Introduction
The environment is very important in all parts of life. At work, the environment has been observed to affect the productivity of workers. In other areas such as museums, religious buildings, and business premises, there are a lot of considerations on the environment created. A lot of investments go into creating an environment that would invoke a certain attitude or send a given message. Just as in other areas, the environment can affect learning. The learning environment can either promote or inhibit the process. There has been an over-emphasis on learning curriculum and syllabus while failing to focus on the learning environment but it is essentials to learning.
Role of the environment in learning
The environment can be categorized into two parts: physical environment and psychological environment. The size of a class, amount of light, ventilation, amount of sound, and other environmental factors comprise the physical environment (Suina & Loughlin, 2002, p. 43). This environmental factor is influenced by architectural design and the location of a learning institution. The psychological environment comprises psychological factors that can affect learning such as attitude. It can also be referred to as the arranged environment and is created by the teachers. Both physical and psychological environments affect the ability of a student to take, process, and store information
Architectural facility
The architectural design of a learning facility has a great influence on learning. The learning facility is responsible for the setting through which interactions between educators and students and students and other students will be made. It also provides a setting through which people and materials will interact. Basic environmental conditions such as the amount of light, temperature, ventilation, and sound are determined by the architectural design of the learning facility. The design also affects the separation or intrusion of different groups of people. It is also responsible for other effects such as color, texture, and learning space.
Basic environment conditions affect the ability of students to learn. The amount of light in the learning facility would affect the student’s ability to read and view other learning facilities such as black and whiteboards. Sufficient light is needed; too much or too low light interfere with learning and it may lead to eye problems (Frymier & Joekel, 2004, p.113). Thus, a learning facility should have enough illumination to enable educators and learners to interact. The amount and quality of sound in a learning facility affect learning. Educators and learners should be able to hear and understand each other (Managing Business Communication, 2005, p. 27). The external sound may interfere with learners’ concentration. Thus, the design of the learning environment should ensure that learners are not distracted by external sounds (Frymier & Joekel, 2004, p. 117). It should also ensure that sound produced in the learning facility does not affect other learners in other rooms. In the same way, temperatures affect students’ concentrations; the architectural design of a learning environment should ensure temperatures are favorable for learning.
Arranged environment
Apart from architectural design, the arranged environment is very influential to learning. The arranged learning environment is a learning environment created by teachers to meet certain learning needs. This environment is created within the physical settings created by the architectural design of the learning facility (Freiberg, 1999, p.126). It can be referred to as a created learning environment to accommodate for its dynamism. Arranged learning environment makes use of the relationship between the physical environment and humans behavior to create an environment that is favorable to a certain learning program. Thus, the arranged learning environment is used as a teaching tool or as a complement to other instruction strategies.
The arranged learning environment can be used to predict and influence the behavior of students. In case that a teacher predicts that certain behavior is likely to occur in learning, he can influence the outcome of the behavior to favor learning. For example, a teacher may use complexity to influence the concentration of students (Bosch, 2006, p116). An arranged learning environment that creates a high level of complexity would increase concentration while that which creates a low level of complexity would lead to low concentration.
The learning environment is important for class management. Time is an important element in teaching (Moore, 2005, p. 60). The learning environment can be arranged to minimize the amount of time used in giving out learning materials, executing routine shores, and managing students’ behavior. In most classes, the arranged environment is created to allow easy access of a teacher to all parts of the class and allow students to participate actively in learning.
Conclusion
Learning is not an independent activity that is not affected by other external factors. The environment is very important to learning and it influences its success or failure. Architectural design for learning facilities should be able to create basic environmental conditions that are favorable to learning. The space, amount of light, sound, temperature ventilation, and other basics factors should promote learning. Besides, the arranged learning environment can be created by teachers to enhance learning at specific conditions.
Reference List
Bosch, K. (2006):-Planning classroom management: a five-step process to creating a positive learning environment:-New York: Corwin Press.
Frymier, R., & Joekel, J. (2004). Changing the school learning environment: where do we stand after decades of reform?-New York: ScarecrowEducation.
Freiberg, J. (1999). School climate: measuring, improving, and sustaining healthy learning environments. London: Routledge.
Managing Business Communication (2005). Learning environment:-London: Pearson Education.
Moore, K. (2005). Effective instructional strategies: from theory to practice:-New York: Sage.
Suina, J., & Loughlin, C. (2002). The learning environment: an instructional strategy. New York:-RSM Press.