Method to assess the integration of personalization, stimulus and environmental design principles in school classrooms

Abstract

Studies have shown that a series of architectural factors of the physical learning environment affect the educational experiences of students in schools, particularly learning and well-being. This study proposes a method to holistically assess school classrooms considering three design principles: personalization, stimulus, and environmental. An evaluation matrix has been prepared considering 40 architectural factors, which are categorized into three ranges to generate a score and show their level of compliance. This was applied to a sample size of 30 classrooms from 23 Chilean schools. A classification was generated using the compliance levels, determining deciles and quartiles to set ranges appropriate to local realities along with three classroom classifications: insufficient, sufficient, and satisfactory. This classification proposes a starting point that can evolve as factors in the classroom improve or other cases are incorporated into the database. The method can be replicated in other contexts because it allows identifying which design parameters need to be improved or integrated into school classrooms.