How Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Colour Lighting Can Improve Learning: Evidence from Recent Classrooms Studies
Source abstract
Abstract
Numerous studies have explored the role of colour in classroom environments and its effects on learning, cognition and motivation. However, research on coloured lighting remains limited, with most studies focusing only on correlated colour temperature (CCT). Addressing this gap, our study examines various chromatic lighting conditions that enhance learning outcomes while allowing for dynamic applications in educational settings. Conducted over three academic years in six primary classrooms, this quasi-experimental study employed a pretest and a control group to assess the effects of three chromatic lighting scenarios (orange, green and purple) on cognitive processes, emotional responses and basic instrumental learning. Descriptive, variance and comparative analyses revealed conclusive evidence of coloured lighting’s impact, though effects varied across different variables. The study highlights the potential of dynamic lighting approaches to support learning and suggests that AI-assisted lighting adjustments could aid teachers. The findings support the broader implementation of coloured lighting in primary classrooms, advocating for cost-effective, sustainable and adaptive solutions beyond conventional lighting. Such advancements are expected to enhance students’ learning, cognition and motivation while providing greater flexibility in educational environments.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Color perception and design
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Pedagogy, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Departament d’Enginyeria Química, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
References (68)
Show source-provided references
1. Antolí, J. (2023). Effects of Classroom Colour on Learning Processes for a Future Smart Classroom: A Systematic Review. Challenges of the Educational System in Contemporary Society, IGI Global.10.4018/978-1-6684-8156-1 ↗
2. Arbona Hidalgo, L. (2021). Estudio de la Influencia de la Iluminación en la Percepción de los Estudiantes Universitarios. [Ph.D. Dissertation, Universitat Politècnica de València].
3. Color-filtered lighting: Visual and emotional impact in learning environments
4. The Effects of Colored Light on Valence and Arousal10.1007/978-90-481-3258-4_5 ↗
5. Facilitation of creative performance by using blue and red accent lighting in work and learning areas10.1080/00140139.2017.1349940 ↗
6. Learning the dynamic processes of color and light in interior design
7. Blue light dose-responses of leaf photosynthesis, morphology, and chemical composition of Cucumis sativus grown under different combinations of red and blue light10.1093/jxb/erq132 ↗
8. Effect of green light wavelength and intensity on photomorphogenesis and photosynthesis in Lactuca sativa10.1016/j.envexpbot.2011.08.010 ↗
9. Araujo, J., Rodriguez, M.J., Postolache, O., Cercas, F., Martín, F.F., and Martínez, A.L. (2020, January 25–28). Heart Rate Variability Analysis in Healthy Subjects Under Different Colored Ligthing Conditions. Proceedings of the IEEE International Instrumentation and Measuremente Technology Conference (I2MTC), Dubrovnik, Croatia.10.1109/I2MTC43012.2020.9129619 ↗
10. Space Habitat Astronautics: Multicolour Lighting Psychology in a 7-Day Simulated Habitat10.34133/2022/9782706 ↗
11. Manca, S., Cerina, V., Tobia, V., Sacchi, S., and Fornara, F. (2020). The effect of school design on users’ responses: A systematic review (2008–2017). Sustainability, 12.10.3390/su12083453 ↗
12. Effects of colored lighting on learning processes: Towards a smart classroom10.3926/jotse.2236 ↗
13. Cognitive performance and emotion are indifferent to ambient color
14. Classroom Design and Children’s Attention Allocation: Beyond the Laboratory and into the Classroom10.1111/mbe.12319 ↗
15. The impact of classroom design on pupils’ learning: Final results of a holistic, multi-level analysis10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.013 ↗
16. The Holistic Impact of Classroom Spaces on Learning in Specific Subjects10.1177/0013916516648735 ↗
17. Smith, E.E., and Kosslyn, S.M. (2014). Cognitive Psychology. Mind and Brain, Pearson Education Limited.
18. Blue or red? Exploring the effect of color on cognitive task performances10.1126/science.1169144 ↗
19. A research on the effect of classroom wall colours on student’s attention
20. Tuszyńska-Bogucka, W., Borys, M., Dzieńkowski, M., Kwiatkowski, B., Kocki, W., Pełka, J., and Bogucki, J. (2018, January 12–14). Use of Eye Tracking for Designing of Learning Spaces. Proceedings of the ICERI2018 Proceedings 11th Annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation Seville, Spain.10.21125/iceri.2018.2238 ↗
21. Classroom wall color: A multiple variance analysis on social stress and concentration in learning environments
22. Classroom lighting and its effect on student learning and performance: Towards smarter conditions10.1007/978-981-15-7383-5_1 ↗
23. Llinares, C., Castilla, N., and Higuera-Trujillo, J.L. (2021). Do attention and memory tasks require the same lighting? A study in university classrooms. Sustainability, 13.10.3390/su13158374 ↗
24. A field study of the individual and combined effect of ventilation rate and lighting conditions on pupils’ performance10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106608 ↗
25. Gross, R. (2015). Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour, Hodder Education. [7th ed.].
26. Mora, F. (2013). Neuroeducación, Solo Se Puede Aprender Aquello Que Se Ama, Alianza Ensayo.
27. Lewinski, P. (2015). Effects of classrooms’ architecture on academic performance in view of telic versus paratelic motivation: A review. Front. Psyc., 6.10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00746 ↗
28. Influencia del color del aula en los resultados de aprendizaje en 3 año básico: Estudio comparativo en un colegio particular subvencionado en Santiago de Chile
29. Designing effective study environments10.1006/jevp.2000.0193 ↗
30. Investigating the Impact of Environmental Factors on Learning and Academic Achievement of Elementary Students: Review
31. Englebrecht, K. (2024, November 01). The Impact of Color on Learning. Available online: http://sdpl.coe.uga.edu/HTML/W305.pdf.
32. Color, arousal, and performance—A comparison of three experiments10.1002/col.20476 ↗
33. A quantitative evaluation of indoor environmental quality in refurbished kindergarten buildings: A Malaysian case study10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.11.002 ↗
34. How does Coloured Lighting Influence the Affective Processes of Pupils?
35. Comparison between psychological responses to ‘object colour produced by paint colour’ and ‘object colour produced by light source10.1177/1420326X19897109 ↗
36. (2025, March 22). Ley Orgánica 3/2020, de 29 de Diciembre, por la que se Modifica la Ley Orgánica 2/2006, de 3 de Mayo, de Educación. BOE núm. 340. Available online: https://www.boe.es/eli/es/lo/2020/12/29/3.
37. Efectos de la luz de color sobre la competencia lingüística escrita del alumnado de Primaria
38. Tejada Garitano, E., Garay Ruiz, U., and López de la Serna, A. (2024). ¿Puede la luz de color ayudar a mejorar la adquisición de la competencia matemática?. Innovación e Investigación con Tecnología Educativa: Explorando las Posibilidades de la Educación del Futuro, Dykinson.10.14679/3409 ↗
39. Subjetive evaluation on the color temperatures of LED ilumination in the classroom
40. Dynamic lighting system for the learning environment: Performance of elementary students10.1364/OE.24.00A907 ↗
41. Impact of lighting on children’s learning environment: A literature review
42. Plympton, P., Conway, S., and Epstein, K. (2000, January 16). Daylighting in Schools: Improving Student Performance and Health at a Price Schools CanAfford. Proceedings of the American Solar Energy Society Conference, Madison, WI, USA.
43. Muñoz, J.M., Lorenzo, N., and Suñé, X. (2024). ¿Cómo puede la IA ayudar a la personalización del aprendizaje?. Inteligencia Artificial en la Microeducación: Transformando el Aula del Futuro, Observatorio de Innovación Educativa y Cultura Digital (ODITE).
44. Prendes Espinosa, M.P., and González Calatayud, V. (2018). El informe del TFM. Trabajo Fin de Máster en Tecnología Educativa. Orientaciones para la Elaboración y Criterios de Calidad, Universidad de Murcia.
45. López Fuentes, R. (2011). Proceso de Investigación Educativa I: Investigación Experimental. Innovación Docente e Investigación Educativa. Máster Universitario de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Universidad de Granada. Available online: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=3855936.
46. Campbell, D.T., and Stanley, J.C. (1966). Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research, Rand McNally & Company.
47. Luri, G. (2020). La Escuela No Es un Parque de Atracciones. Una Defensa del Conocimiento Poderoso, Ariel.
48. Application of Bloom’s taxonomy to improve teaching-learning
49. Artiles Hernández, C., Jiménez González, J.E., Rodríguez Rodríguez, C., and García Miranda, E. (2007). Adaptación y Baremación del Test de Pensamiento Creativo de Torrance: Expresión Figurada. Educación Primaria y Secundaria, Consejería de Educación, Cultura y Deportes del Gobierno de Canarias, Dirección General de Ordenación e Innovación Educativ.
50. Thurstone, L.L., and Yela, M. (2019). Caras-R. Test de Percepción de Diferencias-Revisado. Manual, TEA Ediciones. [13th ed].
51. Agencia Andaluza de Evaluación Educativa (AGAEVE) (2017). Evaluación Final de Educación Primaria. Competencia Lingüística, Junta de Andalucía.
52. Agencia Andaluza de Evaluación Educativa (AGAEVE) (2017). Evaluación Final de Educación Primaria. Competencia Matemática, Junta de Andalucía.
53. Agencia Andaluza de Evaluación Educativa (AGAEVE) (2018). Evaluación Final de Educación Primaria. Competencia Lingüística, Junta de Andalucía.
54. Agencia Andaluza de Evaluación Educativa (AGAEVE) (2018). Evaluación Final de Educación Primaria. Competencia Matemática, Junta de Andalucía.
55. Agencia Andaluza de Evaluación Educativa (AGAEVE) (2019). Evaluación Final de Educación Primaria. Competencia Lingüística, Junta de Andalucía.
56. Agencia Andaluza de Evaluación Educativa (AGAEVE) (2019). Evaluación Final de Educación Primaria. Competencia Matemática, Junta de Andalucía.
57. European Parliament (2025, March 22). Reglamento (UE) 2016/679 del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo, de 27 de Abril de 2016, Relativo a la Protección de las Personas Físicas en lo Que Respecta al Tratamiento de Datos Personales y a la Libre Circulación de Estos Datos y por el Que se Deroga la Directiva 95/46/CE (Reglamento General de Protección de Datos). DOUE núm. 119. Available online: https://www.boe.es/doue/2016/119/L00001-00088.pdf.
58. (2025, March 22). Ley Orgánica 3/2018, de 5 de Diciembre, de Protección de Datos Personales y Garantía de los Derechos Digitales. BOE núm. 294. Available online: https://www.boe.es/eli/es/lo/2018/12/05/3.
59. Quiles-Rodríguez, J., and Palau, R. (2024). New evidence on the influence of coloured lighting on pupil’ cognitive processes. Electronics, 13.10.3390/electronics13153005 ↗
60. Romero García, C., and Buzón García, O. (2024). New evidence on the influence of coloured lighting on pupils’ affective processes. Educación 360: Emociones, Tecnología, Evaluación e Inclusión en la Era Digital, Dykinson.
61. Dynamic Lighting System to Increase the Attention of Design Students in the Classroom10.19053/01211129.v30.n55.2021.12233 ↗
62. Muñoz, J.M., Lorenzo, N., and Suñé, X. (2024). Inteligencia artificial en la Microeducación: Transformando el Aula del Futuro. Inteligencia Artificial en la Microeucación: Transformando el Aula del Futuro, Observatorio de Innovación Educativa y Cultura Digital (ODITE).
63. Wang, J. (2023). Learning Analytics for Smart Classrooms. Encyclopedia of Data Science and Machine Learning, IGI Global Scientific Publishing.
64. Teacher decision making tool: Development of a prototype to facilitate teacher decision making in the classroom10.3926/jotse.1801 ↗
65. Colomer Granero, A., Higuera Trujillo, J.L., Naranjo Ornedo, V., and Llinares Millán, M.D.C. (2021, January 4–5). La Inteligencia Artificial y su contribución a la optimización de la atención y memoria de los estudiantes a través del diseño del aula. Proceedings of the EDIFICATE. I Congreso de Escuelas de Edificación y Arquitectura Técnica de España, Valencia, Spain.
66. Sajja, R., Sermet, Y., Cikmaz, M., Cwiertny, D., and Demir, I. (2024). Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Intelligent Assistant for Personalized and Adaptive Learning in Higher Education. Information, 15.10.3390/info15100596 ↗
67. Zhai, X., and Krajcik, J. (2024). A Systematic Review on Artificial Intelligence in Supporting Teaching Practice: Application Types, Pedagogical Roles, and Technological Characteristics. Uses of Artificial Intelligence in STEM Education, Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780198882077.001.0001 ↗
68. Fang, P., Wang, M., Li, J., Zhao, Q., Zheng, X., and Gao, H. (2023). A Distributed Intelligent Lighting Control System Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning. Appl. Sci., 13.10.3390/app13169057 ↗