scholarly journals Home ergonomics – lessons learned

2021 ◽  
Vol 343 ◽  
pp. 11012
Author(s):  
Maria-Elena Boatca ◽  
Anca Draghici ◽  
Alin Gaureanu
Keyword(s):  
Physical Environment ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
New Ways Of Working ◽  
Working Space ◽  
Lighting Conditions ◽  
Social And Physical Environment

The current pandemic conditions generated new ways of working and learning by shifting from face-to-face to remote and online working environment. From an ergonomics perspective, this change involved a large variety of adaptations to ‘the new normal’, especially inappropriate furniture, and inadequate social and physical environment conditions. Therefore, the paper aims to provide a deeper understanding on the role of education in ergonomics on the basis of a study on students at Politehnica University of Timisoara. There is little to no information available on ergonomic conditions in which students attend online classes and prepare their projects. The study involved several steps: (1) attendance to an educational session where they were informed on how to sit and organise their working space; (2) presentation of their current and wished working space; and (3) response to a detailed checklist targeted at understanding both their perception and effects on their health regarding online schooling. The results were, to an extent, predicted by the authors: students do not have adequate furniture and lighting conditions; furthermore, the effects on their health are already visible, although not severe.

scholarly journals Our Self-Access Experience in Times of COVID

2020 ◽  
pp. 250-262
Author(s):  
Adelina Ruiz-Guerrero
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
Personal Level

The coronavirus pandemic has without a doubt had an enormous impact on every possible way of our lives. We have felt its effects on an individual personal level and as family members, at work, as members of a community, and particularly as students and teachers. Even in institutions and departments such as ours where online education has been at the forefront of our work for years now, the challenge to survive a fully virtual new reality has left us with a lot of lessons learned and has opened doors to more opportunities for growth. For years now, the Language Department at ITESO has had its language courses in LMS platforms and has offered courses in blended and fully virtual options alongside face-to-face classes. In the English Certificate Programme, we have regular teletandem sessions with universities in other countries. The Language Hub, our self-access centre, offers writing support through an emailing writing desk service and we run virtual conversation clubs on Zoom alongside face-to-face sessions. We are certainly no strangers to online work, but up until now, that was just an option both students and teachers could consider. As of March, this year, our whole university had to move to online classes and the services of our self-access centre had to be adapted to virtual options as well. This report presents our answer to the questions posed by SISAL for this open call to the special issue on how we have lived the experience of self-access during the pandemic.

scholarly journals Night-time Lookout Duty: The Role of Ambient Light Levels and Dark Adaptation

2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 589-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Wynn ◽  
Peter A. Howarth ◽  
Bert R. Kunze
Keyword(s):  
Dark Adaptation ◽  
Probability Of Detection ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Ambient Light ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Lighting Conditions ◽  
Light Levels ◽  
Ambient Lighting ◽  
Small Craft

The aim of this research was to clarify and quantify the demands of the working environment and watch-keeping regime for large commercial ships in relation to dark adaptation. The night lookout task requires the identification of the relatively bright navigational lights of other ships against the dark background of the sky and sea. The probability of detection is determined by the ambient lighting conditions on the bridge and the dark adapted state of vision. Light levels were such that threshold sensitivity (after 15 minutes) was reduced by around 2 log units in comparison to complete darkness. This has implications for the effective range of navigational lights at sea as defined in regulations. The intensity and position of navigation lights on larger vessels is such that the sensitivity of the eye under typical bridge conditions is likely to be sufficient for their visibility to be acceptable. This may not be the case for less well lit small craft.

scholarly journals One Head, Multiple Hats – Lessons Learned from Online Teaching

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-170
Author(s):  
Brândușa-Oana Niculescu ◽  
Isabela-Anda Dragomir
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Preparation Time ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
And Training

Abstract The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented crisis in all areas of human activity. In the field of education, this new and unexpected situation has led to an extraordinary shift of paradigm, as a considerable amount of institutions and faculty have been forced to pivot from purely face-to-face lessons to wholly online contexts, despite minimal preparation time and training. This paper aims to analyse the implications of this turn, as well as some of the key lessons that can be garnered from it. The gauge of this article will be on lessons learned, from the perspective of the changes that occurred in role of the teacher in the online context and the ramifications these have on teachers’ role and responsibilities.

Ubiquitous Creativity, Imagination in Dialogue, and Innovative Practice-in-Action

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori A. Custodero
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social And Physical Environment

Background Over the past century, the role of creativity in teaching and learning has been interpreted in many ways, leading to often conflicting discipline-specific definitions, measurements, and pedagogical applications. Purpose/Objective This issue takes on the perspective of creativity as ubiquitous, and follows that line of inquiry in its psycho-social manifestations, its application in innovative educational settings, and the persistence through which ideas and imagery become active forces for transformation and social change. Research Design As an introduction to the issue, this article summarizes and articulates the relatedness between scholars within a variety of educational fields. Conclusions/Recommendations When viewed as ubiquitous, creativity can be a lens through which to interpret learning as a transformational experience, where the learner resources the social and physical environment to move from not knowing to knowing. Motivating such transformation are (a) the ability to identify what is not known, (b) the juxtaposition of difference to reveal alternate ways of knowing, and (c) the openness to possibility and willingness to explore.

scholarly journals Explaining the Role of Personal, Social and Physical Environment Factors on Employed Women's Physical Activity: A Structural Equation Analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Bakhtari Aghdam ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Baghiani Moghaddam ◽  
Mohammad Asghari Jafarabadi ◽  
Hamid Allahverdipour ◽  
Saed Dabagh Nikookheslat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Environment Factors ◽  
Structural Equation Analysis ◽  
Equation Analysis ◽  
Social And Physical Environment

scholarly journals DEMENTIA CARE FOR RESIDENTS IN ASSISTED LIVING: PERSPECTIVES OF STAFF RESPONDING TO BEHAVIORAL EXPRESSIONS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S702-S702
Author(s):  
Debra J Dobbs ◽  
Sheryl Zimmerman ◽  
Anna Beeber ◽  
Paula Carder ◽  
Stephanie Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Living ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Psychiatric Assessment ◽  
Structural Domains ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social And Physical Environment ◽  
Behavioral Expressions

Abstract Background: An estimated 42% of persons who live in assisted living (AL) have dementia. The majority of these individuals express behaviors (such as agitation, aggression, and wandering) that indicate a mismatch between their ability to cope and demands in the social and physical environment. In some cases, AL staff are able to successfully address those behaviors and in other cases they are not. This study explores behavioral expressions of persons with dementia residing in AL, strategies used to address those behaviors, and residents’ behavioral results, as reported by 251 AL healthcare supervisors across seven states. We also examine what differentiates situations deemed successful from situations that were not successful. Methods: Qualitative interviews conducted with healthcare supervisors revealed cases of successful and unsuccessful strategies for addressing severe/disruptive behavioral expressions of persons with dementia residing in AL. During initial analysis, a data-driven conceptual model was developed to identify common structural domains within and across responses, which ranged from recognizing antecedents to final discharge from the AL community. Additionally, content analysis was applied to identify themes. Results: A minority (<5%) of reports indicated that staff recognized antecedents to behaviors, or noted including residents’ families in addressing behaviors. The majority of both successful and unsuccessful cases referenced the use of medications to address behaviors, and a notable proportion (10%) referenced professional psychiatric assessment. Discussion: Findings suggest the benefit of helping staff identify antecedents of behavioral expressions, and the important role of psychiatric assessment for AL residents who experience agitation, aggression, and similar behaviors.

scholarly journals Can the Office Environment Be a Motivator? What Makes a Good Enough Working Environment on the Eve of 2020?

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-139
Author(s):  
Luca Frankó ◽  
Andrea Dúll
Keyword(s):  
Physical Environment ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Office Environment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Excellent Work ◽  
Perspective Planning ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Office Employees

A well-designed office environment is often touted as a key motivator nowdays, although it is not entirely clear how to use it consciously. Our goal was to understand the role of the physical environment in new generation offices and whether it can be a motivator at all. We asked open-office employees to describe the three main criteria of an excellent work environment. We analyzed 509 participants' 1456 answers and classified them into 146 content codes. These content codes were further categorized based on whether they refer to the physical or/and the social environment, as well as along the eight needs Maslow described. 82.07 % of the answers referred to the physical environment, ambient stimuli dominated the sample with 324 mentions under 6 content codes (eg.: bright (128), quiet (69)). The majority (55.59 %) of the responses could be categorized under Maslow’s safety needs, but 14.15 % of them referred to one of Maslow’s growth needs (eg.: plants (26), decoration (21)). Using the intersection of Maslow's and Herzberg's theory, we argue that certain physical environmental aspects can be considered as a hygiene factor, some of them as a motivator. And some of them as both meaning some aspects can be considered on more level from an emotional-motivational perspective. Planning an office is not just an architectural question, but a psychological one as well. In order to design human-focused work places we need to understand the exact role and the layering of the physical environmental aspects.

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