By Faith Eckley
Jefferson students know a crisp, beautiful fall day out on the Gutman Quad all too well. Recently, some professors have been taking advantage of the nice weather by holding their lectures outside instead of in a classroom. According to the National Institutes of Health, nature and education may have a bigger link with one another than expected. Research has shown that taking education outside can provide many benefits, including improving students’ learning and decreasing stress levels. Due to the recent trend of outdoor-learning, here are some mixed reviews from Jefferson students about the idea.
“Generally, it is widely accepted that nature is healing. Whenever I get to have class outdoors it makes the rest of the day easier to get through,” said junior Katelyn Andel.
“It depends…Some days I go outside and it can get distracting because there are so many people around, but then I think having class outside is very beneficial because you get a change of scenery and fresh air especially during the fall time. College students are not getting enough vitamin D and whenever I need a break to destress, I go outside to change things up,” said sophomore Jess Cyriac.
Source by Jaleel Laraki
Andrew Nguyen, Mohammed Albadrani, Thomas Davis, Eli Erickson, John Ventre, Roman Donahue, and Dr. Kimberlee Zamora spend time on the Gutman Quad during a construction management class.
“Having class outdoors would be beneficial to students because I believe we would be more calm and able to focus better when learning in nature. Traditional classrooms can cause stress just because of the setting, so if class were to be outdoors, I feel as if students would look forward to class more because it’s in a fun setting,” said sophomore Victoria Hamby.
“I do agree that everyone lacks vitamin D and that having fresh air is important. Getting away from electronics is also beneficial. However, I feel if you go outside to have class it would not be beneficial because a lot of our classes today rely on technology to learn and if a professor prefers a student to have fresh air, then cancel class,” said sophomore Kelly Nguyen.
“Class seemed somewhat lighter and less abrasive to the mind...”
“Class outdoors would drastically improve students' engagement. I believe that outdoor class sessions promote mindfulness which directly increases one’s attention span,” said sophomore Kaylee Rivera.
“As someone with mostly lecture heavy classes, I don’t think it would be practical to have class outside. That being said, when I have had class outside, it had a much more flowing feel. Class seemed somewhat lighter and less abrasive to the mind,” said junior Khasir Carter-Doward.
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