Proposal for a universal measurement system for school chairs and desks for children from 6 to 10 years old. (January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Carneiro, Vitor; Gomes, Ângela; Rangel, Bárbara
• Is Part Of: Applied ergonomics. Volume 58(2016)
• Page Start: 372
• Page End: 385
• Publication Date: 2017-01
• Subjects: School furniture -- Universal measurement system -- Children; Human engineering -- Periodicals; 620.82
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2016.06.020
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-6870

Abstract

Abstract: In a primary education classroom of any country, children of the same age have very different statures, reaching variations of 200 mm (Gonçalves, 2012). However, the school furniture provided is not suitable or adaptable to these differences. Designing school furniture able to respond to these variations is, therefore, a challenge for ergonomics and design in a global market. It is clearly not viable for industries to adapt productions for each country. When competitiveness and limitation of resources are essential for the viability of any product it becomes essential to find a universal system adapted to the requisites of any country. Taking as prescription measure the popliteal height obtained from the data of different countries, a universal measurement system for the school chair and desk set is proposed, combining the ellipse methodology used by Molenbroek et al. (2003) and the (mis)match equations mentioned by Castellucci et al. (2014b). From the results obtained, it can be concluded that only 5 sizes are needed to implement this new measurement system of evolutionary school furniture for the primary education classroom. Highlights: The current school furniture have sizing gaps. The development of an international standard could be benefit. It is possible to define a set of universal dimensions for school chair/desk set. To accommodate all children between 6 and 10 years old 5 sizes are necessary. The popliteal height is the prescription measurement instead of the stature.