Ergonomic assessment of environmental conditions in public elementary school classrooms in Quezon city, Philippines

Abstract

Majority of the conducted studies about public elementary classrooms in the Philippines focuses on anthropometrics but research about the physical environmental factors that affect learning is lacking. With this, an ergonomic assessment of four public elementary schools in Quezon City, Philippines was conducted to determine if the facilities are able to meet the recommended thermal, acoustical, and lighting ergonomic standards for classrooms and assess if the facilities are conducive environments for learning. Acoustic, thermal, and lighting measurements were collected from four different locations inside each classroom. Simultaneously, a survey of students was conducted to determine their perception of the conditions of their classroom in terms of thermal, visual and acoustical comfort. The results were compared to the general ergonomic standards for classrooms and showed that the environmental conditions of the public elementary school classrooms considered are not conducive for learning based on the thermal, acoustical, and lighting standards.