Brain Research and the Learning Environment

Recent brain research also supports the growing awareness that we need to provide students with opportunities to become emotionally connected to their learning. In addition to creating an atmosphere of safety and security, this can be accomplished, in part, through physical spaces that support a sense of student ownership.

Anyone who has walked the halls of an elementary school is familiar with “public displays of student work”. Still evident in middle school, they are often hard to find in a typical high school. But it turns out that student display areas have an important role in helping to create a sense of student ownership. It is also important for students to have gathering places that promote social interaction, and learning spaces that support collaborative groupings of varying sizes.

Sterile learning environments are not conducive to creative thinking. (This probably says something about the ancient habit of arranging student desks in nice, neat rows.) Facilities’ design should take into account how color and texture can create a sense of warmth, as well as stimulation for the brain.

The physical classroom environment should be seen as part of the school’s overall educational strategy. In fact, the quality of that environment has been shown to have a greater impact on learning than the educational level of the classroom teacher.

A finding that runs counter to an assumption from the old days when I was in school: having a view of living things (such as the outdoors) aids student concentration. In fact, having efficient access to outdoor learning areas is being seen as increasingly important.