Hi Carolyn - Congratulations on turning a significant "negative" into a positive learning environment! Susan
I work with instructors who like to crank the air conditioning to "keep everyone awake." But students complain of the discomfort of such extreme cold, and they are only focused on that. My class area is in an open space right next to the student cafeteria area--which means I get to lecture over lots of noise and people are always walking through my teaching area.
Instead of reacting to a poor teaching location, I have used the conditions to show how distracting it can be to work in our industry and to try to demonstrate the need to focus on the task at hand instead of on the noise and commotion surrounding the work area.
Hi Randal- Thanks for your post to the forum. You shared a very thorough synopsis of the variables in the learning environment! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Physical environment is very important for the student and instructor for several reasons: the student must be comfortable physically to concentrate on course materials and to learn and from the same perspective an instructor must be comfortable to administer instruction to desired levels. Examples of bad physical environment include: hot or cold classrooms, cramped classrooms, classrooms where visual aids and media are too far away, and classrooms with outside noise. It is also very important for the instructor to control access to the class during instruction. All too often when someone enters the classroom unexpected, the tempo of the instruction and learning experience is interupted.
Noises could distract the auditory learners; weird graphics or color could distract the visual learners; writing on the board could distract the written word learners; and sitting in an uncomfortable chair or having a desk with a strange-feeling surface could distract the tactile learners. Small distractions could make a big difference to the "right"learners.
Elizabeth
In large lecture halls, it can be challenging for auditory and visual students. If the auditory students are too far back in the auditorium, they may have a hard time hearing the teacher. In addition, challenges for visual students come about when those students who have problems seeing the screen don't take care of their eyesight before starting the class.
Most of the rooms that I teach in are better suited to auditory and visual students than the ones that learn hands on. The classroom is not always suited for labs.
Before class while setting out supplies for comps that are due for the night I try to greet each student when they come in. If I have time before class I will ask each one of them how there week is going. It helps the students feel they are in an environment that promotes listening, caring and compassion.
If a person is uncomfortable, they will be distracted from the lesson. Whether it is room temperature, comfort of the seat, limited space, etc.; there will ALWAYS be some individuals who are dissatisfied with the physical environment. The real challenge is for the instructor to effectively distract the individuals attention from their discomfort back to the lesson! :D
Is very effective,and is conductive for all students to achieve a good education.
I think the more stimulating the atmosphere, the more interested the students become.
When a physical setting is appropriate for the studen, it creates a positive learning environment. The student should feel comfortable while learning.
HI Terry - Thanks for your post to the forum. If we are unorganized it also makes us seem less professional. Great role model for your students!
Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I like to make sure the room neat and clean before the students arrive. Part of that task includes my appearance and my personal space. If My desk is a mess and I am shuffling thru my briefcase looking for materials then the students assume they can be a mess.
With our adult learners we find that arranging the room to facilitate discussion is very important. If the room is set like a class room that orientes everyone to the front, we have more difficulty engaging the students. If we rearrange the room into a conference room structure with students facing eachother, we have greater success in building good interaction. But then we still have to have a screen that everyone can comfortably see in order to present visually. It can be tricky, especially when we travel to an offsite location. It is worth checking out in advance to set the right stage for learning.
HI Terrie- Thanks for your post to the forum. You are obviously an empathetic instructor! I also teach adults and agree with you completely. Your "stations" are very innovative and I can see that they would be effective. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Hi Skip - Wow - you seem like the ultimate "Director" in your daily "performances"! Teaching is indeed like being on the stage - Great work! Best wishes - Susan
I think it is important to inspire and motivate the students... But inspiration is more than a great lesson plan...
In my classroom all of my students have a computer workstation... Strategically I always arrive in the classroom at least an hour before the class starts... then the very first thing I do is to set-up the environment... I am sensitive to the lighting - seating - and restarting all of the computers... I think it is important to create a clean organized setting for students...
I am also sensitive to how the ceiling lights or natural light from the outside is set in the room... In the early morning for example - I open the blinds and let the natural warm morning sun-light into the room plus I turn off half of the ceiling lights off in the room.. For the students getting to class first thing in the morning can be very stressful and opening the blinds and letting the morning light in can be very calming...
Restarting all of the computer workstations and making sure each desks has a chair also provides an organized environment... a fresh start...
It is so important to take control of not only your presentation but also the class room environment... I feel it is important to set the "stage" for the students... Making them feel comfortable and welcome...
As an instructor in a vocational college where the classes are larger than k-12 I find that I need to haave several activities going on at the same time to keep everyone involved in the class. The stations are different steps of a procedure. The students that master the skill level moves on to the next step. The ones that need more time to master the procedure can go back as they feel the need. Positive reinforcement is need all along the way. If a student feels they are not mastering the steps and keeping up with the others you have a tendency to loose them. Adult students are afraid of failure especially students that have been in the workforce for years and are now having to get more skills. They may have been training new employees to being the trainee.That can be a very humbling experience. With the method I have going they may master the meddle steps before the beginning steps, and as students go back and forth to the different steps, everyone is at a different stage. Adults are more afraid of failure than K-12 and you have to be careful to make sure you are giving positive reenforcement.
You need a place where the students feel relaxed and at ease. If eveyone is tense and uptight it makes teaching and learning difficult. Having a clean organized room helps.
I feel the physical setting impacts the learning preference of students in many ways and styles. I am a motorcycle technology instructor and we have a board in the class room with a complete wiring harness that works, I feel this helps the visual learners as well as the kinisthetic learners. You may also have some posters with text hanging up in the class room to help the written learners. I also like to answer questions with questions, which I feel gets the class participating and the auditory learners can listen to the class discussion and gather information.
