Do you work better in an all-white room with no distractions or one decorated in warm, cheerful colours? How about if your office was painted black?
The answer may be to some extent a personal one, one person’s view of a productive environment may not be the same as another person’s, yet research has proved that certain colours help facilitate better learning.
Not only do specific colours have specific connotations, both negative and positive, but colours can be used in classrooms, in learning resources and online to change perceptions and encourage fact retainment.
The psychology of colour
We all know that colours evoke certain standard reactions in the majority of people.
Of course, some of this is cultural. For example, here in the Western world we all associate red with danger, black with negativity and white with purity.
Colours can create more general responses, too. Blues and greens are soothing, warm colours such as reds and oranges help keep us awake and yellows are seen as bright and cheerful.
Using colour in learning
It has long been recognised that using certain colours in learning resources can help students in the overall learning process. For example a Maths Tutor Gloucester way such as https://www.achieverstutoring.org.uk/ may use certain coloured paper and materials based on a students learning style or whether or not they may have dyslexia. Some colour can help lengthen attention spans. Warm colours grab our attention, improve memory (colour images are better remembered than black and white ones), and help us memorise facts. Colour coded resources jog our memories better than black and white ones.
According to School Planning and Management, warm and bright colours work best for younger children, although care should be taken not to overstimulate by providing too many visual distractions.
Schools and firms which produce learning resources should therefore carefully consider colour when designing their material, taking note of the latest research around the issue.
In the classroom
Of course the colours built into our schools and classrooms are just as important as those used in learning materials.It is highly recognised that warm and bright colours such as orange, red and yellow will create a high energy environment, whereas blues, greens and violets produce a more relaxed environment.
These insights are increasingly being used in our schools and universities to help students and teachers produce the best work they can.
