Human Factors and K-12 Education

April 24, 2009 by Eric Shaver · 1 Comment
Filed under: built environment, design, education, human factors 

According to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD, 2008), in 2005, the United States spent, on average, $12,788 per student for their education – more than any of the other 29 member countries (p. 218).  Even with such a substantial investment, the high school graduation rate was only 70.6 percent for the same year (Swanson, 2009 April, p. 1).  Moreover, when compared with the scholastic performance of 15 year old children from 57 countries, the US ranked 29th in science (p. 58) and 35th in mathematics (p. 318) (OECD, 2007).  Given such disappointing statistics, it’s obvious that better innovative solutions are needed to increase the effectiveness of the U.S. elementary and secondary education system.  One way is to utilize solutions from the discipline of human factors and ergonomics.

Human factors and ergonomics is a unique scientific discipline that systematically applies the knowledge of human abilities and limitations to the design of systems with the goal of optimizing the interaction between people and other system elements to enhance safety, performance, and satisfaction.  In simpler terms, human factors focuses on designing the world to better accommodate people.

Human factors and ergonomics are relevant anywhere people work within systems, whether they are social or technical in nature.  In the case of K-12 education, it focuses on using a student-centered systems approach to optimize the elements of the educational learning system.  The basic elements include:

  • people (e.g., students, teachers, administrators, parents, etc.);
  • equipment (e.g., desks, chairs, books, computers, school supplies, etc.);
  • workspaces (e.g., chair-desks, tables, computer stations, etc.);
  • tasks/work (e.g., learning, playing, teaching, etc.);
  • facilities/environment (e.g., classrooms, laboratories, gymnasiums, playgrounds, buildings, campuses, etc.); and
  • organizations

The history of educational ergonomics, “…the teaching of ergonomics and the design of environments where ergonomics teaching and learning might occur…” (Woodcock, 2007), extends to the 1970s with Kao’s seminal publication “On Educational Ergonomics.”  He identified its goals to be “…educational efficiency, improvement, and excellence…” (Kao, 1976, p. 668).  Since that time, work performed in this area has fallen into two general categories: (1) teaching about the discipline of human factors and ergonomics and (2) designing the educational learning system to fit the needs of students.  With regards to the latter, according to Smith (2007, p. 1532), there are nine educational design factors that could impact student learning, including:

  • Academic curriculum and programme;
  • Learning resources (textbooks, audiovisual materials, media);
  • Classroom technology;
  • Classroom and building ergonomics;
  • Class design;
  • Macroergonomics of the educational system;
  • Teaching factors;
  • Personal factors; and
  • Community & family factors.

Specific examples include:

  • Redesigning chairs & desks to fit the anthropometrics of children;
  • Identifying multimedia modes that accommodate auditory and visual learners;
  • Using virtual reality and simulation to facilitate education and training; and
  • Investigating the influence of built environment features such as lighting, air quality, wall colors, and spatial orientation on learning.

Although significant headway has been made to identify design factors that will positively impact the educational learning system, additional research and application are still needed.  The interested reader is encouraged to review the following resources to learn more about educational ergonomics:

Publications

Kao, H.S.R. (1976).  On educational ergonomics.  Ergonomics, 19, 667-681.

Legg, S. (2007).  Ergonomics in schools.  Ergonomics, 50, 1523-1529.

Legg, S. & Jacobs, K. (2008).  Ergonomics for schools.  Work, 31, 489-493.

Smith, T.J. (2007).  The ergonomics of learning: Educational design and learning performance.  Ergonomics, 50, 1530-1546.

Stone, N.J. (2008).  Human factors and education: Evolution and contributions.  Human Factors, 50, 534-539.

Woodcock, A. (2007).  Ergonomics, education and children: A personal view.  Ergonomics, 50, 1547-1560.

Websites

http://www.ergonomics4schools.com/

http://www.moveit.org.nz/

http://www.iea.cc/ergonomics4children/

References

OEDC (2007).  PISATM 2006 science competencies for tomorrow’s world: Volume 1 – analysis.  Paris, France: Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development.  Retrieved April 22, 2009, from: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/30/17/39703267.pdf

OEDC (2008).  Education at a glance 2008: OECD indicators. Paris, France: Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development.  Retrieved April 22, 2009, from: http://www.oecd.org/edu/eag2008

Swanson, C.B. (2009, April).  Cities in crisis 2009: Closing the graduation gap. Bethesda, Maryland: Editorial Projects in Education, Inc.  Retrieved April 24, 2009, from: http://www.americaspromise.org/uploadedFiles/AmericasPromiseAlliance/Dropout_Crisis/Cities_In_Crisis_Report_2009.pdf

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