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Desks of heightened comprehension

 Numerous references show that two larger computer monitors gives 44 to more than 60 pt higher efficiency This is a school desk that has efficiency gains
  (+12)(+12)
(+12) 		  [vote for,
against]

There are a number of references like the Wall Street Journal Blog that say going from a 18" to two 20" monitors gives 44 pt higher task efficiency

Apple did a similar study with a 30" monitor then said it gave 50 pt or higher efficiency gains; actually reading the University of Utah NEC paper word processing gained around 15% more efficiency

What if, just what if, an ordinary wooden schooldesk of a slightly larger size gave an efficiency gain of 7 to 10 pt as a result of better between object relations

I know that juggling calculator plus text plus paper is a little more than some lecture hall desks will do without attention shifts

I suggest that a desk size that supports a book, a calculator, a test form plus a 2" margin should be tested with research to see if the monitor gains apply to desks as well

School districts are appreciative of things that raise test scores 7 to 10 pt

—beanangel, Jun 07 2010

Here is a video about using larger multiple monitors to gain productivity compared with one 18" monitor two 20" monitors cause 44pt higher productivity Thats like 2.5 hours of productivity http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MltVicBFk0Q http://blog.aperio....igger-monitors.html
[beanangel, Jun 07 2010]

Apple version of this research http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2006/10/do_bigger_monitors_significant.php http://scienceblogs...ors_significant.php
[beanangel, Jun 07 2010]

[link]






       [21Q] Ahh, but show me the evidence that the width of the _aisles between the desks_ correlates with efficiency, eh? Just do away with the aisles, and even the most overcrowded schools will be able to afford this!   

       [beanangel] As humor, I quite like this [+] -- but I don't think you meant it that way. As a serious proposal, well ... I took a look at one of your links and found the following "a new study sponsored by Apple." Ahem. Apple sells computer monitors. 'Nuf said?
—mouseposture, Jun 07 2010
   

       Cheaper to make the books, calculators and students smaller.
—MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 07 2010
   

       The evidence is obvious:   

       Primary schools have little desks, high schools have bigger desks. Ask some 8 year olds and some 16 year olds to sit the same GCSE exam and I can guarantee the 16 year olds with the bigger desks will do better.   

       QED.
—Twizz, Jun 07 2010
   

       //Primary schools have little desks, high schools have bigger desks//
umm... in primary school we had huge cast iron-legged solid-plank desks (complete with inkwell holder... *not* inkwell I might stress, but they had the holder)... later on in high school there was what I'll charitably call mass-produced garbage: a steel pipe allowed entrance from one side only, the top was a half-desk suitable for righties to either take notes or prop a book on but not both and lefties were pretty well screwed, with a cage underneath to expose the rest of your junk to the predations of the person seated behind you. Oh yes, the top was veneer over cheap fibreboard with that plastic trim piece that usually lasted about a week. (at which point anybody should be able to guess my age).		   

       I'm sure there's an optimum desk size vs class size and despite the tongue-in-cheekiness this idea earns a pastry to go with the second helping of porridge.
—FlyingToaster, Jun 07 2010
   

       My tutors and I used to use the library table in the west wing. If achievement were proportional to the available writing area, I would currently be a millionaire genius. Oh, wait...
—MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 07 2010
   

       What counts ain't the size of the rich man with the gold watch, but the number of carrots he's eaten. And how's the trebuchet range coming along ?
—FlyingToaster, Jun 07 2010
   

       The neighbours complained.   

       Still, they're over 18 miles away, so I'm quite proud. And they brought the dog back.
—MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 07 2010
   

       <snob school> 'In our classrooms, each child gets a CEO desk and leather chair, so as to grow accustomed to his eventual surroundings...'
—RayfordSteele, Jun 07 2010
   

       Something that'll never be put to the test:   

       I wonder what would happen if I tidied my desk..?
—saedi, Jun 07 2010
   

       [saedi] The Universe would end (c.f. "The Nine Billion Names of God").
—mouseposture, Jun 08 2010
   

       Dimensions of our desks: four by two cubits. They are, however, very cluttered indeed.   

       I definitely agree that bigger desks help, but i wonder about working in a large open floorspace or area of ground too. Posture would be a problem but if the children could lie down, that might help. I'll have to try it. Perhaps when it stops raining and we have fewer broken legs though.   

       [+].
—nineteenthly, Jun 09 2010
   

       + yay [beany] an idea I can read and understand!!
—xandram, Jun 09 2010
   

       In addition to my cynicism about funding sources, I have another notion why this "bigger desktop = higher productivity" thing doesn't work. I suspect the increase in productivity is maximal shortly after monitor area increases, and decays thereafter. In my study population (N=1) the usable desk area tends toward a small, constant value, as clutter fills all the other space, however much of it there may be.
—mouseposture, Jun 09 2010
   

       Sitting at this cluttered desk, i can't help thinking that two things would help with my productivity:   

       i) If it had less clutter.   

       and:   

       ii) If there was no computer on it.
—nineteenthly, Jun 10 2010
   

       [19thly]:
i ) Remove computer, thereby exposing
ii) Small clutter-free patch of desk space.
Unfortunately, this works like photobleaching: the clutter- free patch doesn't stay that way for long.
—mouseposture, Jun 10 2010
   
      
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