Misaki

O. Shirabe January 10, 2017

Connecting Architecture and Education: The Relationship of Architecture to the
Academic Outcome of Elementary Students

Annotated Bibliography

Wagner, C. (2000). Planning School Grounds for Outdoor Living. Washington: EDRS.

This publication talks about the planning and designing of school grounds and its
outdoor learning in new and existing school facilities. It discusses about the different
types of outdoor learning environments to be considered, the importance of flexible
outdoor spaces for learning, and resources for those interested in this kind of
environment. Also explored are environmental education’s physical impact on school
grounds, considerations during school site development when outdoor education is to be
included, and existing school site redesign for outdoor education.

Yarbrough, K. A. (2001). The Relationship of School Design to Academic Achievement of
Elementary School Children. Georgia: EDRS.

This study aims to establish the relationships between student achievement and
educational facilities. It focuses on the question: Does school design influence the
academic achievement of elementary school students? Criteria used were scores on the
Iowa Test of Basic Skills and 86 variables describing design patterns in various categories
such as movement patterns, large group spaces, architectural layout, daylighting and
views, color, scale of building, and location of school site. Results showed that design does
influence student learning, with circulation pattern or movement accounting for the
largest percentage of variance for the third grade, and availability of large group meeting
areas accounting for the largest percentage of variance in the fifth grade.

Henderson, J. (1999). Architecture For The Imagination: A Study of an Elementary
Educational Environment. Virginia.
This thesis aims to create an environment that encourages learning process and
academic achievement by addressing issues of emotional and physical well-being of its
users. The concept suggests that academic success is affected by the environment of an
elementary school. The building does not literally have to teach by itself, rather, facilitate
and assist the learning process through the making of a comfortable environment.
Designing an elementary school demands that the architect look at the world through the
eyes of a child. Considering the scale of the building in terms of size and perception, the
school becomes a haven of security for the child, which will stimulate intellectual growth.
By integrating environmental design issues that are habitually ignored in contemporary
schools, like natural ventilation or daylighting, the school becomes less of an institution
and more like a home.

Kenneth, T. (1999). A Design Assessment Scale for Elementary Schools. Georgia: EDRS.

The Design Assessment Scale for Elementary Schools (DASE) assists educators and
architects in planning and designing developmentally appropriate learning environments
for elementary schools. This journal examines DASE, its introduction and development,
the first step in the instrument’s validation process, and the initial reliability coefficients.
Also described are each of the DASE facility design assessment components for measuring
the degree of functionality, safety, adequacy, quality, pattern, and overall impression. The
journal concludes by describing a design assessment scale for elementary schools in terms
of validity and reliability.

Gelfand, L. (2010). Sustainable School Architecture: Design for Primary and Secondary
Schools. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

This journal tracks sustainable school architecture through all its phases. First is a
look at the urgency of the need and the benefits that come with a sustainable school.
Next is a look at steps in bringing the community and its team of designers and educators
and contractors together to embark on creating the school. The design chapters of the
book examine the ideas that give form to schools, the system that make them run, and
the materials that make them real.

Roessler, K. (2012). Healthy Architecture: Can Environments Evoke Emotional
Responses? Maryland.

This journal discusses the ways in which people are affected by architecture,
getting from an early source on the psychology of architecture and taking three
architectural examples as illustrations: a public place in Berlin, a health environment in
Sweden, and a fitness center in Denmark. Each of these architectural examples creates
what might be called its own psychological emotions, and these are analyzed and
discussed using a psychodynamic and existential attempt to understand the
interrelationship between individuals and spatial reality. A health oriented existential
approach is used as a methodological basis to conceptualize the psychological effects of
various forms of architecture.

Vischer, J. (2007). The Effects of the Physical Environment on Job Performance: Towards
A Theoretical Model of Workspace Stress. Montréal: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper reviews theory and research bearing on stress in the workplace and
explores how current theory might be applied to the relationship between worker
behavior and physical features of the work environment. The paper proposes a
theoretical model of the worker–workspace relationship in which stress and comfort play
a critical part, and suggests a methodological approach on which to base future empirical
studies. It discusses how contemporary research on stress in the work environment
typically focuses on psychosocial factors that affect job performance, strain and employee
health, and does not address the growing body of work on the environmental psychology
of workspace.

Evans, G. (1998). When Buildings Don't Work: The Role of Architecture in Human Health.
Ithaca: Academic Press.
 This journal employs the heuristic of psychological stress to generate a taxonomy
of architectural dimensions that may affect human health. Specific interior design
elements illustrating each of these architectural dimensions are provided. There is little
existing evidence that specific design features directly impact human health. The aim of
this study is to provoke further thinking and research on this possibility.

Humpel, N. (2002). Environmental Factors Associated With Adults' Participation In

Physical Activity. Wollongong.

The author discusses how promoting physical activity is a public health priority,
and changes in the environmental contexts of adults’ activity choices are believed to be
crucial. However, of the factors associated with physical activity, environmental
influences are among the least understood. Using journal scans and computerized
literature database searches, the author identified 19 quantitative studies that assessed
the relationships with physical activity behavior of perceived and objectively determined
physical environment tributes. Findings were categorized into those examining five
categories: accessibility of facilities, opportunities for activity, weather, safety, and
aesthetic attributes.

Handy, S. (2002). How The Built Environment Affects Physical Activity. Davis: Elsevier Inc.

This article provides an overview of this foundation and outline the potential
contributions from the field of urban planning toward the exploration of the relationship
between the built environment and physical activity. The author begins with a
background section that defines key terms and describes how the interest in this topic
has evolved within the field of urban planning and its traditional focus on travel behavior.
The next section discusses the challenges associated with measuring characteristics of the
built environment and travel behavior. Next are theories used to assess the link between
the built environment and travel behavior, and conclude with a discussion of the issues
that must be addressed in extending this research to the question of the link between the
built environment and physical activity.
 Review of Related Literature

Throughout their childhood, children will spend on average 30 hours per week in
their elementary school classroom. In a perfect world, the physical environment of a
classroom would promote learning, enhance academic achievement, and facilitate
appropriate behavior in and between students. The ways in which children perceive their
surroundings greatly affects how they will perform; therefore, it is imperative that
instructors and administrators thoroughly examine the physical environment of
elementary school classrooms with an eye toward making improvements that will benefit
the teaching and learning therein.

Research studies on school design reveal that physical environment plays a vital
role on the academic outcome of elementary students. School design greatly affect the
teaching-learning process and the performance of students and teachers. Physical
environment plays a central role in any activity and makes it more conducive, successful
and achievable. Physical facilities compose a strategic factor in the operation and
functioning of an organization as they determine the excellent performance of any social
organization or system including education (Yarbrough, 2001). Physical facilities are one
of the stimulating factors that play a fundamental role in improving academic
achievement in the school system. These include; school buildings, accommodation,
classrooms, libraries, furniture, laboratories, recreational equipment, apparatus and
other instructional materials. Furthermore, their availability, relevancy and sufficiency
affect academic achievement positively. On the other hand, poor school buildings and
overcrowded classrooms affect academic achievement negatively. Classroom
environmental design can facilitate and improve the learning process like the overt
curriculum (Henderson, 1999).

There are several factors of classroom physical environment i.e. visual factor,
acoustic factor, thermal factor, spatial factor and time factor. Visual factor refers to the
quality of lighting in different parts of the classroom. It is determined by the level of
natural and artificial light available in the classroom. It also refers to the way by which the
classroom environment is arranged i.e. visually interesting, creating a favorable
atmosphere and any unwanted disruptions e.g. windows overlooking playgrounds etc.
Acoustic factor is an important factor as we mostly depend upon verbal communication
in our classroom. Noise level mainly depends upon school design, classroom organization
and teaching methodologies applied during a lesson. Poor classroom acoustics can
adversely affect learning environment for many students. Constant noise exposure can
damage cognitive performance and functioning (Evans, 1998). Thermal factor refers to
the heating and ventilation of the classroom and are generally out of the teachers’ control
as they are climate variables. It plays a fundamental role in making classroom atmosphere
favorable and comfortable and hence affects the behavior and performance. Spatial
factor relates to the space management and has a great impact on behavior particularly
on communication. Time factor refers to the amount of time a student is participating in
learning process i.e., the number of minutes the student is actively participating in
teacher directed lessons and activities (Basit, 2005). Therefore, it is concluded that
physical environment of classroom comprises of classroom size and structure, furniture,
seating arrangement, instructional technologies, equipment, lighting, ventilation,
movement patterns, large group spaces, architectural layout, daylighting and views,
color, scale of building, location of school site, etc. (Yarbrough, 2001)