Environmental Ergonomic Factors and their Relationship with Academic Performance of First-Year

Psychology Students at Our Lady of Fatima University – Valenzuela Campus

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Philippines, being near the equator, has a tropical climatic change. In terms of climate, there
are two tropical climates that may be found in this country: the wet seasons and the dry seasons. It
normally begins in June and lasts until November, during which time a slew of rainstorms and typhoons
sweep the Philippines. Second, there are two types of dry seasons: cool-dry and hot-dry. The cool-dry
season runs from December to January. and the hot-dry season, which normally runs from March
through July. Nonetheless, the gem of the Orient Seas possesses impressive humidity figures. In fact,
according to PAGASA (2018), "the average of humidity every month will range between in 71 degrees
Fahrenheit and in 71 degrees Fahrenheit." As a result, there are numerous elements that can influence
Filipinos' lifestyle. The school calendars had adapted to the Philippines' tropical environment. The lesson
began in June and continued through the first month of the hot-dry-season, in order to ensure that the
setting would be suitable for pupils managing academics. The environment a students find themselves
goes a long way in determining their learning ability and ultimately their academic performance in
school (Ayodele, 2006). Studies have found that the physical environments among other factors are all
variables that affect students’ achievement (Molnar et. al, 2000). Environmental Ergonomic factor
focuses on the correspondence between the person and its environment (Physical Environment)

However, until the rise of corona virus illnesses, also known as "COVID-19," the state of the
environment and the pupils had been successful and efficient in their academics. The committee on
higher education (CHED) was forced to reschedule the beginning of the class from September to June.
There appears to be a lot of opposition to the implementation. "Moving the commencement of the
semester from June would have huge effects on the students' performances," wrote Canlas (2014) in his
article. One of these is the impact of the student's academic performance on the hotter environment.
The student's ability to reason and rationalize may be hampered by the warmest temperature. It's a
combination of weakening, exhaustion, napping, distraction, and unsettling physical motions (Psych
Central,2018), Yet, it has proven that higher temperature of an environment resulted to obtain low
scores by the students (liftoff, 2018). According to Marc Christian (2016). There are design principles
regarding environmental ergonomics in a workplace, such as a climate, alighting, and noise. These
factors are one piece of the puzzle that generates discomfort to the person in a workplace environment.
Ergonomic challenges amid COVID-19 pandemic, heads to a various health Conditions. This becomes
unfavorable to the student’s health and finds its difficult to adapt to the virtual learning of the students
because of this Conditions regarding noise, temperature, and furniture. (Monzon, N,S., et.al. (2021)

The goal of this study is to determine the relationship between environmental ergonomic
parameters and the academic achievement of first-year psychology students. wishes to reach particular
goals, such as the relationship between the two variables, the significance, and the study's influence.
and need to understand the impact of ambient ergonomic elements on student academic performance.
 The researchers anticipate that this study will have a significant impact on first-year psychology
students, particularly in terms of regulating their academic performance in a specific environment. to
the other students at the Valenzuela Campus of Our Lady of Fatima University and to the community,
which will benefit from the study's findings. This study could serve as a model for future research on the
effects of environmental ergonomic factors on First-Year Psychology Students.