Active Study Stations : Assessing Student Awareness and Perceived Effectiveness
Creators: name: Kiing, Alicia
name: Wong, Emi
name: Chong, Emily
name: Yan, Jerry
name: Ng, Lilian
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2020

description: The aim of our research was to explore the awareness of active study stations amongst UBC students. The active study stations are a part of UBC’s SEEDS campaign that looks to provide students with alternative study spaces. Not only does this initiative “provide a direct way to enhance learning for UBC students” (Moorhouse, 2018, para 1), but it also helps to enforce UBC’s priorities that are focused on healthy active living and well-being (Moorhouse, 2018). Though we understand the positive health implications that the active study stations may have on the well-being of UBC students, we wanted to explore first-hand if students were aware of the benefits of this campaign, as well as their opinions on them. To begin, we collected data by asking students to complete a survey assessing various factors associated with the active study stations at UBC. The survey questions included topics such as demographics, current physical activity levels, sedentary behaviour, and awareness/use of active study stations. Surveys were then distributed online via social media as well as in-person on campus. In-person strategies included the distribution of posters and flyers in common areas, like UBC Nest, UBC Life Building, and Irving K. Barber Learning Center. After collecting the data, we gathered the information and assessed using predominantly quantitative measures, however some qualitative measures were included. The data showed that we had 84 respondents overall, with the majority of them being 4th year undergraduate students. The dominant faculties that the respondents were from were Business, Kinesiology, and Science. The data showed that most students were not meeting the required 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. Additionally, most students showed that they were engaging in around 6-7 or more hours of sedentary behaviour per day. In regard to the active study stations, around 50% of respondents reported that they were aware or have seen the active study stations at UBC. However, only 20% of those respondents said that they have used the active study stations before. Data was also collected in order to evaluate why or why not students were encouraged to use the active study stations. We used the Health Belief Model to guide our data analyses. Limitations were identified at the end of the research. This touches on factors such as selection bias, respondent variation, and recruitment difficulties. Lastly, recommendations were made in order to apply our data for further research and policy decisions. These include: initiating a rewards program for students to encourage the use of active study stations, installing more active study stations in popular UBC libraries, physical upgrades of the active study stations, and implementing further educational strategies on active study stations. We hope that with our collected data and recommendations, that we can instill new study norms that involve and encourage physical activity for UBC students. 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.”