The importance of ergonomics in schools – secondary technical school students’ opinion on the comfort of furniture in the classroom for computer aided design

Abstract

Considering the amount of time school children spend in school, primarily sitting, classroom furniture has a crucial role in the maintenance of good sitting posture and should be designed to promote it. However, there are numerous studies that have reported unsuitability of school furniture and its mismatch with students’ needs and anthropometric characteristics. This paper presents the results of research conducted among 100 students from a secondary technical school who were asked to answer to the questionnaire related to the comfort of furniture they use in the classroom for computer aided design, sitting posture they take as well as how it affects their psychophysical state and learning activities. Also, T-test analysis was conducted in order to determine whether there was statistically significant difference in opinion on the comfort of the furniture between first and fourth grade students. The results indicate that students do not feel totally comfortable when sitting at a computer in the classroom for computer aided design but that the discomfort does not have huge consequences on their mental and physical state (tiredness, pain, concentration and attention) during class.