Environmental refers to the immediate instructional environment. Does the student prefer to learn in quiet, with music or noise? How much light do they need? What temperature is the environment and even the seating preference?
Dunn and Dunn allocated four stimuli to the Environmental Element:
- Sound
- Light
- Temperature
- Design
Sound
For many years, educators believed that extra stimuli was important to the learner and even that an open learning concept was essential. Do you remember the open classroom concept? Classrooms were built in pods with no walls between them. This created echoing and excessive noise. The belief at the time was the individuals who needed less noise would simply block it out.
Dunn and Dunn, however, identified that individuals have preferences for sound on a spectrum of a lot of noise to complete silence.
Take a moment to ponder your preference. When you read, do you prefer silence? When you’re alone, do you quickly turn on the television or music to drown out the silence? Think of what your environment looks like when you have a major project to complete – a written project in particular. Will you seek out a quiet place or will you take the time to find a corner somewhere that you can hide in silence?
Now that you have identified your preference, what do you think the preference is of someone close to you? Your spouse? Office mate? Boss? Best friend?
Light
Interestingly, light is actually the factor with the least amount of preference for individuals. Yet, there is research that suggests that light is more important as individual’s age. Some individuals will be more light needy than others -requiring brighter lights and dimmer lights.
Motivation is also a contributor when it comes to light. As individuals are highly motivated to learn or read, they will endure conditions with great light and little light. Malcolm X shared his experiences of his desire to read despite a lack of light.
“At one hour intervals the night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard the approaching footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light glow, where I would read for another 58 minutes. That went on until three or four every morning” (Mass Moments).
Despite light being the least stimuli preference, individuals still share that light has the effects of bringing lethargy, making them uncomfortable, tense, anxiety and even apathy to learning or energizing learning.
There have also been many studies, especially recently with the rise in technology and screen usage, on the varying effects of differing lights -such as blue lights versus yellow lights (Heiting, 2021).
Take some time to quietly evaluate your light preferences. Do you prefer bright light or dim light? Does your preference to light change throughout the day?
Temperature
Temperature is an interesting stimulus to the Environmental Element. Have you ever been in a room and felt excessively cold or hot while the person next to you had the opposite feeling? Or have you had someone complain about wearing too many layers while you wished you had another layer?
Individual reactions to temperature are a unique response and it varies. Think for a moment how warm the weather will feel to you in the spring -but the same temperature in the fall will feel cold because you just endured warmer weather throughout the summer.
The difficult piece for educators is finding a temperature that will meet the needs of all students. There will not be the perfect setting that will meet the needs of all of your students in a confined location. The best option is to let students migrate to the location in the classroom what is best for them. For instance, if they prefer heat, they may prefer to sit by the windows where the sun beats in. Or if they need cooler weather, they may prefer to sit next to the air conditioning vent.
Think about your best temperature point for learning. At what temperature do you achieve the most optimal learning?
Design
Design is a fascinating component. It is about the way in which you study that you are most comfortable. That simple. But it is complicated in that design changes from time of day, activities, age, health and many other attributes.
When thinking about design, ponder a moment when you saw someone reading or studying in a strange place or sitting in a strange manner. I once witnessed a teenage student sitting cross-legged on the floor and then leaned completely in half to write on a piece of paper on the floor. They did their entire homework assignment bent in half in such a manner for nearly 30 minutes.
Compare that to another individual who may need to be sitting at a desk to study. Maybe a student prefers to be laying down.
The spectrum for design gravitates from an informal design to a formal design. Do you learn best in a more informal manner or more formal manner? Does your preference change from activity to activity? Day to day? Time of day?
Conclusion
Knowing this information will aid you in creating the optimal learning environment for yourself and others. Take the information you gathered and compile it in one place. This preference is also helpful as you work with others, especially as you recognize and acknowledge the differences in your preferences.
Sources:
Anonymous. (2014). Why Lighting is Important for the Aging Eye. Retrieved from https://www.seriousreaders.com/blog/why-lighting-is-important-for-the-aging-eye#:~:text=Lighting%20can%20make%20a%20critical%20difference%20to%20elderly%20people%20with%20deteriorating%20vision.&text=More%20Light%20Is%20Required%20Less,less%20light%20enters%20the%20eye.
Dunn, R. & Dunn, K. (1978). Teaching Students Through Their Individual Learning Styles: A Practical Approach. Allyn and Bacon.
Heiting, D. (2021). Blue light facts: How blue light affects your eyes. Retrieved from https://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/blue-light.htm
Mass Moments. (2021). Malcolm X Imprisoned. Retrieved from https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/malcolm-x-imprisoned.html
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By Tracy Atkinson
Tracy Atkinson, mother of six, lives in the Southwest with her husband and spirited long-haired miniature dachshunds. She is a teacher, having taught elementary school to higher education, holding degrees in elementary education and an EDS in higher education. Her passion is researching, studying and investigating the attributes related to self-directed learners and learning styles. She has published several titles, including MBTI Learning Styles: A Practical Approach, The Art of Learning Journals, Calais: The Annals of the Hidden, Lemosa: The Annals of the Hidden, Book Two, Rachel’s 8 and Securing Your Tent. She is currently working on a non-fiction text exploring the attributes of self-directed learners: The Five Characteristics of Self-directed Learners.
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