Impact of Indoor Physical Environment on Learning Efficiency in Different Types of Tasks: A 3 × 4 × 3 Full Factorial Design Analysis

Abstract

Indoor physical environments appear to influence learning efficiency nowadays. For improvement in learning efficiency, environmental scenarios need to be designed when occupants engage in different learning tasks. However, how learning efficiency is affected by indoor physical environment based on task types are still not well understood. The present study aims to explore the impacts of three physical environmental factors (i.e., temperature, noise, and illuminance) on learning efficiency according to different types of tasks, including perception, memory, problem-solving, and attention-oriented tasks. A 3 × 4 × 3 full factorial design experiment was employed in a university classroom with 10 subjects recruited. Environmental scenarios were generated based on different levels of temperature (17 °C, 22 °C, and 27 °C), noise (40 dB(A), 50 dB(A), 60 dB(A), and 70 dB(A)) and illuminance (60 lx, 300 lx, and 2200 lx). Accuracy rate (AC), reaction time (RT), and the final performance indicator (PI) were used to quantify learning efficiency. The results showed ambient temperature, noise, and illuminance exerted significant main effect on learning efficiency based on four task types. Significant concurrent effects of the three factors on final learning efficiency was found in all tasks except problem-solving-oriented task. The optimal environmental scenarios for top learning efficiency were further identified under different environmental interactions. The highest learning efficiency came in thermoneutral, relatively quiet, and bright conditions in perception-oriented task. Subjects performed best under warm, relatively quiet, and moderately light exposure when recalling images in the memory-oriented task. Learning efficiency peaked to maxima in thermoneutral, fairly quiet, and moderately light environment in problem-solving process while in cool, fairly quiet and bright environment with regard to attention-oriented task. The study provides guidance for building users to conduct effective environmental intervention with simultaneous controls of ambient temperature, noise, and illuminance. It contributes to creating the most suitable indoor physical environment for improving occupants learning efficiency according to different task types. The findings could further supplement the present indoor environment-related standards or norms with providing empirical reference on environmental interactions.

Classrooms' indoor environmental conditions affecting the academic achievement of students and teachers in higher education: A systematic literature review

“…There might be a relation between perceived acoustic comfort and actual thermal conditions but the precise effect remains unclear. Research of Xiong et al 28 revealed some relations between thermal comfort and acoustic comfort but not all cognitive tasks were affected due to a combination of these conditions. The combined effect of air temperature and CO 2 seems to increase when air temperature and CO 2 concentration increases according to Ahmed et al 22,23 Other factors, besides temperature, such as stress, sleep deprivation and pre‐existing disease or illness, among others, may play a role in health‐related symptoms, such as headache and tiredness 36 .…”

“…However, not all thermal discomfort sensations lead to a deterioration of cognitive performance, 27 and the effect is most likely task dependent. Thermal sensations “cool” and “slightly cool” can positively influence cognitive performance 28 ; thermal sensations “cold,” “slightly warm,” “warm,” and “hot” can affect cognitive performance negatively 27 . The thermal sensation “hot” affects cognitive performance of vigilance tasks and memory and learning tasks more than the thermal sensation “cold.” 22,23 Nevertheless, Bajc et al 35 concluded that students' short‐term academic performance is not just a function of PMV index; there is no simple relation in real conditions that can link this performance to the PMV index alone.…”

“…As observed for thermal conditions, the extent of this effect was also task‐dependent. To quantify students' short‐term academic performance, seven of the 11 studies used standard cognitive performance tests 22,23,26‐28,31,33,34 . Castro‐Martínez et al 42 used a different method to quantify students' short‐term academic performance.…”

“…The thermal conditions of the environment are factors that may affect cardiovascular parameters.The heart rate of the students increased with 8% (P < 0.05) at the end of the cognitive activity at Day 3 compared to Day 1 and with 7% (P < 0.05) compared to Day 2. An air temperature of 23.3°C was associated with thermal neutral sensation.Xiong et al28 explored the impact of three indoor environmental parameters, that is, thermal, acoustic, and visual conditions, on learning efficiency in an environment-controlled university classroom. Five female and five male students were exposed to three different air temperatures, three different desk illuminance levels, and three different noise levels.…”

Architectural Indoor Analysis: A Holistic Approach to Understand the Relation of Higher Education Classrooms and Academic Performance

“…Therefore, researchers have focused on investigating the influence on learning of a single factor of the physical learning environment (lighting [1], temperature [2], acoustics [3], etc. ), or have combined two or three factors [4][5][6].…”