Anthropometric Evaluation of the Design of the Classroom Desk for the Fourth and Fifth Grades of Benghazi Primary Schools

摘要

The objective of this study is to evaluate the existing design of the classroom desk used in the basic education stage in public schools in the city of Benghazi. This article reports results of the second phase of the study which covers the fourth and the fifth grades. Anthropometric data were gathered for a total of 120 students (children of age 9 to 11 years old, half males) from four schools. Several body dimensions were measured for each student (popliteal height, popliteal-buttock length, shoulder height sitting, knee height, elbow height sitting, shoulder to elbow length, and hip breadth sitting). The evaluation procedure involves the utilization of several equations relating body dimensions to desk dimensions. Each equation computes an acceptable range for each desk dimension based on the associated body dimension. Each desk dimension is compared to the range computed for the related body dimension for each student and percentages of matches/mismatches are determined accordingly. Results of the evaluation revealed considerable percentages of mismatches between the desk dimensions and students anthropometry.