Purpose: The purpose of this study is to conduct a scientometric analysis and map the knowledge structure of research on the impact of classroom environmental factors on students’ attention and cognitive processes, and to examine trends, thematic patterns, and Iran–global comparisons to identify the status, evolution, and research gaps in this field.
Methodology: This study employed a scientometric approach with a descriptive–analytical design to investigate research on the impact of classroom environmental factors on students’ attention. Data were retrieved from the Web of Science database using a documentary search strategy. The analysis was conducted using VOSviewer and the Bibliometrix package in R to map scientific structures, identify thematic patterns, and explore relationships among key concepts.
Findings: The findings indicate that the studied literature spans the period from 1984 to 2026, during which 9,330 documents were published across 2,543 sources. The annual growth rate of 17.26% reflects a steadily increasing scholarly interest in the field. The average citation per document (23.64) suggests a relatively strong academic impact, while the average document age of 6.81 years indicates that the field is composed of both established and recent contributions.
From a structural perspective, the research is predominantly published in interdisciplinary journals covering education, architecture, environmental studies, and psychology. Leading countries such as the United States, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Taiwan, and Türkiye play central roles in knowledge production and international collaboration networks. Iran, with 190 documents, ranks 21st, indicating an active but comparatively smaller contribution to the global literature.
Keyword co-occurrence analysis revealed two dominant thematic streams: (1) educational and cognitive processes, including learning, attention, educational psychology, and educational technology; and (2) classroom environmental factors, such as air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics, spatial design, and lighting conditions. Among these, indoor air quality and ventilation emerged as the most frequently studied topics, while concepts such as daylighting, biophilic design, and nature-based learning remain comparatively underexplored.
Temporal analysis shows a clear evolution of the field from traditional concerns related to indoor environmental quality toward more complex, interdisciplinary approaches integrating cognitive science, educational technology, and human-centered design. In recent years, emerging topics such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, gamification, and generative AI have gained increasing attention, indicating a shift toward technology-enhanced learning environments.
Overall, the findings highlight a progressive transition from a physically oriented perspective of classroom environments toward a holistic, interdisciplinary framework that integrates education, psychology, environmental science, architecture, and neuroscience.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates that research on the impact of classroom environmental factors on students’ attention and cognitive processes has evolved into a rapidly expanding and highly interdisciplinary field. Over time, the focus has shifted from a narrow emphasis on physical indoor environmental conditions toward more complex, integrated perspectives that combine environmental quality, cognitive performance, educational theory, and human-centered design.
The results indicate that while traditional factors such as indoor air quality and thermal comfort continue to dominate the literature, emerging dimensions—including daylighting, biophilic design, and circadian lighting—remain relatively underexplored. This imbalance highlights important research gaps and suggests that the role of visual, natural, and biologically responsive environmental features in learning performance has not yet been fully investigated.
Furthermore, the increasing integration of fields such as educational psychology, neuroscience, environmental science, architecture, and educational technology reflects a clear transition toward a holistic understanding of learning environments. The growing presence of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence and immersive learning systems, further indicates a shift toward digitally enhanced and adaptive educational spaces.
Overall, the field is moving toward a comprehensive, human-centered paradigm in which classroom environments are no longer viewed merely as physical spaces, but as dynamic systems that interact with cognitive, emotional, and physiological dimensions of learners. Future research should therefore focus on underexplored environmental variables and strengthen interdisciplinary approaches to better understand how learning environments can be optimized to enhance students’ attention, well-being, and academic performance.

In addition, the bibliometric patterns observed in this study reveal a clear imbalance in thematic development across subdomains, where environmental health-related factors are significantly more mature compared to design-oriented and perceptual variables. This suggests that future studies should not only diversify their methodological approaches but also expand theoretical frameworks to incorporate perceptual psychology and environmental neuroscience more systematically. Strengthening international collaboration and increasing methodological diversity may further enhance the robustness and global relevance of future research in this field.