How the Environment Affects Students’ Learning
How the Environment Affects Students’ Learning
By: Jessica Robinson
REED 504: Processes and Acquisition of Reading Skills
Professor Curbeam-Newby
Recently there has been more thought put into how vital a students’ environment is as it relates to their academic success. Both community environment and physical learning environment in schools have a great deal of influence on how the students learn, handle certain situations, perceive things, and overall just how their brain processes things. If either environment is lacking or overly induced with certain factors it could be detrimental to a child’s academic growth. As educators we need to ensure that we are aware of the issues that can occur from environments that are not stable and take them into consideration when dealing with our students and their academics. Once we are aware we need to do all that we can do to ensure that the time spent in school is fit for learning. With consideration also comes understanding. Outside environments can take a toll on a child, and we need to be sympathetic to that when dealing with students experiencing a tough environment. In this paper I will be discussing the affects of the physical environment for learning (the school/classroom) as well as the outside environment (neighborhood/community).
The physical environment for learning has been a major topic amongst neuroscientists recently. When you think about it what’s the first thing a student does when it walks into a classroom or on a campus? They look around, listen, breathe in the air, and form judgments about the environment. According to Jensen (2005), physical environments influence how we feel, hear and see. Those factors then influence cognitive and affective performance, which is vital to the learning process. Before educators decide to make changes in our classroom environment we need to follow a certain process, according to Guardino and Fullerton (2010 CEC) that includes observing, modifying,
By: Jessica Robinson
REED 504: Processes and Acquisition of Reading Skills
Professor Curbeam-Newby
Recently there has been more thought put into how vital a students’ environment is as it relates to their academic success. Both community environment and physical learning environment in schools have a great deal of influence on how the students learn, handle certain situations, perceive things, and overall just how their brain processes things. If either environment is lacking or overly induced with certain factors it could be detrimental to a child’s academic growth. As educators we need to ensure that we are aware of the issues that can occur from environments that are not stable and take them into consideration when dealing with our students and their academics. Once we are aware we need to do all that we can do to ensure that the time spent in school is fit for learning. With consideration also comes understanding. Outside environments can take a toll on a child, and we need to be sympathetic to that when dealing with students experiencing a tough environment. In this paper I will be discussing the affects of the physical environment for learning (the school/classroom) as well as the outside environment (neighborhood/community).
The physical environment for learning has been a major topic amongst neuroscientists recently. When you think about it what’s the first thing a student does when it walks into a classroom or on a campus? They look around, listen, breathe in the air, and form judgments about the environment. According to Jensen (2005), physical environments influence how we feel, hear and see. Those factors then influence cognitive and affective performance, which is vital to the learning process. Before educators decide to make changes in our classroom environment we need to follow a certain process, according to Guardino and Fullerton (2010 CEC) that includes observing, modifying,
References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affect_(psychology) Jensen, E.,(2005).Teaching with the Brain in Mind 2nd Edition. Alexandria, Va. Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development Lawson, C., (2002). The Connections Between Emotions and Learning. Goleman, D., (1995). Emotional Intelligence. BantamBooks: New York. Guardino, C. and Fullerton, E. (2010) Changing Behaviors by Changing the Classroom Environment. Teaching Exceptional Children, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 8-13.Copyright 2010 CEC