The Effect of School Design on Student Performance

Abstract

<p class="apa">The present study aims at exploring the influence of school design on student performance. The participants consisted of 150 students who studied at two Iranian public school and private school in Mashhad City. School Design and Planning Laboratory (SDPL) model of Georgia University (and Tanner (2009)) was used as an appraisal indicator of school design and some of its design characteristics such as unrestricted and functional views, indoor and outdoor spaces, and natural life were explained to students. In addition, student performance, defined by the average of their final achievement scores, was compared to measures of school environmental characteristics. To this end, design characteristics of these schools and students’ performances have been studied. Quantitative data, subjected to a set of descriptive statistics, showed that school design was a strong factor for students of private school. In fact, the finding indicated that characteristics of physical learning space and deign of private school had fundamental effects on student performance. That is, learning space as a strong component can motivate students to study and progress.</p>