Classroom cleanliness affects the ability of students to learn, a BYU professor reported in a recent national study titled "Cleanliness and Learning in Higher Education."

Jeffery L. Campbell, chair of the Facilities Management Department in the School of Technology, and Alan S. Bigger, Association of Physical Plant Administrators of Universities and Colleges president and director of facilities at Earlham College, completed the survey through the Center for Facilities Research at APPA and co-sponsored by the International Sanitary Supply Association.

APPA is a national association that promotes leadership in educational facilities and ISSA is the worldwide cleaning industry association. They found a correlation between the cleanliness of a school's facilities and students' academic achievement.

The research reveals that cleanliness is ranked as the fourth most important building element to impact personal learning. The top three elements were noise, air temperature and lighting.

Students responded saying classrooms, libraries and personal study spaces are the most effective learning places.

Among the findings, Campbell and Bigger found that 88 percent of the almost 1,500 students surveyed said the lack of cleanliness becomes a distraction at APPA's Level 3, which is rated as casual inattention and Level 4, moderate dinginess.

Approximately 84 percent of the students surveyed said they desire APPA Level 1, orderly spotlessness, or Level 2, ordinary tidiness, for a good learning environment. Level 5 is unkempt neglect.

Bob Smith, a junior from Orem, majoring in computer science, was a janitor at an elementary school and was responsible for making sure the school was clean.

"It was our job to make sure that yesterday's broken piñata didn't get in the way of today's arithmetic," Smith said. "After seeing some of those classrooms I can see how learning could have been affected."

A majority, 80 percent, of the students admitted they should be involved in keeping campus buildings clean. Approximately 78 percent reported that cleanliness has an impact on their health. They said that a lack of cleanliness affects allergies, spreads germs, increases bug and rodent infestations and promotes higher stress levels.

The study has the potential to help educational facilities professionals create an environment conducive to learning.

"This study presents new knowledge to help support educational facilities professionals in providing learning spaces to students that will enhance academic achievement and protect their overall health," Campbell said in a press release.

Another outcome of the study is the idea that it may not be wise for learning-establishments to cut costs by minimizing cleaning services.

"In this day and age when services are cut in order save dollars, this study shows that cutting cleaning services could have a detrimental impact on our primary customers, the students," Bigger said in a news release.

Copyright Brigham Young University 8 Jul 2008