Qualitative Study of the Functional Spaces of the Faculty of Health Sciences of Granada

The space must be one more element of the teaching activity and, therefore, it is necessary to structure and organize it properly. It is understood that the environment of the center and the classroom constitutes a very valuable instrument for the teaching-learning process, and for this reason it must be the object of reflection and planning for teachers and students. There is little bibliography in which a building for higher education has been evaluated from the point of view of those who are its main actors who live said space on a daily basis. One of the aspects to assess a building is its internal space., this space will be more real and complete through the opinion of the staff that makes use of said space. Objective: To explore the experiences of teachers and students derived from the teaching and student activity in the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Granada. Methodology: A descriptive qualitative study was carried out. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with teachers and students who met the stipulated inclusion and exclusion criteria. Participants were recruited by convenience sampling. The signing of previously informed consent was required. 21 semi-structured interviews were carried out. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. A thematic analysis was carried out following the Braun and Clarke criteria. For the analysis, the ATLAS.ti program was used. The necessary data saturation was obtained. Authorization was obtained from the Ethics Committee to carry out the study. Results: In the primary analysis of the interviews, a total of 242 citations grouped into 171 codes were obtained, which were grouped into subcategories and categories. Four themes emerged: functionality of the theory classrooms, functionality of the practical classrooms, functionality of the work spaces, and accessibility to the building. In all of them, both the students and the teachers highlighted positive and negative aspects present in the building. Conclusions: The theory classrooms present ergonomic elements that do not favor concentration, while the practical classrooms favor group work. The study rooms stand out for their good ergonomic conditions. The teachers’ offices do not offer ergonomic conditions that favor working in them. The hygienic recommendations of the COVID-19 pandemic have generated major inconveniences to work.