The Correlation between Physical Environment and Student Engagement.

In its second year of an educational research collaboration on the convergence between physical environment, pedagogical methods, student attainment and academic performance, CASPER along with the Region 12 Education Service Center and Huckabee Inc. have completed their initial quantitative study. This project examined the impact of the physical environment on student engagement, employing a flexibility construct and examination of teacher mobility and places of centeredness. Data analysis showed a positive correlation between student engagement and classroom flexibility for two locations having statistically significant differences in flexibility scores. The research is now being extended to examine a laboratory setting (in this case, a complex plasma lab) where the results will be used to enhance student work efficiency while also increasing safety within the lab. Details will be discussed in this presentation.