Classroom Atmosphere in College: Improving the Teaching/Learning Environment.

Focusing on problems in the teaching/learning process related to the classroom atmosphere, this book demonstrates problems related to gender bias in the classroom, discusses the implications of these and other problems, and offers suggestions for improving the teaching/learning environment. The first section describes the importance of classroom atmosphere in the teaching/learning process, highlighting research showing the effect of gender bias on the relative achievement of females and males and discussing the concept of the "chilly climate" faced by women in college classrooms. The next section focuses on creating a welcoming and inclusive classroom environment, providing tips for faculty related to building rapport with students, promoting student interaction, and encouraging student participation. Next, elements of a feminist, egalitarian pedagogy are described and strategies are provided for dealing with unequal power relationships in three areas: the relationship between students and course content, student-faculty power relationships, and student-to-student power relationships. A review is then presented of collaborative and cooperative learning and strategies are described for encouraging student interdependence, interaction, and individual accountability. Finally, the relationship between language and classroom atmosphere is discussed and strategies are presented to help faculty make the classroom more hospitable, including paying attention to classroom interaction patterns, intervening in communication patterns, and responding to males and females in similar ways. Contains 56 references. (HAA)