The Impact of Physical, Mental, Social and Emotional Dimensions of Digital Learning Spaces on Student’s Depth of Learning: The Quantification of an Extended Lefebvrian Model

Despite the widespread implementation of digital learning spaces (DLS) generally in Higher Education and for COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, a coherent and unified quantification of core aspects of the DLS on student learning has remained elusive. Therefore, this work extends the earlier work of Harkin and Nerantzi (2021), where we employed Lefebvre’s (1991) Trialectic of Space to explain physical, mental, and social aspects of the DLS. In the present paper, we now quantify Lefebvre’s original dimensions (physical, mental, social) and an Extended Lefebvrian Model (ELM; adding emotional experiences) on the depth of learning (DoL) of 188 university students at an undergraduate and postgraduate level. Results revealed that physical, mental, and social dimensions explained 42% of the variance in DoL, with emotion explaining an additional 6% which justifies its addition to our ELM (48%). Furthermore, postgraduate students experienced increased anxiety, held poorer mental representations of the DLS, and rated their DoL lower versus undergraduates. Using our findings as a guide, we highlight improvements to pedagogical practice within the DLS along physical, mental, social, and emotional dimensions to improve the experiences and learning of students in the DLS.