Space User Profiles
Fostering excellent outcomes
Fostering excellent outcomes
Harris and Whiting evaluated online learning experiences and their findings can likely be extended to other contexts. The investigators found that “Participants in online classrooms struggle to make sense of emotional interactions. This is due to the separation of physical place between persons and the inability to see the reaction of bodies in online classrooms. . . . This study uses a microethnographic approach to observe two online multicultural education courses over a 7-week term to explore the normative and socially organized practices of affect and emotion. . . .
Stereotypes' powerful effects
Bhandari and teammates link ventilation and noise and the cognitive performance of university students. They report that “focusing on ceiling fan noise in classrooms, this study investigates the effect of acoustic environment . . . on acoustic comfort, productivity, and engagement. A four-month-long field study was conducted in 11 naturally ventilated classrooms, obtaining 828 responses. . . . BGN [background noise] levels and RT [reverberation time] ranged from 58.2 to 65.3 dBA and 0.7–2.1 s, respectively.
Design can support learning (and remembering!) new material, whether we’re at work, at school, or somewhere else entirely. Using in practice what neuroscientists have unearthed makes “lessons” more productive and positive educational outcomes more likely.
Zhang and colleagues link air temperature and perceived indoor air quality in university classrooms; it seems likely that their findings are also relevant in other contexts.
A team from UCLA has confirmed that, to some extent, our knowledge is linked to place; their work is published in Science of Learning.
Bhat and associates evaluated the effects of standing on cognitive performance.
Van der Groen and colleagues link sensory experiences and learning outcomes.
Spaces for learning need to be carefully designed and managed—our brains perform much better in some places that others and our tired heads need opportunities to refresh if they’re going to continue to develop knowledge and skills. Applying what neuroscientists have learned about design-learning connections makes “lessons” more productive and positive experiences more likely.