How learning environments can stimulate student imagination

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate an array of environmental factors that can stimulate imagination and explore how these factors manifest in different design phases. The participants of this study were students in the field of educational technology from four universities across Taiwan. The instructional design process was divided into three major phases: analysis, design/development, and implementation/evaluation. Influences in the learning environment were deconstructed into four factors: physical component, organizational measure, social climate, and human aggregate. The results of this study indicated that environmental factors have varying effects during the three phases of instructional design. The social climate was claimed to have the greatest effect on stimulating imagination, followed by organizational measure, human aggregate factor, and lastly physical component. These effects were seen in the development process, especially in phase two and with a lesser effect in phase three.