It is commonly believed that students learn better when the conditions are as comfortable as possible, and that teachers are demanding yet incredibly kind. Without a good mentor who is universally liked, it is practically impossible to grasp the material and successfully pass exams, isn't it? Teaching methods also need to be appealing, and the learning process should evoke only positive emotions. This is true. However, as researchers have found, this is not always the case.
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The easier and more comfortable, the better
The more comfortable and easier it is to learn, the higher the results. This is a fact supported by research conducted in various countries—from Iran and Kazakhstan to Russia and Australia. Everyone agrees on this point, and cultural differences do not have a significant impact. Thus, according to , conducted by the University of Medical Sciences in Iran, student performance, motivation, and satisfaction with the learning process are directly dependent on the characteristics of the educational environment. Therefore, "teachers and course leaders must provide the best learning conditions with various support systems for students."
An important aspect of the educational environment is the emotional evaluation of the subjects studied at the university. Those that seem "boring" or "unnecessary" to students are often harder for them to grasp. A negative perception of a particular discipline adversely affects academic performance; a positive one— . Students directly associate their interest in subjects with their successes. Thus, positive results in the senior years may manifest more frequently as practical work related to their specialty becomes available.
Another significant component of the educational environment is the relationship with teachers, their ability to motivate students and encourage them to learn. conducted at Tambov State University, indicates that the quality of teachers is of utmost importance to first-year students. "Yesterday's applicants place great hopes on the teaching staff. They highly appreciate its influence on their attitude towards studying. This is the strongest factor for them," the study noted. The teachers themselves, it seems, sometimes tend to overestimate their own influence on students and schoolchildren—from the banal "without my lectures, you won't understand anything in the subject" to the idealistic "children need to be loved; otherwise, they won't study."
In this sense, an illustrative example is the emotional of American teacher Rita Pearson, who has 40 years of experience. At one point, her colleague stated, as Pearson recounted during her speech: "I am not paid to love children. I am paid to teach them. And they must study. End of discussion." "Children do not learn from those they do not love," Rita Pearson replied, earning thunderous applause from the audience.
However, almost everyone can recall how a teacher or subject in university could be unlikable, yet exams were passed well, and knowledge was retained. Is there a contradiction here?
It is possible to study well "despite not wanting to"
Changes in the familiar presentation of material and the transition to different teaching methods can provoke certain dissatisfaction, negative emotions, or even cause stress. This is understandable: it is difficult to abandon established stereotypes in education. However, this does not always lead to worse results. Moreover, positive emotions do not always contribute to them.
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A significant study was conducted at the Harvard University Physics Department this spring. Two forms of learning were used in classes: passive and active. And they looked at attitudes towards the educational process. In the first case, traditional lectures and seminars were held. In the second, interactive classes in a "question - answer" format, where students solved problems while working in groups. The role of the teacher was minimal: they only asked questions and offered help. The experiment involved 149 people.
The interactive format did not suit most students. They were outraged that they were held responsible for the process, complained, and claimed they exerted much more effort compared to attending lectures. Most of them asked for all subjects to be taught in the usual way in the future. The level of negative perception of the educational process, determined by a specific methodology, was more than half higher after classes conducted in an active format compared to traditional ones. The final knowledge assessment showed that the results of interactive classes were almost 50% higher. Thus, despite the negative perception of "educational innovations," academic performance significantly increased.
Of course, positive emotions are needed. But it’s not that simple. They can also distract from studying. at the University of Arizona. Moreover, the role of the teacher and how much they are liked does not always determine the quality of the educational process. "Students can learn and do indeed learn from people they do not like. Our brains do not shut off due to our critical evaluation of those imparting knowledge. I did not like my high school biology teacher, but I still remember the structure of cells," — Blake Harvard, Ph.D. and high school psychology teacher at one of the schools in Alabama.
TL;DR
- Good results can also be shown in difficult conditions, for example, when teaching methods are unfamiliar and subjectively perceived as inconvenient and creating too many additional problems.
- Many factors influence learning, including individual student traits, ranging from the characteristics of the nervous system to motivation and confidence in their own abilities.
- Of course, there is a connection between study effectiveness and a comfortable environment at the university or the qualities of teachers, and it is indeed important, but this is not the key factor.
What else to read on the topic in our blog:
Source: habr.com
