The Role of Nature Cues and Nature Relatedness in Academic Motivation and Engagement

Abstract

Nature exposure in the form of immersion in natural environments can benefit students in multiple ways. Across four studies, we examined whether nature exposure in the form of visual nature cues on instructional materials might increase academic motivation and engagement among university students. Visual nature cues were presented via PowerPoint backgrounds (Study 1), online Zoom lecture backgrounds (Study 2), and on the background of calendars people used to plan for an upcoming assignment or exam (Studies 3 and 4). In each study and an internal meta-analysis, we found no evidence that nature cues increased academic engagement or motivation compared to other background images. However, participants’ self-reported nature relatedness was linked to greater academic engagement and motivation in each study and the internal meta-analysis. The interaction between nature relatedness and nature exposure was not significant. We conclude that embedding visual nature cues in educational material is not sufficiently impactful to have an effect on academic motivation and that immersion and interaction with nature in a fuller sense may be necessary to reap motivational benefits.