The effect of spatial knowledge on sense of belonging in university/academic environments

Abstract

The simple task of navigating from one point to another involves multiple functions and is more complex than it appears to be. In order to travel from one point to another, a person employs different types of knowledge, defined as spatial knowledge, which facilitates the ability of wayfinding. The ability to acquire spatial knowledge can be enhanced by increasing the imageabiliy of the environment. This environmental characteristic could be linked to an important human behavior, the sense of belonging, the feeling of belonging to a group or a place. Previous literature has reported the significance of sense of belonging for psychological, social, and physical well being. A higher level of sense of belonging to a place can yield valuable results especially to an academic environment such as achieving better academic standing, closer relationships with peers, and elevated self confidence. Since sense of belonging deals greatly with the surrounding environment, it is necessary for educational facilities to have unique design characteristics to increase the different levels of spatial knowledge. This study focuses on the impact of spatial knowledge for a university campus on sense of belonging among college students. The study was conducted on 63 undergraduate students from the Department of Architectural Studies in University of Missouri. An eight-point likert scale questionnaire was devised to measure the college students' level of sense of belonging to University of Missouri and their Spatial knowledge on the university. Identifying the relationship between spatial knowledge and sense of belonging relates to understanding the connection between university students and their environments. This knowledge will prove invaluable in providing the ideal academic environment by creating settings for students which are more imageable as well as navigable. It was found that landmark and route knowledge were significantly predicting sense of belonging. Further findings were discussed in the paper.