5.+Environmental

ENVIRONMENT An Important Factor Affecting Motivation

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DEFINITIONS of learning environments
[] Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th Edition 2009 Elsevier
 * 1) The place and setting where learning occurs; it is not limited to the physical classroom and includes the characteristics of the setting. [|www.teach-nology.com/glossary/terms/l/]
 * 2) The sum of the internal and external circumstances and influences surrounding and affecting a person's learning

RELEVANCE of environment for motivation and learning

“ How students view the people, place and the process of learning are unquestionably important factors that influence the willingness to learn.” - //PIDP Unit 5 Motivation to Learn page 56//

The video below hints at the gap between the old and the new learning environment. Would you feel motivated in a classroom where the environment is designed for the instructor's benefit ?

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 * Old vs New Learning Environment** **Google Teacher Academy Application**

To reach the learners of the 21st century we have to look at the broader picture of what learning environment entails and how those aspects enhance or deter the motivation to learn. Some of these environmental motivators include not only the physical aspects of the space but also include psychological, cultural/tradition/social, political, technical and economic concerns as as well. The sum of these influences comprise the learning environment.

Aspects of Effective Learning Environmnts Ch.1 from Creating Environments for Effective Adult Learners Roger Hiemstra 1991 Jossey-Bass Inc Publishers []

Various aspects of learning environments that have already been examined by several scholars:

White (1972) has developed several criteria for assessing physical environments, and Vosko (1984) has looked at several microcomponents of physical spaces, such as seating arrangements and distance zones.  Hiemstra and Sisco (1990) have developed a checklist of items for analyzing the appropriateness of various physical environment components, centered on sensory concerns, seating, and furnishings.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Tagiuri (1968) has presented a taxonomy of environmental climate components, composed of ecology (building on classroom characteristics), milieu (individuals' characteristics), social system (interpersonal or group-patterned relationships), and culture (beliefs, values, and expectations).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Galbraith (1989, 1990) has suggested that the educational climate consists of both the physical environment and the psychological or emotional climate (for example, what takes place during the first session to establish a supportive, challenging, friendly, informal, and open atmosphere).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Pappas (1990) has laid out four key elements of what he calls the psychological environment, including spatial behavior, physical characteristics (light, temperature, noise, decor, and furniture arrangements), the role of tradition, and the affective experience (how a person anticipates and responds to a learning setting).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Belsheim (1986, 1988) has described organizational environments within continuing education settings in terms of culture, politics, economics, technological know-how, and geographical areas served.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">David (1979) has called for alternative ways of conceptualizing the physical environment, defining a functional approach to the environment in which physical features and social and curricular concerns are soon to intersect.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Gibb (1978) has developed EQ, an environmental quality scale, for measuring trust relationships within an organizational context.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Fraser and Treagust have developed the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI) (Fraser and Treagust, 1986; Fraser, Williamson, and Tobin, 1987), used to measure what they call the psychosocial environment.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Darkenwald and Valentine (Darkenwald, 1989; Darkenwald and Valentine (1986; Langenbach and Aagaard, 1990) have developed the Adult Classroom Environment Scale (ACES), used to measure the social environment of adult education classrooms.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Fellenz and Conti (1989, 1990) have clarified the need to better understand the social environment, including such issues as racism, discrimination, employment, and critical thinking, in relation to adult <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> learning.

Below, **Darkenwald's** 7 elements of **Adult Classroom Environment Scale (ACES)**, used to measure student and instructor perceptions of their preferred classroom environment.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Expanding on the above aspects, we can include the following environmental factors that influence learning and motivation.
 * Involvement || Extent to which students are satisfied with class and participate actively and attentively in activities ||
 * Affiliation || Extent to which students like and interact positively with each other ||
 * Teacher Support || Extent of help, encouragement, concern and friendship teacher directs toward students ||
 * Task Orientation || Extent to which students and teacher maintain focus on task and value achievement ||
 * Personal Goal Attainment || Extent to which teacher is flexible,, providing opportunities for students to pursue their individual interests ||
 * Organization Clarity || Extent to which class activities are clear and well organized ||
 * Student Influence || Extent to which teacher is learner-centered and allows students to participate in course planning decisions ||

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 27px;">**BREAKTHROUGH EDUCATION**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Emotions and Environment affect Learning Styles
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By HENRY S. TENEDERO <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">November 12, 2009, 9:55am
 * [|www.mb.com.ph/articles/229098/emotions-and-anvironment-affect-learning-styles]**


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SOUND. Studies reveal that the introduction of music to a school’s curriculum produced marked improvements in the students’ performance in math, reading and the sciences.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LIGHT. Light deprivation not only affects performance but can also lead to some forms of depression. Many underachieving students show a preference for dimly illuminated environments when studying, concentrating, or learning.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">TEMPERATURE. Brain researchers say that the cooler your brain is, the more relaxed you are; the warmer your brain is, the more aroused you are. Choice is the important variable in determining the temperature of the learners’ environment.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DESIGN. An effective and low-cost redesign of the learning environment involves using what is available and setting them up in new patterns. The desks, chairs, tables and other furniture
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">can be moved around to suit the learning styles of the students.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ELEMENTS OF EMOTIONS MOTIVATION. When using multimodal strategies, students are motivated to achieve in the areas of their specific interests. It is more important to provide frequent feedback, especially those that elicit feelings of motivation, encouragement and self-affirmation, than to discourage or embarrass the students.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PERSISTENCE. Persistence is having that go-go-go feeling of finishing a task or a group of tasks. The most difficult challenge for parents and teachers is how to keep students’ inclination either to complete schoolwork already begun without stopping, or to take intermittent "breaks" while completing the tasks.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">RESPONSIBILITY. Students who work on projects that hold their personal interests need minimal supervision from the teacher. There are students who conform with the directions given by their teachers, and there are students who do not. Nonconformity is marked by dissimilarity, innovation, divergent thinking or creativity. Highly non-conforming students prefer to work with others in a cooperative manner. On the other hand, highly conforming students feel secure when they follow recommended instructions.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">STRUCTURE. Some students work with specific directions while others work without them. In doing tasks without the need for directions, students find accomplishment and affirmation in the successful completion of their tasks following their own structure. However, there are students who depend on structures and directions given them before starting the tasks at hand.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The author: Henry S. Tenedero is the president of the Center for Learning and Teaching Styles, an affiliate of the International Learning Styles Network, based at St. John’s University in New York. He is a graduate of the AIM Masters in Development management and of the Harvard Graduate School for Professional Educators. He is the author of the following books: Cooking Up A Creative Genius; The HI CLASS Teacher, Breakthrough Ideas in Education; and Using Passion and Laughter in Your Presentations. He can be reached at htenedero@yahoo.com <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Emotions and environment affect learning styles]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The learning environment is then seen to be comprised of concentric and overlapping spheres of influence. The learner, their work station, the room itself, the institution, family life and one's place in the world all figure in to our learning environment. When some or all of these factors are at odds, motivation disperses and so does the learning potential.



**Two factors critical in creating a motivational climate**
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**Motivational Climate**
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">An essential part of organizing the classroom involves developing a climate in which teachers encourage students to do their best and to be excited about what they are learning. There are two factors that are critical in creating such a motivational climate: value and effort. To be motivated, students must see the worth of the work that they are doing and the work others do. A teacher's demonstration of value shows students how their work is worthwhile and is connected to things that are important for them, including other learning and interests. Effort ties the time, energy, and creativity a student uses to develop the "work," to the value that the work holds. One way that teachers encourage effort is through specific praise, telling students specifically what it is that they are doing that is worthwhile and good. In combination an understanding of the value of academic tasks and the effort necessary to complete these tasks motivate students to learn.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 32px;">APPLICATION <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">New and emerging technology in the classroom also significantly affects the learning environment. To motivate the learners of the 21st century, both the physical and virtual classroms must take new shapes to facilitate learning. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Learning Spaces that Facilitate Student Learning

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Local school districts see this need as imminent as evidenced in a recent article, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teaching changing on the fly in the Comox Valley Record.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Other schools have already begun this process, as the Timba Music school identifies and illustrates in: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10 Key Components of an Ideal Learning Environment

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Each field of study must determine it's own ideal environment. 21st century teachers have a lot to live up to and in some cases, a lot of catching up to do. As the classrooms change from the physical to the virtual, the new learning environment takes on a new parameters as well.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The following video, Personal Learning Environment introduces the educational environment of the future. **

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 * This video shows that th****e** **future is now.** **The Personal Learning E****nvironment in action.**


 * How does your classroom measure up ?**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The //Centre for Schoolong and Learning Technologies in the School of Education at Edith Cowan University of Western Australia// has created a rubric to help analyse the various components of leaning environments. It encompasses four key components: curriculum, comprehension, routine and progress and their relationship to knowledge buiding, active learning, authenic assessment, engaement, motivation & challenge, student productivity, higher level thinking, learner independence, collaborative co-operation and learning styles. Analysing Learning Environment Attributes

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A simpler rubric from Pearson Education guages three dimensions of the learning environment: the physical, classroom climate and attitudes. Learning Environment Rubic