Source: http://www4.hku.hk/

In their article “Recognizing Campus Landscapes as Learning Spaces” Kathleen G. Scholl and Gowri Betrabet Gulwadi, “propose that the natural landscape of a university campus is an attentional learning resource for its student” (53). The risk of “attentional fatigue” is increased due to technology and campuses that lack “connected networks of indoor and open spaces” (53).  They suggest that natural open spaces should be examined for their “potential in replenishing cognitive functioning for attentional fatigued students” (53). Scholl and Gulwadi address two concepts “indirect attention and restoration” and a ” holistic landscape” (53).

The term “campus”  derives the latin word for “field” or “an expanse surrounded…by woods” (53) which first described Princeton University in the 1770’s which later became an archetype for all college campuses. American colleges and universities were designed to be a secluded community that promotes “…divinity learning, personal growth, and free intellectual inquiry” (54). Fredrick Law Olmstead, who designed early campuses, believed that physical landscapes can affect human behavior. Natural scenery helps stimulate the mind without causing fatigue, thus soothing the mind and refreshing the body as a whole.  A body of research that utilizes Attention Restoration Therapy attempts to “describe the many benefits of human-nature interactions” (54).  The study focuses on how internal and external influences affects brain function and proposes that interaction with nature affects the “human attentional system” (54).

Nature is  subjective because it can refer to different things “due to the diverse opportunities and means through which one might encounter and experience nature “(55). In this article, Scholl and Betrabet refer to nature or the natural environment as “physical features and processes of nonhuman origin that people ordinarily can perceive”(55). They also expand the campus “learning environment” to include open green spaces. Valles-Planells defines landscape as “a “holistic, spatial, and mental dynamic entity, which is the result of people-place interactions” (55). Scholl and Betrabet believe it is this holistic viewpoint of campuses spatial layout and and the “student’s relationship with the natural and built environment or its landscape” (55), that can have an effect on learning. Interaction with nature can help restore the mind from fatigue or overuse and help students with “problem solving, focus and concentration, impulse inhibition, and memory…” (55).  The executive attentional system is separated into two concepts direct or voluntary attention and indirect or involuntary attention.

Direct attention requires focus and control to prevent distraction interrupting the intended task. The ability to focus one’s attention is an important skill that assists daily activities such as, “acquiring and using selected information; making and carrying out plans; and self-regulation of responses and behavior to meet desired goals” (55). Therefore, direct attention is crucial for a students academic life, that requires them to process various information. After the fatigue caused from demands of the mind, “Attentive efficiency can be recovered after a period of rest and regeneration, obtained through the activation of involuntary attention” (55).

Involuntary attention occurs when the mind perceives something as “inherently intriguing” . Interaction with natural environments induce involuntary attention which allows the brain to rest or replenish. Therefore, these interactions can help ” performance on other tasks, delay gratification, and perhaps even regulate levels of depression and stress”(55). Although, research on the impact of the natural environment on cognitive functions in fairly new. Future research can test whether the natural landscape of colleges can restore attention deficits and improve learning and academic performance.