wilson, D., Jones, D., Bocell, F., Crawford, J., Kim, M.J., Veilleux, N., Floyd-Smith, T., Bates, R., & Plett, M. (2015). Belonging and academic engagement among undergraduate STEM students: A multi-institutional approach. Research in Higher Education, 53(7), 750-776. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-015-9367-x
Won, S., Wolters, C.A., & Mueller, S.A. (2018). Sense of belonging and self-regulated learning: Testing achievement goals as mediators. The Journal of Experimental Education, 86(3), 402-418. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2016.1277337
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sylvia Grommen, Bert De Groef, Bavo Meuwis, Lotte Paesbrugghe, Annelies Raes
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice has made best effort to ensure accuracy of the contents of this journal, however makes no claims to the authenticity and completeness of the articles published. Authors are responsible for ensuring copyright clearance for any images, tables etc which are supplied from an outside source.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
