The Psychological Effects of Furniture on Your Classroom

The Psychology of Furniture
photo by: edutopia.org
The Psychological Effects of Furniture on Your Classroom
photo by: edutopia.org

In a recent study, students were asked to design and build a workspace (desk) using the scientific method in all aspects of engineering, production and design. Students were asked to create models and then translate them into full-size replicas of their work.

Throughout the process, psychology students were examining content in order to study the connection between space and work.  They wanted to find out what psychological reports have been done on education and what their outcomes were. Architecture students scrutinized the sensory features of physical space: light, sound, and touch. They contemplated the scale and available resources available.

Have you ever considered how important furniture is to form and function as it relates to students?

During this course of action, design flaws were discovered.  As students went from tiny models to full-scale furniture, they realized that there was some problem with their computations. They found that things were not the correct height, table legs wobbled, and they were in need of a better foundation.  Therefore pieces of their designs had to be revised.

This was a great collaboration between psychology students and engineering students using their respective areas of mastery in order to design the most efficient workspace. While psychology students concentrated on the relationship between space and learning, the engineering students were concerned with ergonomics and design.

Collaboration among students can trigger some new and wonderful designs as well as offering each other support as they attempt something that is somewhat intimidating and new.

For a more in-depth understanding of the psychological effects of furniture, read the original article here:
Architecture, Psychology… and Furniture?

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Articles written by SensoryEdge are a combined effort of the SensoryEdge publishing staff. At SensoryEdge our focus is to educate, inform, and inspire each person caring for children to be and do their very best. It is not always easy and sometimes we don't take action (or we take the wrong action) because of a lack of understanding the real issues. We hope that the conversations that occur here will help in some small way better the lives of children, their families, and the professionals who work with them.