Effects of School Architectural Design on Student and Teacher Anxiety

Abstract

This study used student diaries of events at the point of entry into junior high school to identify three categories of anxiety, which were analyzed in terms of the differences in student personality (conceptual level) and in school design (open plan or conventional). In addition, follow-up observations were made of student and teacher behavior in class. The study found that students in open plan schools had lower levels of normlessness, and higher levels of schoolwork anxiety, than their counterparts in conventional design schools. For the anxiety category, threat from others, low conceptual level (CL) students experienced greater anxiety than high CL students. Results of the observations of teachers suggested that those in open plan schools experienced more tension and anxiety than those in conventional schools. In the open plan classrooms, transitions to new activities were more frequently needed and were more prolonged, and student off-task behavior was greater. Results were interpreted in terms of the effects of environmental load on information processing.