Application of participatory ergonomics principles into an educational environment: Improving a high school information technology program via interventions

The promise and potential of information and communication technologies to improve education in educational environments is offset by potential for problems that can stem from an unhealthy information ecology and/or lack of knowledge about healthy computing. Educational ergonomics is defined as that field of human factors and ergonomics science concerned with the interaction of educational performance and educational design. Opportunities abound for ergonomics expertise to be applied in these educational settings to improve the technology programs for all stakeholders, but especially for primary stakeholders: students and teachers.; The long-term goals of this line of research were to improve teachers' effectiveness with technology and incorporating it into their curriculum and to improve the health of students by introducing concepts of healthy computing (computer ergonomics) to them. These goals were addressed in this research through a participatory approach that employed an action research model. Specific aims included (1) establishing small groups of teachers to meet weekly to engage in collaborative exploration of the use of technology in their classrooms and assessing progress of their learning; and (2) establishing a small group of students to learn, in a participatory fashion, about healthy computing and develop instructional and informational materials for other students.; Teachers' team and self-evaluation surveys and interviews indicated that a majority of Participatory Ergonomics and Technology (PET) team members were satisfied with their participation and the quality of the teams and the study. PET team members indicated this study either met or exceeded their expectations that they had before participating to this study. Almost all teachers indicated that they would participate in the following years and encouraged other teachers to participate. PET team member teachers' perception about their own computer proficiency and their belief about the usefulness of IT statistically increased from pre- to post-intervention based on scales developed for this research and scales developed by other researchers. Follow up with participants the year following the study showed some were disseminating knowledge gained as a participant to other teachers. Based on qualitative and quantitative evaluations, it is possible to conclude that this approach is a viable method that may have short and long term positive effects on supporting teacher collegiality and improving teachers' use of IT.; Further, results of the comparison of scores for pre- and post-intervention surveys that tested students' ability to recognize problematic computer use conditions and make appropriate recommendations for change showed an increase, for the student PET team and the group of students they trained. The control group whose students were only exposed to the information provided by a brochure showed no such increase in knowledge. Student PET team members were satisfied with the quality of this study, quality of the training materials they created, and they felt it was worth the time and effort they invested in this study.; Limitations of this research and future directions, which may be based on this research, are also discussed. One major general limitation about the methodologies used in the study, participatory ergonomics process and action research, should be acknowledged here. Participatory Ergonomics, along with Action Research, is limited in the ability of having an impact on the bigger picture unless the participants are truly empowered. Unless the participants are empowered, they may not be able to make any changes or evaluate the changes that are being made by other parties. If the participants do not have the ability to be part of the change, then the whole idea behind action research falls apart. In this sense, in order to be able to apply participatory ergonomics to an environment along with action research methodologies, the organization...