Curricular spaces of ma 間 for cultivating undergraduate learning and personal growth: Evidence from capstone presentations in a STEM program

Aim: This study examined learning processes in the context of a Capstone program for undergraduate seniors enrolled in a health sciences-focused university. During their Capstone, students design a personalized final-year curriculum, engage in structured reflection, and publicly present their learning. Applying the curricular space model (Blasco, 2016) which incorporates the Japanese notion of ma, an intentional gap that facilitates learning, we explored the impact of the interplay between three curricular spaces (cognitive, autonomy, and reflection) on innovative and creative thinking in Capstone final presentations. Method: Using reflexive thematic analysis and content analysis, we analyzed 74 presentation videos (15 % of Capstone presentations from 2017–2022), including 42 distinguished presentations and 32 randomly selected ones. Results: Student presentations revealed six themes that shed light on the impact of curricular space on learning: (1) Humorous presentation of challenges, (2) Empathetic storytelling, (3) Pre- and post-capstone, (4) Truth statement, (5) Detailed critical incident, and (6) Acknowledgement as a mode of reflection. Content analysis revealed that three codes (“Unordinary,” “Vulnerability,” and “Sensory”) were highly connected to most other codes, highlighting these as centrally important learning phenomena, and further identified especially strong links between “Vulnerability” and “Authenticity.” No significant differences were identified between the distinguished and non-distinguished Capstone presentations. Discussion: Our analysis revealed that personal growth and identity development were key learning outcomes in the Capstone presentations, which emerged through prioritizing reflective and imaginative spaces and expressed through creative, authentic self-representation.