As the spring weather heats up, more professors are thinking outside the classroom.Professors are expanding their students’ educational experience by holding class in outdoor areas like the Quad, sculpture garden and the Parade Ground, instead of in traditional classrooms.Jessica Weber, English and women’s and gender studies professor, has regularly held class outside each semester for the past five years, typically between Hill Memorial Library and Allen Hall.”Once it hits February, we will usually go out once a week,” Weber said. “A couple of times we’ve done walking classes where we go from point to point.”Last semester, Weber taught an environmental literature class and a visual rhetoric class designated mainly for architecture and design students. On both occasions, the curriculum was about getting up, looking around and being active, she said.”Would you expect to come up with brilliant ideas in a room where the only window looks at the concrete, or would you think maybe we could get that creative juice flowing if we’re outside by something that’s more inspiring?” she asked.About 90 percent of her students enjoyed class outside, according to Weber’s class evaluations.”People commented on how it affected their mood and that it had an impact on class,” she said. “I would imagine there would be similar benefits in other classes.”But there were always some complaints — usually from students who thought the weather was too hot or didn’t feel like walking, she said.Melissa Beck, psychology professor, said viewing natural scenes can strengthen attention to boring tasks.”Holding class outside might improve students’ attention to the class content,” she said. “I am not trying to say that the class content is necessarily boring, just that attention to a class lecture does require prolonged maintenance of attention.”Evidence shows exposure to natural scenes can restore the ability to pay attention, according to the Journal of Environmental Psychology.But Emily Toth, English and women’s gender studies professor, said she never takes her classes outdoors.”It’s very hard on students with allergies, and I don’t want to hurt their health,” she said. “It’s also difficult for students who work full time and have to be well-dressed to sit on the ground.”Whether holding outdoor classes violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, depends on each individual case, said Benjamin Cornwell, Office of Disability Services associate director.”If you have a student who is deaf or hard of hearing, the interpreter would go out there,” Cornwell said. “If you have a student in a wheelchair, and [the class] went somewhere that wasn’t wheel chair accessible, then obviously that’s a problem.”Cornwell said, generally, a student with a complaint will work it out with the professor or with the Office of Disability Services.”We would address it and arrangements would be made for another location that would work if they wanted to be out of the classroom,” he said.Cornwell said professors should consider any potential impacts on students, but there is no direct violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.”I don’t think we have any professors who are that insensitive,” he said.Ann Martin, English professor, said she can’t take classes outside because it’s too distracting — even worse than Facebook.”They actually see their friends going by,” she said.Caitlin Adams, mass communication junior, said she has had several professors who occasionally hold class outside, including Jennifer Richard, political science professor, who held class outside near Middleton Library on Friday.”I hate being stuck inside a classroom when the weather is so nice,” Adams said. “I feel like that’s more distracting than the problems you may run into outside.”But Samantha Costas, political science freshman, said she prefers her classes stay indoors.”Even though the weather is really nice right now, it’s easier to take notes with a desk,” she said. “Also, there are less distractions.”—-Contact Leslie Presnall at [email protected]