h a l f b a k e r y"Bun is such a sad word, is it not?" -- Watt, "Waiting for Godot"
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[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! |
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[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? |
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Cheaper to make the books, calculators and students
smaller. |
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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. |
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//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). |
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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. |
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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... |
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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 ? |
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The neighbours complained. |
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Still, they're over 18 miles away, so I'm quite proud. And
they brought the dog back. |
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<snob school> 'In our classrooms, each child gets a CEO desk and leather chair, so as to grow accustomed to his eventual surroundings...' |
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Something that'll never be put to the test: |
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I wonder what would happen if I tidied my desk..? |
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[saedi] The Universe would end (c.f. "The Nine Billion Names
of God"). |
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Dimensions of our desks: four by two cubits. They are, however, very cluttered indeed. |
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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. |
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+ yay [beany] an idea I can read and understand!! |
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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. |
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Sitting at this cluttered desk, i can't help thinking
that two things would help with my productivity: |
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i) If it had less clutter. |
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ii) If there was no computer on it. |
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[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. |
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