It is a common sight within elementary school classrooms that almost every inch on the wall are covered with colorful paraphernalia ranging from maps, scientific posters, artworks and school announcements. These things are normally posted to stimulate students visually through their environment classroom-setting.
However, a study recently conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University on classroom design showed that additional postings on the wall might not be that effective in teaching kids learn, and in fact, these room decors are actually distracting to them.
CMU researchers carried out the study for two weeks with 24 participants who are all kindergarten students. These students were made to learn lessons on topics which they haven’t studied in the past yet. Three of the lessons were conducted within a classroom setting with colorful decorations, posters and artworks on the wall, while three of the other lessons were taught in a sparsely-decorated classroom.
According to their study, kids were easily distracted and focused on off-task activities when they were inside the highly-decorated classroom. The researchers also found out that the kids got better test results on lessons they learned in sparsely-decorated rooms compared to the subjects they were taught in visually stimulating classrooms.
Majority of school children in elementary stay in one room to learn their lessons all day long. This means that classroom posters and artworks may or may not be related to the lesson that they are learning at any given point during the time. So for example, a classroom poster may show the table of elements but kids are learning geography, science or english as their current lesson. This study is an essential addition to the research that shows how irrelevant visuals can distract school children with their on-going instructions.
Through the results of the study, researchers suggest that teachers should take into account what goes on into the design of the classroom as it can directly impact the students’ ability to pay attention and retain lessons that they are learning in school.
