Opportunity | The impact of educational decisions on student agency
This is a research scholarship for a qualified graduate interested in student agency in urban vertical schools. The PhD will focus in particular on the educational decisions that have been made in newly built urban vertical schools regarding physical, social, and digital spaces, to find out how these decisions have influenced the opportunities for student agency.
About the research project
QUT has recently been awarded federal government funding through an ARC Linkage Project to research the impact of physical, digital, and social spaces of urban vertical schools on student wellbeing and capability and produce an evidence-base to inform future educational and built environment decision making. Included as part of this project is scholarship funding for two PhD projects.
The PhD project described here will focus on the impacts of urban vertical schools upon student agency. It conceives of the school environment as a physical and virtual space. This environment can contribute to student agency by being meaningful, comprehensible, and manageable (following Franz, 2019). Educational decision-making (by school leaders, teachers, and administrators) influences this environment and its social dimension.
This project will make pragmatic use of a range of methods including:
- interviews
- a digital forum
- reflective notes (from students and educators) to address key questions relating to the connection between student agency and educational decision making.
Data will be used to develop education and design principles that might inform decision making within urban vertical schools.
You will work collaboratively as part of an interdisciplinary team involving:
- another PhD student
- chief investigator researchers
- architects
- designers
- builders
- educators
- school students.
The principal supervisor for this PhD scholarship project will be Dr Nick Kelly, School of Design, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice, QUT.
For further information please contact Dr Nick Kelly
OPPORTUNITY | Physical spaces in urban vertical schools and their role in facilitating student well-being and capability
This is a research scholarship for a qualified graduate interested in the relationship between built environment, wellbeing and student learning.
About the research project
QUT has recently been awarded federal government funding through an ARC Linkage Project to research the impact of physical, digital, and social spaces of urban vertical schools on student wellbeing and capability and produce an evidence-base to inform future built environment and educational decision making. Included as part of this project is scholarship funding for two PhD projects.
The PhD project described here will focus on the physical school spaces in three participating case schools and the architectural elements and conditions identified by students as supporting or not supporting their wellbeing and potential for learning.
It is expected the PhD project will help develop a more robust understanding of vertical schools as an architectural typology underpinned by its theoretical contribution to salutogenic (health promoting) design and the spatiality of wellbeing.
In this project you will utilise data collected via participatory research methods such as:
- video narratives
- focus groups
- photo elicitation
- as well as developing an inclusive method of post occupancy evaluation (POE).
You will work collaboratively as part of an interdisciplinary team involving:
- another PhD student
- chief investigator researchers
- architects
- designers
- builders
- educators
- school students.
The principal supervisor for this PhD scholarship project will be Professor Jill Franz, School of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, QUT.
For further information please contact Professor Jill Franz