Running Head: The Impact of the Classroom Settings on Students Performance and Behavior"

The Impact of the Classroom Settings on Students Performance and Behavior. Sbastien Moulin The University of Scranton

The Impact of the Classroom Settings on Students Performance and Behavior"

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The physical aspect of a classroom can have a great impact on students per-

formance. Indeed, research shows that the attention given to the decorations or the seating conguration alike can have a signicant inuence on not only results, but also behavior and anxiety. " During my time observing at Valley View High School, I was surprised by the little

attention some of the teachers gave to their classroom environment. I indeed started my observation in a language classroom that, from an observers point of view, seemed cold and bare. I was extremely surprised to see that besides a ag and a map, there were absolutely no decorations attached to the walls. This was all the more surprising given that nowadays educators have easy access to a wide variety of resources, whether it would be from a specialized provider such as Scholastic or authentic materials via the internet. The classroom I observed did not generate a positive atmosphere and did not create comfortable climate. Due to different and independent circumstances, there was another teacher who was not in a position to offer an appealing classroom environment. Indeed, she unfortunately did not have her own classroom and therefore was not able to provide her students with an engaging learning environment. Besides the pure cosmetic aspect, the physical condition of a classroom is an important factor in the creation of a benecial learning climate. In their research, Gillen et al. (2011) found that, indeed, students perceive as highly important the physical environment of their classroom (p. 75). Besides, ubuku (2012) indicates that an effective classroom environment should support learning visually and offer access to various information sources (p. 54). It is therefore capital to spend the time and resources improving and maintaining the physical aspect of the school. In this respect, a small por-

The Impact of the Classroom Settings on Students Performance and Behavior"

tion of every departments budget should go towards the purchase of educational decorations. In the case of lack of fundings, embassies and consulates of foreign countries in the United States are always happy, upon request, to provide free authentic material such as posters and maps in order to promote their nations cultures and tourism. Another way to create an engaging learning environment is to use the students own projects and work. In this respect, Woolner et al. (2007) explain that displaying students work in the classroom can increase their feeling of ownerships and involvement, leading to improved motivation (p. 13). Furthermore, Gillen et al. (2011) mention the display of students work as a strategy towards improving the learning climate (p. 76). Displaying students work in the classroom would not only create extra motivation towards the achievement of a project , but would also show the care and importance a teacher places in it, thus reinforcing the students condence and comfort. Another way to improve a classrooms atmosphere is the use of plants. Indeed, Han (2009) found in his research that incorporating plants in the classroom can increase the level of comfort and friendliness among students (p. 658). Additionally, Doxey et al. reported in their 2009 research that indoor plants in the classroom could not only increase concentration and attention (p. 384) but had also an impact on students participation (p. 390). They also reported that plants could be a suitable alternative to architectural elements such as windows (p. 390). In this respect, the use of plants appears to be an easy and efcient way to improve the students learning environment. " The increasing student population within a school district presents many chal-

lenges, starting with accommodating them on premises that cannot be expanded. Therefore, it is understandable that some teachers may not be assigned their own

The Impact of the Classroom Settings on Students Performance and Behavior"

classroom. It is indeed common throughout many school districts to have a few teachers who must use a different classroom every period, taking advantage of other teachers planning time. For instance, at Valley View High School, a class of French I/II and a class of Spanish II must be taught in two different math classes. This situation implies many challenges for the traveling teachers. First of all, they must devote some time to transitioning from one classroom to the other, which involves packing their belongings at the end of a period, walking from room to the other and unpacking again. As a consequence, these teachers often arrive to class after most of their students and are forced to waste precious teaching time in the process. This issue can be somewhat remedied by making sure that the different rooms teachers must travel to are within close proximity from one another, therefore reducing the transition time, which is what the Valley View High School administration intelligently did. Unfortunately, students suffer also from this situation as they cannot benet from the afore mentioned benets of a positive physical classroom environment. A solution would be for settled teachers who share their rooms with traveling teachers to agree to let them use some space in the classroom. This makes even more sense at Valley View High School where there are four blocks per school day. As a result, the traveling teachers use these rooms over 25% percent of the time. In regards to the French/Spanish teachers situation, it does not seem unreasonable to allow her to use a small amount of space in the math classrooms to offer her students all the possible benets of a foreign language classroom. " Foreign languages are a particular subject to teach. Contrary to other traditional

school subjects, they ideally require more oral communication than written assignments. As explained by Hewitt and Stephenson (2012), learning a foreign language can be very

The Impact of the Classroom Settings on Students Performance and Behavior"

stressful for students and can even be a distressing experience for some individuals (p. 170). Foreign language anxiety is a reality in our classrooms and it can indeed lead to poorer language performance from some students (p. 170). Hewitt and Stephenson (2012) further explain that one of the principal components of this foreign language specic anxiety is communication apprehension (p. 171). As a result, it is capital for foreign language teachers to create an environment conducive for oral communication. As afore mentioned, the physical aspect of the classroom plays an important part in making students comfortable. Furthermore, ubuku (2012) reminds us that it is indeed capital that classrooms should be established in such a way that teachers and students can communicate comfortably (p. 54). To promote such a pleasant learning environment, the seating arrangement of a classroom must be decided accordingly. Surprisingly, the great majority of the foreign language classrooms observed at Valley View High School boasted very traditional, in rows, seating arrangements. In their study, Wannarka and Ruhl (2008) remind us that a specic seating arrangement can not only impact students behavior but also students achievement (p. 89). They further explain that not one seating arrangement will accommodate all teaching situations (p. 93). They explain that a traditional in rows formation is preferable for individual tasks when, on the other hand, a semi-circle arrangement or a groups of tables will facilitate communication and cooperative work (p. 91). As a consequence, it is important that educators chose wisely the arrangement of their classrooms. In the case of foreign languages, the semi-circle or horseshoe classroom formations appear to be obvious options as they facilitate communication the most. Furthermore, it is also important to consider changing the seating arrangement according to the task at hand. The classes observed at Valley View High

The Impact of the Classroom Settings on Students Performance and Behavior"

School seemed to be ideal candidates for implementing these seating accommodations. First, on average, the foreign language classes observed had about 15 students each. This small number makes it all the more easy to move the desks at the teachers convenience. Additionally, 85 minute periods grant enough time to rearrange the seats in the middle of class should a specic task require it. Even in the case of traveling teacher, it would be easy to ask the students to modify the seating arrangement upon arriving in the classroom, and it would be as easy to take one minute at the end of the period to put the desks back in their original conguration. " In conclusion, it appears that teachers should seriously consider the impact of

the physical aspect of the classroom on students performance and behavior. It is however unfortunate that the positive ramications of such an environment are not brought forward more often in professional workshops. It is natural to focus on new teaching methods or the latest technology, however, giving attention to ones classroom environment is an easy and almost cost-free way to greatly inuence the students learning experience.

The Impact of the Classroom Settings on Students Performance and Behavior"

References ubuku, Z. (2012). Teachers Evaluation of Student-Centered Learning Environments " " Education, 133(1), 49-66.

Doxey, J. S., Waliczek, T., & Zajicek, J. M. (2009). The Impact of Interior Plants in " " " University Classrooms on Student Course Performance and on Student " " Perceptions of the Course and Instructor. Hortscience, 44(2), 384-391.

Gillen, A., Wright, A., & Spink, L. (2011). Student Perceptions of a Positive Climate for " Learning: a Case Study. Educational Psychology In Practice, 27(1), 65-82. " "

Han K. (2009). Inuence of Limitedly Visible Leafy Indoor Plants on the " " "

Psychology, Behavior, and Health of Students at a Junior High School in Taiwan. " Environment and Behavior, 41(5), 658-692.

Hewitt, E., & Stephenson, J. (2012). Foreign Language Anxiety and Oral Exam " " " ! Performance: A Replication of Phillips's MLJ Study. Modern Language Journal, ! 96(2), 170-189.

Wannarka, R., & Ruhl, K. (2008). Seating arrangements that promote positive academic " ! and behavioural outcomes: a review of empirical research. Support For Learning, 23(2), 89-93. "

Woolner, P., Hall, E., Higgins, S., McCaughey, C., & Wall, K. (2007). A Sound " " " !

Foundation? What we Know About the Impact of Environments on Learning and " the Implications for Building Schools for the Future. Oxford Review Of Education, 33(1), 47-70.