Mapping the campus learning landscape

Despite its practical and symbolic importance, the role of space in higher education remains under-researched. This study develops an understanding of student experience of the campus as a learning landscape. It is based on 28 participatory walking interviews with students, including the hand drawing of a campus map. Participants tended to see learning as about individual study or working alongside others, and rarely mentioned lectures. The choice of space to study was often shaped by convenience, and appeared to be somewhat static and habitual. There was a lack of exploration and only a limited sense of the benefit of fitting the learning task to the space. Yet students felt a sense of ownership and safety on campus. They actively used the characteristics of space to manage their own attention through studying where there were visible cues to study and controlling distraction.