Classroom Aesthetics

By Naomi Brady

Personal Project Final Report

Imagine International Academy of North Texas
04/15/2015

Table of Contents
Introduction..3
Investigation (4-7)
Personal Connection4
Global Context..5
Description of Process.5
Background Information..6
Planning (8-10)
Plan of Action8
Organization..9
Taking Action (11-12)
Outcome...11
Skills Developed. 12
Challenges....12
Reflecting (13-14)
Self-Evaluation.13
Room for Improvement....13
Personal Growth..13
Concluding Thoughts...14
Student Survey Feedback...15
Bibliography16-17
Appendices (18-42)
Process Journal Excerpts...............................................................................18-27
Photos of Experiment28-38
Survey Results39-42

Introduction
Albert Einstein once said, I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions

in which they can learn. Never has the meaning of this quote been more applicable than in modern
secondary education.
Adolescents often bear the brunt of negative generalizations in society, but in reality they
are simply easily influenced, pliable young adults going through one of the most important stages of
development in the human lifetime. High school; colorless beige walls, stark white ceilings, blazingly
bright fluorescent lighting, all encompassed by the thick emotional atmosphere of teenage angst.
While the influence of aesthetics is acknowledged heavily in almost every aspect of the
adult world, it is curiously absent from the spectrum of youth education. The goal of my personal
project is to identify what environmental factors influence a typical students ability to learn, to
distinguish what components make up the ideal education setting, and to improve our specific
learning environment. My guiding question is What environmental factors influence students'
learning abilities, and what can be done to maximize the effectiveness/efficiency of an education
setting?
As a demonstration and experiment, I narrowed my search down to 5 defining factors
(Lighting, Music, Scent, Color, & Plants), and implemented each into a different high school
classroom, at the Imagine International Academy of North Texas. As a final product, I concluded
my research and experiment findings into a form of communication (website, brochure, and video)
to not only share with both my own schools administration & teaching staff, but also to publish on
the internet for future teachers and schools to use.
Several people in my life have been extremely influential and helpful during the process of
completing my personal project. I would like to give special recognition to my leadership and
personal project teacher, Mr. Bryan Plymale, and also to my personal project supervisor, Mrs.
Lindsey Johnston. In addition, my friends and fellow classmates at IIA-NT have been extremely
helpful, by participating in the many surveys I conducted. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the
teachers who participated in my demonstration/experiment (Mrs. Johnston, Mr. Dluhy, Mr. Plymale,
Mrs. Dodds, and Mrs. Fernandez), as well as my parents, who helped me purchase and set up the
materials, not to mention their considerable moral support.
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Investigation
Personal Connection
I chose to do my personal project about environmental factors in the classroom mostly
because I feel personally involved in my education, and because I would like to create the best
learning environment possible for both myself and other adolescents. I am very interested in the
psychological effects of different elements on human behavior, and currently would like to pursue
something related to that subject as a career. Developing and conducting my personal project
experiment was a great learning experience for me, and I enjoyed both personally experiencing and
observing the effects.
I also feel very strongly that society should invest more into primary and secondary
education, and that it is one of the most important aspects of our lives today. Despite whoever
might be influential in the present, the youngest generation will eventually take their place and be
ultimately responsible for the world. Therefore we should take greater care in educating those
important future decision-makers. That teaching is regarded as a low-paying/quality job in America
is simultaneously bewildering and ridiculous. And the fact that aesthetics are hardly thought of at all
in the creation of the institutions that these adolescents spend approx. 8 hours a day, 40 hours a
week in is unfathomable.
Before I began my project, I knew only my personal opinions about aesthetic features in my
own learning environment. I realized that I liked classrooms better when they used lamps instead of
overhead lights. Windows were even better. Classrooms with posters or colored walls naturally felt
friendlier and nicer than bare classrooms. Scented candles, or wall plug-ins made everything smell
like we were being taught in a secret bakery. Background music just gave a certain
comfortableness that cant be gained by just talking. And the rare plant that I saw in any of my
classrooms just emitted a sense of life and vitality that always seemed to wake me up. I didnt
know why these environments worked that way, but I knew how they made me feel.

Global Context
The global context I chose was Personal and Cultural Expression. IB defines this global
context as What is the nature and purpose of creative expression?

Students will explore the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture,
beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our
appreciation of the aesthetic. I chose this global context because my project is focusing on the
environmental factors; essentially, the aesthetic; of learning environments. The surveys I conducted
are dealing with how students personally reflect on and are influenced by these factors. In addition,
several of my narrowed down factors themselves represent creative expression (such as music,
color, etc.). In general, the arrangement and organization of a classrooms different aspects can
have a profound impact on students learning, which is basically a form of aesthetic expression
itself.

Description of Process
The goal of my personal project is to identify what environmental factors influence a typical
students ability to learn, to distinguish what components make up the ideal education setting, and
to improve our specific learning environment. My inquiry question is What environmental factors
influence students' learning abilities, and what can be done to maximize the
effectiveness/efficiency of an education setting? In order to meet this goal and inquiry question, I
planned to research about the psychological effects of classroom environments, and which factors
tended to have the greatest influence on students. I wanted to focus my search on adolescents and
teenagers mostly, so that it would be relatable and less broad than my original idea.
After general researching, I planned to create a generalized probing survey, with questions
about my top factors. It would include asking for examples and a variety of ratings in order for me to
decide which factors were the most important. The survey was going to be sent to originally just my
fellow classmates, via Managebac. I also played with the idea of sending my survey to international
schools, in order to get a more global response.
After the factors were chosen, I would begin brainstorming how to best implement the
factors into a classroom for a short period of time. I wanted to originally do the experiment, as I

suppose it could be called, after Thanksgiving break, and before Christmas break. When the
experiment was ready, I would create individual surveys for each factor, and send them to each
teacher asking them to post it to their Managebac pages, in order for all the students of that
classroom to take it. I planned to create both a pre-survey and a post-survey, so that I could
compare the opinionated results.
After collecting the results, I would continue my research in order to support my findings,
and better discover why the students felt the way they did. Mainly, my objective at this point would
be to gather a pool of resources and information to use in my final product.
When beginning my project, I was a little hazy about what my final product would actually,
physically be. I played with the idea of creating a documentary, interviewing students and teachers,
making a blog with weekly entries, making a website, or (lastly) creating a brochure. They all
seemed to be acceptable forms of creation, but I kept coming back to the website idea. So in the
back of my mind, I believed that I would collect my information into a website, within which I might
include a blog, photos, graphs, video, and/or brochure document. It seemed the most versatile of
presentation forms.
Overall, I aimed to identify the main environmental factors which seemed to have the
greatest impact on learning, create a form of demonstration for my personal education community,
research more about the factors I had narrowed down to, and then finally conclude my data and
information into a form of presentation (most likely a website), in which I could present to both my
own school, but send or publish so that other schools could use it in the future.

Background Information
Before I could begin my project, I knew that I had to learn more about learning
environments, and somehow narrow my search (it felt like there was an infinite amount of
environmental factors that influence behavior). To do this, I considered 3 factors. 1, I had to be
realistic about what I could physically demonstrate in classrooms. 2, I wanted to choose factors that
had a particularly large influence, which I could gauge based on research. 3, I wanted to pick
factors which I felt personally interested in. Based on these requirements, I narrowed my search
down to 5 fairly visible environmental factors: Music, Plants, Color, Lighting, and Scent.

Through my research I made various interesting discoveries. I found a variety of

informational articles about the influence of colors/music/scents/plants/natural light on human
behavior and learning. An example would be an article from the Agriculture & Life Sciences subsection of Texas A&M University, titled The Health and Well-Being Benefits of Plants detailing
how plants in educational workplaces help to increase concentration and memory, as well as
having a calming effect on students. (Bisco Werner 1996; Brethour 2007; Frank 2003; Pohmer
2008; Serwach 2008; Shibata, 2001, 2004; Yannick 2009).
I also found a few studies that had been conducted previously that were similar to my
project topic, such as a study done in 2010 at the Philippine Womens University, conducted to
measure the effects of Mozarts compositions on social learning behavior in high school students.

(2010, Pelayo, Jose Maria G. III). It was studies like this that gave me both a model for my own
demonstration, and valuable research for my website and brochure.

Planning
Plan of Action
Throughout the personal project process, I created checkpoints for myself based upon my intended
outcome. At the beginning of the process, my checkpoints were vague. I began by aiming to only
research environmental factors, and creating a form of presentation to show my findings. Eventually
my specifications became more specific, but my first list of specifications is below:

(Excerpt from my process journal)

September 25, 2014

First List of Specifications:

-Identify factors which positively influence students ability to learn (based upon brief research)
-Research by interviewing students from around the world, school, and community
- Take steps to improve our specific learning environment (this consists of drawing up a formal
plan for the administration to consider)
- Steps may include fundraising for specific additions, petitions, polls, meetings, etc.
- Distinguish ideal conditions, based on research, interviews, polls, and personal experience
-Create a final product presentation (like a documentary) which includes any video interviews,
photos, or other media I have gathered through my research. (I may also create a website/blog
detailing the process and information behind my project, but have not totally decided on this course
of action yet).

And my final list of specifications was as following:

-Identify main environmental factors through research
-Create a starter probing survey to get a general idea of students opinions
-Share survey and get as many students as possible (email other IB schools, public schools, and
maybe ask about posting a myp-dp-wide managebac message with a link)
-Create an experiment proposal
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- Share proposal with supervisor/teacher (ask about best way to approach teachers)
- Approach prospective teachers and make plans for experiment specifications
- Experiment: Set up teachers classrooms
- Experiment: Create starting survey and give to teachers/students before experiment begins
- Experiment: Conduct actual experiment (after Winter Break)
- Experiment: Create final survey and give to teachers/students after 2 weeks are up
- Experiment: Clean up all supplies and materials, or leave them in the classrooms, depending on
what the teacher wants.
- Experiment: Also ask teachers for an overall summary of how the experiment impacted the
students' learning, and their opinions as teachers being influenced by the factor
- Presentation: Design a brochure to show data and research
- Presentation: Create a website (w/ video, experiment findings, research, photos) *still deciding*
- Presentation: Find a way to include recommendations for teachers to improve their classroom
- Presentation: Draw up a formal plan to propose to administration *still deciding*
- Write 100-200 word Abstract
-Write 3,500 word approx. Personal Project Report Essay

Organization
Throughout the personal project process, I recorded my progress in the customary fashion,
through the IB Personal Project Process Journal. I attempted to write at least one entry whenever
something or anything notable happened to do with my project. Whenever I did any research, I
always put the website link and information gathered in the online process journal. I also added my
notes on any meetings or presentations I had with my Personal Project teacher, class, or
supervisor. I also kept a heavily updated to-do list on the Managebac personal project site, which
was quite helpful in keeping everything in one place.
In addition to recording my progress, my self-management skills also became developed
throughout the process. Before the personal project, I had never really done anything on such a
large scale before. No school project had ever lasted that long, or was that vague or objective in its
assignment. It was scary, to say the least. I tend to be exceptionally indecisive, and was worried
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about choosing the wrong project. In the end, though, environmental factors seemed to be the only
one that really felt right.
Speaking as one of the small pool of teens who havent found their passion yet, it was
tough to think of a project that encompassed my interests. In the end, however, I realized that I
needed to choose something that mattered to me, that I enjoyed learning about, and that I felt was
realistic. My mother is part of my schools administration, so I have always had easy access to
school and educational resources. Psychology has been an interest to me in recent years, and
definitely one of my favorite sciences. I have also been interested in interior design, and used to
want to be an interior designer as a career when I grew up.
Coming up with the idea for my project and experiment was one of the first big choices I
have made. I know it is not a huge life decision, but I think it added a lot to my self-esteem, and
confidence in myself. I realized that I had the ability to be an initiator and a leader, instead of
always being a sidekick and follower, which was a really huge leap for me.

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Taking Action
Outcome
Overall, I accomplished most of my intended products and outcomes, while having to
minimize some of my larger-scale goals. My experiment/demonstration was pulled off with minimal
changes necessary, and seemed for the most part successful. My 5 chosen factors were Plants,
Scent, Music, Color, and Lighting. I asked 5 different upper school teachers at IIA-NT if I could use
their classrooms for about a month for my project. Mr. Bart Dluhy (an MYP and DP art and film
teacher), Mrs. Lara Dodds (an MYP math teacher), Mr. Plymale (a Leadership and TOK teacher),
Mrs. Fernandez (an MYP and DP Spanish teacher), and Mrs. Johnston (an MYP history teacher) all
participated in my project.
For Plants, I purchased about 15 plants of varied sizes from the clearance section on
Lowes, and put them in the art classroom (mainly because it has large windows, and a multitude of
flexible areas to put the plants in). I watered them myself for the duration of the project.
For Scent, I purchased a small Glade scent sprayer, which was set up in the math
classroom, to spray coconut/beach scented air freshener every few minutes. A small scented oil
reed was also set up in the classroom.
For Music, I brought in one of my own CD players, and 2 CDs (one Enya album, and one
classical strings album). It was set up in the Leadership classroom, because of our abundance of
free-work time, to be background music.
For Color (implemented in the Spanish room) I went to Party City and collected a variety of
Hispanic decorations (including streamers, flags, and paper fans and lanterns, all of different
colors). I also went to a traditional Mexican store downtown to purchase a piata, which we set up
hanging from the corner of the room.
Lastly, for Lighting (my personal favorite) the school had purchased lengths of Christmas
lights earlier in the year for a dance, so I talked to the administration and was able to use the
Christmas lights to decorate around the many whiteboards and bulletin boards in the room. I also
brought in one of my familys own floor lamps (of the same soft hue of light) to put in the corner of
the classroom. The windows were also opened whenever possible.
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Before and after the demonstration, I sent out personalized surveys for each factor via
managebac to the students of the classrooms being affected. Each survey measured concentration,
quality of work, and enthusiasm by ratings of 1-5, and asked for any additional comments the
student might have. This related to the global context and goal by collecting personalized student
data, and also by evaluating the creative expression of each environmental factor.

Skills Developed
Throughout the process of the personal project, I developed significant improvements in my
thinking, inquiring, and communication skills. I used thinking and inquiring to research and
formulate the plan for my demonstration. I also used communication skills to speak and organize
with all of the teachers/students involved in my experiment and surveys. I also developed serious
time-management skills, because this is one of the longest-term projects I have ever worked on,
and it was very important to divide work up without having official deadlines. My personal
motivation has also increased greatly.

Challenges
Originally I had intended to make a video, website, brochure, and experiment. About halfway
through the year, however, I realized that that was just a little too much on my plate, and I narrowed
it down to just making a website. Once that was set up, I would figure out how much to add to it,
and how much time and resources I had left. I decided that I could, if I had enough time, add a
brochure and video and blog to the website to enrich its content. This way, I will have one place
where everything is connected.

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Reflecting
Self-Evaluation
Overall, I feel like I met all of my specifications. With my project, I distinguished the
influential factors, narrowed my search down, researched and created my demonstration,
successfully recorded the results through before and after surveys, created a website (enriched
with a variety of other helpful medias). While I could have gone into more detail, I feel like in general
I fulfilled everything that I set out to do. Evaluating the quality of my product (a published website
featuring the best of my research, an informational brochure, a brief video documentary, and a
regular short blog) against the criteria I created, I even surpassed some of my original goals.

Room for Improvement

While I did fulfill all of my self-established criteria, there are definitely things that I could
have done to improve the quality of my project and final product. For example, I could have made
my experiment more testable, and scientific, especially with my method of documentation. As it is,
the surveys rely solely on personal opinion, and are not the most reliable source of feedback. The
results are very qualitative instead of quantitative. I could also have been more specific in my
research, going more into specific ways that teachers can easily implement positive environmental
factors into their classrooms. I have mainly just gathered basic knowledge on each chosen factor,
but have not gone into enough detail to suitably come up with innovative ways to involve my
research in others lives.

Personal Growth
Completing the personal project has definitely expanded my knowledge and understanding
of aesthetics, and the influence of environment on learning. I have also learned more about how
environmental factors relate to Personal and Cultural expression, as IB defines it, and definitely
more about how peoples unconscious feelings and instincts about an environment can seriously

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impact their creative output. The Personal Project process has made me a more confident person,
and allowed me to believe both more in myself and my abilities. The various opportunities for
leadership, public speaking, and initiative have really helped me to build my self-confidence, learn
more about myself and my interests, and explore what life in college and the real world will feel like.
I am becoming less scared of what I dont know, and more inquisitive instead about the potential of
the unknown. This had made me not only more of an Inquirer in the MYP Program, but also an
educated risk-taker (taking more chances on things that I believe in), knowledgeable (by learning
about my topic), a communicator (because of having to communicate my research to the public,
and fellow students/teachers), a thinker (by having to think about how to demonstrate the
environmental factors in IIA-NT classrooms), and reflective (by reflecting on my own opinions of
learning environments and how they influence me at school). This has overall helped me to develop
into a better IB learner, by not only reinforcing my self-confidence as a researcher, student, and
presenter, but also enriched my abilities, and given me skills that will last a lifetime.

Concluding Thoughts (& Experiment Results)

Overall, while the survey results were hardly conclusive, I have decided to think of the experiment
as more of a demonstration, in which I was changing 5 MYP classrooms in my own school for the
better. Most of the teachers, have chosen to keep the added materials from my environmental
factor project in their classrooms, whenever possible. This is encouraging for me, because it means
they have taken my project to heart and that I actually am making a difference in how students
learn at my own school. The specific results were mainly positive, because although there were a
smaller number of students who participated in the after surveys, most of them had very positive
comments and rated the classrooms a 4-5 out of 5. In addition, some of the most helpful/positive
responses are below.

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Positive Student Feedback

MusicI love the music and it helps me concentrate. My mind likes to multi-task, so listening to music while
working is the best way for me to learn.
I work well with music.
It definitely makes the room feel happier.
I believe that music playing is beneficial because students focus a lot more.
I was able to get a lot more done.
I liked the music!

ColorI really liked the added color, I hope they stay because I think they really help with students concentration.
The decorations have made the mood of the room livelier and made learning more fun.
The decorations made the classroom much more inviting and made me want to participate more in class.
The decorations provide a nice atmosphere. They influenced my learning by making it easier for me to relax.
They overall made the atmosphere of the classroom more interesting and engaged the students.
The decorations in Ms. Fernandezs class made me feel like we were celebrating learning.
I felt like they brightened the classroom and made it a more vibrant atmosphere. The changes made me feel
more awake than usual.
I felt more ready to learn and more awake as opposed to when it was bare.
When I'm thinking of an answer or the right word I focus on one of the banners hanging down, to
concentrate, and it helps me.

LightingI LOVE the lights in Mrs. Johnstons class! They are so cute and relaxing, and they make her class
more fun.
Its pretty and relaxing,
I like the Christmas lights, and the dim lighting. It helps a lot with decreasing stress and anxiety
when the lights are used.

ScentThe scent made the room a nice place to be.

PlantsThe plants have added a more relaxed feeling to the classroom, something that really helped me.

15

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Performance? | CEFPI. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
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<http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/Portals/10/assets/pdfs/per%20project%202014%20Handbook.p
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2009. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
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"Listening to Music Helps Students Be More Productive in The Classroom." : Teachers At Risk.
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Appendix
Selected Process Journal Entries
Monday, 22 September 2014
Environmental Factor Brainstorming
So far in the personal project process, I have only technically thought more about my idea, and
clarified a few of the points. While I haven't made any official progress, I have spoken to my family
and friends about my ideas for educational settings, and brainstormed possible solutions to making
the school a better place. I have informally polled a few people over environmental factors such as
lighting and plants. I have also noticed that several of my teachers have habits to do with their lights
and classroom decorations. I also have become more in tune with my own preferences, and started
to think more about what environmental factors affect me and my learning abilities. I feel like other
possible factors that I haven't looked into as much could also be temperature (air
conditioning/heating), natural light (& exposure to sunlight), access to food & water (maybe teachers
should have designated times for getting water/snacking?), time of day (depending on the time of
day of each class, maybe behavior should change to be more compatible to students' energy levels
?), music (I've noticed classrooms are often more enjoyable when teachers play music, or allow
students to listen to music), and artwork/decorations. Overall I feel like I am developing my idea
more, and discovering how to successfully implement it.
Friday, 26 September 2014
Supervisor Choice & Reasoning
Today, I have chosen my first choice of supervisor (Mrs. Lemons). I've requested her as my supervisor
because not only does she specialize in humanities (which I think will be helpful with my choice of
topic, which relates to psychology and education mostly), but has experience working with personal
projects. I also really like her teaching techniques, and feel like she would be very helpful in fully
developing my ideas and plans, and also with the specific technicalities involved. In addition, I feel
like Mrs. Lemons would be able to help me fully develop my final product.
Monday, 6 October 2014
Factor Research: Lighting
One specific environmental factor I feel personally affected by is lighting. It has been my observation,
especially in our school, that classrooms often have both large windows and extensive ceiling lights.
Classrooms often have their windows (which have the potential to be a large source of natural
sunlight) closed, while their ceiling lights are on the highest setting. This has always really bothered
me, because I feel like it would be much more efficient, and environmentally-friendly to leave the
windows open, and only use ceiling lights when they're necessary. Also, I feel like unnatural light
might be affecting students, and I personally prefer classrooms that have more natural light and less
ceiling lights. I feel like we may be using more light than necessary, and there could be a more
efficient, less expensive way to manage lighting within schools.

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Wednesday, 8 October 2014

Brainstorming
So far I have not done anything specific to advance my personal project, but I have thought about it
a bit more. I have thought more about the media of my presentation, and think that I might want to
create a sort of documentary, where I can include all the videos of interviews I've done concerning
my topic. Also, I could create a website with the findings of my research, so that maybe in the future
other schools can use and implement the conclusions I've come to. I could also publish the end plan
I come up with, so that the specifics of my findings can be used by others, and so that they can have
a plan already in place. This might be helpful for developing schools, and new education facilities to
keep in mind.
Friday, 17 October 2014
Global-Mindedness
I've realized that so far in the Personal Project process, I am focusing a little more on the action
component (what I can change in our school specifically). To broaden my horizons and be more
globally-minded, I was thinking I can focus more on already established international schools with
good educational environments, to use as examples in my research. I've also thought that I can use
my parents as a resource to potentially find distant relatives/friends who live in other countries. I
could then interview them (kids my age would especially be helpful) about their differing school
systems, and what they like seeing in their own education settings. If I could skype of videochat
people from other countries it would especially be enriching, I think.
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
Supervisor Meeting (1)
So far in my personal project, I have recently made a (tentative) meeting arrangement with my
supervisor (this Friday morning most likely). I have also thought a little bit more about the final
product aspect of my personal project. As I have written previously, I was thinking about making a
documentary, photo essay, or blog/website. I am also taking a film and art class for my electives, so
hopefully I can use this as a resource if I decide to make a documentary. I feel like at this point, I will
probably make a website, on which I can put a small blog AND post a short documentary (probably
not as long as I had originally thought). This way I can combine all of my creative ideas (that I have
thought of so far), and also include all of the information and academic research necessary.
Hopefully I will be able to spread the news of my website, when I make it, throughout the school,
and also hopefully the community. So far these are my ideas for my final product.

Wednesday, 29 October 2014

Steps to completion:
1. Take a minor probing poll to identify the most prevalent environmental factors in my learning
environment (specifically)
2. Identify the main concepts I will be focusing on throughout the project
3. Research about each specific factor, and complete a sort of form for each (with 3+ sources,
experiments & research done in other schools/in the past, specific plans/ideas for change, how
other schools have implemented said factor, etc.)
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4. Conduct a more in-depth poll of students & teachers at my school (maybe petition the
administration to send out a managebac message with a survey?)
5. Conduct global polling/interviews by finding as many as possible international
students/teachers (maybe will use Serbian school sources from World History summative, and
will ask parents and other adults for sources willing to be interviewed)
6. Have at least 3 video interviews (maybe combine several people into a short segment, record a
skype or video conference with someone from another school, and of course find
student/teachers in my community) specifically will be focusing on what they see
(environmentally-related) in classrooms that they enjoy and feel like help their learning. Also
vice versa (what they see in classrooms that they feel has a negative impact on their learning).
7. *Create a website (might do this earlier in process) with possibly a blog, and video interviews.
8. Use research/personal people sources to further develop specific areas for change in our school
(draw up a rough plan)
9. Get advice from supervisor/leadership teacher on how best to approach the action aspect of my
project-follow advice to commence the next steps
10. Implement some change in our school (talk to teachers or administrators about possibly
implementing some factors into their classrooms, for example potted plants, using more natural
light, changing their room temperatures, etc.)
11. Small fundraisers or awareness publicizing might be necessary (to raise money for plants & pots
for example, or to put together a 'plant watering' committee of students)
12. Conduct in-depth polls/interviews about how the new changes have impacted
learning/teaching/the school environment in general. Possibly post on website
13. *clarify later* Gather all research, results of 'experiment'. interviews, and draw up a plan for my
final written report (review guidelines and specifications)
14. Combine information to write written report
15. Edit/put finishing touches on website, report, documentary video, and draw up plans for final
presentation (trifold, etc.)
16. Put together presentation (trifold, etc.)
17. *I think we have to write a speech of some sort*
18. Practice for presentation! Make sure all materials/products are in order...
19. The End *hopefully*

Monday, 17 November 2014

Personal Project Experiment Proposal
I have finished my more official experiment proposal document, and emailed it to Ms. Lemons. I have
attached it below, but will probably have to change the time frame from the two weeks after
Thanksgiving break to the two weeks after Winter break, to make it easier on the teachers and
because I am slightly behind schedule.
How Do Environmental Factors Influence Learning?
Overview
Because my personal project is dealing with identifying what environmental factors influence
learning in a high school environment, and formulating a plan for the best possible education
setting, I want to conduct an experiment within our own school to get more personal results. After

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researching a little bit, Ive narrowed the main environmental factors to Lighting, Plants, Music,
Furniture, and Color.

Basically, I would like to approach 5 different teachers with their own classrooms within IIANT (in the
MYP or DP programs) and ask each to implement a specific factor in their classroom for a period of
time. Right now, I am hoping to start preparing over the Fall Break, and start the period of
experimentation on December 1rst (the day students return from Fall Break), until December 12th
(two weeks after students return from Fall Break, and one week before Winter Break, starting on the
20th).

This way, I can set up any aspects that need more time to prepare over thanksgiving break, and there
will be time to clean things up before Winter Break if necessary. I will be able to provide all of the
supplies, time, and effort necessary, unless the teacher would like to temporarily donate their own
materials (such as a personal CD player, CD, potted plants, a floor lamp, posters, etc.)

Evaluation
Assuming I can find 5 teachers willing to let me conduct the experiment in their classrooms, I will
have a series of surveys and questions to evaluate the effects. Before the experiment begins
(Hopefully before or during Fall Break) I will create a very short online survey asking about the
students current environmental conditions, and asking them to rate their concentration, quality of
work, enthusiasm, and energy levels (these are susceptible to change) from 1-5. I can share the links
with the teachers, who (if possible) can share the links with all of their classes on managebac, asking
them to complete the survey before they come back from break.

Then, during and/or after the two weeks of the experiment, I can create a short final survey asking
about how the students feel the new environmental conditions have impacted their learning, and
asking them to rate their concentration, quality of work, enthusiasm, and energy levels (again,
susceptible to change) from 1-5 since the new environmental factor has been introduced. I will again
give the links to the teachers, which they will share with and ask their students to complete before
Winter Break begins. I will also ask each teacher for a general summary of how the students work
was impacted, and what their opinion as a teacher was of the new environmental conditions.

Environmental Factors Being Tested:

Factors:
Currently:

Lighting
-Artificial
Ceiling
Lights
-Some
natural
light

Plants
-Extremely
Limited artificial
& live plants

Music
-Limited &
Varied
Student-Music
-Limited &
Varied
Teacher-Music

Color
-Varied posters &
teacher decorations

Furniture
-Standard
desks &
chairs

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Experiment:

-As much
natural
light as
possible
-Soft
Lamps
Christmas
Lights

-Multitude of live
plants (potted,
flowers, etc.)
-Artificial Plants

- Class-Wide
Classical
Music (CD
player/Internet
Radio)

-Removable
Stencils/Posters
Paint/Mural(maybe)

Alternative
Seating
Options
(studentbrought)

Details:

LightingCurrently, mostly artificial ceiling lights are used, along with limited natural lighting (from windows).
In the experiment, I would find a teacher who uses mostly artificial light, and ask them to leave the
windows open entirely whenever possible, and if not at least leave the blinds open to let in as much
natural light as possible. I would also gather as many lamps (floor, table, etc.) to place in the
classroom, and ask the teacher to use mostly the lamps whenever natural lighting was not sufficient.
Little to no artificial ceiling lights will be used.

PlantsCurrently, there are no plants of any kind in most classrooms, apart from a few science classrooms,
and the rare artificial plant. In the experiment, I would find a teacher who has absolutely no plants or
flowers in their classroom. I would bring in as many plants (potted plants, small window plants,
flower pots, even artificial plants if necessary) as possible and also ask the teacher if they have any
they would like to bring in. I would also ask the teacher if they would be more comfortable letting
their students water and take care of the plants when necessary, or if they would like me to care for
them, and act accordingly.

MusicCurrently, music is used sparsely during specific times by teachers class-wide, and sometimes it is
allowed for students to listen to their own music. I would pick a teacher who almost never plays
music or allows music. I would either bring in a cd player, the teacher could bring in a cd player or
speakers if they would like, or an internet radio could be used. If a cd player is used, I can bring in a
generally classical music cd (instrumental or vocal, like for example Enya, a cd Dr. Cappiello plays
sometimes, I think would be ok) or if a radio is used it can be set to the same genre. I would ask the
teacher to play it almost all of the time, even in the background when people are talking or doing
activities, to fully implement the ambience of a musical environment. A cd might be better, because
it would be the same songs and artist every day for the period of time, but an internet radio or
speakers can definitely be used if the teacher prefers.

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FurnitureCurrently only the school-wide issued, generalized furniture is used in classrooms. This factor would
be slightly different because I dont think I can get enough furniture for an entire classrooms, but
one thing I can do is ask the teachers to ask their students to bring in their own chairs, or chair
substitutes. Things like yoga balls, bean bags, spinning chairs, etc. could be brought in by students
throughout the two week period. It would be the teachers decision how they would want to
implement this specifically, but maybe the students could work together to bring in a full set of
classroom chair replacements, and just rotate the one set instead of each student bringing their own.

ColorCurrently most classrooms have a few posters and decorations, but the wall colors are all the same. I
would ideally have a teacher who doesnt have very much decoration in their room, and (depending
on their comfort level) put more posters up, possibly stencils and other wall decorations, or paint
part of the wall (maybe some students could do a mural or some sort of temporary design, that
could be painted over when the experiment is over).

Tuesday, 13 January 2015

Music Resources
Classical Music Study
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED542663.pdf
This resource details a specific thesis presented in the Philippine Womens University, conducted on
the effects of Mozarts music on social learning behavior in High School students, in 2010.
The main concern presented is improving low academic performances.
Throughout the study, it mentions how classical music can effect the development and
improvement of students' psychological, intellectual and spiritual growth.
In the experiment tested, something called the Mozart Effect Phenomenon was tested.
The hypothesis "Mozarts music has no significant effect on the Social Learning Behavior of high
school students." was used.
An interesting resource about The Mozart Effect, used by the study, is below:
"In 1993, Dr. Frances H. Rauscher, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh,
had a group of college students mentally unfold a piece of paper and try to identify its shape. She
found that the students who had listened to a recording of Mozarts K448 sonata were better and
faster at the task. Dr. Rauscher published the results in the journal Nature in the same year. There
were only two problems with the Mozart Effect. One was that it didnt last: the students only held on
to their newly acquired spatial skills for ten or fifteen minutes. The other problem was that when
other researchers tried to verify the effect, some just couldnt. So, over the years since, the idea that
Mozart can make you smarter has lost much of its credibility. However, a recent study has found that
the Mozart Effect is real but only for certain people. It definitely works for right-handed nonmusicians."

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Albert Bandura OC is a psychologist who is the David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social
Science in Psychology at Stanford University. Below is an excerpt from the study, containing relevant
information.
"Albert Bandura believed in reciprocal determinism, that is, the world and a persons behavior
cause each other, while behaviorism essentially states that ones environment causes ones behavior,
Bandura, who was studying adolescent aggression, found this too simplistic, and so in addition he
suggested that behavior causes environment as well. Later, Bandura soon considered personality as
an interaction between three components: the environment, behavior, and ones psychological
processes (ones ability to entertain images in minds and language)."

Thursday, 15 January 2015

Plants
How They Impact Well-Being and Health
http://ellisonchair.tamu.edu/health-and-well-being-benefits-of-plants/
This resource details how plants in educational workplaces helps increase concentration and
memory. They have a calming effect on people, being in a more natural environment. Work has
greater accuracy and quality. Flowers generate happiness, reduce the likelihood of depression in
adolescents. Stress is reduced by vibrantly colored flowers, and helps students feel more safe and
secure. Visual stimulation has been proven to increase mental cognition, visibly. Access to urban or
rural green space also has a very positive impact on people, and maybe introducing a small atrium
or courtyard would be helpful for students in a bustling high school environment.
Plants are also used sometimes in hospitals and recovery rooms, as the aesthetic has been proven to
accelerate the healing process. Ornamental horticulture. They also improve compassion, and
therefore relationships. Research shows that people who spend extended lengths of time around
plants tend to have better relationships with others. This is due to measurable increases in feelings of
compassion; another effect of exposure to ornamental plants.
Energy has been shown to increase, improving human performance. Vigor is increased, and people
are given an increased sense of vitality and life. They induce a more positive frame of mind, which
leads to a more alive/active personality.
Plants have also been known to decrease the symptoms of ADD students, calming and focusing their
minds (as well as regular students).
Thursday, 22 January 2015
Experiment
At this point in the year, I've decided to update my experiment a little bit. While I feel like it is
beneficial for the students and teachers at my specific school to experience the effects of different
environmental factors, there is little actual science going on and there is no good way to evaluate
how they are impacting learning.
I definitely think that students can be most productive in an environment that makes them feel
comfortable. I think that is why so many students prefer to do their work at home, where they can
listen to their own music, control their own lighting and temperatures, be in their own room with
their own decorating style, special candles or scents, and plants. The truly successful and efficiently
productive people are those with the ability to create their ideal learning environment themselves,
anywhere. That's why students get more out of study hall when they can use their own electronic
devices, laptops, music, etc.
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However, while this may be true, the 'experiment' is not the best way to measure how my vaguer big
picture environmental factors are impacting students; there are way too many variables and
contributing factors to consider. I think the best way to look at this experiment that I've initiated is as
it being more of a demonstration, upon which I am collecting opinions and reactions about.
I've also decided to extend the period of implementation until the end of January. That week, I will
create and send out an identical survey to the one sent at the beginning of the month, except asking
about the month of January instead of the Fall semester. (As a reminder, the survey asks students to
rate their concentration, enthusiasm, quality of work, and energy level in each class). I will also ask
the teachers participating in the demonstration to give me a general summary of their opinions of
the entire process, and if they'd noticed any change in students' work.
I am honestly not expecting there to much of a change realistically, however students and teachers
may exaggerate the effects for the purpose of the activity because they are responsible for recording
their own opinions. I don't think that the time period was long enough, and intensity of the
implementation high enough. Music is not able to be played constantly in class, and is more of a
sporadic thing (helpful and enjoyable, but inconsistent). Color has made the Spanish classroom very
decorative and exciting, but (especially because there are so many new students in the class) people
are getting used to the standard of work, and I have only noticed personally a small change in
concentration, enthusiasm, etc. The scent room has made the classroom smell wonderful, and
opposed to possible bad smells it is very nice. I have really enjoyed the plants and lighting rooms.
They seem to be the most visually effective, by making students feel more comfortable and relaxed,
enabling a more efficient and productive environment.
If I was ever going to do a similar experiment in the future, I would include a room which
implemented all of the factors together, to see how it compared. If a room had low lamp light,
Christmas lights strung from the boards, a nice comfortable smell in the air, lively plants placed
sporadically in the room, and stimulating colorful decorations, it would probably be my favorite
room in the entire school. Teaching style is also a very important factor to consider when doing this
experiment, because it greatly impacts a student's mindset going into the classroom.

Tuesday, 3 February 2015

Experiment & Survey
Include information about the finishing of my experiment, and the surveys for students/teachers to
take for the after-implementation measurement of results
Last week (February 16th) I sent out a follow-up email to all of the participating teachers, with the
following format:
Dear ____,
I'm writing as a follow up to the previous emails I have sent about my personal project
activity/demonstration. Thank you again for participating in it! I've really liked how everything has
gone, and it's been very helpful to my personal project.

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It has been about a month and a half since I first implemented the factor in your classroom, and I
would like to send out a brief post-implementation survey for the students of your classroom to take so
that I can compare them to the pre-implementation survey results.
I would really appreciate it if you would post the survey link in a message via ManageBac to all of your
classes, so that the students can take it sometime before the end of February.
Here is the survey link:
Also, if you have any comments or opinions about how you feel the activity affected your students'
learning, I would love to hear them.
Thank you! I really appreciate all of your help!
I included a post-implementation survey, asking the teachers to post it on managebac for their
students to take so that I can compare the results to the pre-implementation surveys.
The links to the Pre-Implementation surveys are below:
Scent: http://goo.gl/forms/bsGVMNeZfI
Color: http://goo.gl/forms/SM3HA45ZzM
Plants: http://goo.gl/forms/GrRyQWhmKN
Lighting: http://goo.gl/forms/sthwtJpvIx
Music: http://goo.gl/forms/dOrw35rz8r
The links to the Post-Implementation surveys are below:
Scent: http://goo.gl/forms/5GQ3NA2B6l
Color: http://goo.gl/forms/CwY8uvIwoU
Plants: http://goo.gl/forms/u02enKckWT
Lighting: http://goo.gl/forms/LhxSokW7i0
Music: http://goo.gl/forms/AGCfpLlX26
So far only Mrs. Fernandez (color) has sent out the post-survey, and I have received a great number
of responses which have been really helpful. I am working on speaking to the other teachers to ask if
they might post the survey soon...
I might also think about scheduling another meeting with my supervisor, because we've only really
had one meeting so far, and I'm not sure that's enough... Overall the general response to the surveys
has been that the factors were enjoyed in the classroom, but that they did not especially influence
the concentration or productivity, or quality of work for students. But they were aesthetically
pleasing, which, unless combined with different teaching methods, is really all that I could have
hoped for. I don't think there is any way I could have viably conducted a scientific experiment and
received calculated qualitative results directly correlating to an increase in learning ability, because it
is such an intangible thing. Overall, I think it will be a valuable addition to my project.

Wednesday, 8 April 2015

FINAL TO-DO LIST
(Everything that I have left to do for the presentation on April 15th)
Final Report 12-15 process journal entries (in appendix)
Conclusion
Include photos from experiment/survey results
Tri-Fold-

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Decorate somehow with string lights, plants, color (obviously), scent (maybe bring a natural oil
heater or sprayer)
Include Title, Global Context, Inquiry Question, Goal, Environmental Factors, etc.
Website Finish informational research section (also in final report)
Put survey result links (and images if possible)
Post 5+ blog entries
Make and post short documentary-like video
Brochure Aesthetic, informational handout (actually maybe don't hand out, that would b a lot of copies)
Make at least 3 copies (for people to read at my station, I guess...)
Make sure it has the QR code, link to website, etc.
Lots of pictures/basically for people to have an easy representation of my project
Short Video Use footage from empty classrooms
Maybe film a few of the classrooms in action? (Maybe talk to teachers about this...)
Include brief research excerpts
Put on website & post on youtube (maybe have i-pad there to watch the video on?)
Flyer Short informational poster to put around the school
Print 5 copies (in-color)
Have QR code (link to website)

What To Bring Tri-fold (aesthetically pleasing, decorated with lights, color, etc.)
Laptop (with my website pulled up, so people can scroll through and look as they pass) *maybe
ask family to borrow a bigger computer*
I-pad (maybe with the video, on a stand so people can watch it)
3 copies of my brochure
1 large version of the flyer (on poster maybe, with large QR code and stuff...)
50 small-copies of flyer (maybe in business card form, or even smaller)
My bamboo plant w statue (also maybe take the big plant from Mr. Dluhy's room)
*Probably an extension cord or something
*Some sort of scent-thing (maybe my oil heater, a glade non-plugin thing, or a sprayer like in
Mrs. Dodds' room)
*Some sort of music player (maybe bring the turtle and attach to phone (for enya or some other
type of music?) or i-pad for the video)
*Some sort of easy hand-out? (like food, my tiny flyer, or something else....)

Photos

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Mr. Dluhys Art Classroom (Plants)-

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Mrs. Johnstons Humanities Classroom (Lighting) -

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32

Mrs. Fernandezs Spanish Classroom (Color)-

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35

Mr. Plymales Leadership Classroom (Music)-

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Mrs. Dodds Geometry Classroom (Scent)-

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Survey Results

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40

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