Can you recall your most recent in-person exam? Standing outside the exam venue with your ID, pens, and backup pens, surrounded by peers nervously reviewing notes or avoiding eye contact. As the doors open, you step into a vast hall filled with numbered tables in neat rows. Finding your seat, you take in the expansive space around you, contemplating how this environment might influence your performance.
Recent research delves into this very question, focusing on the effects of ceiling height on exam performance among Australian students.
Traditional Assessments: Exams, a practice dating back over 1,300 years, remain a cornerstone of assessment in education, often conducted in large spaces like gymnasiums, auditoriums, and halls to optimize supervision and space efficiency. While the pandemic prompted a shift to online exams, concerns over cheating have renewed interest in traditional in-person assessments, despite research suggesting high-stakes exams may not always enhance learning or prevent dishonesty.
Research Insights: A 2022 lab study highlighted that larger room sizes impact brain activity related to concentration, prompting investigations into whether such environments affect everyday cognitive performance, particularly in traditional exam halls.
The Study: Examining data from 15,400 psychology undergraduates across eight years (2011-2019) and three campuses at an Australian university, researchers correlated exam scores with room dimensions—ceiling heights ranging from 2.79 meters to 9.50 meters, and floor areas from 38m² to 1,562m². Using a statistical model known as a linear mixed model, they adjusted for variables such as coursework scores, gender, age, exam experience, and geographic location to isolate the impact of room dimensions on exam outcomes.
Key Findings: Coursework scores significantly influenced exam performance (p < 0.001), yet ceiling height also emerged as a significant predictor (p = 0.002). Even after accounting for other factors, higher ceiling heights correlated with better exam scores, suggesting that room dimensions play a role alongside study habits in academic achievement.
Implications and Future Directions: The study raises intriguing questions for further exploration:
- How does room insulation and climate control affect cognitive performance?
- Does the social context of large halls influence exam anxiety and performance?
- How does room size impact the likelihood of cheating and subsequent exam scores?
- What are the effects of random room allocations on student performance?
Moreover, the shift to online exams introduces new variables, with home environments potentially affecting concentration and performance differently than traditional exam settings.
Broader Implications: Beyond exams, this research underscores the broader impact of building design on cognitive tasks, highlighting the need to consider environmental factors in educational and professional settings alike.
Isabella Bower, postdoctoral research fellow at the University of South Australia, and Jaclyn Broadbent, pro vice-chancellor (sessional academic experience) and deputy head of school (psychology) at Deakin University, Australia, authored this insightful commentary.
This article was originally published in The Conversation and reflects the authors’ opinions, not necessarily those of University World News.
