- Feb 2017
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libjournal.uncg.edu libjournal.uncg.edu
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Recognizing Campus Landscapes as Learning Spaces
Newlon, Cara. "The College Amenities Arms Race." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 31 July 2014. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.
In this article, Newlon describes the luxuries that modern colleges have become accustom to possess. Newlon provides specific comparisons to American colleges from the 20th century adjacent to the 21st century. Newlon further points out how some of the modernized college luxuries provide benefits for colleges and students overall.
Newlon's article discloses numerical data which demonstrates increasing costs of modernized college luxuries in America. Newlon also points out the expansion of college enrollment over a 10 year span (par. 4). The author suggests the idea of colleges having luxuries helps to generate more capital for the college (par. 10).
Each of the readings focused on college campuses, but had contrasting ideas on how its surrounding locations affect academia and the college essentially. The primary reading focuses on how the incorporation of natural outdoor spaces and landscapes can positively contribute to a students learning process. College campuses in cities more likely pose an issue with this integration because cities are usually over crowded with businesses, people, buildings, etc. (Scholl et al., 2015 par. 4). With all of these growing circumstances, it becomes more difficult for surrounding locations and landscapes to remain in its natural form, eventually alterations to natural areas can occur benefitting businesses and consumers. Colleges that are located near small-town/suburban area could stand a better chance of fusing together natural surroundings into academia due to fewer distractions. However, it ultimately depends on the persons individual ability to focus and learn (Scholl et al., 2015 par. 11)
The supplementary reading alludes to the benefits that added luxuries can provide for colleges. Luxuries such as, movie theaters, spas, arcades, ice rinks, etc., will attract more people and even business which allows for growing enrollment at colleges that provide such amenities. This also produces more assets for the college through businesses. Although colleges allow students to access these luxuries, ultimately it is the college that is able to capitalize on this (par. 10). In the long run, these added luxuries don't directly provide a higher quality of academia for students opposed to higher standards of living solely, but it does improve the prominence of the college resulting in more recognition, interest, and capital.
Scholl, Kathleen G., and Gowri B. Gulwadi. "Recognizing Campus Landscapes as Learning Spaces | Scholl | Journal of Learning Spaces." Recognizing Campus Landscapes as Learning Spaces | Scholl | Journal of Learning Spaces. N.p., 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.
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Students spend most of their tightly structured learning time indoors amidst traditional instructional classrooms (where students’ direct attention is most required) that are primarily structured for the visual mode of learning (e.g., whiteboards on designated walls, seating that faces the instructor).
This statement resonates with my personal experience for elementary and middle school. The high school that I attended and graduated (Arabia Mountain) did incorporate outdoor open spaces and academia which did allow for a balanced learning process for some students like myself, but not for all students.
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Table 1. Student-nature interactions in campus landscapes
Arabia Mountain high school provided a mixture of these settings: a greenhouse, classes held on trails,etc. which allowed for student-nature interactions.
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Therefore, providing opportunities for interactions that draw upon involuntary attention could be impactful on university campuses for attentional, fatigued students and their learning mechanisms.
This statement sounds like an opinion rather than a proven fact, if a study was done there would most likely be a range of outcomes.
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Early American colleges and universities were self-sufficient and often built in rural locations with dormitories, dining halls and recreation facilities (Bowman, 2011; Eckert, 2012). Many university founders desired to create an ideal community that was a place apart, secluded from city distraction but still open to the larger community, enabling their students and faculty to devote unlimited time and attention for classical or divinity learning, personal growth, and free intellectual inquiry (Eckert, 2012; Gumprecht, 2007; Turner, 1984).
Due to changing times it seems that universities have adapted to modern amenities to not only accommodate its students, but also for the campus in totality and its attraction to outside factors like businesses and consumers.
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This ability to focus one’s attention is essential for effective performance of many of life’s necessary and 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
This ability is important, but not everyone can freely tune into it, one example would be parents, they are multitaskers and have to split their attention many ways especially when there are multiple children involved.
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Direct attention requires mental effort and cognitive control for an individual to sustain focus and prevent distracting stimuli from interfering with an intended activity
I agree with this statement in totality because when it comes to my learning process I have trained myself to give each subject my direct attention and ignore other factors that interfere. However, this may not be something that everyone can do willingly.
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Student-nature interactions during study breaks help restore attention
Personally I haven't experienced this to be true for others, however, I can ignore distractions and give my undivived attention to a subject no matter the location, but I have observed that some are not able to focus on a task period and a nature based study break sometimes poses as a distraction.
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Americans expect a university campus to look different than other places (Gumprecht, 2007) and that the campus “expresses something about the quality of academic life, as well as its role as a citizen of the community in which it is located” (Dober, 1996, p.47).
Regarding this statement, I believe expectations of a college campus depends on the location, if it is located in a familiar area then expectations of something different won't necessarily be met.
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Flexibility in seating and spatial configuration can begin to help diffuse this emphasis and begin to accommodate other auditory and kinesthetic learning modalities.
MIxing up the learning process by incorporating the natural outdoors sounds like a nice idea, but it also depends on surrounding areas when focusing on a campus specifically.
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