9 minute read
Lighting to Transform SPED Classroom Environments
Lighting to Transform SPED Classroom Environments
By Allison Thayer
Setting the Scene
You are sitting in your chair attached to your desk, your elbow is sliding along the desktop as the weight of your chin pushes down on your hand, and your eyes begin to close. You are snapped back to attention when the teacher asks you for the answer to an unheard question. Ever been there?
What is it about middle school classrooms that makes it so easy to nap? First, anyone who has lived with an adolescent knows that hormonal changes can lead to sassy attitudes. But did you know those changes also affect their sleep? Adolescents develop a natural tendency for later sleep onset and later wake times [1], which is why they get a bad rap for being night owls. On top of that, typical classroom lighting is static and generally too dim to create an alerting effect or provide the kind of daytime light stimulus that promotes earlier bedtimes and better sleep [2]. The combination of these factors can lead to a vicious cycle of late nights and sleepy, unfocused school days.
An Added Challenge
This effect can be even more exaggerated for students in special education (SPED) classrooms, as at least some of them can be placed on the autism spectrum. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) comprises a range of challenges that can make day-to-day tasks most people take for granted more difficult. Students living with ASD experience difficulties with learning comprehension, social communication, and behavioral control, to name just a few. Those living with ASD can also have a heightened sensitivity to environmental stimuli such as loud noises, bright light, and even indiscernible flicker from lights. Overstimulation can cause sudden outbursts, frustration, maladaptive behavior, aggression, and lack of focus, which can be distressing and disruptive during structured class times.
Classroom lighting often poses problems for these students, which they often perceive as being “too bright.” To create visually appropriate classroom environments, teachers have employed simple strategies like placing blue cloth over existing luminaires to adjust the light’s level and color to create a calming effect [3]. Providing the ability to adjust lighting beyond ad hoc measures and a simple on/off switch is a great start for transforming the classroom into an environment better suited for learning.
Innovations in lighting and control technologies provide a wealth of options for transforming otherwise static indoor spaces by dynamically layering light with different colors and variable illuminance levels throughout the day. But with a seemingly infinite palette of options, how do we choose what is best for educational applications, specifically in SPED classrooms?
Investigating a Solution
To address this question, researchers from the Mount Sinai Light and Health Research Center (LHRC) worked with Mosaic Architects to design and install new lighting and control systems in two middle school SPED classrooms in a suburban school district. Because the classrooms were designed to serve different functions, the lighting schemes were designed to fit each application. We conducted a pilot study to determine subjective effects of the new “active” lighting compared to baseline lighting settings, similar to those found in typical classrooms.
Goals of the Study
• Create an environment for the students/teachers that promotes focus on learning while minimizing overstimulation from light
• Provide a layer of blue light to evoke a calm environment while simultaneously enhancing daytime circadian stimulus—and thereby promote better sleep at night—without the need for bright light
• Provide layers of light with preset scenes/schedules and easy-to-use controls for the teachers
Results
CLASSROOM 1: Students in this classroom have developmental and cognitive disabilities that include Down syndrome, multiple disabilities, and hearing and visual challenges. The classroom is used all day, alternating between instruction and break times.
Scenes (Baseline and active conditions, activated for 2 weeks each):
Classwork
Calm
Baseline (week 1-2): Static scene, simulating typical classroom lighting
Active (week 3-4): Toggle between a Classwork scene active during structured learning time and the Calm scene, active during break times. There is a subtle 5-minute transition between scenes.
Subjective measures:
Acceptance
Baseline lighting condition
Active lighting conditon
Acceptance of baseline lighting condition (top) versus active lighting condition (bottom).
Findings
For all outcome measures, a greater effect was generally seen in the students who registered extreme scores during the baseline period.
• A positive effect on alertness was observed in Students B and E, one of whom had been falling asleep 3-4 times a week for over a year but did not fall asleep once during the active weeks, achieving an average score of “rather alert.”
• Although the scales differ in absolute range, it is curious that the trends for students' rating of their subjective sleepiness levels contradict with teacher’s observed sleepiness levels. Some students with ASD have difficultly expressing how they feel, which might at least partially explain these discrepancies.
• For Students B and F, the active lighting weeks showed shorter transition times between break and structured class time, averaging “within a few minutes” during baseline to “almost immediately” during the active weeks. It is worth noting, however, that the teacher observed that students are generally good at responding to verbal cues for switching gears.
Results
CLASSROOM 2: Students in this classroom are part of a highly integrated program where they spend most of their time in other general education classrooms and use this space as a home base/study hall.
Scenes (Each activated for 2 weeks):
Baseline
Dimmed white light
Sky blue + white
Saturated blue
Subjective measures:
Baseline: Bright, white color
Acceptance
Calm
Focus
Students (n=9) were asked to assess their acceptance of the lighting setting, as well as feelings of calmness and focus each time they came for study hall. Blue = Yes; Orange = No; Gray = Sort of
Dimmed white light: dim, white color
Acceptance
Calm
Focus
Blue = Yes; Orange = No; Gray = Sort of
Sky blue + white: dim, blue and white color
Acceptance
Calm
Focus
Blue = Yes; Orange = No; Gray = Sort of
Saturated blue: dim, blue color
Acceptance
Calm
Focus
Blue = Yes; Orange = No; Gray = Sort of
—Student L
—Teacher
Findings
• There was a clear trend, where adding more saturated blue and/or dimming the lights provided higher acceptance and more frequent feelings of calmness during study hall, while not compromising the students’ focus.
• Light, on its own, did not show a strong effect on changing mood from the beginning to the end of the study hall period. Lighting for spaces such as a sensory room may be more effective for altering mood, as this space could allow for complete individual control of the lighting in the environment.
Lessons Learned
Adding a layer of saturated blue light or simply dimming the white light positively affected the students in both classrooms. Overall, the teachers were very receptive to the lighting systems/controls in the classrooms and would recommend the lighting to other teachers. In real world applications, however, there remains a disconnect between the evolving technologies and their successful implementation, especially in retrofit situations where local regulators and technical staff might be unfamiliar with the new systems, local contractors might experience difficulties in the installation and commissioning of disparate systems, and the school’s infrastructure might not be ideally suited for the upgrades.
What's Next?
Although this pilot study ironed out some of the initial questions, more needs to be done to better understand how the lighted school and home environments can improve the learning environments of SPED students. A more comprehensive study should be done to better understand the effects on sleep, stimulation, mood, and behavior. Moving forward, other schools can use this study’s applications and findings to take the next steps in creating better environments for learning, comfort, and flexible lighting controls to achieve these ends.
Special Thanks
The LHRC would like to sincerely thank the architects, school administrators, teachers, and students for their collaboration, support, and cooperation throughout the project. We also want to thank Axis Lighting and Sylvania for their donations, and CREE and Lutron for providing the systems at a discount for the project.
Disclaimer
The teachers were aware of the study’s goals and assisted in the programing of the lighting to meet their needs. The LHRC therefore cannot claim impartiality on subjective survey responses or dismiss the possibility of a placebo effect with respect to the results. The small number of study participants precluded the possibility of statistically significant results.
