Classroom Seating Location, Student Grades, and Attitudes

Abstract

A previous study by Becker et al. demonstrated that students who sit near the front and center of a classroom get better grades and like the instructor better than students who sit in the back or at the sides. To determine whether this was a true environmental effect or an artifact of self-selection, students in one class were permitted to choose their seats (choice condition), while students in another section of the same class were assigned seats alphabetically (no choice). Regardless of choice condition, students seated in the middle of the room got higher grades, liked the course better, and liked the instructors better than students seated at the sides. Location effects were obtained on several other dependent variables. In only one instance did location interact with choice. The results are interpreted as supporting the environmental hypothesis rather than the self-selection hypothesis.