Thermal comfort is essential for students' wellbeing, health, and performance. A conducive classroom must consider the acceptable range of heat and its impact on student performance. The study aims to conduct a pilot test for the determination of thermal acceptability and student performance in existing Malaysian classrooms using physical and subjective assessments. The methodology requires physical measurement using KIMO AMI 310 instrument, as well as subjective assessment via satisfaction survey adapted from ASHRAE 55 and performance assessment adapted from WHO Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery (WHO NCTB). Physical measurement parameters, such as indoor temperature, air velocity, relative humidity, and prevailing mean outdoor temperature, were measured in parallel with subjective assessment of thermal acceptability and performance assessment. Three days of data collection were conducted in the secondary school located in Endau, Johor. There are three classes involved with a total of 46 students. Each class was equipped with two ceiling fans and both ceiling fans were regulated to the speed of four. The overall physical and subjective assessment procedure took approximately 60 minutes per classroom. The findings showed that all the investigated classes were in the range of acceptable operative temperature and complied with ASHRAE Standard 55 for both 80% and 90% acceptability limits. Pearson correlation analysis showed a small positive relationship between thermal sensation vote (TSV) and learning performance was obtained. The results also showed a higher performance score at the TSV value of -1 suggesting the students tend to have higher performance scores when they voted feeling slightly cool. Thus, the results of the pilot test gave new insight into the effective method to improve the methodology for the actual data collection.

In Malaysia, students spend up to 33% of their day in classrooms and school buildings. Previous research had shown that thermal comfort conditions in educational buildings can stimulate student productivity. This study aimed to preliminary investigate the relationship between thermal sensation and student performance in the classroom. Data collection was conducted in a selected classroom at a secondary school in Segamat, Johor. All data were collected for three days. Physical measurement data were taken using thermal comfort equipment, KIMO AMI 310 for indoor measurement (air temperature, mean radiant temperature, air velocity, relative humidity), and TSI VelociCalc for outdoor measurement (air temperature, relative humidity). The thermal comfort satisfaction questionnaire was distributed to 36 students in the classroom. The learning performance was assessed through a simple reaction test and digit span test based on the WHO Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery (NCTB) method. The results of the thermal comfort satisfaction questionnaire clearly showed that the lower the fan speed, the more students preferred the cooler option. Furthermore, students performed better when the fan speed was increased. Based on the correlation analysis, it can be concluded that the learning performance and thermal preference vote (TPV) are positively correlated. As a result, students tend to get higher scores when they feel cooler. This study provides important preliminary information on classroom conditions in secondary schools in Malaysia and provides a better understanding of the relationship between thermal perception and student learning performance in the classroom.