Design Compatibility of Classroom Furniture in Urban and ... - IOSR

Design Compatibility Of Classroom Furniture In Urban And Rural Preschools
Seat breadth mismatch- should be at least 10% to accommodate hip breadth and at most 30% larger than
hip breadth [6]
Desk height mismatch- when the desk height was at 95% of sitting elbow height (Evans et al. 1988).
Marmora‟s calculated that the desk should be 3-5cm height than the elbow [6].
III. Research Findings And Discussion
3.1 Anthropometric Dimensions-
Anthropometric dimensions are the measurements of human body dimensions which present the
physical characteristics of an individual. In the present study, to identify the mismatch between individual body
dimensions and existing furniture in preschools, anthropometric measurements were taken from rural and urban
preschool children. Data of each anthropometric parameter is presented by calculating Arithmetic mean,
Standard Deviation (SD) in Table-1 and the significance of the differences across gender (boys and girls) and
area (rural and urban) was determined by using t-test.
Table -1 Anthropometric dimensions of preschool children (in inches)
Dimensions
Urban/
Boys t value Girls t
In sitting posture Rural
value
preschool
Mean ± SD
Mean ± SD
Sitting elbow height U 5.64 ± 0.90 4.14** 5.64 ± 0.81 3.31**
R 6.64 ± 0.63
6.32 ± 0.62
Popliteal height
U 5.04 ± 0.61 2.14* 5.48 ± 0.71 0.20
R 5.56 ± 0.91
5.44 ± 0.65
Buttock popliteal
U 17.84 ± 1.28 1.04 17.56 ± 0.86 0.95
length
R 18.28 ± 1.69
17.8 ± 0.91
Hip breadth
U
R
22.56 ± 1.73
23.28 ± 2.22
1.25 21.88 ± 1.92
22.24 ± 2.36
1.05
The measurements of boys and girls were found to be almost same with significant differences in rural
and urban preschools. The data (table 1) presented, compared the anthropometric dimensions of rural and urban
preschool boys and girls. The dimensions of rural preschoolers were more when compared to the urban
preschoolers among both boys and girls. Highly significant differences were found with regard to the
dimensions of sitting elbow height when urban preschool boys (µ=5.64) were compared with rural preschool
boys (µ= 6.64) and urban preschool girls (µ= 5.64) with rural preschool girls (6.32). Significant differences
were found in popliteal height of urban preschool boys (µ= 5.04) and rural preschool boys (µ=5.48) which is
considered non significant between rural preschool boys (µ=5.56) and rural preschool girls (µ= 5.44). Non
significant differences were found in both buttock popliteal length and hip breadth of preschoolers in urban and
rural preschool boys and girls.
3.2 Furniture Profile-
The dimensions of furniture in urban and rural preschools were measured to find out the mismatch of
the classroom furniture with children‟s body dimensions. The mean, standard deviation and t value of the same
are presented in the Table 2. The proposed dimensions of the classroom furniture were calculated and presented
in Table 3 to evaluate the mismatch between children‟s body dimensions and furniture design.
Table -2 Mean and SD values of Existing furniture in urban and rural preschools.
Furniture
Urban preschool Rural preschool t value
measurement Mean SD Mean SD
Table depth 11.8 0.44 11.2 0.83 0.5
Table breadth 15.4 1.34 14.6 2.60 2*
Table height 20.8 3.27 19 2.82 3*
Chair depth 10.6 0.89 9.4 1.34 5.28**
Chair breadth 14 2.54 13.8 2.48 0.39
Chair height 14.4 6.06 12 1.73 2.64*
Significant differences were observed in the dimensions of student‟s furniture in pre- schools. The
students seating furniture inclusive of table and chair were studied in case of chair and table the height, the
depth and the breadth were studied which are the key factors in providing comfort for the child, avoiding
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