The Perfect Classroom, According to Science

By Sarika Bansal

在一間光線充足、環(huán)境整潔、窗外綠樹成蔭的教室里，學(xué)生們正安安靜靜地自習(xí)，準(zhǔn)備考試；而在另一間教室里，燈光昏暗、墻面雜亂、窗外是工地廢墟，學(xué)生們正相互掐架，無心學(xué)習(xí)。毋庸置疑，第一間教室里學(xué)生的學(xué)習(xí)成績(jī)與人格發(fā)展都明顯優(yōu)于第二間教室里的學(xué)生。難道真的是后者生源質(zhì)量不如前者嗎？教室環(huán)境會(huì)不會(huì)對(duì)學(xué)生的表現(xiàn)有著巨大的影響呢？個(gè)中原因，讓我們一探究竟。

My public high school didn’t have air conditioning1. air conditioning: 空調(diào)系統(tǒng)，空調(diào)設(shè)備。. Come June, when temperatures in New York soared past 90 degrees, it was a chore to pay attention in calculus.2. soar: 猛增，飛升；degree: 這里指華氏度（Fahrenheit），也是用來計(jì)量溫度的單位，包括中國(guó)在內(nèi)的很多國(guó)家都使用攝氏度，但美國(guó)、緬甸和利比亞三個(gè)國(guó)家則較多使用華氏度，90華氏度約為32攝氏度；chore: 討厭或累人的工作；calculus: 微積分。Who could focus on integrals when sweat was dripping down my back?3. integral:（數(shù)學(xué)）積分；drip down: 滴下。So many kids started taking refuge in4. take refuge in: 在……避難。the cool guidance counselor’s of fice that, on some hot days, she refused to see students altogether.

From the first day of kindergarten to high school graduation, children spend almost 12,000 hours inside a school building. As such, it may not be surprising to learn that the physical classroom environment can have profound effects on a student’s academic performance, sense of belonging, and self-esteem.5. profound: 深厚的，意義深遠(yuǎn)的；sense of belonging: 歸屬感；self-esteem: 自尊。

Recently, researchers at the University of Washington and UC Berkeley, led by Sapna Cheryan, combed through scienti fic literature to find the physical components that mattered the most to students.6. comb: 到處搜尋；scienti fic literature: 科學(xué)文獻(xiàn)。

They found that a building’s physical infrastructure7. infrastructure: 基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施，指基本自然環(huán)境、條件，如下文所指的自然光和空氣質(zhì)量等。(e.g., its natural light and air quality) play a signi ficant role in a student’s scores and overall concentration.

In addition, objects placed in a classroom can implicitly8. implicitly: 含蓄地，暗中地。signal the degree to which a student is valued. For instance, one experiment found that women in computer science classrooms with stereotypically masculine objects, likeStar Trekposters,9. stereotypically: 固有地，老一套的；masculine: 男性的，男子氣概的；Star Trek:《星球大戰(zhàn)》系列電影；poster: 海報(bào)。expressed less interest in pursuing a computer science career than women in classrooms with nature posters.

To be sure, some of the ideal attributes of a classroom may not always be attainable.10. attribute: 屬性，特質(zhì)；attainable: 可得到的，可實(shí)現(xiàn)的。If a classroom window faces a brick wall, it will be challenging to give students access to much sunlight. But many of the findings can, according to Cheryan et al, be implemented in mere hours for little money.11. et al: 以及其他人；implement: 實(shí)施，執(zhí)行。

This study got us thinking: what would the Platonic12. Platonic: 柏拉圖式的，理想的。ideal classroom look like? Here are some of the main features of the perfect room:

1. Light: Daylight is critical13. critical: 決定性的，非常重要的?！猘nd even better if there are natural elements outside the windows. According to Cheryan et al: “In a study with more than 2,000 classrooms in California, Washington, and Colorado, students who were exposed to a larger amount of daylight in their classroom had higher math and reading test scores than students who were exposed to less daylight in their classroom (2%—26%higher, depending on school district), even after statistically controlling for student population characteristics such as socioeconomic status and race.”14. Cheryan等人對(duì)加利福尼亞、華盛頓和科羅拉多的兩千多間教室進(jìn)行調(diào)查研究，結(jié)果表明即使在統(tǒng)計(jì)時(shí)控制了學(xué)生的人口特征，如社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)水平和人種，在教室中能接觸到大量光照的學(xué)生仍然比接觸到較少光照的學(xué)生擁有更高的數(shù)學(xué)成績(jī)和閱讀理解水平（根據(jù)不同的學(xué)校區(qū)域，高出范圍在2%—26%）。socioeconomic: 社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的。If a classroom doesn’t have a window, Cheryan suggested that it use full spectrum fluorescent lightbulbs to mimic sunlight.15. full spectrum fluorescent lightbulb: 全光譜熒光燈泡，此種燈可發(fā)出最近似自然光線的燈光；mimic: 模仿，模擬。And a coat16. coat: 覆蓋層，涂層。of paint can always help brighten a room.

2. Noise: Not surprisingly, silence really does help with concentration. Students in classrooms near airplane flight paths consistently score worse on reading tests than those in quiet neighborhoods.

3. Temperature: Students apparently17. apparently: 明顯地。learn best in classrooms between 68 and 74 degrees Fahrenheit. At least 14% of US schools report inadequate18. inadequate: 不充足的。heating. Similarly, poor air quality can hinder19. hinder: 阻礙。learning.

4. Accessibility: Of course, for any classroom to be considered inclusive, it must provide adequate structures for students with disabilities—including elevators, ramps, and clear pathways.20. accessibility: 可獲得性；inclusive: 包括一切的；elevator: 電梯；ramp: 斜坡，坡道。

5. Layout: Turning desks into clusters,21. layout:（房間、建筑物或城市的）陳設(shè)，布局；cluster: 群，組。according to one study, helps women feel more at ease in a classroom. That said, clusters can also increase the number of distractions22. distraction: 分散注意力，分心，下文的distract為其動(dòng)詞形式。for students.

6. Plants: The presence of plants has been shown to have a calming effect on people, regardless of age.

7. Wall decorations: Extremely busy walls have proven to be distracting, though posters with animals, nature, or inspirational23. inspirational: 鼓舞人心的，給予靈感的。quotes can have a positive effect on students.However, objects that subtly24. subtly: 細(xì)微地。signal that certain groups do not belong (e.g., posters of leaders who are all white men) can have a harmful effect on students that do not belong to that group. Posters displaying disrespectful stereotypes of a culture (e.g., Native American mascots, like the Chief Wahoo Cleveland Indians logo) have been linked to lower feelings of selfesteem.25. 那些表示無禮刻板文化形象的海報(bào)，例如帶有北美土著吉祥物如克里夫蘭印第安人瓦荷酋長(zhǎng)標(biāo)志的海報(bào)，就會(huì)降低學(xué)生們的自尊心。Chief Wahoo Cleveland Indians: 克里夫蘭印第安人（Cleveland Indians）是美國(guó)職棒大聯(lián)盟球隊(duì)之一，瓦荷酋長(zhǎng)（Chief Wahoo）是球隊(duì)的吉祥物?？死锓蛱m印第安人的隊(duì)名和微笑的紅臉漫畫酋長(zhǎng)標(biāo)志，長(zhǎng)久以來一直因?yàn)檠永m(xù)對(duì)美洲原住民的刻板印象而備受抨擊，抗議行動(dòng)不時(shí)發(fā)生。