educational environments...human response to sound and light

“If I turn off the lights will you guys fall asleep?” A statement frequently made by teachers in classroom everywhere, I would think.  Sound and light in an educational environment are major factors in performance.  According to Gifford’s Environmental Psychology basic information processing related to decision-making was better under daylight lamps than under fluorescent lamps.  People naturally gravitate toward natural light.  In climates where people have to live in darkness for months at a time many people experience Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.  Sound in an educational environment can affect performance too.  We’ve all been in a classroom next to a noisy hallway or adjacent to a noisy classroom and been unable to focus.  According to Gifford noise effects the communication between student and teacher, interfere with the development of strategies for processing information, damaged ones sense of personal control and raise ones blood pressure semi-permanently. The effects of sound and light can be dramatic in interior spaces.  Because of the serious complications that could occur in learning environments as designers we must constantly consider these elements.  Today’s educational facilities are taking this into account. A major factor in LEED accreditation of educational environments is lighting.  Light shelves and mechanical regulators keep even amounts of lighting and natural light distributed all throughout the space.  Now if only we could go back and alter the classrooms that were built in the 1950’s and 60’s. The classrooms in my middle school didn’t even have windows.