A Study on Classroom Environment of Utase Primary School and Mihamautase Primary School

Abstract

This study investigated the evaluation of 'impression' and sound environment for open plan type classrooms by elementary school children and teachers. From the results, it has been found that the children and teachers have good impressions for open-plan type classrooms. From evaluation of teachers, there was indication that an area around a desk of a child was narrow. From the evaluation of children, we understand that good ventilation, moderate brightness, suffi cient space and adequate room temperature were important elements for classroom environment. In cases of schools, which were designed in consideration for acoustical environmental benefi t, there were no effective evaluation given by children even though the acoustic characteristics improved. The challenge for the future design of open-plan classroom in elementary school is the realization of open-plan spaces with visual connections that retain the good impressions with high level of acoustic environment.

Relationship between classroom plan types and the degree of concentration of the children in elementary schools: A comparative study of open‐plan classrooms and conventional‐plan classrooms

“…Moreover, class concentration is influenced by the psychological and behavioral properties associated with the particular classroom-hallway border structure of the classroom design in question. For example, the removable-wall-type classroom, which is regularly partitioned from the hallway, demonstrated similar results to the standard-type classroom, when compared with other open-plan classroom types (see Tables 11,13,15,17,and 19). The sliding-panel-type classroom, which can also be partitioned, exhibited a different trend.…”

“…This finding implies that, owing to the physical properties of sonic transmission, the more physically open a classroom is, the more frequently external noises distract the class. It is therefore reasonable to assume that efforts to improve the sonic environment at a physical level [12][13][14][15] will have positive effects on the class concentration level.…”

“…For example, it was highlighted that the sonic environment is not solely determined by the sonic acoustic performance, 14 and that elements external to the sonic environment can affect the overall evaluation. 15 In this study, rather than assessing the performance of the physical environment, the concentration levels of the schoolchildren was used as an integrative metric.…”

“…Moreover, it was found that the environment could not be evaluated solely on the basis of physical performance, given that the sonic environment was dependent on how the relevant school was using the classrooms, and the attitudes of the individuals using them during lesson times. Likewise, Ueno et al and Hashimoto et al reported that the sonic environment can be improved with designs that consider physical sonic characteristics; however, it was revealed that classroom environments are evaluated in an integrative manner. For example, it was highlighted that the sonic environment is not solely determined by the sonic acoustic performance, and that elements external to the sonic environment can affect the overall evaluation .…”

“…Likewise, Ueno et al and Hashimoto et al reported that the sonic environment can be improved with designs that consider physical sonic characteristics; however, it was revealed that classroom environments are evaluated in an integrative manner. For example, it was highlighted that the sonic environment is not solely determined by the sonic acoustic performance, and that elements external to the sonic environment can affect the overall evaluation . In this study, rather than assessing the performance of the physical environment, the concentration levels of the schoolchildren was used as an integrative metric.…”