Abstract
Rearranging furniture in elementary school classrooms encourages classroom activities. In elementary schools in Indonesia and some other developing countries, usually only one style of furniture is used for all children, and the furniture is heavy and oversized for younger children. This affects their ability to carry it. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of elementary school furniture weight and children’s age on performance of three carrying tasks (carrying a chair, lifting and turning a chair on a desk, and carrying both a chair and a desk together), from the ergonomics point of view. A total of 42 schoolchildren (ages 6–9; 17 Indonesian, 25 Japanese) participated in this study. Two types of Japanese chairs (Chair A and B, weight: 3.2 kg and 3.9 kg), one type of Indonesian chair (Chair C, weight: 5.0 kg), and two types of desks (height: 58 cm and 68 cm) were used. Indonesian chairs took significantly longer time to carry than the two Japanese chairs, and there was a significant negative relationship between age and task time for Chairs B and C, but not Chair A. Success rates for lifting and turning the chair declined as age decreased and chair weight increased, but were not significantly influenced by desk height. Success rates for carrying a chair and desk together significantly decreased with heavier furniture. Children aged six showed an extremely low success rate in almost all conditions. In conclusion, children’s ability to carry furniture is affected by their age and furniture characteristics, especially weight. In order to encourage classroom activities in elementary school, school furniture should be of appropriate weight. Supervision for younger children is required during classroom furniture arrangement.
Highlights
It has long been noted that elementary schools should provide desks and chairs that are easy for students to move and carry
As a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no significant effects of gender or nationality, data for all participants were combined in further analyses
A repeated measures one-way ANOVA showed a significant effect of chair type on task time (p < 0.01)
Summary
It has long been noted that elementary schools should provide desks and chairs that are easy for students to move and carry. School furniture (e.g., chairs and desks) that is easy to move and carry could help to improve the quality of education [1,2,3,4]. Studies have suggested that the weight of backpacks carried by children should be proportional to their body weight [6,7,8]. The body weight of children normally increases with age [9,10,11]. The weight of school furniture should correspond to children’s ages and body weights
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