Brink and colleagues evaluated links between college/university classroom conditions and student performance. They report that their literature review determined that “Warm white light provides a relaxing environment and supports communication, and should gradually change to blue-enriched white light after its prolonged use during the morning to prevent drowsiness. . . . these different correlated color temperatures imitate the natural change of daylight during the day and therefore supports teachers’ and students’ circadian rhythm.. . . a lighting system with a color temperature of 4000K in classrooms can also influence the ability to concentrate positively. . . . regulation of students’ circadian rhythm is important because it influences students’ alert state and cognitive performance. . . . The cognitive performance of students can decline by as much as 13% (P < 0.001) when the CO2 concentration increases from 600 to 1000 ppm. . . . this concentration of CO2 still meets prevailing guidelines.”
Henk Brink, Marcel Loomans, Mark Mobach, and Helianthe Kort. “Classrooms’ Indoor Environmental Conditions Affecting the Academic Achievement of Students and Teachers in Higher Education: A Systematic Literature Review.” Indoor Air, in press, https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12745
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.