A Study on the Physical Environment of Middle School Classrooms in Winter -Focusing on the Classrooms in Cheju City-

겨울철 중학교교실의 물리적 학습환경실태에 관한 연구 -제주시를 중심으로-

The purpose of this study is to measure some physical environmental factors and to doucument students' perceptions of them. 11 middle schools in Cheju City were divided into four areas according to their locations and two schools were selected for the study. 144 thirteen-year-old students in two middle school in a overcrowded area in Cheju City-one middle school building is insulated and the other is not insulated-were taken for the questionnaire survey. The finding of the study are as follows: 1) The classrooms were not equipped with any heating equipment. The buildings are not insulated well. As a result, the room temperature was much lower(12.9-16.2℃) than comfortable indoor temperature in winter(21.5-24.5℃). The classroom were found to be colder(12.9-16.2℃) than usual pleasant indoor temperature(21.5-24.5℃) in winter. 2) The classroom were so far from the street(20m) that there was little noise from traffic. Nevertheless, the noise level was higher(62.5-66.2 dB(A), when the windows were open; 51.7-62.8dB(A), when closed than the noise tolerance level specified in the Environment Protection Laws(50.0dB(A)). 3) As for the visual environment, the location of classroom, the adequate sun exposure, and the total states of windows in classrooms influenced on the illuminance. While standard indoor illuminance is 300 Lux, the classrooms facing south had illuminance of 231 Lux, from day light: and the ones facing west, 380 Lux. 4) Students generally found other aspects of the physical environment of their classrooms unsatisfactory. Chalk dust was generated to a serious extent near the main chalkboard(0.25mg/㎥) of classrooms.