Research

Indoor Environment, Student Satisfaction and Performance in Higher Education (JOB MARKET PAPER)

Authors: Stefan Flagner, Piet Eichholtz, Nils Kok, Rick Kramer, Steffen Künn, Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt, Guy Plasqui, and Xudong Sun

Abstract:

This study examines how improvements in indoor environmental quality affect student satisfaction and academic performance in higher education. We conducted a randomized field experiment involving 1,258 first-year undergraduate students at Maastricht University, who were randomly assigned to tutorial groups located either in a recently renovated building with improved indoor environmental quality or in a conventional control building. We find that students in the treatment building report significantly higher satisfaction with indoor environmental quality and the overall learning environment. However, these improvements do not translate into measurable effects on academic performance, study effort, or tutor evaluations.

Flagner, S., Eichholtz, P., Kok, N., Kramer, R., Künn, S., Lichtenbelt, W. v. M., Plasqui, G., & Sun, X. (2026). Indoor Environment, Student Satisfaction and Performance in Higher Education. IZA Discussion Paper, 18697, (DOI)

Indoor air quality, academic achievement, and sickness absence in primary school children

Authors: Stefan Flagner, Nicolas Duran, Piet Eichholtz, Nils Kok, and Guy Plasqui

Abstract:

Academic achievement in primary school sets the foundation for children's success later on and in the labour market. A broad body of evidence suggests numerous intervention strategies to improve learning performance. However, the physical classroom environment, in particular air quality, is often disregarded, despite easy and cost-effective ways to improve indoor air quality through better ventilation. Therefore, this study examines how indoor air quality in classrooms affect exam grades of primary school children, and how adverse health effects due to poor air quality can explain this relationship. We continuously measured indoor air quality in 60 classrooms in 7 primary schools in the South of the Netherlands for one year, relating it to 3,024 exam records from two testing waves, and daily sickness absence records from 649 children. Our analysis shows that indoor air quality significantly impacts achieved exam grades. This effect is independent of individual health, quantified through sickness absence of children. Our findings emphasize the importance to invest into the physical classroom environment in primary schools as a strategy to improve learning outcomes of children.