David Wachob, associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Health, and Sport Science, recently published his study, titled "The Use of Standing Desks to Address On-Task Behavior in Elementary Students," in the International Journal of Pedagogy and Curriculum.
This study examined the impact that standing desks had on student behavior in a group elementary school students. Using the Behavioral Observations of Students in Schools (BOSS) instrument, on-task behavior was observed for a total of six weeks. The study found that students who used standing desks showed statistically significant increases in on-task behavior when compared to when they used traditional desks. Furthermore, students who used standing desks also had significantly higher on-task behavior when compared to the control group of students who used traditional desks throughout the study. These results demonstrate that replacing traditional desks with standing desks can have a positive impact on self-regulating student behavior during class instruction.
This project was supported by the College of Health and Human Services Research Incentive Grant.