Educational

Matching Teaching and Learning Styles

Matching Teaching and Learning Styles

We’ve written before in this space of the importance of flexibility in classroom design. Different activities call for different types of learning, and classroom furnishings and fixtures should be able to adapt to accommodate those varied objectives.

Teachers will also find the need to adapt to both the subject matter and the learning preferences of students. While the terminology varies, there are at least three main styles of teaching, each with its pros and cons. Let’s take a look:

Lecture

Also called teacher-centered instruction, a lecture setting is probably what comes to mind when you picture a traditional classroom. All desks face the teacher, who presents information from (usually) the front of the room. The teacher is responsible for virtually all activity. Put another way, a lecture setting is largely passive for the students and active for the teacher.

This teacher-centered approach is probably the most efficient way to disperse knowledge on a one-to-many basis, but has the downside of a potential lack of motivation on the part of the students. In other words, students being lectured to are more likely to be bored or disengaged.

Small Group Instruction

In a small group setting the teacher organizes teams to bring practical skills to a project. This is vital in helping students learn to work together, accept feedback from their peers, and compromise. The learning of interpersonal skills here may outweigh the actual subject matter, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Additionally, this setting makes it possible to both adapt assignments to address a group’s strengths or weaknesses, and to more readily discover exactly what those strengths and weaknesses are, in contrast to the one-to-many lecture setting.

The potential drawback is that a teacher can’t be everywhere at once. It will take additional effort to keep eyes and ears on each group to make sure they’re progressing on the assignment and not wasting time.

Student-Centered

A student-centered approach, often used in classrooms with older students, puts more responsibility on students to plan and implement the teaching of subject matter. The teacher takes on a more consultative role, guiding the students towards discovery rather than teaching them outright.

The obvious advantage is that in order to teach a subject, a student must first learn it well. Students take a more active role and a greater responsibility for what happens in the classroom. A possible disadvantage is that if a student comes up short in his or her responsibilities, other students pay the price in the form of missed learning.

There are other forms of teaching, of course, including the Montessori method, which grants students the freedom to pursue their own interests in place of a traditional curriculum. And remote learning is likely to continue to be a part of many classrooms. But these three main styles – and the fixtures and furnishings to support them – provide a solid foundation for a flexible, successful classroom environment.

Questions about how to match teaching and learning styles? Contact Douron.

Interconnectivity and Versatility in Classroom Design

It goes without saying that a well-designed classroom can greatly impact student engagement, learning outcomes, and overall school experience. That overall experience is perhaps more important than ever as teachers and students continue to recover from the unprecedented disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here we’ll take a look at two vital components in classroom design: interconnectivity and versatility.

Versatility in classroom design is no longer a wish-list item; it’s a necessity. The times of students spending entire days sitting at forward-facing desks in neat rows are behind us, and with good reason. Learning takes many forms and so must the classroom, adapting from configurations for private study to form factors that encourage collaboration and creativity (and yes, forward-facing seating for teacher presentations).

It’s worth noting that the flexible classroom accommodates not only different styles of education but different styles of learning. Students receive and process information in varied ways, and a learning space that can adapt will give them a better chance at success.

A versatile classroom design can be achieved through a range of elements, including modular furniture, adjustable lighting, and even acoustics. Lighting is especially important (and often overlooked). Ample natural light is conducive to better learning, but there should be a means for darkening a room as well, for group viewing of video or other presentations.

Interconnectivity refers to the integration of technology and communication in a classroom. This can range from Wi-Fi access and interactive displays to online collaboration tools and video conferencing. Interconnectivity allows for seamless communication and collaboration among students, teachers, and even remote participants. Students can access information and resources in real-time, participate in virtual field trips, and collaborate with peers from other schools.

An interconnected and versatile classroom benefits both students and educators. Students are able to explore and learn at their own pace and can collaborate with peers, both in and outside of the classroom, on projects and assignments. Technology also helps to break down barriers, allowing students to engage with diverse perspectives and experiences.

Teachers can use technology and flexible classroom design to personalize learning for their students. With the ability to adjust teaching styles to meet the needs of their students, they can better engage and motivate their students to learn. Technology can also shorten the feedback loop for teachers, offering real-time assessments and data analysis, allowing them to more quickly identify areas where their students need additional support.

Ultimately, successful outcomes depend on the educator and the curriculum combining to engage and challenge students. Those positive outcomes are far more likely when teacher and curriculum are supported by the right technological tools in a flexible learning environment.

Questions about how you can integrate interconnectivity and versatility in the classroom? Contact Douron.

Supporting Mental Health with Classroom Design

To say that the past few years have been a challenge for our students would be a great understatement. Most have experienced some combination of learning from home and physical distancing on site, both of which have not only made learning more difficult but have limited the growth of the social skills necessary for success. All of that has taken a collective toll on mental health.

The answers for these challenges vary from curricula to individual educators, but classroom design is among the factors that can support better mental health for our students. Let’s take a look:

Flexible furniture. Engaged students are more likely to learn, and in fact one study reports that the choice of classroom furniture alone can increase student participation significantly.

We have addressed the value of flexible furniture in classroom settings many times here, and it’s more important than ever. While the traditional desks-in-a-row classroom arrangement is suitable for one-to -many learning, collaborative work may call for chairs around larger tables, and a semicircle arrangement of chairs allows for better eye contact and interaction. The bottom line is that classroom furniture that can adapt to different activities will result in better engagement and better outcomes.

Get the light right. With the caveat that this may not always be controllable, classrooms should obviously have lighting adequate to the task at hand. Natural light is directly related to well-being for students (and all of us), so take care not to block windows with bookcases or other furniture. Greenery can also help contribute to better performance, whether that takes the form of plants in the classroom, the view outside the windows or both.

It is possible to have too much of a good thing, though. Large, overly bright windows without shades or blinds can create distracting glare and make it difficult to view videos, slideshows or other presentations. As with furniture, classroom lighting that can adapt to the task at hand is a worthy goal.

Start with a plan. The ideal classroom design may be very different from one educator to another. A good plan begins with a review of the curriculum, giving thought to the ideal arrangement of lighting and furniture for each component. While some of these items may not be within the control of teachers or administrators, there may be room for creative solutions. Windows that let in too much light, for example, might be partially covered with student art projects, a simple, no-cost fix.

Finally, let the students chime in. At any age, we like to feel we have a voice in what happens around us. Soliciting feedback on things like seating arrangements will make students feel valued and that their voices are important, both vital components of engagement.

Questions about how you can support your students’ mental health? Contact Douron.

BCPS Caravan of Gratitude

Welcome back to school! Starting an educator, administrator or office personnel position for the first time in a new district can be a challenge. Even coming back from Summer Break can be intimidating at times. This is why The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools created the Caravan of Gratitude.

What is a Caravan of Gratitude? It is a way to honor employees for their accomplishments as well as welcome new educators to Baltimore County Public Schools. To celebrate these new educators of 2022-23, the Education Foundation of BCPS made its first stop at the New Educators Orientation.

Douron had the pleasure of participating in this year’s Caravan of Gratitude on August 17 and 18 at Perry Hall High School. While lunch was provided, the new educators were presented with a variety of gifts from gift cards to school supplies and small classroom furniture to themed gift baskets including classroom decorations.

To learn more about the BCPS Caravan of Gratitude, click here.

Welcome students and teachers into schools with successful classroom design. Contact Douron.

Healthy Movement in the Classroom

If you’re of a certain age, chances are that you have a memory of a teacher telling you to sit still, stop fidgeting or something similar. After all, if you were moving around in your chair you must not have been paying attention, right? Wrong. Healthy movement in the classroom can be a good thing.

Research has confirmed that a moderate amount of movement actually helps to improve concentration and focus in the classroom. Looking at it from the other direction, sitting still does not mean paying attention … when we’re forced to be still we tend to wander mentally, become drowsy or both. This is true both in school and in professional settings, but it’s especially challenging for young people to keep still.

Children’s brains are still developing, and movement helps to refine the motor skills that lead to better coordination, which is directly linked to learning ability. Healthy movement encourages that development and helps keep kids more active and more alert, even if that movement happens while they’re seated.

So while part of the solution is to design a curriculum that allows for movement while out of their chairs, like getting out for walks or taking other breaks for physical activity, classroom design is increasingly allowing for movement while learning is happening, not as a separate activity.

This doesn’t necessarily mean having everyone rolling around on wheeled chairs (although rolling chairs are a great addition to a flexible classroom environment). Solutions can be as simple as providing seating with a footrest so kids can adjust their leg position. Chairs with adjustable height allow for changes in posture (and again are conducive to flexible classrooms). Other offerings include chairs that rock or bounce, or both, allowing a limited amount of movement but not enough to create a distraction from learning. Standing desks are another great option for healthy movement.

There’s no longer any doubt that movement helps learning rather than hindering it, so with any luck the days of those uncomfortable desk-bolted-to-the-chair classrooms are behind us.

Questions about classroom design for better learning? Contact Douron.

Classroom Design for STEM and STEAM Education

Over the past decade or so there’s been an increased focus on STEM education in America. There are several reasons for the trend, primary among them a continuing shortage of personnel for technology jobs, as well as the increased popularity of competitive robotics.

Even if students choose not to pursue a career in a technology field, a STEM curriculum teaches important skills like critical thinking, innovation and problem solving, and STEM concepts are now being incorporated into other educational disciplines as diverse as music and languages.

STEM, of course, stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Sometimes “arts” is added to the equation, changing the acronym to STEAM. For our purposes, we’ll stick with STEM, because when it comes to classroom design the principles for arts and technological pursuits are very similar.

What are those principles? First, flexibility. A STEM curriculum is not a “sit still at your desk and learn” environment. Considering seating alone, students might need to stand, sit at desks, sit on stools, roll from one place to another on chairs, or flop on a comfy couch to collaborate, all in the same day.

To accommodate all that, both high and low desks/tables are desirable, and they should be able to easily reconfigure for different circumstances. Tables that taper front to back can be used individually or combined in a tight formation for group work (like pizza slices). Surfaces need to be especially durable, also, to stand up to paints and chemicals or the heat of a soldering iron.

Often overlooked in planning educational settings for STEM is the need for storage. STEM is more than just coding and classroom learning; there’s a lot of hands-on work, and projects that may span multiple days or weeks. Just as with art projects, there must be space to safely store this work in between sessions, clearing the room for the next group.

Finally, remember to plan for the technical requirements of a STEM classroom. As students embrace technology, the environment must do the same, and it’s impractical to demonstrate coding techniques on an old-school chalkboard. Requirements will vary according to the curriculum, but electronic whiteboards and projectors are often parts of the solution. And there should be plenty of outlets or power strips so students can charge and power their devices.

Flexibility, durability and technology are three of the main keys to designing a successful STEM (or STEAM) learning space. We’re here to help.