THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLASSROOM ERGONOMICS AND STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN GAMBANGS PRIMARY SCHOOL

INTRODUCTION

CLASSROOM ERGONOMICS

Poor Lighting Temperature Excessive Noise

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Students spend at least 8 or more hours at any given time in the school environmen student academic performance decline indirectly when students espouse to poor classroom condition the study is to examine the relationship between student academic performance and classroom ergonomics in Gambangs Primary School in Malaysia

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

To study the relationship between classroom ergonomics and student academic performance in Gambangs Primary School.

To identify the risk factors which influenced student academic performance in Gambangs Primary School.
To identify the most significant risk factor affecting student academic performance in Gambang Primary School.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What is the relationship between classroom ergonomics and student academic performance in Gambangs Primary School. Is there any effects of classroom condition on student academic performance in Gambangs Primary School.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION

Classroom ergonomics Primary School Student Academic Performance

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Students in the classroom Classroom ergonomics factors -lighting -temperature -noise Individual factors -age, gender, -posture, duration -physical fitness

Health of student

Student academic performance

SIGNIFICANT OF STUDY
this study is important to determine the effects of classroom condition on student academic performance. this study will provide useful information to the students in the education field for the further study.

SCOPE OF STUDY

The experimental study will be carried out to access the classroom condition in Gambang Primary School. This study will focus on the level of classroom lighting , classroom temperature and level of noise which is suitable for students in the classroom during their study. The data of the lighting, temperature and noise will be collected by instruments.

LITERATURE REVIEW

INTRODUCTION
This chapter examines the literature related to the influence that classroom ergonomic have on student academic performance.

ERGONOMIC DEFINITION

Ergonomics is derived from Greek work ergo (work ) and nomos (laws) to represent the science of the work (Bush, 2012) ergonomic is a science that focus on the comfort of the workstation and all of its physiological aspects to the human(Geotsch,2008)

2.3 CLASSROOM BUILDING CONDITION

2.3.1 Temperature 2.3.1.1 The definition of the temperature According to Parsons (2003), temperature can be assumed as the average kinetic energy (heat) in a body at a molecular level . It is one kind of physical property of a subject which normally cause cold or hot to the subject. temperature can be transferred from one solid to another solid . The unit of temperature is Fahrenheit degree scale (F). However , in SI units , Celsius degree id used (0C).

2.3.1.2 Metabolic Temperature A large part of the heat is produced by cells of body and transform into energy (PARSONS,2003). Heat produced by body tissues can utilize to maintain body core temperature. When heat production in the body exceeds the bodys heat loss, body temperature rises. Metabolic heat in the body is transferred by convection from the muscle activities to the blood stream and lastly affecting body core temperature.

Conduction is heat transfer from solid to solid and it only has little effect on human body heat transfer. Heat conduction for body is cool or hot subject direct contact with human skin(Attwood,2007)

Convection in the body is transferring heat from muscles activities to surface of the body which is skin

Radiation is the heat transfer solar radiation and surroundings . Evaporation is heat dissipation mechanism in hot environments or environmental temperature that exceeds 20 0C.

2.3.1.3 The effects of temperature Two studies (Young et al, 2003; Buckley et al, 2004) mention the importance of these issues in reports which address the needs of particular US states schools, while Fisher (2001) and Schneider (2002) similarly rate these factors as likely to affect student behaviour and outcomes.

Within the studies there are some reasonably clear findings but also some disagreement. There has been questioning of some of the assumptions made about

maximum comfortable temperatures (Wong & Khoo, 2003) and about

the necessity of using air conditioning to achieve ventilation (Khedari et al., 2000; Grams et al., 2003). it is notable that air conditioning, ventilation and heating systems are found to contribute quite distinctly to the level of classroom noise

(Shield & Dockrell, 2004)

the importance of ventilation in educational establishments continues to be

emphasized (Kimmel et al, 2000; Khattar et al, 2003), while the inadequacies
of indoor air in schools continue to be reported (Lee & Chang, 2000; Kimmel et al, 2000; Khattar et al, 2003) and linked to ill-health (Ahman et al, 2000).

Smedje and Norback (2001) argue that since irritants and allergens collect in
dust, it might be advisable to avoid particular sorts of fleecy furnishings and open shelving and to increase the frequency of cleaning

2.2.2 Noise definition noise refers to any unwanted sound loud noise can permanently damage your hearing. High noise levels can block , distort, change or interfere with the meaning of a message in human and electronic communication.

2.2.2.1 The effects of noise

Excessive noise affect handicapped students more than normal students (King and Marans,1979)
Unwanted noise reduced human energy and efficiency, and affect mental and emotional health of teachers and students (Glass 1985; Cohen, Sheldon, and Lezak 1977) Excessive noise has a direct bearing on students' attention and progress (Kyzar, 1977) Background music increased accuracy in comprehension of students and is most advantageous during early morning and after lunch periods when the students settled down. Students below average in achievement and intelligence benefit from background music (Hall, 1952)

Children's performance on many classroom tasks vary as a function of classroom noise levels. 70 decibels of sound constitutes a noisy classroom while 40 decibels constitutes a quiet classroom (Christie and Glickman, 1980) External sounds had a detrimental effect on the verbal interaction between teacher and students (Dixon, 1953) Some children from noisy schools had higher blood pressure, less cognitive task success and greater feelings of helplessness (Krantz and Stokols, 1986) The evidence for effects of environmental noise on health is strongest for annoyance, sleep and cognitive performance in adults and children (Stansfeld and Matheson, 2003)

Various noises (recordings of aeroplanes, road traffic and trains) appear to interfere with the encoding stage of memory and that this is not mediated by distraction or mood (Hygge, 2003) Impairment in performance is partly explained by the interference of any noise with inner speech (Poulton, 1978) The judgements of both adults and children correlate well with background noise, while noise annoyance is more related to peaks of noise and some noises are perceived as more annoying than others (Dockrell and Shield, 2004) Some limited suggestions suggest that some individuals might be more sensitive to noise than others (Belojevic et al, 2001; Zimmer & Ellermeier, 1999).

2.2.3 Lighting Light is a simple part of the electromagnetic spectrum that enables human to see the objects of surrounding Lighting = the deliberate use of light to achieve a practical effect (Visual Comfort, and Fatigue, Eyestrain, and Migraine) Lighting sources artificial light (lamps and light fixtures) natural illumination (day light) Indoor lighting is usually accomplished using light fixtures , and is a key part of interior design.

2.2.3.2 Visual comfort Visual comfort is difficult to define as it is related to peoples expectation , lighting condition changes and interesting on the meanwhile working task (Boyce, 2003) Visual comfort can be influenced by other elements, where increasing of sound level to appropriate maximum sound level can increase visual comfort (Sasaki et al., 2006) Discomfort lighting such as discomfort glare can cause visual discomfort to human and affect their performance indirectly (Osterhaus, 2005)

Full spectrum polarised lighting can overcome complaints of inappropriate lighting which leads to headaches, eyestrain and fatigue because it is glarefree and flicker-free (Karpen 1993)

The idea of creating glare free lighting is important as there is an increased use of computers in schools (Barnitt, 2003) Donovan (1921) includes advice about the alignment of desks and the use of blinds to overcome concerns about glare

2.2.3.3 Fatigue, eyestrain, and migraine Fatigue can be classified into two common fatigues which are physiological and psychological fatigue Eyestrain is caused by prolonged exposed to lighting condition that caused discomfort (Boyce,2003)

A study conducted in mail sorting facilities shows relationship between illumination level with eyes fatigue, eyestrain and migraine (Hemphala and Eklund, 2012)
Eyes condition and its comfort level can affect human performance indirectly Day lighting offers the most positive effect to student achievement (Earthman, 2004; Heschong Mahone Group, 2003) as daylight produces biological effects on the human body (Wurtman, 1975)

For lighting to be effective, daylight must be supplemented by automatically controlled electric lighting that dims in response to daylight levels. (Benya, 2001) Good lighting can only be achieved by a combination of direct and indirect lighting (Barnitt, 2003) Visual environment can affects a learners ability to perceive visual stimuli and affects his/her mental attitude, and thus, performance (Jago & Tanner, 1999) Lighting conditions that induced negative affect reduced performance, and therefore, lighting conditions that induced positive affect improved performance (Knez, 1995) Veitch (1997), however, argued that lighting has no effect on mood or performance

METHODOLGY PART

INTRODUCTION
sampling strategies
sampling area research design

study sample

study limitation

METDOD

research instrument

study ethic

data analysis

quality assurance

SAMPLING AREA
1) Primary School in Gambang 2) Grade 3 only 3) Two different condition classroom Good environment Bad environment

RESEARCH DESIGN
Research design refers to the design and procedures of data collection and data analysis. Involves the detailed description of an individual in order to address the issues under study Divide into two categories a treatment group and a control group. The grade 3 students in the Primary School Data will be collected from grade 1 academic

STUDY SAMPLE

Collected the grade 3 Total number of 100 students Treatment group(bad condition) with 50 students Control group(good condition) with 50 students

SAMPLING STRATEGY
Identify the location of the classroom as the study area Study the characteristics of the location of classroom Participants collection as the study sampling Schedule operation time for the measurement and data collection Data collection and data analysis

DATA COLLECTION/INSTRUMENATION
Survey classroom conditions Questionnaire Face to Face interview student academic performance Standards of Learning Assessments

DATA ANALYSIS

Event analysis method

to identify the starting point and ending point of an event stated by the informants.

QUALITY ASSURANCE
guidance

and explanations on questionnaire are given to the respondents

STUDY LIMITATION

Because of the study area is only focuse on grade 3 students , so the results may different with the results which we conduct the research at others school. And it also will reduce the persuasion about the relationship between classroom ergonomics and student academic performance.