Friday, 10 November 2017

Inquiry Project

Guiding question: How does the physical classroom design (e.g., seat plan and room decoration) enhance students in learning?

Annotated bibliography:

Martin, S. H. (2002). The classroom environment and its effect on the practice of teachers. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 22, 139-156.
The paper describes the impact of the classroom design on the practice of teachers.

Barrett, P., Davies, F., Zhang, Y., & Barrett, L., (2015). The impact of classroom on pupils' learning: Final results of a holistic, multi-level analysis. Building and Environment, 89, 118-133.
It is about how the physical classroom features influence the learning of pupils.

Ramli, N.H., Ahmad, S., & Masri, M. H. (2013). Improving the classroom physical environment: Classroom users' perception. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 101, 221-229.
The paper examines the perception of classroom users on their conventional classrooms and their preferred version of classroom environment.

Castellucci, H. I., Arezes, P. M., Molenbroek, F. M., Bruin, R., & Viviani, C. (2017). The influence of school furniture on students' performance and physical responses: results of a systematic review. Ergonomics, 60(1), 93-110.
The paper uses a systematic review to determine how the design and dimensions of school furniture affect students' responses and their performance.

Tondeur, J., Herman, F., Buck, M., & Triquet, K. (2017). Classroom biographies: Teaching and learning in evolving material landscapes (c. 1960-2015). European Journal of Education, 52, 280-294.
The paper explores the impacts of physical learning environment on teaching practices.

Romina, A. (2014). Students' perception of the condition of their classroom physical learning and its impact on their learning and motivation. College Student Journal, 48(4), 716-726.
The paper investigates how secondary school students perceive the condition of their physical learning environment and its impact on their learning and motivation.

Lei, S. A. (2012). Classroom physical design influencing student learning and evaluations of college instructors: A review of literature. Education (Chula Vista), 131(1), 128-134.
The paper reviews how specific classroom physical attributes can influence student learning and subsequent student evaluations of college instructors.

Hill, M. C., Epps, K. K. (2010). The impact of of physical classroom environment on student satisfaction and student evaluation of teaching in the university environment. Academy of Educational leadership Journal, 14(4), 65-79.
The paper analyzes the influence of classroom environment features on student satisfaction and student evaluation of teaching in the university environment.

Yang, Z., Becerik-Gerber, B. & Mino, L. (2013). A study of student perceptions of higher education classrooms: Impact of classroom attributes on student satisfaction and performance. Building and Environment, 70, 171-188.
The paper explores how classroom attributes affect student satisfaction and performance in higher education classrooms.
Marx, A., Fuhrer, U. & Hartig, T. (1999). Effects of classroom seating arrangement on children's question-asking. Learning Environments Research, 2(3), 249-263.
The paper is about the investigation of the relationship between the classroom seating arrangements and the question-asking of grade 4 children.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kOh1VYCsRs
The video talks about difference kinds of classroom setting (i.e., traditional. U-shape, and cluster) and their pros and cons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNN-LqngvIE
The video talks about different types of standing desks and effects of sitting vs standing at work.





Thursday, 2 November 2017

Role models and equity in the classroom

Most people think males are better than females in mathematics but actually research shows there is no difference between the two genders, no matter where they are in the world. Actually, there are a few famous mathematicians who are females, like Mary Cartwright, Maryam Mirzakhani and Shafi Goldwasser. Thus, in classrooms, teachers should not stereotype that scientists and mathematicians are males only. Also, one of the classmates mentioned that when she was in high school, her teacher always asked boys to lead a project or an activity and girls to help boys as assistants. This was very unfair to girls and so as a future teacher, I would treat all students the same and assign tasks based on the students' competencies.