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James Telman
Action Research
Cummings Elementary 4th graders

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Before this assignment, I began to think about how much I have heard about how
seating arrangements affect students behavior. Growing up my father always taught me to sit in
the front row, even if I don't like the idea of sitting in the front row. I began to research this idea
and found many interesting things. A research was done that seemed to prove that front and
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center seats of the room were where students performed the best and participated the most
(Montello). Then I read that another study done in Stanford, where most students, when
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asking 510 students, preferred to sit in the middle/front of the room (Fransworth) It seems that
those who preferred to sit in the middle/front were those who had more of a positive ideal
learning atmosphere. I guess my father was right, based off of the ndings of these researches.
There was another study done by Delefes in 1972. Delefes wanted to see if teacher-student
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interaction was different around the room based off an area of primary interaction (Delefes).
Looking at this study it seems as though the rst few rows in the center of the classroom is
where students learn the best, work the best and receive the most attention from the teacher.
To be honest, I feel as though this is a little off based, based off my own observation because I
move all around the room. Seeing these studies, I want to use a study on seating
arrangements; but I want to do a study that does not deal with hot zones and so forth. I decided
to use seating arrangements based off of rows and groups/pods
The questions I asked are as follows: Do students learn better when sitting in rows or
pods? Does my classroom management style work as well when students are sitting in pods,
Montello, D. R. (1988). CLASSROOM SEATING LOCATION AND ITS EFFECT ON COURSE
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ACHIEVEMENT, PARTICIPATION, AND ATTITUDES. Journal of Environmental Psychology,
8(1988), 149-157. Retrieved March 17, 2014
Farnsworth, P. (1933). Seat Preference in the Classroom. The Journal of Social
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Psychology, 4(3), 373-376.
Delefes, P. & Jackson, B. (1972). Teacher-pupil interaction as a function of location in
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the classroom. Psychology in the Schools, (9), 119-123.
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as compared to rows? Do students work better on group assignments when they are in rows or
when they are set in pods? Do students pay more attention to what is being taught while sitting
in rows or pods? How do students prefer to learn and listen to teacher led lectures and
discussions? I ask all these questions because I honestly feel as though this area of exploration
requires me to ask all of these questions. I feel this way because each of these questions
compliment each other to better understand the area I wish to study. Pods vs. Rows.
Now that I had selected the area of study, I now needed to decide how I was going to
collect the necessary data to answer my questions. I also needed a way to collect the data, and
gure out what kind of observations would allow me to see the differences and what would be
even be considered as proof or data in this study. I began by rst setting new classroom rules
and guidelines.
I began my study by rst keeping my students in the rows that they were use to and only
rearranging them around the room so that they were sitting by different classmates. I then
began to observe my students by rst seeing how they would react to a slightly new form of
classroom management. Blurting within the classroom had become a little bit of a problem, and
I xed this problem by bringing the class together for a class meeting. Together we discussed
the problems we were having, while deciding possible solutions to combat the troubles we were
having within the classroom. Together as a class we came up with a talking ball. This ball
would be passed to only those who had quiet hands, and students who blurted out would then
be given a warning with their name written on the board, followed by 5 minutes of missed recess
time. We had all agreed that if you waste learning time within the classroom, you must make up
for that time lost in another way. The reason for me changing up some of the original classroom
management was because I was looking for a way that it would t my teaching style, and what I
expected during my led lectures and classroom discussions. This change was also a way for
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me to measure and gauge how students act differently when I changed the seating
arrangements from rows to pods.
Right from the start students adjusted themselves accordingly. They minded the new
management requirements and it didn't really change much of their learning habits. After a few
days of allowing my students to adjust to their new seats and classroom rules, I decided to mix it
up a little. I had created a lesson that would require my students to work in small groups. In
these groups the students would have to work together to accomplish the lessons objectives.
Students had become very accustomed to working individually, and with partners that were
sitting next to them or partners of their choosing. The only difference this time was that the
students now needed to create a nal project together, while agreeing with one another in
nishing a nal product. Right from the start I noticed chaos. I saw students arguing and
disagreeing with one another. I had to visit several small groups to re-emphasize the
importance of working together, and that it is important to work past our differences to create a
nal product. Many students wanted to create their own thing, rather than working with others.
Though my students had worked together in the past on in class assignments, they had never
been asked to create something together as a small group. After much student frustration and
hard work, I had to extend the assignments deadline; due to lack of cooperation and diligence.
Many students turned this assignment in late, due to never really working together like this
before. Much of this group work I have contributed to the fact that they sit in rows, rather than in
pods. Getting students to work together while sitting in rows seemed to be a bit of a struggle at
times. It seemed un-natural, especially for students who like working individually. After a few
more weeks of sitting in rows I then changed the students sitting arrangements once again, only
this time I put them in pods and not rows.
When I placed the students in pods, I assigned each pod with a specic countries ag. I
selected countries that would win several medals in the Winter Olympics. I did this so that each
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pod had a name, an identity, and also in hopes that it would gain students interest in the Winter
Olympics. Giving each pod an identity also allowed me to use it as a form of classroom
management where I could call on separate pods to go get paper, return or get their chrome
books or line up for lunch and specials. When I placed the students in pods I noticed an
extreme change in behavior. Students right from the start resented their new seating
arrangements; even though they seemed intrigued about their new pods identities. Before
putting the students in pods I had already known they did not like the idea of sitting in pods, so
rather than placing them in pods for no reason, I used the Olympics as a way to bring unity as
well as hoping that it would make it better for them while sitting in pods. With students sitting in
pods I began to notice that classroom blurting began to rise and students attention spans during
lectures and in class discussions started to wither. The pods created more of a social
atmosphere. A social atmosphere is one that you want when having students in work groups,
but not when a teacher is teaching through lectures and discussions. The ball was not working
as well as it had when students were sitting in rows, and students names were being written up
on the board more than they had been as well. Another side effect that I did not anticipate is
that we started to get many students not turning in work. I don't know if that is just because the
students motivation changed during that time, or if switching from rows to pods caused that
sudden change. The students that were missing assignments were students who were
generally not turning in work at the beginning of the year, but we then started to get students
who were usually very good about turing in work. Though there were many frustrations that
went with my students sitting in pods, there were also many successes. While students were
sitting in pods I assigned a few group projects that required each group to create a nished
product. All groups had to participate with one another and were expected to nish their work
on time. With every group assignment I assigned, the students showed great ability to work
together and accomplish their objectives in a timely manner. Because a social setting had
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already been created, students were naturally able to deliberate with one another, nd solutions,
assign each other jobs and work more productively as a unit. Before sitting in pods, I feel as
though this would have been harder to accomplish. Though there was the occasional student
who was hard headed and wanted everyone to do things their way, still in the end the groups
pulled together to nish their work.
Rows and pods both prove to be important in their own nature. Rows, from my
observation, provided better attention spans from the students, less of a social atmosphere and
more ideal for classroom management style that I am use to and familiar with. Having my
students in pods was a little frustrating at times. Though the idea of having students in groups
is to create a social atmosphere for group projects, it created to much of one that conicted with
my classroom management style. The next time I set up my classroom in pods, I will have to
think up of better ways to direct my students attention and nd a way to diminish the social
atmosphere it created during classroom lectures and discussions.
~ Should I try creating a system where students are sitting in rows and when we need to do
group work students then push their desks together to form pods?
~ Maybe I could chart how students do when they choose their pods rather than me choosing
the groups?

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Work Cited

- Delefes, P. & Jackson, B. (1972). Teacher-pupil interaction as a function of location in

the classroom. Psychology in the Schools, (9), 119-123.

- Farnsworth, P. (1933). Seat Preference in the Classroom. The Journal of Social

Psychology, 4(3), 373-376.

- Montello, D. R. (1988). CLASSROOM SEATING LOCATION AND ITS EFFECT ON

COURSE ACHIEVEMENT, PARTICIPATION, AND ATTITUDES. Journal of Environmental
Psychology, 8(1988), 149-157. Retrieved March 17, 2014