How Outdoor Learning Could Benefit College Students

How Outdoor Learning Could Benefit College Students

Cayde Sloan
Savannah College of Art and Design

Recently, college students are reporting symptoms of anxiety with an increase of 37% (Heinze, 2023). There are many resources available to college students that are meant to lower anxiety: counseling, wellness apps, and on-campus gyms are prominent solutions (Hsu et al., 2021). However, the role of learning environments and green spaces has been overlooked in research. If more college campuses focused on outdoor learning it would provide constant mental health, cognitive, physical, and social benefits for college students. Incorporating it into higher education can improve both student well-being and academic outcomes.

Hunter et al., (2019) found that spending 20-30 min in nature reduces cortisol levels. Similarly, Ewert’s (2018) study showed that natural environments have the greatest effect on stress reduction. Even a simple walk in nature improves depression and anxiety symptoms (Grassini, 2022). However, college students have fewer green spaces available, and they deal with stressors that cannot be alleviated, such as population density, traffic noise, and pollution (Gruebner et al., 2017). This ties into the biophilia hypothesis, which is the idea that humans seek connection with nature and naturally feel calmer and healthier in it (Gaekwad et al., 2022).

There is minimal research regarding green learning at a college level. However greater school greenness has been associated with higher individual-level academic performance (Jimenez et al., 2023). Kuo et al., (2018) found that students retain more information while having lessons in nature and that they also have boosted classroom engagement, improved concentration, and rejuvenated attention.

Burns et al., (2023) found that greater time spent in outdoor light during the day was associated with better sleep, less tiredness, and a greater ease of getting up in the morning. Not only does being outside have a positive effect on one’s sleep but also on physical activity. A study by Gladwell et al., (2013) showed that outdoor natural environments increase physical activity levels with lower levels of perceived exertion which results in stress reduction, restoring mental fatigue, improved mood, and self-esteem. Attending outdoor classes would result in physical activity not just by movement in class but also by walking to the outdoor spaces. Students who are motivated to go outside due to class would get more physical exercise which decreases stress and anxiety levels (Liu & Shi, 2023).

As the study by Kuo et al., (2018) explained, outdoor classrooms create a more relaxing and engaging learning environment with improved participation. They found that while outdoors students were less likely to be distracted and interrupt the teacher, which leads to a less hierarchical learning environment where students feel mutual respect and like they have an active role in their learning. Having class outdoors has also been shown to foster student’s creativity, imagination, and social skills, including collaboration. Outdoor learning provided students opportunities to practice skills such as successful communication and positive relations with their peers and teachers. In another study, students also felt connection to place while learning in a greenspace. The classroom becomes less another place to go and more something they are a part of. (Molyneux et al., 2022).

Exposure to natural environments protects people against the impact of environmental stressors and offers physiological, emotional, and attention restoration more so than urban environments (Berto, 2014). Outdoor learning could positively impact college student’s mental health while aligning with the many sustainability and wellness initiatives universities are adopting (Ribeiro et al.,2024). Not only would college students have a better understanding of the world around them if classes were held outdoors, but students would also be more engaged with what they’re learning. Students would be able to concentrate and retain information better, have greater opportunities to have face to face connection and contact with their peers, professors, and nature, and they would be able to live more successful stress and anxiety free lives (Kuo et al., 2018; Molyneux et al., 2022).