A cultural ecosystem service provided by green infrastructure on campus: Students' recovery from directed attention fatigue

摘要

Students in Higher Education need to focus for extended periods of time in lectures and seminars, during which their capacity to apply directed attention declines. Natural environments provide important cultural ecosystem services, including the potential to restore students' directed attention, but few studies have focused on breaks as they would typically be experienced by undergraduate students on a day to day basis. In the present study, four measures of directed attention were applied to comparethe relative benefits of 15 min breaks indoors and outdoors on the campus of a rural university. The Necker Cube Pattern Control Test, Forwards and Backwards Digit Span Tests and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) were used before and after breaksin each environment. Students' directed attention showed significant recovery after the outdoor break using all four tests, but only using the SDMT after an indoor break. The results have implications for the design of green infrastructure on campus to capitalise on the potential benefits of outdoor breaks. Incorporating attractive outdoor spaces on campus and arranging timetables to facilitate movement through these between classes may improve students' ability to concentrate and their overall feelingsof wellbeing. The relative contributions of contact with the natural environment compared to the greater opportunities for physical exercise and social interactions afforded by an outdoor break warrant further exploration.