A Critical Review on the Impact of Combining Outdoor Spaces and Nature with Learning Spaces on Students’ Learning Ability

Abstract

The human innate tendency to interact with the natural environment has been proven by psychologists. This interaction should be placed in educational environments (schools). Unfortunately, interaction with nature is not considered in schools today, and the schoolyard, a place where students can interact with open space and nature, is designed to be completely separated from the classrooms. That means the schoolyard and the classrooms should be designed in harmony with each other. Students spend a majority of their educational period in classrooms, so to create diversity and increase student's productivity, it is necessary to combine outdoor natural spaces with indoor educational areas. So, the schoolyard plays a complementary role to the classroom. Additionally, the natural environment can be considered as another educational setting option. The major goal of this review paper is analyzing the impact of the school's outdoor and natural spaces on enhancing students' learning abilities. Accordingly, first, the landscape architecture theories related to individuals and the natural environment, the importance of nature in learning spaces, and its impacts on students are presented. Then, the outcome of designing learning spaces in combination with outdoor spaces is displayed. Finally, the results can provide guidelines to education stakeholders, designers, and policymakers focused on creating more encouraging environments for students’ learning.

Keywords

• School Ground
• landscape architecture
• outdoor learning
• educational environments
• open spaces
• Schoolyard
• Natural Environment
• Classroom

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