Is Color a Factor in Academic Achievement?
Colours have been an integral part of our human activities. You find colours everywhere you turn, from marketing boards to clothes, school uniforms, toys and even learning materials. The psychology of colours has been used to drive campaigns, promote brands and influence the human mind but do colours have an impact on academic achievement? Here’s what experts have to say.
Colours attract and retain attention
Reading is pivotal to academic success and it’s been proving that it can be improved via the inclusion of coloured texts. Texts in black and white have become more difficult to read. This is due to the competition for attention from other multimedia channels like televisions and smartphones which present texts in colours. Study showed that students’ desire to read text increased by 40% when the text came in colours.
Creates learning atmosphere
Learning is one of those activities that require the right environment for it to take place. Colours stimulate learning activity by empowering our minds to memorize concepts through attention. While bright colours inspire creativity, give positive feelings and improve alertness, neutral colours create feelings of resilience, relaxation and security. This is why it is counterproductive to have study areas decorated in monotonous colouration. Study proves that this can cause lack of attention, restlessness and distress. Colours, when blended in the right colour mix, creates impeccable learning environments.
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Improves memory retention
The Journal of Experimental Psychology published an interesting finding. The publication revealed that students who are shown coloured images would best those who are shown images in black and white by 5-10%. To further buttress this finding, students who were made to learn images in their coloured form, flunked tests where the images they learned were shown without colours. This is why educators are encouraged to use coloured teaching materials during illustrations.
Conclusion
Research has found that using the right colours can actually benefit students in their learning process. For instance, blues and greens have been shown to enhance productivity and focus, while reds and oranges can create anxiety and distract from the task at hand. Furthermore, a study conducted by the University of British Columbia revealed that colour-coding notes based on subject or themes can improve memory retention significantly. So next time you’re preparing study materials, classroom outlook, or deciding on school uniforms, consider incorporating colours that will help your students stay on track and motivated for academic success!
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