Ergonomic programs in the school curriculum: Attitudes of teachers’ college students

This research has been motivated by our belief that ergonomic aspects of proper posture and efficient movement patterns should be acquired as an integral part of the Physical Education (PE) curriculum in the school system. We explored the attitudes of teacher’s college students towards the incorporation of ergonomic programs into the school’s PE curriculum. In order to clarify the parameters that affect these attitudes we also studied the relation of these attitudes to the participants’ knowledge-level in ergonomic-related subjects, and whether these attributes can be improved via ergonomic intervention programs. Two different ergonomic intervention programs were constructed and administered to the experimental populations: A major program for PE majors, who are expected to teach the proposed ergonomic curriculum in the school system, and a minor program for students of other disciplines who are expected, as future teachers to support and promote proper ergonomic behavior in the school. The overall research population was 328. The results fully confirmed the main research hypotheses, that the participants’ attitudes toward the incorporation of ergonomic educational programs into the school curriculum are positive and are highly correlated with the participants’ knowledge-level in ergonomic-related subjects, and hence can be improved following intervention programs.