I love Pintrest. It's like the one-stop-shop of ideas. Every year, I think how to rearrange that "physical" space to cater for the new class. If you are lucky enough to be teaching the same subject, you have a chance to build your resources. In special education, I am ALWAYS making new ones as the differentiation in teaching is so diverse every year. As I consider the Home Ec or Textiles environment I think of the elements that helps inspire creativity.
Cognitive
psychologists discovered different design principles to enhance memory
performance and in that way remembering the information. The retrieving process
depends on many variables and one of them is colour. Colour is the most powerful
stimulus for the brain. It opens up other areas of the brain and allows greater
and easier learning and remembering.
Information enters our brain through eyes and ears and it is stored in
the so called sensory memory. But we can pay attention only to a small amount
of information. Once something has attracted our attention, it moves into our
working memory. The brain notices and remembers colour first.
Jana Jan (2014) How Colours can enhance memory
performance viewed on https://blog.edynco.com/instructional-design/how-colors-can-enhance-memory-performance/
Researchers and experts have made a few
important discoveries and observations about the psychology of colour and the
effect it has on moods, feelings, and behaviours.
This seems relevant considering the information I have been reading on adolescent learners. They need extra visuals to help focus their attention, consolidate knowledge and help them with their "frontal lobe" issues related to their emotions. From the research on colour psychology there are implication in the classroom for:
1.The physical learning environment
2. Our "emotional" connections when immersed in an environment with colour
3. The way information is presented both in paper copy and with Web tools
4. Finally some learning about colours that suit each one of us when it comes to designing
textiles that we may wear.
So Which colours?
Like all things, colouring is about balance. While one attribute may be positive, it seems too much of it becomes counter-productive.
Cool Colours - Blue, green & purple. Most often used for painting walls
Blue - Intelligence but negatively creates coldness
Green – Balance & Harmony. It is good for reading comprehension (green clear sheet) improves reading.
It is easiest on the eyes.
Violet - spirituality and luxury.
Green, blue, violet – in advertising can often evoke indifference
Warm colours create calm – red, yellow, orange
Red - shows strength and is the colour most preferred for advertising and marketing. It can negativity signal aggression
Yellow - Exudes friendliness and taps the emotions.Too much yellow fatigues the eyes but generally enhances concentration. Black words on a yellow background is the preferred arrangement for students with visual impairments
Orange - warmth & passion.
Pink – femininity and calm but over time can create agitation
Black - sophistication and glamour
Layered colours – create tranquillity
Application of Colour
It seems colour psychology is used mainly in colour therapy, design and marketing but according to Sylivia O'Brien (www.colourtheory.net) there are colours that are best suited for learning in education. She notes,
"when
dealing with colour in any environment we are always creating an atmosphere.
The challenge of developing a unique & functioning palette for an
educational application is a wonderful opportunity to develop something
meaningful".
The blue colour family
works well in science & math based classrooms by lowering the heart rate
& allowing concentration to kick in.
The natural colour of
balance, greens are great for counseling,
libraries, history & social studies spaces. The calm of blue and creativity
of yellow collide in the multi-tasking green family of colour.
Gentle energy yellows are great for classrooms dealing
with languages & other creative pursuits...fine art, dance, culinary arts
Oranges & peach tones support athletic facilities, drama,
media centres & cafeteria settings. Warning: too much can overstimulate so
best to balance out with a complimentary cool tone
School entrances &
hallways are a great platform to show school colours (community) & use
stronger colours to uplift the energy in the walk between classes, balanced out
with neutrals.
Application for eLearning includes:
- Use colour schemes that use three tones
- use complimentary colours to highlight critical information (eg purple/yellow are opposites on the colour wheel)
- Use monochromatic colours to group similar facts or when using a learning map for each group of concepts along the branch of similar facts
- Saturated colours are kinder on the eyes than hues
1. http://info.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/348188/6-Ways-Color-Psychology-Can-Be-Used-to-Design-Effective-eLearning
2. http://www.silk-flower-smart.com/floral-arrangement-tips.html
Interesting websites for further reading
Sylivis O'Brien (www.colourtheory.net) has information on implications for education.
Colour Psychology:
http://www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours
has information about the effect of colours
COLOUR OBJECTS
(2015) Psychology of Colour in the Educational Environment viewed on
http://www.colorobjects.com/en/color-columns/the-colour-real/item/357-psychology-of-colour-in-the-educational-environment.html
Pulling it altogether
I'm sure there is no one perfect classroom or learning environment. With pedagogy considered, creative tools for inspiration (posters/activities, visual stimuli) and some ideas about "creating a learning atmosphere" that considers colour, the remaining elements of the ideal classroom will be the dynamic interactions that happen between students and the learning resources.
My classroom has order and everything has a place. I have a place for those "random acts of learning" resources that we have lying around or think may come in handy one day. Students have their place for equipment and books and an allocated and labelled place for our shared resources. There is the place for our "manipulative" resources and a place where there are resources for extension or independent learning time.
Working with teenagers, I have a place that looks like it is for teenagers and is contextual to the learners. We work on this space together.
I suppose the last comment to make is that place in the classroom that is not assessable and is the place we can put our creations/comments/ideas. It is a place that allows communication to happen between those in the classroom. It is a shared space and may have our "corporate" learning which may be a piece of work or collection of works that makes up the "us" of the class community.
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