LITERATURE REVIEW 1
The Effects Classroom Arrangement has on Social Interaction
Breunnica T. Kegler
School of Education, Liberty University
Author Note
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to .
Email:
LITERATURE REVIEW 2
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to recognize the impact of classroom arrangements on social
behaviors. The organization of the learning environment can either enhance or inhibit student
growth. Teachers are responsible for creating learning environments in their classrooms. When
creating an instructional environment, teachers must be innovative, flexible, and original. The
learning environment promotes growth in children by playing an important part in their
development. When children are having difficulty progressing, the classroom arrangement might
be a source of anxiety. A teacher must create a welcoming environment that meets the needs of
all of their pupils in order to increase learning. Intentional learning environment designs are a
key requirement for current educational settings, and interactions in inclusive classrooms can
benefit all students.
By investigating this issue, I will be able to comprehend the developmental enhancement
of children in a setting created to match their needs. This knowledge will enable me to
implement specific approaches in my classroom to boost my students growth. These designs are
purposefully created to facilitate effective teaching and learning experiences for students. By
understanding and implementing intentional learning environment designs, educators can create
inclusive classrooms that benefit all students. Inclusive classrooms are educational settings
where students with diverse abilities, backgrounds, and learning styles are welcomed and
supported. These classrooms promote collaboration, respect, and equal opportunities for all
students. Interactions in inclusive classrooms can have numerous benefits for students.
Keywords: Classroom Arrangements, Social Interaction, Learning Environment
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The Effects Classroom Arrangement has on Social Interaction
Classroom arrangement has become an important topic in educational settings. Most
teachers arrange classrooms based solely on their expectations of students in a classroom setting.
The theory is that when students are placed strategically around the room, this will help children
remain on task and prevent behaviors in the classroom that could affect the academic
achievement of other students. This is one of the reasons that teachers may be experiencing
issues in their classrooms that are affecting the completion of their lessons.
In educational settings, students are placed based on behaviors, social groups, and
conduct during lessons. Because of the emotions that may be felt in the room when incidents first
arise, children are being moved in the spur of the moment which could have a greater effect on
their classroom conduct and participation. As more students are moved within the classroom
setting behaviors are increasing and the students are becoming more disruptive because they are
feeling as though they are being singled out, educators need to understand the effects rearranging
seating has on each student. Another area that needs understanding is the effect classroom
arrangement has on social interaction.
To help educators understand how classroom arrangement has on students and teachers,
research must be performed to see if classroom arrangements increase or decrease student
achievement based on teaching strategies. While classroom arrangements may have a variety of
benefits, how does it influence social behavior among students? Does the lack of social
interaction in the classroom impact how a teacher strategizes? This paper will review research on
all topics listed above.
Discussion of Key Terms
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I conducted my research using Liberty University's library's internet database. I looked
for scientific, peer-reviewed publications on my topic that had been authored and published in
the previous five years. Because education is continuously changing and evolving, this timeline
is meant to gather the most recent information accessible. I also prioritized publications produced
within the previous year so that I could have the most up-to-date knowledge on how classroom
layout affects students today. While performing my research, I would need to use specific phases
instead of only keywords. Instead of searching for "classroom arrangement", I had to search for
"the lack of social interaction due to classroom arrangement," “classroom arrangement and social
interaction,” or "the effects of classroom arrangement on student interaction and teacher goals."
By doing so, I was able to find more specific articles for my research.
Even though I did locate some articles using only keywords, employing phrases allowed
me to find far more targeted information. The research findings were further expanded by me to
include distinct educational years, including "elementary" and "higher education." This allowed
me to check whether I was obtaining the same outcomes for various stages of a student's
academic career. My topic was so specific that I had to utilize the same words and sentences
again but in a new arrangement. This allowed me to compile as many materials as I could on
classroom setup, my subject, and how it affects teacher effectiveness and student progress. By
employing these terms and phrases, I was able to locate some excellent research on my subject.
Review of the Literature
The conducted and evaluated study revealed a variety of answers to the question of how
classroom layout affects teachers' objectives and tactics as well as students' social interactions.
While a great deal of study has been done on the effects of classroom layout on students' social
interactions, more work has to be done to determine how instructors' performance and
LITERATURE REVIEW 5
satisfaction are impacted by certain classroom layout behaviors. Two major themes emerged as I
conducted my investigation. The first topic was the researchers' comprehension of the connection
between student engagement and classroom layout.
The majority of the studies on this topic focused on how students' actions are impacted
by the layout of the classroom. One study, however, looked at the objectives and methods used
by instructors when assigning seats in the classroom. The comprehension of "Designing
Classrooms for Diversity: Fostering Social Inclusion" emerged as the second study subject. One
study examined the effects of student positions and classroom layout on peer social networks.
The effects of a seating chart intervention on target and nontarget students were the subject of
another investigation. Every study that was examined concentrated on social interaction,
proxemics, and classroom setup.
Classroom Arrangement and Teacher Goals and Strategies
Most study has been done to find the optimal seating arrangement for classroom learning,
considering the impact of classroom layouts on social interaction. Researchers examined
teachers' objectives and methods for assigning seats in the classroom in one of the experiments.
Thirteen upper elementary school instructors and twelve pupils in the Netherlands provided the
data for this paper. Eleven themes in all, three pertaining to aims and eight to techniques, were
identified. When making seating arrangements, teachers reported keeping one or more of these
three objectives in mind and use one or more of these eight tactics to help them achieve their
objectives. They were made up of ten women and three males, with an average age of 38. They
had on average 15.25 years of teaching and 3.67 years of experience teaching the current grade.
This study uses a phenomenological research design to analyze the data presented (Hoekstra et
al., 2023).
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After controlling for instructor experience, the results concluded that Teachers assigned
students to seats based on both their academic and social development and through their seating
arrangements, teachers indicated expectations not only about students' learning processes but
also about students' social-emotional progress (Hoekstra et al., 2023). Another study into the
effect of classroom arrangement and social interaction was done with grade 5 students in the
Netherlands. In the article “Classroom Seat Proximity Predicts Friendship Formation”, Faur &
Laursen (2022) looked at how friendships form based on classroom seating proximity. A dataset
of composed 235 students (129 boys, 106 girls) in grades 3–5 (ages 8–11) who nominated
friends at two time points (13–14 weeks apart) was addressed. Teachers described seating
arrangements.
According to this study, there aren't many other consistent chances for kids this age to
make (and interact with) friends. Since friendship is mostly defined by companionship,
classroom proximity becomes more crucial throughout the primary school years. Educators have
realized the importance of social inclusion as a goal that supports every student's academic and
social-emotional development, according to Hymel & Katz (2019). Through a comparison of
these findings with research on seating arrangements as a way to distribute learning opportunities
through student involvement, classroom zones can be identified that may be advantageous to the
children occupying those seats in their capacities as classmates and students.. Research suggests
seating arrangement has been recognized as a significant attribute of classroom space (Lintner &
Šalamounová, 2021).
The layout of the classroom can affect how well students interact with one another when
subject-specific outcomes are considered. According to the authors, "rearranged classroom
seating charts pose a threat to academic learning which could result in negative student
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relationships," but "efforts to manage classroom social dynamics can have positive effects on
students’ social relationships" (Braun, Van den Berg, & Cillessen, 2020). Researchers also
looked at how digital analytics were designed to service a senior teacher's practice-based inquiry
into classroom proxemics.
"Where is the teacher?," their research asked. Martinez-Maldonado et al. (2020) provide
"Digital analytics for classroom proxemics," which illustrates how educators may utilize these
visualizations to their advantage and obtain understanding of their teaching methods.
Comprehending the impact of classroom layout on learners of all ages and academic levels is
crucial. The distinction between the large body of work on proxemics based on classroom
observations and the more recent efforts to provide automated feedback that aids instructors in
seeing noteworthy patterns in their usage of the classroom environment is made clear by this
study. Documenting teachers' reflections on visualizations of positioning data, both their own and
those of peers, and identifying the types of indicators (operationalized as analytical metrics) that
highlight the most useful information for teachers to gain insight into their practice, according to
Martinez-Maldonado et al (2020). It is critical to understand how classroom organization
influences elementary school, as well as how classroom arrangement affects cognitive
development.
A convenience sample of twenty-four children enrolled in a big metropolitan school was
chosen for the study by Wilburn et al. (2019). The goal was to identify and recognize the dearth
of recent studies on how classroom design affects social interaction for all children. The Social
Skills Rating System (SSRS) and the Evaluation of Social Interaction (ESI), two popular
assessments, served as the basis for the researchers' initial survey that was created for teachers
and students. However, as was previously said, these assessments were not utilized directly,
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either in whole or in part. The purpose of the student survey questions was to investigate any
potential relationship between desk layout and social interaction (Wilburn et al, 2019). The study
found that desk arrangement does affect social interaction in the elementary school setting.
Classroom Arrangements and Social Interaction
We need to know how it affects social interaction as well as how it affects classroom
arrangements in order to make this determination. The Flanders Interactive Analysis System
(FIAS) and the idea of teachers' sustainable growth are often seen in an educational context. 10
lessons from 10 instructors—five of them were experienced teachers and the other five were
beginner teachers—in Gansu Province, China were included in the study described in the paper
"Classroom Quantitative Evaluation: A Method of Both Formative and Summative Evaluation,"
Zhang et al., (2023). Ten teachers were divided into five groups to avoid subject matter intrusion.
Every group's expert teacher is matched with a novice teacher and enrolled in the same course.
Longyuan Famous Teachers of Gansu Province in China were chosen as scholar and
expert teachers from Gansu's primary and secondary schools for their noble ethical principles,
high-quality instruction, outstanding teaching ability, and education research. The novice
teachers (NTs) were recruited from a pool of postgraduate students who had previously served as
prospective residents for three years (Zhang et al, 2023). The findings present a systematic and
comprehensive analysis scheme for the comprehensive evaluation of classroom teaching, which
not only provides comprehensive and operational information for teachers to improve their
classroom teaching but also ensures the long-term development of teachers' specialization and
provides a solution for summative evaluation of classroom teaching (Zhang et al, 2023).
Teachers need to be able to use many tactics for classroom layouts, which is another
reason why this research is crucial. Instructors need to understand how their classroom layout
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will help them have an impact on their pupils. Yang, Zhou, and Hu (2022) note that students'
preferences for seating arrangements in classrooms have not received enough consideration in
their study, "Students’ Preferences for Seating Arrangements and Their Engagement in
Cooperative Learning Activities in College English Blended Learning Classrooms in Higher
Education, Higher Education Research & Development."
To perform this study, the authors selected data from 94 first-year college students. The
participants were 51 females, and 43 males with a mean age of 18.57 years old from three classes
at Zhejiang University in eastern China participated in this study. The participants were from
different disciplines (arts = 23, engineering = 18, natural science = 38, social sciences = 15).
(Yang, Zhou, & Hu, 2022). The results of the study confirmed that each strategy has differential
results. According to Yang, Zhou, & Hu. (2022), “the data indicated that students’ preference for
the former seating type remained the same; that is, they preferred semicircular seating both
before and after they had experienced both kinds of seating types because it promoted a better
classroom experience.”
A different investigation examined how, despite much discussion, classroom seating
arrangements are not ideal for learning. Tobia, Valentina, et al. (2022) examine how seating
arrangements influence student behavior and academic achievement, as well as the quantity and
type of student interactions, in their article "The Influence of Classroom Seating Arrangement on
Children's Cognitive Processes in Primary School: The Role of Individual Variables." This study
set out to show how various tactics should be used by teachers to improve students' cognitive
processes in the classroom. According to Tobia, Valentina, et al (2022), “the findings
demonstrate that when students were positioned farther apart from one another, as in the single
desk seating arrangement, their logical reasoning performance improved.”
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The layout of the classroom is crucial while teaching in any kind of setting. Research
examining learning abilities in relation to an individual's regular classroom sitting placement has
provided "insights into the influential role that seating arrangement can have on students'
cognitive performance" (Tobia, Valentina, et al, 2022). This article's research shown how
classroom design has a big impact on students' behavior and academic performance. Teachers
determine the seating arrangements for their students depending on their aptitude and cognitive
abilities, which directly relates to many achievement-related criteria.
Lastly, we also need to examine the objectives and tactics used by teachers when
examining social interaction. If a pupil is dissatisfied with the objectives or tactics, they will be
less productive. The results showed that teachers placed students in seats according to their social
and academic development, and that teachers expressed expectations for students'
socioemotional development in addition to their learning processes through seating
arrangements. This research was out to ascertain the aims and pedagogical approaches of
instructors. To find out more about their preferences for classroom seating arrangements,
teachers were surveyed. The interviews centered on the instructors' objectives and strategies,
along with their insights on how these objectives and strategies were achieved. (Hoekstra et al.,
2023).
In conclusion, Future studies might examine the negative consequences that instructors'
objectives and methods may have on students' experiences. Teachers may overestimate each
student's needs, which might lead to poor seating choices. Teachers' seating choices may not
always be understood by students as intended. For instance, several instructors in this research
stated that they placed unruly children farther away in order to preserve a good teacher-student
rapport; however, it is unclear how this influences students' opinions of the support they receive
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from their teachers. Rather than being an investment in a mutually beneficial relationship, this
might be seen as a student rejecting you. Future studies may thus examine if it has an additional
impact when instructors express their intentions to students when they rearrange their seats.
Although there are many advantages to having a different layout in the classroom, how
does it affect students' social behavior? Does a teacher's performance or enjoyment of teaching
suffer from a lack of social connection in the classroom? Social contact in the classroom may
suffer as a result of seating configurations. Students in elementary school can establish a basis
for social engagement in the classroom. Both positive and negative effects of social contact
might be felt by teachers who like teaching in the classroom. One potential problem with
teaching is when a student chooses not to participate in class discussion. Children like being able
to take part in class activities without facing any difficulties.
Students' interactions in inclusive classrooms help them feel accepted and like they
belong. children gain empathy, understanding, and a respect for diversity when they engage with
children of varied backgrounds and skill levels. This encourages a welcoming and upbeat
learning environment where each student is treated with respect and importance. Second, social
and emotional growth is facilitated by interactions in inclusive classrooms. By interacting with
classmates, students acquire critical social skills including collaboration, communication, and
dispute resolution. As they negotiate various viewpoints and experiences, children also gain
emotional intelligence. These abilities are necessary for success in the classroom and in personal
relationships.
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References
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a Seating Chart Intervention for Target and Nontarget
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Hoekstra, Nathalie A.H, Van den Berg, Yvonne H.M., Lansu, Tessa A.M., Mainhard, M.T
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