Optimizing Classroom Design with Salutogenic Approach: Thermal Comfort, Lighting, and Attentiveness
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.38027/jsalutogenic_vol3no1_2Keywords:
Salutogenic Architecture, Educational Setting , Attentiveness , User Comfort , Field SurveyAbstract
This study investigates optimizing classroom design by balancing thermal comfort and daylighting to enhance student attentiveness, a critical factor in educational settings. The research was motivated by the need to address the knowledge gap concerning the combined effects of thermal and visual comfort on student engagement, particularly considering gender differences, which have been underexplored in existing literature. Two identical lecture halls in Tiruchirappalli, India, were selected for the study: one with blackened windows and the other with standard windows. Field measurements of temperature, humidity, wind speed, and light levels were taken using a thermal comfort microclimate data logger and light meter, while student engagement and comfort were assessed through a questionnaire. The findings reveal that the lecture hall with standard windows provided superior visual and thermal comfort, resulting in higher levels of student attentiveness. In contrast, the hall with blackened windows showed reduced attentiveness. Additionally, gender analysis indicated that female students reported greater satisfaction with both thermal and visual comfort compared to their male counterparts. The study’s implications underscore the importance of integrating both thermal and visual comfort in classroom design, highlighting that optimal daylighting is essential for maintaining student attentiveness, even when thermal conditions are consistent. Furthermore, the research emphasizes the need for thoughtful design in educational spaces to create inclusive and effective learning environments that account for gender differences in comfort perception. This study contributes to the field by providing evidence that classroom design significantly influences student engagement and satisfaction, urging designers and educators to prioritize these factors in educational settings.
Downloads
References
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. (2020). ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2020: Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy. ASHRAE. https://www.ashrae.org/filelibrary/technicalresources/standardsandguidelines/standardsaddenda/55_2020_a_20210430.pdf
Kaushik, S. A. S., Gopalakrishnan, P., & Subbaiyan, G. (2023). User perception study of pedestrian comfort including thermal effects in an educational campus. In S. Chandra, S. Arkatkar, G. Muppirala, & S. Basu (Eds.), Transportation Research: Proceedings of the 5th Conference of Transportation Research Group of India (CTRG), 2021 (pp. 287–301). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3494-0_17
Bajc, T., Todorović, M., Banjac, M., Stevanović, Ž., & Kostadinović, D. (2018). Indoor air quality in educational buildings—Serbian case. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Engineering and Natural Sciences (ICENS) (pp. 165–172). University of Belgrade.
BioMed Central Limited. (2012, September 3). The eyes have it: Men and women do see things differently, study of brain's visual centers finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 29, 2024, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120903221050.htm
Emory University Health Sciences Center. (2004, March 16). Study finds male and female brains respond differently to visual stimuli. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 28, 2024, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/040316072953.htm
Heschong, L., Wright, R. L., & Okura, S. (2002). Daylighting impacts on human performance in school. Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society, 31(2), 101–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/00994480.2002.10748396
Kim, H., Hong, T., Kim, J., & Yeom, S. (2020). A psychophysiological effect of indoor thermal condition on college students’ learning performance through EEG measurement. Building and Environment, 184, Article 107223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.107223
Kong, Z., Zhang, R., Ni, J., Ning, P., Kong, X., & Wang, J. (2022). Towards an integration of visual comfort and lighting impression: A field study within higher educational buildings. Building and Environment, 216, Article 108989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.108989
Lee, M. C., Mui, K. W., Wong, L. T., Chan, W. Y., Lee, E. W. M., & Cheung, C. T. (2012). Student learning performance and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in air-conditioned university teaching rooms. Building and Environment, 49, 238–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2011.10.001
Li, J., & Xue, E. (2023). Dynamic interaction between student learning behaviour and learning environment: Meta-analysis of student engagement and its influencing factors. Behavioral Sciences, 13(1), Article 59. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13010059
Sharmin, N. (2023). A skeletonian synopsis of class attention. International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research (IJFMR), 5(4), 154–165. https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2023.v05i04.4251
Porras Álvarez, S. (2020). Natural light influence on intellectual performance: A case study on university students. Sustainability, 12(10), Article 4167. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104167
Risko, E. F., & Dunn, T. L. (2015). Storing information in-the-world: Metacognition and cognitive offloading in a short-term memory task. Consciousness and Cognition, 36, 61–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2015.05.014
Shamseldin, A., Alwetaishi, M., & Alzaed, A. (2021, March). Visual comfort achievement in compliance with thermal comfort recommendations in educational buildings in Taif City, KSA. In 2021 International Conference of Women in Data Science at Taif University (WiDSTaif) (pp. 1–6). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/WiDSTaif52235.2021.9430251
Shishegar, N., & Boubekri, M. (2016, April). Natural light and productivity: Analyzing the impacts of daylighting on students’ and workers’ health and alertness. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Health, Biological and Life Sciences (HBLS-16) (pp. 18–19). Istanbul, Turkey.
U.S. Green Building Council. (2019). LEED v4.1: Building design and construction. U.S. Green Building Council. https://www.usgbc.org/leed/v41
Unsworth, N., & Robison, M. K. (2017). The importance of arousal for variation in working memory capacity and attention control: A latent variable pupillometry study. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 43(12), 1962–1987. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000421
Wang, D., Xu, Y., Liu, Y., Wang, Y., Jiang, J., Wang, X., & Liu, J. (2018). Experimental investigation of the effect of indoor air temperature on students' learning performance under the summer conditions in China. Building and Environment, 140, 140–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.05.022
Zivin, J. G., Song, Y., Tang, Q., & Zhang, P. (2020). Temperature and high-stakes cognitive performance: Evidence from the national college entrance examination in China. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 104, Article 102365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2020.102365
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Amalan Sigmund Kaushik S, Ayisha Firdhaws Mohammad Shafi, Pyreddy Dinesh Kumar Reddy (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.