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UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2011 International study program for indoor environmental research Stoil Pamoukov University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Biological Psychology Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, School Psychology Commons, and the Social Psychology and Interaction Commons Repository Citation Pamoukov, Stoil, "International study program for indoor environmental research" (2011). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 1407. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/3335730 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INTERNATIONAL STUDY PROGRAM FOR INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH by Stoil Pamoukov Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2009 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2011 Copyright by Stoil Pamoukov 2011 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE COLLEGE We recommend the thesis prepared under our supervision by Stoil Pamoukov entitled International Study Program for Indoor Environmental Research be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering Douglas Reynolds, Committee Chair Brian Landsberger, Committee Member Darrell Pepper, Committee Member Gwen Marchand, Graduate Faculty Representative Ronald Smith, Ph. D., Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate College May 2011 ii ABSTRACT International Study Program for Indoor Environmental Research by Stoil Pamoukov Dr. Douglas Reynolds, Examination Committee Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering University of Nevada Las Vegas This study examined the effect on student performance, perception and mood caused by different physical classroom environmental conditions. Three classroom physical environmental conditions were investigated; room temperature, light intensity and sound level. A two phase pilot study was performed where these conditions were compounded into one and two levels were selected in such a way to create a normal and extreme classroom physical environment. A total of 154 undergraduate UNLV students participated in the two phase pilot laboratory study in which they completed tasks related to reading and listening to an oral presentation of a passage of high density technical information. The test subjects’ performance scores and survey responses to the classroom physical environmental conditions and their mood were compared between the normal and extreme classroom environments. The Phase I study involved the test subjects reading the test passage. There was no significant difference in their responses to how their task performance and attention to the task were affected by the normal and extreme classroom environments. There was no statistical difference in the test scores between the group exposed to the normal classroom environment and the group exposed to the extreme classroom environment. In addition, there were also no reported differences in comfort levels and mood between the iii two test groups. A root cause analysis identified several possible factors that could have contributed to these results. These included: insignificant difference in comfort levels between the two test groups, the university student test group was capable of filtering out the negative effects of the extreme test environment, low test instrument sensitivity, low statistical power, and the absence of a motivation factor to give the reading test passage a fair effort. In the Phase II study the test subjects completed a task in which they viewed an oral presentation of the same test passage used in Phase I. For the oral presentation, significant differences were found to exist in the test subjects’ test performance, comfort levels, irritability, and perception of how the environment affected their task performance and attention to the task. The test subjects in the Phase II study were more susceptible to the negative effects of the extreme classroom physical environmental condition. The effect size which was identified in Phase II study was small and does not justify performing a full factorial laboratory study for investigating the effects of classroom temperature, lighting and sound on student learning performance. A root cause analysis identified the university student test group and the lack of the motivation factor as possible causes that could have influenced the effect size which was detected. A useful way to somewhat isolate the influence of each parameter on the output would be to replicate the Phase II pilot study three times in the extreme test condition while each time one of the parameters is set to its normal levels. Following this test, the next phase of the study would be to replicate the laboratory pilot study in actual K-12 classroom setting for both the reading and oral presentation of an appropriate age-level test passage. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisors and research team members, Dr. Reynolds, Dr. Marchand, and Dr. Landsberger for their support and assistance throughout this process. They provided me with the tools and guidance that were essential to successfully complete this study and this thesis. I would like to thank my family and friends for their immense support and encouragement throughout my whole life. I am extremely fortunate to have always had their approval and blessing in everything I do. Without them, I would not be the person I am today. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Goals and Objectives of the Pilot Study ........................................................... 2 1.3 Limitations of the Pilot Study ........................................................................... 2 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ................................................ 4 2.1 Background ....................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Overview of Current Conditions with K-12 Schools ........................................ 5 2.3 Review of Previous Studies .............................................................................. 6 2.4 Cognition and Learning Cause and Effect Models ........................................... 9 2.5 Learning Styles ............................................................................................... 10 2.6 Acute Versus Chronic Exposure ..................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................. 13 3.1 Design of Experiment ..................................................................................... 13 3.2 Data Collection Instruments ........................................................................... 21 3.3 Laboratory Set up ............................................................................................ 34 3.4 Experimental Protocol .................................................................................... 51 CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY ................................................................ 54 4.1 Test Subjects ................................................................................................... 54 4.2 Phase I Findings .............................................................................................. 63 4.3 Phase II Findings............................................................................................. 94 4.4 Phase I and II Discussion of the Results ....................................................... 129 CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........ 133 5.1 Summary of Results ...................................................................................... 133 5.2 Recommendations for Further Studies.......................................................... 137 5.3 Conclusion ...................................................................................................

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