Studying in an innovative teaching–learning environment: design-based education at a university of applied sciences

In higher education, a need is felt to redesign curricula to better prepare students for the evolving ‘world of work’. The current exploratory study investigated first-year (N = 414) students’ approaches to learning, well-being and perceptions of their learning environment in the context of an innovative educational concept: design-based education. Also, the relations between these concepts were explored. Regarding the teaching–learning environment, it was found that students experienced peer-support to a large extent whereas alignment in their programs scored lowest. Based on our analysis, it seems that alignment did not influence students’ deep approach to learning however, as this approach was predicted by their experienced relevance of the program and feedback from the teachers. Student well-being was predicted by the same elements that also predicted their deep approach of learning, and also alignment appeared to be a significant predictor of well-being. This study provides first insights in students’ experiences of an innovative learning environment in higher education and raises important questions for further, longitudinal, research. As the current study already shows that certain aspects of the teaching–learning environment can be used to impact students’ learning and well-being, answers can help in (re)designing new learning environments.