For nearly twenty years I have been teaching courses in sport studies in the typical college or university classroom setting. The classrooms usually consisted of thirty to forty chairs with attached desks organized in neat rows all facing front. There was little opportunity to alter the configuration because of the confined space, time, and the other classes that preceded and followed mine. In the fall of 2008 this all changed when I introduced table top desks and exercise stability balls as options for seats. Researching the effectiveness of the exercise ball on student attention and focus I discovered that 98% of the students surveyed would like this option in every class (Kilbourne, J. 2009).

During the spring of 2010 I expanded my research to include the use of fixed-height, stand-up desks as an additional choice for the students. In my theory courses students had the option of sitting on the exercise balls, standing at a desk, or sitting in a regular chair at a desk.