section_path: Factors affecting learning/Socioeconomic and physical conditions
section_name: Socioeconomic and physical conditions
paragraph_text: Socioeconomic and physical conditions
  
  Problems like malnutrition, fatigue, and poor physical health can slow learning, as can bad ventilation or poor lighting at home, and unhygienic living conditions.
  
  The design, quality, and setting of a learning space, such as a school or classroom, can each be critical to the success of a learning environment. Size, configuration, comfort—fresh air, temperature, light, acoustics, furniture—can all affect a student's learning. The tools used by both instructors and students directly affect how information is conveyed, from the display and writing surfaces (blackboards, markerboards, tack surfaces) to digital technologies. For example, if a room is too crowded, stress levels rise, student attention is reduced, and furniture arrangement is restricted. If furniture is incorrectly arranged, sightlines to the instructor or instructional material are limited and the ability to suit the learning or lesson style is restricted. Aesthetics can also play a role, for if student morale suffers, so does motivation to attend school.