Innovative furniture and student engagement

It is widely accepted that furniture is a critical component of an innovative learning environment (ILE). ILEs are, by definition, those learning configurations that successfully merge innovative design with innovative practices. Only then does an innovative learning environment exist (Mahat et al. 2018). These are mostly characterized by designs that accommodate the widest possible range of teaching and learning needs; this often includes ubiquitous ICT and highly flexible infrastructure – including furniture. So, within this context, “innovative” furniture is a combination of both unique design characteristics and how these are used in practice. Thus, advancing furniture design to support innovative practices in ILEs is essential. However, this must be done in association with solid evidence of its impact on learning and teaching – to advance ILE effectiveness, we need to know what works. While good literature exists that explores a range of furniture-related issues in these types of schools, there remains a paucity of empirical research (studies based on hard evidence) that map, evaluate, and report specifically on the relationship between furniture and student experiences. This entry recognizes the broad scope of this issue and seeks to addresses one important component of that puzzle – student engagement. How can we gain a firm understanding of the impact of furniture (both design and use) on students’ engagement

Methodology to determine product dimensions based on user anthropometric data

The determination of product dimensions is usually a complicated task developed during the design process. Typically, product dimensions are developed using wrong percentiles and wrong anthropometric data, i.e., designers use data from other populations. This chapter proposes a method for dimensioning products based on user–product interactions and the user’s anthropometric dimensions. The methodology includes 7 steps: (1) determine the objective of the product, (2) identify the interactions user–product, (3) assign a name to the product dimensions, (4) identify the user dimensions to design the product, (5) determine the percentiles and Z-scores for each product dimension, (6) calculate the percentiles, (7) determine the dimensions of the product. In order to exemplify the proposed method, two examples were developed using the methodology. The first was related with the design of a conventional bench, and the second was related with design of an adjustable school desk. After applying the proposed method, both products were successfully dimensioned