Industrial Engineering and Management Systems

Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers (대한산업공학회)
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Effect of a Standing Body Position during College Students' Exam: Implications on Cognitive Test Performance

  • Isip, Marc Immanuel G. (Department of Industrial Engineering, University of the Philippines Los Banos)
  • Received : 2014.01.08
  • Accepted : 2014.03.29
  • Published : 2014.06.30
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Abstract

This study stems from the work of Lehman et al. (Ergonomics, 2001) which concluded that standing yields better work performance, and from the growing health trend of recommending the reduction of the amount of time spent in sitting (Owen et al., Exercise and Sport Science Reviews, 2010). Lajoie et al. (Experimental Brain Research, 1993) provided an initial significant contribution to a theory that standing requires a person to control balance, equating to demand higher productive output from the cognitive system than when a person is sitting. An assumption was formulated that standing position during class is feasible and can be adopted on the belief that it might contribute positive results to students' performance. The purpose of this study is to identify whether a body position during exams tested along with exposure durations has a significant effect on college students' performance. Mathematical analysis and reading comprehension exam was used to measure the cognitive performance of the students. Two factors, position and duration, were tested for significance with two levels each subjected to six replicates. Twenty-four students from the College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology, University of the Philippines Los Ba$\tilde{n}$os were randomly selected. The experiment showed that the body position during exams is a significant factor for the Math exam, but insignificant for the Reading Comprehension exam.

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