Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247

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Landscape and Urban Planning

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/landurbplan

Improving educational functions in botanic gardens by employing

landscape narratives
Li-Shin Chang a,∗ , Richard J. Bisgrove b , Ming-Yi Liao c
a
Department of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung County 413, Taiwan, ROC
b
Centre for Horticulture and Landscape, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AS, UK
c
Graduate Institute of Architecture and Urban Design, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung County 413, Taiwan, ROC

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Landscape narrative, combining landscape and narrative, has been employed to create storytelling layouts
Received 23 July 2007 and interpretive information in some famous botanic gardens. In order to assess the educational effec-
Received in revised form 17 February 2008 tiveness of using “landscape narrative” in landscape design, the Heng-Chun Tropical Botanical Garden in
Accepted 18 March 2008
Taiwan was chosen as research target for an empirical study. Based on cognitive theory and the affective
Available online 15 May 2008
responses of environmental psychology, computer simulations and video recordings were used to create
five themed display areas with landscape narrative elements. Two groups of pupils watched simulated
Keywords:
films. The pupils were then given an evaluation test and questionnaire, to determine the effectiveness of
Content retention
Interpretation
the landscape narrative. When the content was well associated and matched with the narrative landscape,
Cognitive psychology the comprehension and retention of content was increased significantly. The results also indicated that
Visual preference visual preference of narrative landscape scenes was increased. This empirical study can be regarded as
a successful model of integrating landscape narrative and interpretation practice that can be applied to
the design of new theme displays in botanic gardens to improve both the effectiveness of interpretation
plans and the visual preference of visitors.
© 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Interpretation involves the narration of thematic information to

To support conservation of biodiversity, more than 600 new
botanic gardens have been set up worldwide during the past two
decades. Over 200 million people visit botanic gardens each year,
about one in 33 of all people in the world (Willison, 2006).
Botanic gardens therefore play important roles in education
as well as in conservation of plant and natural resources and in
scientific research. They are also regarded as excellent sites for
recreation: millions of visitors annually are attracted to botanic
gardens by their plants, theme gardens and greenhouses (IUCN,
1987). If environmental ethics and positive attitudes towards envi-
ronmental conservation could be cultivated tacitly by “education
in stealth” when visitors come to botanic gardens, attitudes toward
environmental conservation could be substantially improved.
∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Urban Planning and Landscape Archi-
tecture, Chaoyang University of Technology, No. 168 Jifong E. Road, Wufong
Township, Taichung County 41349, Taiwan, ROC. Tel.: +886 4 23323000x4453;
fax: +886 4 23742385.
E-mail addresses: lschang@cyut.edu.tw, ahrchagl@yahoo.com.tw (L.S. Chang),
r.j.bisgrove@reading.ac.uk (R.J. Bisgrove), senao921@yahoo.com.tw (M.Y. Liao).
visitors by employing appropriate media. It is a major visitor service
on many recreational sites, museums and parks. It is also key to ful-
filling the educational goals of many botanic gardens. Indeed it has
been suggested that without interpretation a botanic garden is little
more than an attractive park (Giffurida, 1996). In botanic gardens,
typical media used for interpretation include self-guided trails,
plant labels and information panels. Guided tours, often regarded
as the most effective interpretation practice, are usually either on
a regular basis or by visitor request. High quality interpretation
should include not only interpretative facilities and interpreters for
the garden but also themes or landscapes designed for interpreta-
tion to assist in the processes of story-telling (Chang, 2001).
Many gardens, for example the Eden Project in the UK, have
employed ‘landscape narrative’ as part of their design. Chang (2002)
noted that if the setting of themes in a botanic garden is initially
designed by collaboration between landscape architects and edu-
cators to form a ‘narrative landscape’, this could help the educators
to interpret relevant information on the site. However, to date
there has been no investigation of whether “narrative landscape
design” as a vehicle for interpretation in botanic gardens is bene-
ficial to the learning process. Neither has there been investigation
of whether or not the narrative setting could increase the attrac-
tiveness of the garden and the visual preferences of its visitors,

0169-2046/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2008.03.003
234 L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247
factors which would influence the desirability of implementing the
idea.
The definition of narrative is usually about words, written and
spoken but narrative is not necessarily in the form of words.
Traditional English gardens often embody messages in statuary,
inscription and eloquent architecture (Hunt and Willis, 1988). For
instance, the garden Stourhead, UK, presents a multilayered set
of narratives in its landscape layout, architecture and sculptures
(Potteiger and Purinton, 1998).
In order to understand the influence of landscape narrative on
interpretation, various narrative elements associated with targeted
thematic displays in Heng-Chun Tropical Botanical Garden were
simulated in order to investigate whether they improved the learn-
ing efficacy of pupils. The results could be valuable for the design of
display areas in other botanic gardens to improve their educational
functions.
2. Literature review
2.1. Plant display and interpretation in botanic gardens
In recent decades, the roles of botanic gardens have been
changing to reflect the increasing importance of conservation
of biodiversity and environmental education as well as to meet
increased demands for recreation. Botanic gardens should be
regarded not only as recreational sites but should also take special
responsibility for environmental education for sustainable devel-
opment (Chang, 2001; Oikawa, 2000; Willison, 2006).
In botanic gardens, the plant display area usually seen as theme
gardens or thematic displays is often near the entrance to the gar-
dens to attract visitors and is also the main “channel” by which
interpretation may occur. According to interviews with educators in
UK botanic gardens, the most popular features in their gardens were
greenhouses and theme gardens. Similar results were also found in
an investigation of botanic gardens in Taiwan (Chang, 2001). These
popular sites therefore offer the most opportunities for successful
education.
The setting of display areas in botanic gardens, whether indoors
or outdoors, is usually designed around the themes of plant
related subjects, e.g. taxonomy, botany, biotechnology, ethno-
botany, evolution, geographical distribution, ecology, utilization,
or a combination of these (Chang, 2003; Lai, 1993). The choice
of medium for plant display depends on what kinds of messages
the garden staff intend to pass on. In other words, the plant dis-
plays must embed information that educators want to disseminate.
If education is one of the important missions of botanic gardens,
interpretation will be the core of educational practices.
Tilden (1977) gave the excellent definition of interpretation as
“an educational activity which aims to reveal meanings and rela-
tionship through the use of original objects”. Interpretation in a
botanic garden requires professional knowledge and skill in order to
help people to appreciate special plants and the stories associated
with them. Through interpretation, visitors obtain and understand
the knowledge or messages that educators are trying to deliver or
disseminate.
According to visitor surveys for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
by Burbidge (1990) and for the Taipei Botanic Garden by Chiou
and Lin (1992), most visitors came to the garden for recreational
purposes. In addition, Oikawa (2000) also pointed out that only
a small fraction of the total number of visitors to botanic gar-
dens engage consciously in some form of education program. In
order for interpretation to be conducted successfully, therefore, it
needs to be pleasurable or it will not hold the attention of those
non-captive visitors. Innovative strategies need to be offered in
botanic gardens to attract and educate as wide a spectrum of
audiences as possible. To employ “landscape narrative” in design
practice might be a key to effectively provide implicit education for
visitors.
2.2. Landscape narrative and information conveyance
According to the Oxford Concise Dictionary, “Narrative is a spo-
ken or written account of connected events in order of happening”,
or “the practice or art of narration”. Ricoeur (1981) states that
narrative combines two dimensions, one a temporal sequence of
events and the other a non-chronological configuration, that orga-
nize narrative into spatial patterns. Narrative or story telling is a
linguistic form which people use to understand the world about
them (Polkinghorne, 1988, 1995). For these reasons, narrative is
widely used in education and has proved to work effectively in lan-
guage learning and school education. For school learning students
are exposed to literature in the form of the storyline in novels that
deal with topics related to course content and this provides a use-
ful method of instruction (Kostelecky and Hoskinson, 2005). New
heuristic device application of narratives in rural study are also pro-
posed by Soliva (2007), by whom the four ideal types of narrative,
wilderness narrative, modernization narrative, subsistence narra-
tive and endogenous development narrative, were constructed and
used for rural study. Those types of narrative also are viewed to
reveal the diverse views, values and assumption of stakeholders
regarding changes in landscape, land use and biodiversity (Soliva,
2007).
As Potteiger and Purinton (1998) state, the term ‘landscape
narrative’ designates the interplay and mutual relationship that
develops between landscape elements and narrative. Landscape
not only serves as the background setting for stories, but is itself
a changing, eventful figure and process that engenders its own sto-
ries. There are two ways to turn landscape narrative into real design
practices. The narrative can use explicit storytelling landscapes to
convey messages and to create or constitute the landscape embod-
iment of collective human memory, or it can be already implicit in
landscapes as inscribed by natural processes and cultural practices
(Potteiger and Purinton, 1998; Rakatansky, 1992).
Landscape narratives are classified into several types such as
‘narrative experiences’, ‘association and references’ and ‘memory
landscapes’ (e.g. interpretive landscapes and storytelling land-
scapes) (Potteiger and Purinton, 1998). Association and reference
need not necessarily be memory landscapes, but some elements
in a landscape should become connected with experiences, events,
history or other form of narrative. However, interpretive landscape
is a landscape that has elements and programs that tell what hap-
pened in a certain place. Storytelling landscapes are usually places
designed to tell specific stories with explicit references to plot,
scenes, events characters, etc. (Potteiger and Purinton, 1998). In
landscape narrative, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony
are regarded as the four major tropes (Potteiger and Purinton, 1998).
In terms of environmental psychology, landscape narrative
would relate to several affective and cognitive responses, includ-
ing “identification” and “encoding” regarding the four major tropes.
“Identification” is to recognize an object and structure that recog-
nition according to existing knowledge. “Encoding” refers to the
storage of the perceived environment in human memory (Gaerling
and Golledge, 1993; Gifford, 1996; Ulrich, 1986). A similar mecha-
nism is also present for reference and associative types of landscape
narrative, assisting observers to comprehend them. In this research,
encoding could reflect on the memory of messages that narrative
landscapes help to deliver to viewers.
One specific example of a storytelling landscape is the landscape
garden Stourhead in Wiltshire, UK. The 18th-century scenic gar-
den was progressively developed by Hoare family (Siciliano, 2005).
 L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247
The estate owner Henry Hoare II hired an architect, Henry Flitcroft,
to plot the spatial configuration of the garden as the story line of
the Aeneas’s wanderings around the Mediterranean basin. Flitcroft
transformed the stream and small pond in the valley into a grand
lake. Around the lake, a footpath was laid to connect a series of clas-
sical buildings including the Temple of Flora, a grotto, the Pantheon,
a rock arch, the Temple of Apollo and five-arched Palladian bridge.
It has been suggested that the design was intended to reveal the
story of Aeneas’ journey and the founding of Rome in order to retell
in the landscape with high degree authority and control over the
means of presentation (Potteiger and Purinton, 1998). The design
also represents aspects of Hoare’s life experience of love and con-
frontations with death (Olin, 1999; Siciliano, 2005; Woodbridge,
2001). The landscape at Stourhead is profound through name, ref-
erences, association and symbol which were engraved and carried
by architecture, statues and setting of the garden (Potteiger and
Purinton, 1998).
Such metaphoric themes are very attractive as they were made
to tell stories or to impart knowledge that the estate owner had
learned and associated with his prestige and the tragic events
occurring in his life. The landscape elements, lay-out and design
vocabulary were employed to present an image of a mythic world.
Consequently, for visitors approaching the ambience of these
objects, the meaning of the narrative landscape is conveyed subtly,
particularly obviously when adding with oral interpretation.
In botanic gardens, narration may or may not be implanted
when the landscape is formed, although various plants always have
the potential to embody stories. The creation of a narrative setting
where interpretation should take place would allow that interpre-
tation to be conducted with maximum fluency. Such an approach
may also be referred to as landscape narrative or interpretive land-
scape (Chang, 2002). Themed landscapes shape and reconstitute
memory into clear, controlled narrative tableaux. In some thematic
display gardens, for example the Evolution House and the Japanese
Garden of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew or several thematic dis-
Fig. 1. Application of landscape narrative through landscape design in display areas of the Eden Project in the UK. Landscape narrative elements: (A) cargo ship; (B) Asian
cottage; (C) rubber tires along the foothill for rubber trees; (D) sculpture of Dionysus and maenads; (E) giant bee model (quote Chang, 2003).
235
plays of the Eden Project in the UK (Fig. 1), landscape narrative
has been incorporated within the design to form interpretive land-
scapes. In the Humid Tropics Biome at Eden there are narrative
elements such as the huge bow of a cargo ship standing on the
route to Crop and Cultivation Display, indicating the prosperous
trade for economically important plants and products (Fig. 1A). The
Asian house and rubber tires relate to the plants alongside illustrat-
ing the contribution of cultivated plants to human welfare (Fig. 1B
and C). In the Mediterranean Basin Display, a sculpture of Diony-
sus, the Greek god of the vines, depicted as a bull surrounded by
maenads, immediately catches the eye of visitors (Fig. 1D). In the
outside landscape, a giant model of a bee is a focal point illustrating
its ecological role and allowing more comprehensive observation of
its morphology (Fig. 1E). Such landscape narratives seem to attract
visitors’ attention and arouse their curiosity (Chang, 2003).
Theoretically, students should be more motivated to learn if they
become curious about the issues and are placed in an environment
which is rich for learning. In addition, curiosity-arousing scenes
that connect with visitors through experience, events, history, or
religious allegory could be referred to as association and reference
type of landscape narrative. They also enhance the visitors’ percep-
tion, cognition and experiences. It would be beneficial for landscape
designers and educators, in creating thematic displays, if a positive
influence of narrative landscape on learning could be scientifically
demonstrated.
This study attempts to examine the learning effectiveness of
pupils in a simulated guided tour of a narrative landscape setting
and tries to deduce principles for the design of thematic displays
in botanic gardens in order to improve their educational and recre-
ational effectiveness.
2.3. Landscape perception and preferences
The perception of landscape and preference judgments were
reviewed for this research as they are relevant to the questions
236 L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247
“can interpretative landscape influence the judgment of landscape
quality?” and “in terms of theoretical base, to what extent does the
quality of the landscape encourage revisits”.
It has been proposed that landscape perception as a part of
environmental perception can be considered as a function of the
interaction between humans and the landscape (Zube et al., 1982).
The model revealed the relationships between human, landscape,
interaction and outcome. In this model the ‘human’ component is
influenced by previous experiences, knowledge, expectations and
socio-cultural context of individuals and groups. The ‘landscape’
component includes both individual tangible elements and intan-
gibles such as composition, form and complexity but the landscape
is always viewed from the perspective of the perceptual interaction.
As a result, a series of interactions such as aesthetic and preference
judgments is generated. This interaction between environment and
human results in outcomes which in turn could feed back to affect
both human and landscape inputs, even to affect environment man-
agement.
In the processes of landscape perception, visitors as respondents
receive stimuli from the environment and emotional stimulation,
the instructive recognition of an aesthetic quality and visual pref-
erence judged through the interaction (Bell, 1999, 2001; Kaplan,
1985; Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989; Zube et al., 1982). In the meantime
the ability of the mind to connect sensory information to knowl-
edge is used to develop opinions about what has been perceived
(Bell, 2001).
For landscape perception assessment, Zube and his colleagues
identified four paradigms of research directions, the expert
paradigm, psychophysical paradigm, cognitive paradigm and
experiential paradigm, based on human–landscape-interaction-
outcome model (Zube et al., 1982). In the cognitive paradigm, also
labeled as the psychological model (Daniel and Vining, 1983), land-
scape quality is usually evaluated and ranked by showing color
slides or photos to respondents. The dimensions of size, openness,
colorfulness, information, value, orderliness, fearfulness, beauty,
stress and preference matrix (complexity, legibility, mystery and
coherence) are usually scored. Preference ratings and ratings on the
a priori dimensions are usually obtained. In these researches, how
the meaning or content carried by the landscape could influence
preference judgment was seldom directly discussed, however.
It has been also addressed that the preference regarding the nat-
uralistic character of landscape varied between children and adult
respondents (Bernáldez et al., 1984; Zube et al., 1983). Bernáldez et
al. (1987) applied multivariate analysis of the preference responses
of children and young adults to study three independent pref-
erence dimensions, the results showed that both shadowed, less
illuminated scenes and harsh, rough scenes with aggressive forms
were less preferred by young children (11 years old) than by older
children (16 years old). For younger children, darkness and deep
shadow, like ‘mystery’ conceal a part of the scene’s information
but have a strong risk and uncertainty connotation, related to
fears typical of children. Conversely, darkness and shadow, like
Kaplan and Kaplan’s mystery, can also stimulate curiosity in some
observers. These observations demonstrated the change from nega-
tive influences on preference when the characteristics are perceived
as frightening, to positive effect on preference when they are per-
ceived as exciting and stimulating. The results indicated that the
meaning or content of landscape perceived and subsequent pref-
erence judgment was significantly affected by the experience and
background of different viewers. Consequently, it is difficult to clar-
ify how respondents perceive interpretive landscape and its effects
on preference judgment, as the preference judgment is mixed
with visual quality of landscape and the meaning or content of
landscape perceived by respondents. Therefore, if the meaning of
landscape has been sent to respondent through interpretation prior
Fig. 2. Conceptual framework of this study. Participant responses were examined
after watching simulated films with or without landscape narrative.
to tests, it would be beneficial to know how landscape preference is
ranked.
On the other hand, experiences gained on a visit made purely
for pleasure could trigger visitors’ revisits. Bell (1999) revealed that
a sense of pleasure is a part of the aesthetic experience. Emo-
tional stimulation, pleasure and displeasure are gained through our
perception. Bell recognized that different landscapes evoke these
responses in viewers to different degrees. A sense of pleasure, as
a part of the aesthetic experiences, can be generated through high
aesthetic quality of the landscape and environment. Viewers, as
tourists, could seek visual interests as satisfying entertainment,
because they are oriented by aesthetic landscape and move to an
area with ongoing activities (Jakle, 1987).
Pleasurable visiting experiences encourage further visits. Such
positive feedback can lead to more educational opportunities being
generated by return visits. On the other hand, how people perceive
the environment according to their personal background, or the
purposes of visiting, could be related to what action will be taken
and how people will use the site.
“If we wish to communicate with people about the landscape
we need to understand how the patterns are perceived in all the
meanings of visual language” (Bell, 2001). As the previous section
revealed, elements in the landscape could communicate in several
ways but how people perceive the landscape is associated with
viewers’ past experiences. To improve the educational functions of
botanic gardens, visitor surveys need to be done to assess visitors’
responses towards the landscape, plant displays, signage, and other
interpretation media. Evaluation is especially important in ensur-
ing that educational and recreational facilities and services meet
both visitor needs and management objectives, as well as help-
ing botanic garden staff to prioritize visitor needs by investigating
information such as aesthetic quality of landscape or themes, trends
and visit patterns. Feedback from visitors could enable the design,
interpretation and management to be adjusted appropriately to
encourage the visitors to learn pleasurably in botanic gardens.
2.4. Framework for this study
Narrative landscape is a landscape composed of explicit or
implicit elements or settings that can help the narration of specific
stories or information. It may or may not have a particular theme.
In this study to test the efficacy of employing landscape narrative
in thematic display design, video recordings of existing landscapes
were combined with specific computer simulations to develop a
2 min filmed walk through five thematic displays.
The simulated parts of these treatments were made as convinc-
ing as possible by using real existing background and objects to
compensate for the inability of the computer technique to replicate
a 3-D scene.
 L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247 237

This follows Stamp’s (1990, 1999) finding that using meta-

creel built from wood and

Association and reference

+Narrative (a house and a

analysis to show photographs is a good surrogate for direct

−Narrative, no house and

(story telling landscape)
experience in the evaluation of scenic preference. It is also con-

Taiwan Ethno-botany
sidered that using photographs to show public preference reaction
is a highly effective procedure for deriving salient perceptual cat-

creel present
egories of the view (Amir and Sobol, 1990; Cerny, 1974; Misgav,

Nos. 18, 19
Nos. 17, 20
2000). Fig. 2 shows the conceptual framework developed for this

Display

House

vines)
study. The control and experimental scenes of the thematic displays
were designed as “landscape” and “landscape with narratives”,
respectively. Based on results of interviews with targeted botanic
garden staff five themes were selected. Research themes presented
to respondents shown in oral information for these two treat-

−Narrative (wooden canoe

+Narrative scene (wooden
Association and reference
ments are identical. The highlighted central box shows the inner

Lanyu Islet Ethno-botany

(story telling landscape)

process for identification, encoding and aesthetic evaluation of
respondents. The core variables (shown in the right of Fig. 2 in two
boxes), comprehension and retention of interpretation content and

Wooden canoe

canoe present)
attractiveness and preference of landscape, refer to an evaluating

Nos. 13, 14
Nos.15, 16
judgment of the efficacy of message sending and the visual quality

absent)
Display
of the narrative landscape created. According to literature review in
Section 2.3, preference judgment scored was mixed with the influ-
ence of visual preference and meaning of landscape. However in
this research the focus is on the extent to which high visual pref-

−Narrative (−flower and fruits

+Narrative scene (flower and
fruits of Indian Barringtonia)
erence triggers revisits rather than on discussion of their influence

Association and reference

Indian Barrington Display
on preference judgment.

(story telling landscape)

of Indian Barringtonia)
Artwork installation
3. Research methods

Nos. 10, 11
3.1. Site selection—the targeted botanic garden and thematic

Nos. 9, 12
display

Heng-Chun Tropical Botanic Garden, established in 1901, was

selected as the target garden in this research. In the ‘National

Natural element with narrative

Botanic Garden Network Plan’ proposed by the government of Tai-

−Narrative scene (− buttress

+Narrative (+buttress roots)

wan in 2002, the garden was selected to be remodeled in order to
Looking glass tree Display

fulfill the mission statement and management objectives set up by

Interpretive landscape

the management authority.

The theme gardens for this study were selected after interviews
with volunteer guides and staff. According to their recommenda-
characters

tion, the five most representative theme garden displays were:

Nos. 5, 8
Nos. 6, 7
roots)

(1) White Ficus (Ficus benjamina L.).

(2) Looking glass tree (Heritiera littoralis Dryand).
(3) Indian Barringtonia (Barringtonia asiatica L.).
Natural element with narrative

(4) Lanyu Islet Ethno-botany.

−Narrative (−twisted roots)
+a Narrative scene (obvious

(5) Taiwan Ethno-botany.

Selected theme areas to simulate narrative landscape and variables

Interpretive landscape
White Ficus Display

These five themes were selected as the target displays of this

study.
twisted roots)

Nos. 1, 2, 3
characters

3.2. Experimental design

(+) Narrative scenes, (−) non-narrative scene.
No. 4

To evaluate the influence of narrative landscape on the learn-

ing efficiency and visual preference of pupils, the scenery of each
of the five selected theme displays was recorded by video camera
Questions disassociated with scenes
Experimental and control treatment

Questions associated with scenes

(JVC GR-D230 digital camcorder). Narrative elements were selected

or simulated and integrated into a scene shown in a photo for each
Types of landscape narrative

theme that was finally arranged at the end of the experimental

version of each film (Tables 1 and 2A–E). The control treatment of
each theme was the existing scenery, sharing the same composition
Narrative elements
Display area (item)

of background with the experimental treatment. According to the

classification by Potteiger and Purinton (1998), in this research the
five selected theme areas can be classified into ‘Interpretative land-
Film A

Film B
Table 1

scape’ and ‘Association and Reference’ of landscape narrative. The

a

‘Interpretative landscapes’ selected for this research were a natural

238 L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247

Table 2
Scenes of narrative and non- narrative landscape of theme areas

type of landscape narrative, which referred to elements expressing
significant phenomena of plant natural adaptation. These themes
included the twisting roots of the White Ficus and the buttress
roots of the Looking glass tree, both classified as a kind of implicit
natural interpretative landscape. The scene of experimental and
control treatment were carefully chosen from the existing natural
environment of the targeted botanic gardens.
The types “association and references” indicate that the ele-
ments added in the display area were intended to connect to
visitors’ experience in some ways. The narrative elements, includ-
 L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247 239

ing a marble sculpture of Indian Barringtonia flower and fruits, Table 3

Respondent profiles
wooden canoes and aboriginal houses, were all integrated into the
end of the respective theme displays in the experimental film. The A. Distribution of gender and number of students
five experimental narrative landscape treatments were randomly Gender 2 -test
assigned into film A and film B (Table 1), giving a total of a ten
Male Female Total
minute “walk” through the five designed routes of each thematic
display. A group 111 98 209 2 = 0.614
B group 105 108 213 P = 0.438
The same carefully designed interpretative information (see
Appendix A, A–E interpretive information) was orally presented B. Previous visit experience to Heng-Chun Botanic Garden
along with the control and the experimental film to resemble a Previous visit experience 2 -test
guided tour of the scene as if pupils were visiting the theme display
Yes No Total
with interpretation by a guide.
A group 27 182 209 2 = 0.980
B group 21 192 213 P = 0.322
3.3. Selection of respondents and questionnaire survey
C. Preference of respondents on plant related knowledge

Eight of the 68 elementary schools in Taichung city were ran- Degree of interest 2 -test
domly sampled. One class of students from both the third and fourth Not interested Neutral Interested Total
grade of the sampled school was chosen following a random sam-
A group 63 51 98 209 2 = 2.935
pling process. The total number of pupils in the sample represented B group 53 66 94 213 P = 0.569
2% of their age population in Taichung. Third and fourth grade pupils
(age 9–10 years) are generally curious and able to respond to com-
plicated texts. To reduce bias, it was confirmed with their teachers 4. Results
that interpretative information for each theme delivered in this
research had not been learned before the test. The total number of questionnaires distributed and returned
The experiment was conducted in September and October, 2005. was 425, of which 422 were valid. This high percentage validity
The respondents from each class of pupils were randomly assigned was expected because the experiment was conducted on a class
into two groups to watch film A or film B. All the films were played basis and the questionnaires were collected immediately after the
in the audio room for these two groups of pupils. A structured ques- students had answered all the questions. Of all the students, 209
tionnaire was designed to compare the interpretative information watched film A and 213 watched film B.
gained by respondents after watching the experiment and control
film. All pupils answered the same questionnaire. The overall time 4.1. Respondent profiles
needed for all procedures including the questionnaire survey was
approximately 30 min. The analysis found that there was no difference (P = 0.438)
detected on respondents’ gender distribution (Table 3A). The pro-
3.4. Questionnaire design portion of respondents in the two groups who had been to
Heng-Chun Botanical Garden was similar (P = 0.322, Table 3B). No
To fulfill the research objectives, the questionnaire was divided difference was observed on the degree of preference on plant-
into three parts: the context of the respondents, evaluation of learn- related knowledge (P = 0.569, Table 3C). These results demonstrated
ing, and visual evaluation of the scenes. The respondent profiles that the two groups of students are satisfactorily homogenous to
included gender, Likert scale of their interest in plants or related justify subsequent comparisons.
knowledge, and a question about their visit experience to the Heng-
Chun Tropical Botanical Garden. These were included in order to 4.2. Effects of landscape narrative on learning efficiency
recheck the homogeneity of these two randomly assigned student
The results presented in Table 4 show the average scores of
groups.
the experimental and control groups on questions associated with
In the learning evaluation part of questionnaire, four multiple-
landscape narrative. The scores for the five narrative landscape
choice questions for each theme were designed according to the
experiments were all significantly higher than those of the controls.
information provided in the film (see Appendix A(A–E)) in order to
Apart from the Indian Barringtonia Display, in which the probabil-
assess how much information was retained by respondents. Of the
ity was significant at P = 0.012 < 0.05, the effects of the remaining
four questions, two were associated with the narrative landscape
landscape narrative treatments on learning performance were all
and the other two questions, designed as the control, were not. In
the White Ficus Display, only one question was associated with the
landscape narrative. Table 4
Effects of landscape narrative on learning efficiency—questions associated with
In order to assess the landscape quality of simulated landscape landscape narrative
with narrative elements and the control, pupils were asked to
evaluate the variables, attractiveness and visual preference, on a Theme display Average scorea t-Test

five-point Likert scale. For example, ‘Strongly like’ was given a score Narrative (N)b Non-narrative (N) t-Valuec P-value
of 5, and ‘strongly dislike’ a score of 1. Scores could then be averaged White Ficus 79.9 (209) 67.3 (213) 2.95 **
0.003
across the population of respondents. Looking glass tree 47.6 (213) 37.5 (209) 2.71** 0.003
Indian Barringtonia 58.8 (209) 49.7 (213) 2.51* 0.012
Lanyu Islet Ethno-botany 47.3 (209) 39.2 (213) 3.36** 0.001
3.5. Statistical analysis Taiwan Ethno-botany 50.0 (213) 40.9 (209) 2.78** 0.006
a
Average score of 2 associated questions, 1 correct answer was scored 50, 2 correct
The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS v. 10) was used answers were scored 100.
to analyze the collected data. The 2 -test and t-test and were used b
N, total number of students.
to test the hypotheses at 5% significance level. c
*, **: Significant at 5% and 1% level.
240 L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247

Table 5 landscape narrative can help not only to convey information to

Effects of landscape narrative on learning efficiency – questions not associated with
visitors, but may also increase the aesthetic quality of the landscape.
landscape narrative

Theme display Average scorea t-Test 5. Discussions

a
Narrative (N) Non-narrative (N) t-Value P-value

White Ficus 65.2 (209) 65.2 (213) 0.006 0.996

In this study, two types of narrative landscape elements, ‘Inter-
Looking glass tree 78.2 (213) 78.5 (209) 0.108 0.914 pretive’ and ‘Association and Reference’, were incorporated by
Indian Barringtonia 41.1 (209) 45.5 (213) 1.204 0.229 computer simulation into videos of actual landscapes and both
Lanyu Islet Ethno-botany 65.3 (209) 63.1 (213) 0.624 0.533 showed substantial improvement in learning by 9–10 years old chil-
Taiwan Ethno-botany 73.7 (213) 73.4 (209) 0.077 0.939
dren. The attractiveness and preference of the theme displays were
Pooled un-associated data 62.3 (209) 63.3 (213) 0.551 0.582 also increased.
a
Average score of 2 non-associated questions, 1 correct answer was scored 50, 2 In the natural-type interpretive landscape White Ficus and Look-
correct answers were scored 100. ing glass tree displays, the twisting roots and buttress roots were
shown in their early development stage and in the developed stage
Table 6 in the theme display site. The scenes of developed entwisted roots
The effects of landscape narrative on attraction and visual preferencea of the scene and buttress roots in the experimental film clearly helped the pupils
with landscape narrative to understand these natural phenomena through oral interpreta-
Theme display Landscape Attractiveness Preference tion and the pupils gained better performance (Table 4, P = 0.003
narrative (N) score score for both theme displays) in subsequent evaluation.
In the Lanyu Islet Ethno-botany Display, colorful wooden canoes
Indian Barringtonia Yes (209) 3.98 3.9
No (213) 3.7 3.74 were incorporated since they are recognized as one of the most
t 2.255 1.303 representative features of that island off Taiwan. The inclusion of
P 0.025 0.193 these characteristic canoes in the scenery showed the most signifi-
Significanceb *
NS
cant effects on both learning (Table 4, P = 0.001) and attractiveness
Lanyu Islet Ethno-botany Yes (209) 4.16 4.02 (Table 6, P < 0.001). Similar results were demonstrated by the aver-
No (213) 3.65 3.62 age score in the Taiwan Ethno-botany Display (Table 4, P = 0.006).
t 4.045 3.908
There was one more difficult question each in both the Lanyu Islet
P 0.000 0.002
Significance *** ** and Taiwan Ethno-botany Displays, that asked the name of the plant
used to build the canoe and to construct the walls of thatch cot-
Taiwan Ethno-botany Yes (213) 3.99 3.9
No (209) 3.68 3.59
tages. The percentage of respondents who gave correct answers
t 2.660 2.568 was 11% and 32%, respectively (data not shown), lower than the
P 0.008 0.011 scores of other questions. This lower percentage of correct answers
** *
Significance indicates that botanical names of plant are generally more difficult
a
The score given is from 1 to 5. to remember. However, the percentage of correct answers was still
b
NS, *, **, ***, denote non-significant, 5%, 1%, and 0.1% level of significance. higher than when there was no narrative element present (data not
shown).
In the Indian Barringtonia Display, designed as an association
highly significant (P < 0.01). (P < 0.01 means significant at the 99% and reference type of narrative landscape, the narrative elements
confidence level.) included were large-scale marble sculptures of the flowers and
In contrast, on questions not associated with landscape narra- fruits of the Indian Barringtonia. The fact that the sculpture was
tive, the performance of the two groups of students showed no less realistic than other introduced elements may be the reason for
significant difference (Table 5). These results indicate that their lower, but still significant, effects on improving learning.
background knowledge was not related to the narrative scene of It has been pointed out that in the landscape perception pro-
each theme, confirming that the designed narrative landscape ben- cess, the senses are used to perceive the surroundings in order to
efits the learning efficiency in this study. accumulate humans’ experiences and compile their understanding
of the environment. All the sensations together are interconnected
4.3. Preference of the narrative landscape to form a complete picture when viewers perceive the environ-
ment (Bell, 1999). When presented with themes related to our daily
In addition to comparing the effects of narrative landscape on life, respondents tend to feel familiar and provide better responses.
learning efficiency, it is important to know whether or not such However, plant names or abstract concepts seem to be more dif-
narrative elements added into a landscape would influence visual ficult since information has flowed away before the recognition
preferences. Such knowledge would be useful in evaluating the and encoding process can occur. In contrast, visual scenes such
merits of applying landscape narrative in the design of thematic as canoes and thatched cottage, where clear patterns are shown,
display to improve educational functions in botanic gardens. In the are easier to encode more-or-less instantly through the pattern
previous experiment, the White Ficus and Looking glass tree Dis- recognition process of brain and associated information was taken
plays used two different natural scenes to deliver the information, naturally, so there were more improvements on learning.
so there was no basis for comparing the influence of narrative ele- Visual impressions are most important for perception and
ments added in the landscape. Therefore the influence of narrative the corresponding aesthetic response. As a result, to make the
elements on preference was compared only for the three themes scenery visually attractive is the first step to attract visitors and
shown with the same background. thus increase the possibility of conveying the intended message.
For the visual preference, it is shown that when narrative Furthermore aesthetic experiences could be pleasurable for the
elements were added into the specific site, the degrees of attrac- observers. As Edwards (2000) suggests, gaining such pleasure could
tiveness and preference were almost all significantly enhanced motivate repeated visits to a botanic garden.
(Table 6) except that the increase in preference for Indian Bar- It was also demonstrated generally that, if elements for the cre-
ringtonia was not significant (P = 0.193). These results show that ation of a narrative environment were integrated in a landscape
 L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247
through the design processes, the degree of attractiveness and
visual preference was greatly enhanced (Table 6). In this study it
was found that, where landscape narrative was used to create an
educational landscape, the preference was also increased. In this
research all simulated scenes are well designed to carry positive
message. Thus the advantages of applying landscape narrative in
design practice are further increased. In future investigations it
would be worth adding negative elements to interpretive landscape
to test whether preference is still enhanced.
From the results of this experiment, it is clear that using nar-
rative landscape for the design of display areas or theme gardens,
in conjunction with appropriate interpretation, can increase the
efficacy of learning. It was reported that of the sources of human
experience, 40% is gained through vision and 25% is through lis-
tening, while by combining the two sources, the percentage can be
increased to 70% (Li, 1990). It has been proposed that landscape
perception as a part of environment perception can be consid-
ered as a function of the interaction of humans and the landscape
(Zube et al., 1982). During the processes of landscape perception,
visitors as respondents receive stimuli from the landscape and
generate a series of interactions such as aesthetic and preference
judgments. The understanding and memory of interpreted infor-
mation is strengthened through pattern recognition and attention.
Presently, there is little research on landscape narrative and its con-
nections with cognitive psychology and learning. The theoretical
basis for the improvement of learning by landscape narrative is
worthy of further investigation, particularly since the cultivation of
an environmental ethic and environmental education are regarded
as the primary key to sustainable development of the Earth.
6. Conclusions
Scientific research into landscape narrative is still in its early
stages, and there are few studies on it. However, there is evidence
for the great potential of landscape narrative on forming an ‘edu-
cational landscape’. The strong support of landscape narrative to
the educational function of botanic gardens shown in this study
can be used in the design and management of such gardens. It
is suggested that botanic garden managers could screen the spe-
cial features and scenes from the resources it has, set up thematic
landscapes with effective content and interpretation, in order to
deliver messages most effectively. Narrative landscapes could be
designed and integrated into the environment appropriate to the
display topic coordinated by educators and landscape designers.
In the future, narrative landscapes could be simulated and evalu-
ated following the procedures reported in this study to ensure that
241
the narrative landscape is effective in terms of improving learning
efficiency.
In order to control variables of the research effectively, pupils
were chosen as respondents to take a simulated guided tour with
visual and oral interpretation, and to answer the questionnaires
afterwards. In this research, the pupils can therefore be regarded
as captive learners, and atypical of most botanic garden visitors.
Oikawa (2000) states that only small portion of visitors to botanic
gardens take an educational program or guided tour. Thus, inherent
public education is an important task for designers and educators.
It has been suggested that visitors to public sites, whether they
are facing an information panel or a live interpreter, may pick up
only messages that they are interested in. This is sometimes called
“selective attention” by psychologists (Ham, 1992). Consequently,
how to arouse public interests and let visitors obtain knowledge
from narrative landscape is worthy of future study.
In the long run to use a virtual environment to better under-
stand human perception and behaviour is not just useful to support
planning decisions, but also to create sensory realism (Bishop and
Rohrmann, 2003). As more mature virtual simulation techniques
are developed, there will be more possibility to evaluate the effec-
tiveness of narrative landscape elements before installing them in
the real landscape.
The importance of environmental education has gradually
drawn government attention, so in addition to botanic gardens,
school grounds and some parks also have great potential to combine
environmental information with pleasure. There is a need for more
studies to investigate landscape narrative and assess its educational
benefits.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the National Science Council for the
generous grant (project code: NSC93-2313-B-324-003). We would
like to express our gratitude to Dr. Hsiang-hua Wang and Ms. Shu-
hui Wu for their suggestions and assistance over the development
of this study.
Appendix A. Interpretive information and content of
questions of theme areas
A. White Ficus Display.
B. Looking glass tree Display.
C. Indian Barringtonia Display.
D. Lanyu Islet Ethno-botany Display.
E. Taiwan Ethno-botany Display.
242 L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247
L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247 243
244 L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247
L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247 245
246 L.S. Chang et al. / Landscape and Urban Planning 86 (2008) 233–247
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Li-Shin Chang is an assistant professor in Urban Planning and Landscape
Architecture at Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan. She holds a
PhD from the Centre for Horticulture and Landscape, University of Reading,
UK and a BSc in horticultural science from the National Taiwan Univer-
sity, Taiwan. Research interests include Interpretive design for environmental
education, Landscape perception and behavior, Landscape ecology and urban
greenery.
R.J. Bisgrove is Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Horticulture and Landscape,
University of Reading, UK and Course Director for the BSc degree in Landscape Man-
agement. He has a BSc in horticultural science from the University of Reading, UK,
and a MLA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. His research interests
include History of garden design, Amenity turf management and the creation of
species-rich meadows and Planting design.