Affiliations: [a] Administration Course, Federal University of Cariri, Juazeiro do Norte, Brazil
| [b]
Department of Production Engineering, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil
| [c]
Department of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Amapá, Macapá, Brazil
| [d] Production Engineering Course, Federal University of Alagoas, Delmiro Gouveia, Brazil
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Ruan Eduardo Carneiro Lucas, Administration Course, Federal University of Cariri, Juazeiro do Norte 63048-080, Brazil. E-mail: ruan.eduardo@ufca.edu.br.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:
Educational environments can have environmental conditions that are incompatible with the needs of students, compromising their well-being and affecting their performance. OBJECTIVE:
To identify the environmental variables that influence the performance of university students and measure this influence through an experiment in indoor environments. METHODS:
The study applied an experimental methodology for three consecutive days in seven educational environments located in different regions of Brazil, measuring the environ-mental conditions, the students’ perception of the environment, and their cognitive performance. The impact of environmental variables and environmental perception on student performance was analyzed using Generalized Linear Models and a Structural Equation Model. RESULTS:
Students who took the test at air temperatures between 22.4°C and 24.7°C had a 74.20% chance of performing better than those outside this range. Air temperatures between 26.2°C and 29°C were associated with an 86% chance of taking less time to complete the test. High illuminance levels increased the chance of taking longer to answer the test by 41.7%. CONCLUSIONS:
Three environmental variables (relative humidity, lighting and air temperature) and two perceptual dimensions (light and thermal perception) directly influence student performance.
