University learning spaces as socio-material practices: concept, methods, and applications

The context of higher education is rapidly changing due to the digital transition enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergence of new models of education and the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In tune with these changes, the conceptualisation of learning spaces as static physical entities is no longer fruitful. This chapter offers a conception of learning spaces as enacted in socio-material practices. The chapter will draw on the design research projects conducted in the LE-DR Lab https://futurelearningenvironments.org/le-dr-lab/, where postgraduate architecture students explore different themes on future learning environments in higher education. The projects demonstrate visions of future learning spaces from the students' perspective. The conception of learning spaces as socio-material practices is enacted in the LE-DR Lab projects through tools such as scripts, board games and personas, thus becoming an exploratory space for developing and testing new propositions for university spaces