Abstract:

The Faculty of Architecture of the Silesian University of Technology, for over twenty years has been involved in developing scientific research with a proactive help from the students, thus creating the Silesian School of Qualitative Research in Architecture. Students take part in research in the scope of subjects that constitute the program of studies. This article summarizes one such research experience, realized as part of the Ergonomics course in the first year of the first cycle studies. For students, this is the first contact with scientific research, later developed in subsequent years of the studies' program. Main purpose is to get to know the methodology necessary to perform research together with users. The indirect purpose, however, is to recognize the needs of these users by means of assessing the solutions already in existence.

Research problems which freshmen students are expected to face must be simple, easy to understand and feature a low scope. A notable example of such a problem could be illustrated by a subject that was supposed to evaluate the educational effects of the Ergonomics course, realized in the academic year 2017/2018, entitled: "Senior citizens' rest. Evaluation of the most frequently used armchair (or any other seat)". Students' task was to carry out pilot research in the scope of ergonomics of seats intended for older people. To take part in the research, each student-researcher was required to invite an acquainted senior (a neighbor, grandmother or grandfather). That research was then completed by adding measurements of the assessed arm-chair. Students were obliged to summarize the research they performed and to present it in front of other groups of students. There were about a hundred students involved in the research, divided into 3 groups. The author, as the Leader, proposed and recommended a work system, worked out over the years. The research tool which the students used was designed by the author in such a way that it contained samples from various types of research techniques with which students were to familiarize themselves.

Apart from substantive results, which are merely approximations (presented without detailed information in this article) it was very important for the author to fulfill didactic purposes. So, the last point of the survey was very important for the author - these were the “any other business” formulated by the students-interviewers. Collected comments will constitute a very important element in the process of perfecting the didactics in the scope of the Ergonomics course and research organized as part of the course.

A legal context which specifies the requirements of conducting research accompanied by students, in the scope of a teaching program at Polish higher education institutions, was highlighted while the method of organizing research, research tools, including the structure of surveys were described together with didactic targets. Towards the end, the results of the research were commented on with reference to the content-related issues, and above all from the perspective of the didactic process.

Keywords:

Scientific research, education, ergonomics, architecture, senior, students.