Getting Active : Barriers and Facilitators to UBC Students Using Active Study Stations
Creators: name: Garnier, Halie
name: Jamieson, Stephanie
name: Labron, Sierra
name: Minhas, Gary
name: Rispin, Katie
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2020

description: The purpose of our study was to explore students' usage of active study stations on UBC's campus with the intent of finding effective ways to promote the use of these active study stations. We wanted to find ways that we could engage with students so that UBC can be better equipped to integrate physical activity into the lives of their busy students. Our study was guided to look at possible supporting factors and barriers that the students face when using active study stations. Through this, we were able to look at the students' use and knowledge of the pre-existing active study stations that are currently installed at Irving K. Barber Library. We obtained data from a variety of students to get a clear idea of what is preventing as well as promoting student use of the active study stations. Data was collected through a qualitative approach where we adopted a range of complementary methods of engagement through an online survey. Through student feedback from the survey, our results yielded that multiple inhibitors decreased student's usage of active study stations. One of the main inhibitors being that over half of the students surveyed were not aware that UBC had active study stations available for use on campus. Moreover, (92%) had never come into contact or used an active study station before. Of this (92%), over half of the respondents (55%) were completely unaware that UBC had active study stations readily available to them. Of the respondents that have previously used an active study station (7.9%) noted that they felt the physical and mental benefits, yet they still choose not to partake. Subsequently, the students repeatedly acknowledged the lack of promotion, time and accessibility associated with these active stations on campus. Students indicated that they felt these reasons to be the main inhibitors of their use with active study stations. Through analysis of the data, we identified that there are various features that we can improve to potentially increase the use of active study stations on campus. Although this study was relatively small-scale, we can be confident with our findings and suggestions due to the high level of consistency, as well as the notable consensus in the findings. Upon completion of the study, we combined and analyzed the data where we obtained our goal of having a clear understanding of the benefits and barriers surrounding active study stations. From this, we provided 3 detailed recommendations to our SEEDS partners. The first recommendation is increased promotion on campus through increased signs and markers. We also suggested an increase in promotion through one of UBC's social media accounts. Secondly, we recommend that the accessibility of these stations is increased to allow students access to the stations facilitating their use. Our last recommendation is that further research needs to be conducted to allow us to provide educated promotion of the stations to the students. With our data, SEEDS will be better equipped to implement these recommendations which will lead to an increase in the production, performance, and health of the students at UBC. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”