ESP Course Management

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Lecturer :

Dewi Kurniawati, M.Pd

Group : 2

Arranged by:

AMANDA NARALIZA 1711040015

FARADILA HUMAIRA 1711040057

TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING FACULTY

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

2020
 Preface

First of all, thanks to Allah SWT because of the help of Allah, compilers finished writing
the paper entitled “Learning Environment” right in the calculated time.

The purpose in writing this paper is to fulfill the assignment that given by Ms. Dewi
Kurniawati, M.Pd as lecturer in English for Specific Purposes major. 

Compilers realized this paper still imperfect in arrangement and the content too. I hope
the criticism from the readers can help us in perfecting the next paper. Last but not the least
Hopefully, this paper can helps the readers to gain more knowledge about Learning
Environment.

Bandar Lampung, March 3rd, 2020

Compilers

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE ...................................................................................................i

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................ii

CHAPTER I

A. Background .....................................................................................1
B. Identification of the problem............................................................1
C. Purpose ............................................................................................2

CHAPTER II

A. Definition of Learning Environment................................................

B. Manage Actively and Equitably Engange Learners by Organizing.
C. Allocating The Resources of Time........................................
D. Space and Learners Attention .........................................................

CHAPTER III

Conclusion ..................................................................................................

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 CHAPTER I
A. Background

One of the priority education problems is the education environment, especially the
learning environment. With a good learning environment, automatically most of the learning can
be well received by students. A good environment can be interpreted as support for students in
the learning process. Different students' thinking makes the environment very influential in the
learning process of students, especially the learning environment of the family. In addition to the
family environment, the learning environment can also be influenced by the student's social
environment and the environment around the house.

B. Identification of the problem

1. What is Learning Environment?
2. How to manage actively and equitably engage learners?
3. How to make students to still pay attention to the teacher when teaching?

C. Purpose
1. To understand what is learning environment.
2. To know how manage actively and equitably angage learners.

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 CHAPTER II

A. Definition of Learning Environment

Learning environment refers to the diverse physical locations, contexts, and cultures in which

students learn. Since students may learn in a wide variety of settings, such as outside-of-school
locations and outdoor environments, the term is often used as a more accurate or preferred
alternative to classroom, which has more limited and traditional connotations a room with rows
of desks and a chalkboard, for example.

The term also encompasses the culture of a school or class its presiding ethos and
characteristics, including how individuals interact with and treat one another as well as the ways
in which teachers may organize an educational setting to facilitate learning…..’

From the book Dasar-dasar Pendidikan written by Marlina Gazali, the environment can be
interpreted as anything that is outside the child. In the sense of the environment is everything that
is around the child, both in the form of objects, events that occur and the condition of the
community, especially those that can give a strong influence on students, namely the
environment in which the educational process takes place and the environment of children
getting along daily day.1

While Sartain (an American psychologist), as quoted by M. Ngalim Purwanto the

environment is all conditions in this world that in certain ways affect the behavior, growth,
development or life processes of a person except genes and even genes are also seen as preparing
the environment (to provide environment) for other genes.2

B. Manage actively and equitably engage learners by organizing

1. Facilitate independent, critical, and creative thinking
Ask students to analyze, synthesize, or apply material, both during lectures and in assignments.
Some examples include:
 Case-based problem solving exercises – these types of exercises help students develop
analytical skills and learn how to apply academic theories to real-world problems. Use
1
Marlina Gazali, Dasar-Dasar Pendidikan, (Bandung: Mizan, 1998), p. 24.
2
M. Ngalim Purwanto, Ilmu Pendidikan Teoritis Dan Praktis, (Bandung: PT. Remaja Rosda Karya, 1995), p. 72.

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 case studies in a lecture and have students work out their solutions independently or in
small groups, or use case studies as the basis for major projects or exams.
 Debate – this is another active learning technique that helps develop critical thinking and
logical reasoning skills. Present competing viewpoints in lecture and assign students to
defend one, or both, of the viewpoints in a short (five-minute) written exercise or
classroom debate. 
2. Encourage effective collaboration
Collaborative group work can be an extremely useful addition to a large class. Some examples
include:
 Small-group discussions– there are many benefits to taking short think-pair-share breaks
during a lecture. These small-group discussions help students understand and retain
material, while also serving the broader goals of developing their communication skills
and increasing their awareness of their classmates as learning resources.
 Peer instruction exercises– one minute paper reflections or speed problem solving
questions, paired with peer to peer discussion, can be a very effective teaching strategy.
Upon completion of the question and at least one iteration, tally the answers.  Once the
results are in, explain the correct answer and demonstrate why the other options are
misleading (Mazur, 1997). 
Research from cognitive psychology has shown that one of the best ways to improve
understanding is to teach material to a peer (Topping and Stewart, 1998). Build this exercise into
your classes through presentations, study groups, and quick, breakout “teaching” sessions, such
as the one described above.
3. Increase student investment, motivation, and performance
When you invite students to actively participate in the learning environment, they take more
responsibility for their performance in the course. Similarly, when they have an opportunity to
make decisions about what they learn and how they use that knowledge, students see a course as
more valuable and more directly related to their goals. For example:
 Brainstorm learning objectives – if you involve students in the development of classroom
activities, e.g., allow them to choose the topic of a short discussion or generate ideas
about how a concept could be applied to a problem that interests them, it automatically
increases engagement levels. Involving students in classroom activities also requires

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 them to assess their understanding and skill and rather than allowing them to rest
comfortably with a surface knowledge, it forces them to develop a deeper understanding
of the material.

C. Allocating the resources of time

The amount of quality instructional time is one of the most powerful variables in determining
student learning. Adhering to classroom schedules has not always been easy. Students,
administrators, visitors and other interruptions always seem to compete with this little time given
for instruction.
Though good teachers convey to their students the importance of learning, it is in the
processes of time management that they maximise learning. Since on many occasions the amount
of learning time is so little, different ways have been designed to increase the amount of learning
time. First, the teacher can look for ways to find additional time for instructional activities.
Second, they may look for ways to increase the impact of the learning activities themselves.
It is good to remember that learning is important and all students can learn, but we must not be
delusional to think that this can happen at the same time or same pace for every individual
student, hence teachers need to prioritise the skills that students need and adjust schedules
accordingly. As a teacher, your relevancy in the classroom should be to contribute to flexibility
in classroom schedules and determining the types of activities that fit into the allocated time.
For example, students who need extra practice on maths problems can spend more time
working out practice exercises, while students who need additional practice on reading skills can
work with more written pieces. Therefore we need to assign appropriate time to meet the
individual instructional needs of students. A schedule must be developed so that it is flexible
enough to provide the right amount of time for students who work quickly and also for those
who require additional time to finish activities.
o Particular care must be taken to maintain allocated time for high priority areas. Core
academic skills such as reading can be scheduled earlier in the day when students’
attention is greater, with less interruptions and delays to use up time. This may vary
depending on the classroom and the student. Activities such as announcements, breaks,
attendance calls, natural calls, and cleaning up after activities can easily compete with

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 instructional time, a teacher should then be able to spend time developing a plan for
handling such non-instructional activities.
o Starting activities quickly and on time should come in handy. This covers situations
where a teacher accommodates different rates of task completion by having relevant
supplementary work ready for students who finish activities early. These activities should
not be busy work but should be independent work related to the individual students’
needs and skill levels.
o Minimizing open ended discussions of student opinions and beliefs, if they are not the
direct objective of the lesson. Students can become very skilled at avoiding the actual
lesson by engaging the teacher in diverting discussions. However, the teacher should
know when to break these discussions.
o Discipline should be dealt with as quickly as possible in a manner which provides
students the least attention possible. A teacher should avoid wasting time talking about
discipline issues or derailing on them
Both student and teacher social interruptions should be eliminated since social convergences
bring unscheduled discussions on personal interests such as sports and movies, during academic
time. Administrators should be aware of the social integrations and allocate appropriate time
within the schedule which does not interfere with priority academic areas. Planning and
organising lessons prior to meeting with students is also key in effective management of
instructional time. It is inclusive of the use of complete lesson plans that align with the set
objectives
In material management, handling and distribution of materials in the classroom can take
a significant amount of time. So the teacher has to establish strategies for making the distribution
of materials more efficient. Proper storage of frequently used materials can help in preparation of
materials ahead of time. Establishing a practice procedure for handing out and picking up
learning materials and student papers can be helpful.
For example, one student from each row might be assigned to pick up materials and
distribute them to the other students in the row. This causes less traffic and confusion than all
students going at once to pick up materials. It also uses less time than having the teacher
distribute all materials. It is important that the student be taught to follow this procedure and
have ample opportunity to practice carrying it out correctly as they are part of the learning

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environment. Conclusively, teachers should work with students to find ways on how well
instructional time can be best managed within the teaching learning environment.

D. Space and Learners Attention

1. Attention is a variable commodity
Average student attention spans are about 10 to 15 minutes long, right? That may be a
frequently quoted statistic, but there’s no empirical evidence to support it. Karen Wilson and
James H. Korn researched the origins of the statistic in 2008, and say the 10–15 minute estimate
is based primarily on personal observation and secondary sources. Other research showed a
pattern during class: a decline in student attention just 30 seconds into a lecture, reflecting a
settling-in period.
➔ Declines also occurred at 4.5–5.5 minutes, 7–9 minutes, and 9–10 minutes into the lecture.
➔ Attention waxed and waned, with more frequent lapses as the lecture progressed.
Toward the end, attention lapsed about every two minutes. There’s also recent research
which shows that humans are capable of “sustained attention” for about 45 minutes to an hour,
which may explain why various events run that length of time: TV and radio programs, class
periods, church services, music CDs, even lunch breaks. However, despite what humans may be
capable of, the speed at which a tedious lecture can lull a person to sleep demonstrates that
sustained attention is a difficult thing to achieve. Kim points out that attention varies based on
the difficulty of the content and its relevance to the student, how conducive the environment is to
paying attention, and each student’s ability to sustain attention in class. What’s encouraging to
Kim is that “WorkSpace Futures researchers observed more success in maintaining student
attention with active learning approaches that directly involve students in course content.”
2. Active learning engenders attention
The WorkSpace Futures observations are bolstered by research by Diane M. Bunce, et. al. in
2010 (“How Long Can Students Pay Attention in Class?”), who compared a passive lecture
approach and active learning methods. Researchers noted fewer attention lapses during times of
active learning. They also found fewer lapses in attention during a lecture that immediately
followed a demonstration or after a question was asked, compared to lectures that preceded
active learning methods. This suggests active learning may have dual benefits: engaging student
attention and refreshing attention immediately afterward.

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  Novelty and change get attention
As cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham points out in “Why Don’t Students Like School?,”
change grabs attention. Something happening outside causes students to turn immediately to the
windows. Similarly, when an instructor changes topics, starts a new activity or in some other
way changes the learning process, “student attention returns, along with a new chance to engage
them. So plan shifts and monitor your class’s attention to see whether you need to make them
more often or less frequently.” Our brains evolved to notice change as a way of staying vigilant
for possible threats to individual survival. We naturally seek out what’s new and different, and
this curiosity is rewarded with dopamine and opioids in the brain that make us feel better. Thus,
varying materials and breaks facilitate attention. A study by Kennesaw State University found
that students paid more attention when the professor reviewed quiz answers, presented new
information or shared videos, i.e., changed things up. Novelty and change facilitate learning in
another way, too. Repeating important points by engaging multiple senses helps to reinforce
learning. That’s because repetition strengthens connections between neurons. Our visual,
semantic, sensory, motor and emotional neural networks all contain their own memory systems.
“We have an amazing capacity for visual memory, and written or spoken information paired with
visual information results in better recall,” says psychologist Louis Cozolino. “There is a greater
likelihood that learning will generalize outside the classroom if it is organized across sensory,
physical, emotional and cognitive networks
 Physical movement fuels the brain
Research show that aerobic exercise can increase the size of critical brain structures and
improve cognition. Exercise pumps more oxygen through the brain, which stimulates capillary
growth and frontal lobe plasticity. Exercise also stimulates the birth of new neurons in the
hippocampus. Physical movement increases alertness and helps encode and trigger memory. Yet
schools and teachers traditionally train students to be sedentary, and equate sitting still with
greater attention and focus. On the contrary, movement allows students to refocus and strengthen
their ability to pay attention, as Lengel and Kuczala report in “The Kinesthetic Classroom:
Teaching and Learning Through Movement.” Simply allowing students to get out of their seats
to move while learning provides the brain with much-needed novelty and change. Schools are
starting to incorporate more physical activity in the classroom, such as Delaney Connective, a

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high school in Sydney, Australia, where students do “brain pushups” each morning: five-minute,
Tai Chi-like exercises that get the blood flowing and help students focus.
 Seat location affect attention
The study by Kannestaw State University mentioned earlier also revealed that where students
sit in the classroom impacts student focus. According to the study, students in the front and
middle of the classroom stayed on task, while those in the back were more distracted. An active
learning classroom where students easily moved and rearranged their seating enabled them to be
more focused and stay attentive. Classrooms configured with multiple “stages” (No fixed
position where the instructor must stand), content displays and mobile seating offer even more
flexibility. Here an instructor or student can address the class, lead a discussion and share content
from anywhere in the classroom. There’s no front or back of the classroom, and since the seating
allows students to change posture and position easily, every seat is the best seat in the room.
 Environment influences thinking
Learning can be enhanced or hampered by certain environmental conditions, notes Cozolino:
“Inadequate school facilities, poor acoustics, outside noise, and inadequate classroom lighting all
correlate with poorer academic performance.” Even the chairs that students use can “hamper
blood supply to the brain and impede cognition.” “Individual study requires deep focus. The
harder the task, the more easily we’re distracted, so the ability to screen out distractions is
critical,” says Kim. Students need spaces where they can avoid unwanted distractions and stimuli
that interrupt focus. However there are times when low-level environmental distractions are
welcome. The flip side of focus thinking is diffuse thinking, which complements learning and
creativity. In diffuse thinking the mind meanders. “Distractions of a certain intensity at this point
can actually help the brain wander across different topics. This allows the brain to build new
connections between disparate pieces of information, and new insights and understandings
emerge,” says Beatriz Arantes, a Steelcase senior design researcher and psychologist based in
Paris, France. Students need both the ability to screen out distractions or welcome them,
depending whether they’re writing a paper or seeking inspiration through sensory stimulation.
 Learning has a natural rhythm
The need for periods of both quiet focus and healthy distraction finds its parallel in learning.
The brain is often viewed as a thinking machine, moving in a linear fashion. But the brain and
body are not machines; they are organisms with a natural rhythm of activity and rest cycles.

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Research has shown there is a “rest-activity cycle” while sleeping, during which we move in and
out of five stages of sleep. The body operates by the same rhythm during the day, moving from
higher to lower levels of alertness. Our brain can focus on a task for only so long, after which it
needs a break for renewal to achieve high performance on the next task. Ignore this rhythm and
we get drowsy or hungry, lose focus, start to fidget. Stress hormones kick in, the prefrontal
cortex begins to shut down and we are less able to think clearly or imaginatively. Researchers
have found that people who respect this natural rhythm are more productive. Breaks for rest and
renewal are critical to the body and brain, as well as to attention span. The work of education is
similarly organic, changing at different times of the semester, week, even during a single class
period. Support for the rhythm of learning, says Arantes, “should be incorporated into
instructors’ pedagogies and course curricula, as well as through a variety of spaces for different
rhythms: focus and interaction, individual and group work, socializing, and rest and
rejuvenation.”

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 CHAPTER III

CLOSING

A. Conclusion

Learning environment refers to the diverse physical locations, contexts, and cultures in

which students learn. Since students may learn in a wide variety of settings, such as outside-of-
school locations and outdoor environments, the term is often used as a more accurate or preferred
alternative to classroom. In the learning environment there are also 3 other parts that affect
student learning, namely, actively managing and equitably engaging learners by organizing,
allocating the resources of time and space and learners attention.

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 REFERENCES

Marlina Gazali, Dasar-Dasar Pendidikan, (Bandung: Mizan, 1998)

M. Ngalim Purwanto, Ilmu Pendidikan Teoritis Dan Praktis, (Bandung: PT. Remaja Rosda
Karya, 1995),

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