The influence of school furniture on students’ performance and physical responses: Results of a systematic review

HI Castellucci; PM Arezes; Johan Molenbroek; R. de Bruin; C Viviani

doi:10.1080/00140139.2016.1170889

The influence of school furniture on students’ performance and physical responses: Results of a systematic review

HI Castellucci^*
, PM Arezes
, Johan Molenbroek
, R. de Bruin
, C Viviani

^*Corresponding author for this work

Human Factors

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine, using a systematic review, whether the design and/or dimensions of school furniture affect the students’ physical responses and/or their performance. Of the review studies, 64% presented positive results, i.e. proven effects; 24% presented negative effects or no change/effect; and the remaining 12% showed an unclear effect. The compatibility between school furniture dimensions and students’ anthropometric characteristics was identified as a key factor for improving some students’ physical responses. Design characteristics such as high furniture, sit-stand furniture, and tilt tables and seats also present positive effects. Finally, we concluded that further research should be conducted exploring various aspects of those variables, particularly focusing on more objective measures complemented by controlled and prospective design.

Practitioner Summary: A systematic review of the literature presents a clearly positive effect of school furniture dimensions on students’ performance and physical responses. Similar results appeared when school furniture design was tested. However, studying the effects of design and dimensions together produced an unclear positive effect.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	93-110
Number of pages	18
Journal	Ergonomics: an international journal of research and practice in human factors and ergonomics
Volume	60
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2016.1170889
Publication status	Published - 2016

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository as part of the Taverne amendment. More information about this copyright law amendment can be found at https://www.openaccess.nl. Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

classroom
workstation
design
dimension

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10.1080/00140139.2016.1170889

The influence of school furniture on students performance and physical responses results of a systematic reviewFinal published version, 2.11 MB

Cite this

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title = "The influence of school furniture on students{\textquoteright} performance and physical responses: Results of a systematic review",

abstract = "The purpose of this study was to determine, using a systematic review, whether the design and/or dimensions of school furniture affect the students{\textquoteright} physical responses and/or their performance. Of the review studies, 64\% presented positive results, i.e. proven effects; 24\% presented negative effects or no change/effect; and the remaining 12\% showed an unclear effect. The compatibility between school furniture dimensions and students{\textquoteright} anthropometric characteristics was identified as a key factor for improving some students{\textquoteright} physical responses. Design characteristics such as high furniture, sit-stand furniture, and tilt tables and seats also present positive effects. Finally, we concluded that further research should be conducted exploring various aspects of those variables, particularly focusing on more objective measures complemented by controlled and prospective design. Practitioner Summary: A systematic review of the literature presents a clearly positive effect of school furniture dimensions on students{\textquoteright} performance and physical responses. Similar results appeared when school furniture design was tested. However, studying the effects of design and dimensions together produced an unclear positive effect.",

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The influence of school furniture on students’ performance and physical responses: Results of a systematic review. / Castellucci, HI; Arezes, PM; Molenbroek, Johan et al.
In: Ergonomics: an international journal of research and practice in human factors and ergonomics, Vol. 60, No. 1, 2016, p. 93-110.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

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T1 - The influence of school furniture on students’ performance and physical responses

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AU - Castellucci, HI

AU - Arezes, PM

AU - Molenbroek, Johan

AU - de Bruin, R.

AU - Viviani, C

N1 - Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository as part of the Taverne amendment. More information about this copyright law amendment can be found at https://www.openaccess.nl. Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - The purpose of this study was to determine, using a systematic review, whether the design and/or dimensions of school furniture affect the students’ physical responses and/or their performance. Of the review studies, 64% presented positive results, i.e. proven effects; 24% presented negative effects or no change/effect; and the remaining 12% showed an unclear effect. The compatibility between school furniture dimensions and students’ anthropometric characteristics was identified as a key factor for improving some students’ physical responses. Design characteristics such as high furniture, sit-stand furniture, and tilt tables and seats also present positive effects. Finally, we concluded that further research should be conducted exploring various aspects of those variables, particularly focusing on more objective measures complemented by controlled and prospective design. Practitioner Summary: A systematic review of the literature presents a clearly positive effect of school furniture dimensions on students’ performance and physical responses. Similar results appeared when school furniture design was tested. However, studying the effects of design and dimensions together produced an unclear positive effect.

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KW - classroom

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The influence of school furniture on students’ performance and physical responses: Results of a systematic review

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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