Learning environments have been studied less thoroughly in European universities than they have in American colleges and universities. Several research strategies which have been developed in the United States are discussed. One strategy, adapted to analyze the special conditions found in European universities, and an instrument which provides evidence about student perceptions of their environments, are described. The results of a study of one university in the Netherlands indicate that there are distinctive atmospheres found in various departments; departments differ from one another in understandable ways, and each department has its own kind of educational problems. It is argued that systematic analyses of learning environments might identify problems in universities and permit solutions to be found so that more effective educational contexts may be created.
The environment of a university is shaped by the totality of the university's programs,,personnel, policies, and procedures which are designed to promote learning. Although universities provide environments which are widely assumed to facilitate learning, there has been surprisingly little systematic analysis of the qualities of those environments and the ways in which they affect the learners; this lack is particularly evident in European universities.
University environments have generally been conceived of in terms of certain formal, rather superficial categories, such as their degree programs,