RESEARCH SUMMARIE TWO

Title

Participatory design for a sustainable environment: Integrating school design using students’ preferences

Publication Type

Peer Reviewed Journal Article

Design Issue

The primary purpose of this journal article is to educate individuals on how the interior environment has significant impacts on students’ behavior and achievement levels within school. While the architects and designers’ knowledge are valuable, a building needs to be constructed around the requirements of a child. The designers of these educational structures need to analyze and incorporate what is important to children rather than what looks aesthetically pleasing to the public or even the parents. Additionally, heat, light, air quality, space, sound, color, and nature all play a role in a child’s ability to engage and develop. By communicating with the students throughout the design process, designers will have a better understanding on how to make the spaces more accommodating to their needs and desires.

Methods

Within this journal article, researchers utilized several methods to obtain data and research. They first conducted a literature review. During this phase, they found additional written material that confirmed their findings about how the interior environment affects children’s development and engagement. Then they conducted a study to obtain qualitative data from 30 elementary school students and 5 expert architects. After the study was complete, they performed interviews where they utilized a card sorting technique. Within this technique, researchers would show the participants different images and have then sort them based on what they liked and disliked. Finally, content analysis was incorporated to analyze all the data that was collected.

Findings

Through this article, the authors found that when a school has an environment that children appreciate and enjoying coming to, they encounter improved emotional and physical effects. In turn, teachers are also more motivated and feel more valued because the place they work in, is an overall better environment for their students and for themselves. After analyzing the content, researchers found that students preferred having playgrounds, colorful buildings, larger interior spaces, wide windows, access to green spaces, and articulated facades. In addition to color, it was found that the majority of children liked cooler colors rather than warmer colors. Color can hold significant meaning for children; therefore, it is important that it is used thoughtfully. Additionally, it was found that students did not prefer tall buildings, buildings near streets, stairs, and curved shaped interiors. They communicated that it was confusing to know where to go if a space utilized too many curved elements and was overstimulating if the facility was located near busy streets. Overall, it’s important that designers and architects listen to students as they begin to design these spaces because they are the one’s occupying these spaces for the majority of their developmental years.