Abstract
The school furniture (table and chair) tries to respond to the anthropometric requests of the students so that they can feel comfortable during the periods of learning. This conjugation is not easy considering the variety of anthropometric measures of the students that are in phase of structural growth in particular in the phase of pre-adolescence and adolescence. A study previously carried out by the authors, with students between the ages of 9 and 16 years old, showed a mismatch for 65% and 73% of the population (chair and chair/table, respectively). Taking into account this high value of mismatch, it was questioned if the students’ performance would be affected. Trying to answer this question, the d2 attention test was applied to 48% of the population, in two moments: in the first one the students were seated randomly, i.e., without considering the fit between the student’s dimensions and those of the existing furniture. At the second moment there was a control group (12%), sitting on furniture adjusted according to NE 1729-1:2015. The results obtained seem to indicate that performance is not affected by the ergonomic mismatch of school furniture.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Molenbroek, J.F.M., Kroon-Ramaekers, Y.M.T., Snijders, C.J.: Revision of the design of a standard for the dimensions of school furniture. Ergonomics 46(7), 681–694 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1080/0014013031000085635
Mokdad, M., Al-Ansari, M.: Anthropometrics for the design of Bahraini school furniture. Int. J. Ind. Ergon. 39(5), 728–735 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ergon.2009.02.006
Ivory, D.: The Impact of Dynamic Furniture on Classroom Performance: A Pilot Study. Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Puget Sound (2011)
Fernandes, A., Carneiro, P., Costa, N., Braga, A.: Study of the Adequacy of School Furniture to the Anthropometric Dimensions of Students. Human Systems Engineering and Design: Future Trends and Applications. Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK (2018)
Gonçalves, M.: Análise das condições ergonómicas das salas de aula do primeiro ciclo do ensino básico. Doctoral Thesis, Universidade do Minho, Portugal (2012)
Macedo, A., Morais, A., Martins, H., Martins, J., Pais, S., Mayan, O.: Match between classroom dimensions and students’ anthropometry: re-equipment according to european educational furniture standard. Hum. Factors 57(1), 48–60 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1177/001872081453399
Parcells, C., M.S.N., R.N., Stmommel, M., Hubbeard, R.: Mismatch of classroom furniture and student body dimensions - empirical finings and health implications. J. Adolesc. Health 98, 265–273 (1999)
Brewer, J.M., Davis, K.G., Dunning, K.K., Succop, P.A.: Does ergonomic mismatch at school impact pain in school children? Work 34(4), 455–464 (2009). https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-2009-0946
EN 1729-1. Furniture - chairs and tables for educational institutions Part 1: Functional dimensions. English Version (2015)
Brickenkamp, R.: Aufmerksamkeits-Belastungs-Test (Test d2). [The d2 Test of attention.], 1st edn. Hogrefe, Göttingen (1962)
Bates, M., Lemay, E.: The d2 test of attention: construct validity and extensions in scoring techniques. J. Int. Neuropsychol. Soc. (2014)
Rivera, Salinas, Ramos, Usuga, Mejíad, Key, Agurcia, Vasquez, Guerrero, Cadenai, Barajas, Garcíak, Varillas, SanSegundo, Carmona, Lara, Gibert, Lobo, Cardoso and Lasprilla.: Concentration endurance test (d2): normative data for Spanish-speaking pediatric population. NeuroRehabilitation 41, 661–671 (2017). https://doi.org/10.3233/nre-172248
Ferreira, C., Rocha, A.: D2 – Teste de Atenção de Brickenkamp, R. (versão portuguesa). CEGOC. Hogrefe Publishing Group (2017)
Brickenkamp, R., Zillmer, E.: The d2 Test of Attention. Hogrefe & Huber Publishers, Seattle, WA (1998)
Steinborn, M., Langner, R., Flehmig, H., Huestegge, L.: Methodology of performance scoring in the d2 sustained-attention test: cumlative -reliability functions and practical guidelines. Psychol. Assess. Advance online publication (2017). http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pas0000482
Acknowledgements
The achievement of this work was only possible thanks to the receptivity of Chief Executive Officer to this problem. It is also worth noting the participation of all students as well as the involvement of their parents. A final note of thanks to the teachers, for the availability of the time in their classes.
This work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2019.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Fernandes, A., Costa, N., Carneiro, P., Braga, A.C. (2020). Can the Use of Well-Adjusted School Furniture Improve Students’ Performance?. In: Goonetilleke, R., Karwowski, W. (eds) Advances in Physical Ergonomics and Human Factors. AHFE 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 967. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20142-5_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20142-5_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20141-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-20142-5
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)