Experiment Design and Methodology

2 . 0 M E T H O D S

2.1 EXPERIMENT DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

11 students from the UCL Master’s programme choose to participate in an experiment approved by the BENV0054 Wellbeing in Buildings Module. The experiment tested participant’s cognitive performance and wellbeing in two biophilic design settings and a controlled setting: (1) setting with blue tables; (2) setting with green tables; (3) setting with wooden tables – controlled setting. Before the start of the experiment, participants were presented with an information and consent form, from which the documents highlighted the experiment procedure, the tasks expected to be done, and how the data conducted from experiment will be managed (see appendix 1 & 2). These were revised and signed by the participants to acknowledge their approval on taking part in the experiment.

All 11 participants were instructed to arrive at room 739 in the UCL Institute of Education department at 10:00 AM on the 24th of November and bring their laptops along with them and avoid having any caffeinated drinks prior to the experiment. Once in the experiment room, the participants were directed to fill out a subjective experience questionnaire, a survey about their perceived wellbeing and a colour-blindness test before starting the experiment. Due to equipment availability, only 5 out of the 11 participants’ heart rate was further monitored via a Fitbit device.

All 11 participants were first exposed to the (1) setting with blue tables – where they were directed to complete an online, typing task and 3 cognitive tasks before taking an approximate 10-minute break. The same procedure was carried out for (2) setting with green tables and (3) setting with wooden tables – controlled. At the end of the experiment, participants were instructed to fill out a survey about their perceived wellbeing. Environmental conditions in the room were monitored throughout via the use of an EDU Logger.

Table 2.1 summarises the experiment design, methodology and rationale by identifying the chosen measures, interventions, tasks, and outcome data.