Clustering of design decisions in classroom visual displays

In this paper, we investigate the patterns of design choices made by classroom teachers for decorating their classroom walls, using cluster analysis to see which design decisions go together. Classroom visual design has been previously studied, but not in terms of the systematic patterns adopted by teachers in selecting what materials to place on classroom walls, or in terms of the actual semantic content of what is placed on walls. This is potentially important, as classroom walls are continuously seen by students, and form a continual off-task behavior option, available to students at all times. Using the k-means clustering algorithm, we find four types of visual classroom environments (one of them an outlier within our data set), representing teachers' strategies in classroom decoration. Our results indicate that the degree to which teachers place content-related decorations on the walls, is a feature of particular importance for distinguishing which approach teachers are using. Similarly, the type of school (e.g. whether private or charter) appeared to be another significant factor in determining teachers' design choices for classroom walls. The present findings begin the groundwork to better understand the impact of teacher decisions and choices in classroom design that lead to better outcomes in terms of engagement and learning, and finally towards developing classroom designs that are more effective and engaging for learners.