Light in buildings does not only define how well we can see, it has also been found to affect our mood, motivation, social behaviour, performance, health and general well-being (Boyce, 2014). For educational environments these implications of light have been found to affect pupils’ learning outcomes. This study aims to advance our knowledge about the relationship between light and learning by exploring if exposure to different artificial light conditions in class influences pupils’ behaviour and performance. Primary education has evolved significantly over the past decades and widely shifted from a teacher-orientated approach to a more student-orientated approach that, amongst others, embraces a more diversified palette of learning activities. This shift has not only changed the instructional and managerial load for teachers; it also sets new requirements for the spaces hosting this new pedagogy. As an architectural lighting designer who advocates light in the built environment should support the occupant’s visual and non-visual needs, my interest became to investigate what role artificial lighting could play in the creation of learning spaces that are supportive of the new pedagogy, and herewith enhances the learning outcomes. From my professional experience thus far and from conversations with practicing school-designers it appears that attention for light in learning spaces primarily goes out to optimize the natural light conditions, while artificial light is mainly considered an add-on to guarantee good visibility during all hours of use. This approach is also endorsed by most building regulations as these typically focus on visibility aspects. As a result, it appears this approach led to the widespread use of ceiling-based lighting systems that typically illuminate the entire learning space relatively evenly. Although this type of lighting design typically ensures good visibility, it does not offer much prospect to address the changes brought about by the new pedagogy. This research explores whether an alternative lighting design approach could support pupil’s new learning better. This chapter introduces the research that was undertaken hereto. Section 1.1 describes the context it is situated in, that of the Danish Folkeskole, and outlines a specific challenge it looks to address, namely, to improve quietness during class as advocated by the 2014 reform of the Folkeskole pedagogy. Section 1.2 outlines the twophased research design that has been followed and summarises the different research methods applied per phase. Section 1.3 outlines the contributions this research seeks to make to the academic fields of lighting science and environmental psychology as well as to the practice field of architectural design and the educational community in general. Section 1.4 functions as a reader’s guide and outlines the structure of this thesis further.
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction
1
