Explaining the Mediating Role of Spatial Perception in the Relationship Between Classroom Arrangements and Students’ Participation in Collaborative Learning

Abstract

This study aimed to explain the mediating role of spatial perception in the relationship between traditional, circular, and island classroom arrangements and students’ participation in collaborative learning. This applied study employed a quasi-experimental design combined with a correlational structural equation modeling approach. The population consisted of male lower-secondary students in Tehran during the 2025–2026 academic year, from whom 380 students were selected through multistage cluster sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-developed Spatial Perception Questionnaire, the Reeve and Tseng Student Engagement Questionnaire, a behavioral participation observation checklist, and the short form of the NEO Personality Inventory. Data were analyzed in SPSS and AMOS using analysis of variance, path analysis, bootstrapping, and hierarchical regression. Classroom arrangement significantly and positively predicted spatial perception (β=0.42, P<0.001), and spatial perception significantly predicted student participation (β=0.57, P<0.001). After spatial perception was entered as a mediator, the direct effect of classroom arrangement on participation decreased from β=0.38 to β=0.19 but remained significant (P<0.05), indicating partial mediation. Interaction, social distance, and sense of belonging were the strongest spatial-perception dimensions associated with participation, with coefficients of β=0.53, β=0.47, and β=0.38, respectively. The interaction between classroom arrangement and extraversion was significant (β=0.18, P<0.01), as was the interaction between arrangement and lesson type (Partial η²=0.22, P<0.05). Class size was negatively associated with both spatial perception (r=-0.41, P<0.01) and participation (r=-0.36, P<0.01). Spatial perception partially explains how classroom arrangement affects student participation, while the effectiveness of different arrangements varies according to learner characteristics, lesson type, and class size; therefore, flexible classroom configurations adapted to instructional and learner-related conditions may provide a more effective basis for collaborative participation.