Toward a classroom condition index (CCI) assessment scheme: assessment categories and their performance indicators

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Norsafiah Norazman ◽  
Adi Irfan Che-Ani ◽  
Afifuddin Husairi Mat Jusoh Hussain ◽  
Wan Norisma Wan Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
School Administration ◽  
Condition Index ◽  
Building Performance ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
School Building ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Second Stage

Purpose The existing concept in the building rating scheme especially in developing countries was more focused on the environment, economic, social and culture. The new approach of the classroom condition index (CCI) assessment scheme has its uniqueness in environmental and social aspects because of high building performance in secondary school buildings. The requirements set by the Ministry of Education Malaysia include providing a conducive learning environment, especially for students who are considered as the main users of classrooms in school buildings. Currently, the school administration needs to manually record the condition of the classroom to increase its comfort level. The lack of a structured scheme for classroom assessment makes it difficult for school administration to focus on the overall classroom condition (physical environmental aspect) in the school building. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework for classroom conditions by proposing a CCI assessment scheme for a secondary school building in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach Mixed methods were used to carry out the study. The first stage of this study concentrates on developing a system for CCI that relates to physical elements in the classroom. This is done by reviewing the literature on the classroom physical performance, as well as a comparison between several building rating systems locally and abroad. The structure of the proposed CCI scheme is grouped into four main themes, namely, space management quality (SMQ), building condition (BC), indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and teaching and learning quality (TLQ). In addition, there are 12 categories and 23 indicators listed under this theme. The second stage focuses on formulating assessment categories with their relevant performance indicators. This phase undergoes a validation process by conducting a survey (questionnaire) toward the classroom’s main users, which are students and teachers. This is to ensure the accuracy of classroom conditions in the school building. A semi-structured interview was also conducted among building experts. They are building surveyors, building engineers, building designers and building performance experts to support the main findings in the second stage. Relative importance (RI) index approach has been applied to show the indicators weighting and ranking are used as data collections method by using Statistical Package of Social Science software to examine the RI of each category and indicator, respectively. Findings The findings show that prominent RI and balanced weights are formed from these four main themes. They are SMQ (19.9%), BC (26.6%), IEQ (33.2%) and TLQ (20.3%). The outcome of this study will contribute to a detailed assessment scheme for CCI at the secondary school building. The contribution of the CCI Assessment Scheme is more comprehensive and holistic than the conventional assessment process for BCs. It focuses specifically on classroom space as it is the most important area to achieve a high level of comfort comparing to other spaces in the school building. This holistic approach encompasses all types of classrooms. The concept of one tool fits all is seen as no longer a relevant adaptation in this context. This proposed tool is to be used only for the classroom (as the name CCI implies) and it cannot be used for the other types of spaces, for instance, teacher room, library, meeting room, toilet, canteen and, etc. This is because different spaces represent different physical indicators to be classified. This, in turn, contributes to a conducive learning environment for students in the school. Originality/value This paper provides the current information, knowledge and findings related to the classroom physical indicators in developing the assessment scheme for the classroom environment. It will assist both technical and non-technical experts to clarify the current condition of classroom physical performance that ideally may affect the students’ learning environment. The novelty of CCI development is not only on the adopted method but it also includes the ideas on next generation model of rating system that ideally need specific indicators and weighting to be generated into an intelligent computerized system.

scholarly journals School Building Defects: Impacts Teaching and Learning Environmentv

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2S2) ◽  
pp. 22-29
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Building Performance ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
School Building ◽  
Teaching And Learning Environment ◽  
Building Management ◽  
Survey Instruments ◽  
The Common ◽  
Negative Impacts

This paper focus point is common building defects that usually give result instead of the negative impacts on the teaching and learning environment school buildings in Malaysia. An overview of common defects is involved in the school building, which will facilitate a comparative school building performance. The study stated the failure to control the critical defects in the school building and then concluded that they are affecting the teaching and learning environment. Thus, this study aimed to identify the building defects that commonly happen in school buildings in Malaysia. Next, identified the critical elements of school building involved in defects. It also analyzed the effect of school building defects towards the teaching and learning environment. A literature review was conducted to analysis the common building defects involved at the school building. Beside, this paper reviewed, summarized, and discussed the common building defects that usually happen in the school buildings and the effect to the teaching and learning environment. The survey instruments used in this study were random questionnaire distribution to fifty (50) respondents and interview with ten (10) teachers. The findings had shown that major defects in the school buildings are peeling paint, dampness, and cracked wall. The finding revealed that school building defects mostly affected students’ concentration and attendance where it found from the majority of interview participants, thereby giving a direct impact on the environment of teaching and learning. This paper provides the current information, knowledge and findings that related with common types of school building defects that may affect students’ performance. Therefore, it will assist the school building management, building facilities and other professionals to clarify the specific building defects more early based on the current findings.

Key performance indicators for the maintenance of public hospitals buildings in the Gaza Strip

Facilities ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 206-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adnan Ali Enshassi ◽  
Farida El Shorafa
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Public Hospital ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Key Performance Indicators ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Building Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Care Situation ◽  
The Gaza Strip

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the maintenance of public hospital buildings in the Gaza Strip. Design/methodology/approach – Four KPIs were identified and evaluated in this paper: building performance indicators (BPI), maintenance efficiency indicators (MEI), annual maintenance expenditure (AME) and urgent repair request indicator. Twenty-one buildings in 13 public hospitals in Gaza Strip Governorate were taken as the sample of this study. Findings – The results indicated that the European Gaza hospital has the highest BPI score (81.66) and the Dorra hospital has the lowest BPI score (68.26). The findings revealed that the average AME for all hospitals was $13.8/m2 which is considered to be below the standard level of expenditure. The MEI for Gaza public hospital buildings was found to be equal to 0.3 which indicated low level of maintenance expenditure. Research limitations/implications – Unavailability of certain data, lack of maintenance documentation and comparison difficulty between the Gaza Strip and Israel due to political, cultural and financial situation were some of the limitations of this study. Practical implications – The Ministry of Health (MoH) can utilize the results of this study and consider it as benchmarking for maintenance management in public hospital buildings. This can improve the current maintenance situation which ultimately will improve the health-care situation in Palestine. The Palestinian MoH should look for external funding to increase the AME, as well as aim at increasing the MEI. Social implications – The health-care situation in Palestine will be improved. Originality/value – This study is considered the first study to identify and assess the KPIs in the Gaza Strip. KPIs will assist the MoH to compare the actual and estimated performance in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and quality of workmanship.

How related are technical and subjective measures of building conditions?

Facilities ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 295-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnt O. Hopland
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Physical Work ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
School Building ◽  
Subjective Measures ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Building Conditions ◽  
School Building Conditions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the link between technical school building conditions and student satisfaction with the school buildings. Learning more about the relationship between the measures will be useful for researchers who are studying the effect from physical work conditions on student achievement. Design/methodology/approach – The paper aims to study the correlation between technical condition and user satisfaction with school buildings using two different data sources. The first source is administrative data, where the local governments have reported the condition of their school buildings to a national investigation of school building conditions. The second source is survey data where students in Norwegian primary schools report their satisfaction with their learning environment, including the school buildings. Combining the two data sources provides a unique data set for a large number of Norwegian primary schools. Findings – The measures of technical and subjective condition are significantly correlated, but the correlation is far from 100 percent. Hence, it will be of great interest for researchers to look more into potential effects from subjective measures of building condition. Originality/value – The paper provides an investigation of the link between two different measures of building conditions that can both be relevant to use in studies of how school buildings affect student performance.

scholarly journals Design tactics for enhancing the adaptability of primary and middle schools to the new needs of postpandemic reuse

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Orkan Zeynel Güzelci ◽  
Asena Kumsal Şen Bayram ◽  
Sema Alaçam ◽  
Handan Güzelci ◽  
Elif Işık Akkuyu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
School Building ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Exterior Space ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Present Design ◽  
Algorithmic Model ◽  
Sample Set

PurposeThe aim of this study is to present design tactics (DTs) for supporting the adaptability of existing primary and middle school buildings into the emerging needs of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study introduces a novel algorithmic model for postoccupancy evaluation of the existing school buildings and provides solutions to enhance the adaptability of these buildings.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs the DTs defined by the authors, integration of DTs to the algorithmic model and tests the usability of the proposed model in the selected sample set. The sample set consists of four primary and middle school buildings with different architectural qualities. The degrees of flexibility of the existing sample set are evaluated depending on the outcomes of the implementation.FindingsThe degrees of flexibility are achieved as a result of execution of the algorithmic model for each selected school building. Initial results of the case studies show that the flexibility of a school building is highly related to affordances and design decisions of the plan layout which were considered in the initial phases of the design process. Architectural qualities such as open plan and having sufficient voids in the interior and exterior space become prominent factors for ensuring flexibility.Originality/valueDeveloping a systematic approach to the adaptation problem of primary and middle school buildings to postpandemic reuse is a novel research topic. Apart from this contextual originality, the proposed taxonomy for postpandemic reuse in terms of three levels of adaptation is a new conceptual framework. Moreover, the proposed algorithmic model itself can be considered as an original contribution, as well as a merge of qualitative values such as adaptation and flexibility with an algorithmic model.

Standard compliance and suitability of classroom capacity in secondary school buildings

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norsafiah Norazman ◽  
Adi Irfan Che-Ani ◽  
Nor Haslina Ja’afar ◽  
Muhamad Azry Khoiry
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
School Level ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Secondary School Level ◽  
Current Area

Purpose Teaching and learning processes are conducted formally in a classroom as the main learning space for schooling system, where it should be implemented effectively to achieve a desired level of satisfaction and comfort for the students. To encourage and sustain students’ motivation for continuous learning, specifically at secondary school level, classroom capacity is increasing significantly. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the guidelines and regulations of building design standard compliance, specifically for classrooms, and suggest the suitability of classroom capacity based on two main courses offered at the secondary school level. Design/methodology/approach Two sets of perimeters were used in this study to gauge the intended results, namely, mixed method was used to carry out the study. The first indicator was a quantitative method whereby the current area of 20 selected classrooms (length × width) was physically measured and recorded. The second indicator used was a qualitative method, through a semi-structured interview. Findings The findings showed that 55 per cent of classroom capacity in secondary school buildings complied with the existing guidelines, the stipulated design regulations and the classroom area requirement. The current area of classroom standing is at 2.25 m2 per student with an observable increase in students’ satisfaction during the teaching and learning processes. However, the findings from the semi-structured interview highlighted interesting points in relation to the suitability of classroom capacity. The teachers felt that classroom capacity affected performance of students based on two categories, namely, classroom-centred learning and classroom-less learning. The respondents agreed that the classroom-centred learning approach and classroom-less learning approach worked best with a maximum of 22 and 30 students per classroom, respectively. Originality/value This paper provides the current information, knowledge and findings related with real classroom capacity at a secondary school building that may affect students’ performance, while focus had always been on types of classroom, gadgets and qualified teaching staff. Hardly any valuable attention is given to the space these students spend almost a good part of their day for the rest of the week, over their formative learning period. Perhaps like the model of cars and sitting capacity, model classroom area and maximum capacity explored to ensure objectives irrespective of the driver, the teacher of the class. Therefore, these indicators may assist the school building management, building facilities and other professionals to identify and implement suitable of classroom capacity especially for all classroom-based learning in the schools generally.

The long-term role of the home learning environment in shaping students’ academic attainment in secondary school

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pam Sammons ◽  
Katalin Toth ◽  
Kathy Sylva ◽  
Edward Melhuish ◽  
Iram Siraj ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Academic Attainment ◽  
Home Learning Environment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Home Learning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between the characteristics of the home learning environment (HLE) and students’ academic attainments in secondary school in England at age 14 and 16. Design/methodology/approach – This research study uses multilevel statistical models to investigate the strength and significance of relationships between various measures of the HLE at ages three, six, 11 and 14, and students’ academic attainment in secondary school. Findings – Multilevel models show that early years HLE and specific dimensions of later HLE are positive predictors of students’ later academic attainment at age 14 and 16, when the influence of various individual, family and neighbourhood characteristics are controlled. Originality/value – The paper presents unique findings on the role of the HLE in shaping students’ academic success at secondary school, including a range of measures of the HLE obtained at different ages. The results show that the early years HLE measured at age three continues to show effects on later attainment, over and beyond the effects of later HLE and other significant influences such as family socio-economic status and parents’ qualification levels.

Probability of change orders and the effect on cost and schedule for new public school buildings

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1087-1104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pramen P. Shrestha ◽  
Kabindra Kumar Shrestha ◽  
Haileab B. Zeleke
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
School Building ◽  
Change Orders ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New School ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Cost

Purpose Change orders (COs) adversely affect the cost and schedule of projects, specifically during the construction phase. COs of 95 new public school building projects contracted by the Clark County School District (CCSD) of Nevada were analyzed to quantify the cost and schedule growth as well as to determine the effect of COs on cost and schedule growth. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from CCSD through questionnaire survey. Descriptive statistics and statistical tests were conducted to determine the effect of COs on cost and schedule growth. Findings It was found that the average amount of COs as well as cost and schedule overruns were 5.9, 3.0 and 7.4 percent, respectively. Statistical tests showed that the amount of COs had an adverse effect on schedule growth; schedule overruns in projects with less than 4 percent COs were significantly lower than projects with more than 4 percent COs. Cost overruns did not significantly differ in those two types of projects. The primary contribution of this study is that it provides the tools and the framework for school district engineers to determine the probability of the occurrence of COs as well as the optimum percentage of COs for a minimum effect on cost and schedule growth of new public school buildings. Probability curves were also developed to determine the likelihood of the occurrence of COs, cost growth and schedule growth in these projects. These findings could be used by school districts to avoid or reduce COs in future projects, minimizing the effect on cost and schedule growth during the construction phase. Research limitations/implications The findings and the probabilities curves developed in this study should be used carefully in other cases. These data were specific to the owner, location and types of buildings and generalizing these findings may have negative consequences. Practical implications The practical implications are that this study could provide a tool to school building administrators to determine the probability of having COs as well as cost and schedule overruns and the effects of COs on cost and schedule overruns. To the authors’ best knowledge, no other studies of this type have been conducted previously. Social implications The social implication of this study is it will help to efficiently use the tax payers’ money while building new school buildings. Originality/value This study has collected the hard data of COs, cost and schedule data of CCSD new school building projects. Therefore, the data are from the projects completed by CCSD. So, the paper is written from the original data received from CCSD.

Seismic performance assessments of school buildings in Taiwan using artificial intelligence theories

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 3321-3343
Author(s):  
Ching-Shan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Performance ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Central Area ◽  
Performance Assessments ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
Grey Theory ◽  
School Building ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Taiwan experiences frequent seismic activity. Major earthquakes in recent history have seriously damaged the school buildings. School buildings in Taiwan are intended to serve both as places of education and as temporary shelters in the aftermath of major earthquakes. Therefore, the seismic performance assessments of school buildings are critical issues that deserve investigation. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops a methodology that uses principal component analysis to generalize the seismic factors from the basic seismic parameters of school buildings, uses data mining to cluster different school building sizes and uses grey theory to analyze the relationship between seismic factors and the seismic performance of school buildings. Additionally, this paper employs the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to deduce the seismic assessment model for school buildings. Finally, it adopts support vector machine to validate the ANN’s deductive results. Findings An empirical study was conducted on 326 school buildings in the central area of Taichung City, Taiwan, to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Results show that thickness of wall and width of middle-row column relate significantly with school-building seismic performance. Originality/value This paper provides a model that structural engineers or architects may use to design school buildings that are adequately resistant to earthquakes as well as a reference for future academic research.

Beginning a journey of knowledge management in a secondary school

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 364-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Wing Chu
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Digital Archive ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Despite the fact that schools should be places where learning occurs, most schools have overlooked the importance of knowledge. In contrast, commercial firms have recognized knowledge as a strategic intangible asset and a key resource of the enterprises. Therefore, enterprises have already harnessed knowledge to a great extent with wide practice of knowledge management (KM). The purpose of this paper is to show that KM could be applied to the education sector similar to the practice in the business world for leveraging intellectual assets. This paper examines how schools can kick off the process of KM implementation. This paper also reports what have been done and what should be done in KM implementation better in a school. This can give insights for schools which will try KM in near future. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a case study in a secondary school to explore how KM can be kicked off and sustained in a school setting. A KM system called knowledge base and a document management system called Digital Archive were developed to serve as the infrastructure for knowledge sharing. Lesson study and communities of practice (CoPs) were adopted to be the platforms for knowledge sharing among teachers in the school. A case study of the processes and lesson learned was done in this paper. Multiple sources of data, including observations, questionnaires and interviews, have been collected for evaluation. Findings In this paper, KM implementation was found to be effective through dual approaches: information-based and people-/interaction-based approaches. A knowledge base and a Digital Archive as knowledge repositories and lesson study and CoPs as platforms for knowledge sharing have been successfully established to facilitate sharing information/knowledge and nurturing a sharing culture and trust. Challenges faced and the related coping strategies during the process of implementation were shared and reflected. It was also found that building sharing culture is the critical turning point of the process of KM implementation. Breaking through the barrier of sharing was found to be very essential to KM implementation. Research limitations/implications This paper adopts case study methodology to report the process of KM implementation in a school. Although these results of the study conducted in one school may not be generalized to other school contexts, the lessons learned in the study will be a strong empirical evidence of research of KM implementation, especially in schools. Because of the limited number of prior studies and the importance of the pioneering work of launching KM implementation, this paper tries to address the research gap by using theory building from cases as a research strategy rather than theory testing research, especially in “how”and“why” in the steps of kicking off KM implementation in an unexplored research area. Practical implications This paper shows a case of KM implementation in a school with thoughtful procedures of implementing information-based and people-/interaction-based approaches. The paper is a showcase that will shed light on the processes and lessons learned and also helps to provide a model for schools who are interested in applying KM in their schools. Social implications Most people might think that KM can be applied only in commercial sector. This paper shows that KM can also be adopted in schools as well as other sectors. Originality/value This paper represents one of the pioneering work of implementing KM in a school. It hopes to make contributions for KM implementation also in the public sector within which are non-profit-making organizations.

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