In this area there are articles that relate to the impact of the physical environment on student learning. Articles might address the difference between having the teacher's desks at the front of the room or on the side; desks in rows or grouped; access to computers in the classroom versus in a lab; open architecture for the classroom versus closed; asphalt playground versus grass; urban classroom versus suburban.
Classroom Climate
Establishing a positive classroom climate enhances academic achievement and helps to promote appropriate classroom behaviour.
Classroom Environment Characteristics for Enhancement of Critical Thinking
A classroom based study was accomplished by Judy Ruland while a faculty member at Hartwick College,
in Oneonta NY. Four hundred first-year college students in this small liberal arts college were pre- and post-tested at the beginning and end of fall term using the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal.
Classroom Organization
Here are some simple guidelines to help you make your classroom teacher, learner, and community friendly.
Creating a Learner-Centered Environment
The environment we create for our students is equally as important as the content we teach and the learning strategies we use. This applies to all teachers of all age groups from preschool to graduate school.
Enhancing Students' Socialization
ERIC Digest ED 395713
(1996)
Author: Jere Brophy
Research on effective practices associated with working with diverse learners in classrooms.
Establishing a Supportive Classroom Environment
Classes with a positive emotional climate are characterized by a sense of connection, curiosity, and intellectual excitement. However, other classes experience a pervasive sense of negativity among students, overt hostility expressed by many people in the course, or resistance to completing assignments or participating.
Physical Setting
The set up of the classroom depends upon the teaching style of the teacher, learning styles of the student, and the type of teaching system used.
Setting Up Your Classroom
Classroom setup can dramatically affect students' attitudes toward and habits of learning. Students need an environment that is organized, stimulating, and comfortable in order to learn effectively.
Teaching Methods COOPERATIVE LEARNING
Cooperative learning can be summarized as “the instructional use of small groups so that the students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning.” Cooperative learning groups proliferate in every educational setting, regardless of the age or educational level of the students present. In cooperative learning situations, there is a “positive interdependence among students’ goal attainments; students perceive that they can reach their learning goals if and only if the other students in the learning group also reach their goals.”
The NBCTs in these video clips have chosen to use cooperative learning groups to meet specific content goals.
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