Affiliations: University College London Interaction Centre, London,
UK | Coventry University, The Design and Ergonomics Applied
Research Group, Coventry, UK | Flow Interactive, London, UK
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Rachel Benedyk, University College
London Interaction Centre, MPEB 8th Floor, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 7BT, UK.
Tel.: +44 20 7679 0685; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Ergonomics has traditionally considered work done, in a workplace.
More recently, this scope has broadened, and the concept of 'work' may now be
applied to the satisfactory completion of any task. Thus, learning, being the
transformation and extension of the learner's knowledge or skills, can be
viewed as work, with its workplace being the educational environment in which
learning tasks take place. In accomplishing the learning, the learner interacts
with the teachers, other students, equipment, materials, study plans and the
educational organisation; the effectiveness of these learning interactions is
influenced by many factors both inside and external to the organisation. To
optimize such a multi-factorial process requires the application of an
ergonomic approach. This paper proposes an adaptation of the concentric rings model of
ergonomics, informed by Kao's earlier model, to produce a new model for
educational ergonomics, known as the Hexagon-Spindle Model. In comparison to
other published models of educational ergonomics, it is holistic,
multi-dimensional, task-related and transferable across a range of educational
settings. It extends to characterise a time base for serial and simultaneous
tasks, and space shared by multiple learners, and highlights areas where
learner/system conflicts may arise. The paper illustrates analysis tools for
the application of the model in evaluation and design.
