Campus green spaces improve students' quality of life, learning

Washington, Sept 30 : The more green spaces are there in a college campus, the better satisfied are students with their lives, says a new study.

According to the research, campus green spaces can help students feel better about life and improve learning.

In the study led by L. McFarland, a graduate student in the Department of Agriculture at Texas State University, the researchers surveyed 373 undergraduates at the San Marcos campus.

The respondents were then ranked as "low users", "medium users", or "high users" of campus green spaces.

More than 90 percent of respondents were ranked as either high or medium users of green space. The students were also asked to rate their perception of quality of life.

A mean score of more than four (on a scale of 1 to 5) indicated that most students rated their quality of life as positive.

According to McFarland, the researchers were able to make a "statistically significant" correlation between green space users and those who gave a high rating to their quality of life.

"These findings indicated that those (students) who used campus green spaces more frequently rated their overall quality of life higher when compared with students who used the campus green spaces and arboretum less frequently", said McFarland.

Moreover, students who spent greater time in green space also rated their cognitive ability to apply knowledge learned in college as higher compared to those students who spent less time.

The results are published in the April 2008 issue of the American Society for Horticultural Science's journal, HortTechnology.

ANI