Classroom Environments Enhance Learning: Insights from Prof Malott

View from my desk, Spring 2024

Classroom environment may not seem like a big deal at the college level since we aren't there for the whole time we are on campus. Often our classroom assignments change each semester, and, quite possibly, from class to class if we are teaching more than one class per semester. Unlike school teachers, most college professors don't have a designated classroom.

As an adjunct, I don't even have a permanent office on campus, so classroom environment is an important topic to me. I feel that this has given me some insight into how the classroom environment can effect, and sometimes enhance, student learning.

Personally, if the environment is uncomfortable, it's not a great situation for my teaching. I'm sure it's not optimal for learning either. Not everybody may feel the same way, and that's fine. However, my one condition that I subconsciously "require" is that my classroom have windows.

This semester, I was originally assigned an interior room that was, in my opinion, sub-optimal. For the first time in my teaching career, the room was too cramped for my fully enrolled writing class. It was a bit too "institutional" for my liking as well. Without windows, I felt like I was a little constrained. I also had some concerns regarding accessibility for any students who may have needed any physical accommodations. As such, I submitted my request for a classroom change, which was happily granted.

We are now in a well-lit computer lab which has lots of space and windows! This slight change has helped to enhance my teaching and hopefully student learning as well.

Fall 2022 Classroom

This photo is from the Fall 2022 semester. It was my first semester at my present college where I returned to in-person instruction after being hired and teaching online.

While this room had a decent amount of space, the windows were located at the top third of the outside wall, allowing us to only view the treetops and skies. Still, it gave us some natural lighting, which was a boost for most of us in the classroom.

People often don't consider how natural lighting can play a role in enhancing the overall learning experience. In a 2021 study published in Cureus, researcher Raghad F. Khorshid and colleagues concluded that "Participants with anxiety disorders are affected by fluorescent light. They feel uncomfortable and would prefer to either leave the place with fluorescent light or try to adapt. Fluorescent light reminds anxiety participants of negative aspects more than healthy participants." By extension, one can conclude that such lighting could have a negative effect on the learning experience of such students.

Jeanne C. Meister, writing for the Harvard Business Review, reports of a study conducted by Dr. Alan Hedge of Cornell University. Hedge's research confirms that employees whose workplace contains natural light exposure experience the positive benefits of overall health and well-being. Would this conclusion not also extend to students? It seems pretty clear to me.

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References:

Khorshid, Raghad F. et al. “The Effect of Fluorescent Light on Anxiety Patients.” Cureus, 13 Feb. 2021, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7978391/.

Meister, Jeanne C. “The #1 Office Perk? Natural Light.” Harvard Business Review, 3 Sept. 2018, hbr.org/2018/09/the-1-office-perk-natural-light.