Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

• Fatemeh Imani ¹
• Khosro Movahed ²
• Hamidreza Azemati ³
• Bahram Saleh Sedghpoor ⁴

¹ Ph.D. in Architecture, Department of Architecture, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran.

² Associated Professor, Department of Architecture and Urban Sustainability, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, USA.

³ Professor, School of Architecture and Urban Design, Shahid Rajaei Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran.

⁴ Assistant Professor, Faculty of Humanities, Shahid Rajaei Teacher trainingUniversity, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Extended Abstract
Background and Objectives: The problem of stress is one of the most significant research subjects in this century. Schools play an essential role in shaping the quality of life and enhancing the mental well-being of teenagers. The school environment is a crucial aspect of adolescents’ quality of life, particularly in relation to their health. Research indicates that adolescents who share a positive bond with their school environment (even if their familial relationships are less favorable) tend to experience lower rates of behavioral and psychological disorders, including stress. Psychologists consider the architecture and physical layout of a school as dynamic elements that significantly impact the quality of educational experiences for students. Furthermore, the middle school years coincide with a period of growth-related challenges, characterized by heightened stress levels and increased susceptibility to psychological, social, and biological pressures, along with a reduced capacity to cope with these challenges. Therefore, investigating and identifying students’ stress in this course is of particular importance. The primary objective of the current research is to improve the quality of educational spaces (secondary schools corresponding to high school education in the previous educational system), by identifying physical and environmental variables effective in reducing students’ stress. Therefore, the main question of this research is what are the physical and environmental factors that reduce the students’ stress in educational spaces? The target group in this research is the female students aged between 15-17 years. 
Methods: A hybrid research method (qualitative-quantitative) was used due to the exploratory nature of the research topic. Three steps were followed in the research process. The first step is to the bibliographic review; the second step is to select the top concepts; and the third step is to use the Delphi method. The purpose of the first step is to collect the list of criteria and concepts related to stress, and lack of student adaptability to the environment, which can affect the educational spaces. Related internet searches that focused on qualitative research were utilized (descriptive-analytical and logical reasoning) to achieve this goal. It was important to select and categorize the criteria and concepts collected from the literature review in the second step. The content analysis method was used in this stage. The aim of this research is to categorize the physical concepts and criteria found in the literature based on their importance. However, as the investigation of the topic’s background revealed a lack of such categorization, the Delphi method was employed to gather expert opinions. To ensure an adequate level of precision, the Delphi process was conducted through three successive rounds. In the first round, an open-ended interview was conducted with experts. In the second round, open coding was done with the answers. In the third round, surveys and continuums were formed through axial coding of both ends of the spectrum of components, and a special title was considered for each continuum. After that, the results were converted into a questionnaire through the content objective table and completed in two stages.
Findings: Based on the experts’ questionnaire results, the Q factor was analyzed. This approach relies on categorizing individuals based on their interrelationships rather than focusing on variables. In fact, each factor includes a set of experts who have common thoughts on the subject. The data variance suggests that among the nineteen individuals surveyed, six distinct factors can be discerned. The combined cumulative percentage for these six factors stands at 76.8%, signifying that approximately 76% of the participants shared common perspectives, while the remaining 24% held individual viewpoints. This divergence in opinions could be attributed to personal awareness, inclinations, and individual preferences. It implies that there exists an external reality that managed to resonate with 76% of the experts’ minds, influencing the formation of shared ideas.
Conclusion: The research results indicate that students’ stress can increase or decrease under the influence of the environment. The qualities of the environment can influence whether an individual adapts to it or not. Experts consider the shaping of the classroom space, the existence of places for group sitting and rest, the existence of places for conversation, and the existence of places for doing group work in the social dimension category. The experts also consider security (type and materials of stairs, etc.), the flexibility of spatial layouts, solitude, territory, suitable perspective, depth, level of visibility, control over climate, level of light, having a view from inside the classroom to the corridor, openness, and the space around the building in the environmental security category. Furthermore, they consider adequate space, having a view from the classroom to the green space, the amount of vegetation in the educational space, the brightness of all spaces, the shape and form of the classroom, the health status of the school, the complexity and non-mystery of the space, the appropriate density of spatial patterns, the proper orientation, privacy, and color in the physical comfort category. The experts also classified sound pollution (noise), crowding, temperature (heat and cold), ventilation, humidity, unpleasant smells, and light in the environmental comfort category. They recognized clarity and comprehensibility of forms, elements, parts and components of the building, predictability of the environment, no sudden change in size, color and texture, type of floor coverings, and use of appropriate and suitable signs in the architectural category. Finally, the experts categorized the feeling of being comfortable, like being at home, having a sense of belonging to the space, crowding in the educational space, creating a sense of solitude and territory, and having a sense of place as the psychological dimension of the environment.

Graphical Abstract

Highlights

- Measuring the direct effect of the architecture of educational spaces on reducing students’ stress.
- Presenting a theoretical model including physical and environmental factors affecting students’ stress based on the subject literature.
- Classification the results of the analysis of experts’ questionnaire in the form of six categories of architectural design and explaining the indicators of these categories in order to increase the adaptability (reduce stress) of students in educational spaces.

Keywords

• Educational Spaces
• Students
• Stress
• Physical and Environmental Factors

این مقاله برگرفته از رساله دکتری نویسنده نخست با عنوان «اصول طراحی فضاهای آموزشی مبتنی بر کاهش استرس دانش‌آموزان در شیراز» می‌باشد که به راهنمایی نویسنده دوم و مشاوره نویسنده سوم و چهارم در دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد شیراز انجام گرفته است.

This article is derived from the first author`s doctoral thesis entitled “Physical and environmental factors affecting the students’ stress reduction in educational spaces from the point of view of experts”, supervised by the second author and advised by the third and fourth, at Islamic Azad University Shiraz Branch.