Separate worlds: The influence of seating location on student engagement, classroom experience, and performance in the large university lecture hall

Shernoff, David J.; Sannella, Alexander J.; Schorr, Roberta Y.; Sanchez-Wall, Lina; Ruzek, Erik; Sinha, Suparna; Bressler, Denise M.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.12.002

Cited by 45 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…One possible idea to explore in future studies would be whether overall academic results would be different if students are forced to move forward, which is not unreasonable to consider on the back of the results of Cinar (2010) (those students who prefer to sit towards the front pay more attention in class, are more willing to participate and show more interest and motivation). Also for future work in this line would be interesting to gather information about the opinions and preferences of students about the seating place they occupy in class as well as about their experience and perceptions in the class (motivation, commitment, attention, interaction with the lecturer), drawing on the work by Shernoff et al (2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The literature proves the influence of the seating place occupied by students on their attitude in the classroom, attention, participation, positive attitude and commitment. All these features are greater in those students located in front compared to those located further back (Montello, 1988, Minchen, 2007, Shernoff et al 2017Perkins & Wieman, 2005;Benedict & Hoag, 2004;Vander Schee, 2011). Nevertheless, the question is not so clear as to whether all these factors lead to a higher academic performance by the students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Traditionally it has been said that, in general, students who chose to sit at the end of the class are the least gifted, as opposed to those who occupy the first row. Most lectures would agree that it is difficult to connect with all students in an average class (Shernoff, Sannella, Schorr, Sanchez-Wall, Ruzek, Sinha et al, 2017), especially if it is a master class or presentation, but also in the case of more participatory lectures. Those in the last rows may be uninterested or absent-minded, while those in the first can devote their attention to the lecturer more easily.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Academic performance, class attendance and seating location of university students in practical lectures

Jover

Ramírez

2018

J. Technol. Sci. Educ.

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The question of where students sit in a classroom has been widely studied under different approaches since the beginning of the 20th century. In this study, the data related to the seating location of the students in the computer-aided design practice lecture at the university were recorded and arranged, to analyse their seating preferences, their consistency throughout the course and their relationship with several factors related to academic performance, class attendance, and punctuality. In general, it was observed that, students are reluctant to seat on the first row, and that the most punctual students chose to occupy the places in the first rows, closer to the lecturer (r = 0.35, p = 0.015), although this had no impact on academic performance. While the following was indeed correlated with the attendance rate: those students who attended the most class achieved a better academic performance which was reflected in the final mark (r = 0.38, p = 0.007). No difference was observed in any aspect between male and female students.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Academic performance, class attendance and seating location of university students in practical lectures

Jover

Ramírez

2018

J. Technol. Sci. Educ.

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“…He considers how teachers need to look out across the world and take ideas that have been implemented in other international institutions and inform their own teaching in order to reach the 'hard to reach'. On the other hand, one text from the literature review suggests that students who sit at the back of the classroom become 'hard to reach', which suggests that the onus should be on the student to be within "reaching distance", rather than upon the teacher to alter her/his technique (Shernoff et al, 2016).…”

Section: Effective Teachingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who They Are and How to Engage Them: A Summary of the REACT Systematic Literature Review of the ‘Hard to Reach’ in Higher Education

Shaw¹,

Humphrey²,

Atvars³

et al. 2017

EIPC

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This article reports upon the systematic literature review of ‘hard to reach’ students carried out as part of the REACT (Realising Engagement through Active Culture Transformation) project. The review has been undertaken in order to critically assess the concept of ‘hard to reach’ and attempt to bring some clarity to the use of the term, as well as to add empirical rigour and much-needed context to discussion in this area. The review also explores methods that have been used to explicitly engage the ‘hard to reach’, thereby providing a resource for policy makers, researchers and also practitioners who are working to increase inclusivity or better engage their students. The article presents a summary of the initial findings of the review.

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“…Research by Shernoff et al (2017) showed, for example, that where students choose to sit Student participants who were seated at the back of the lecture hall reported feeling more distracted and less focused, as well as less successful, valued, connected and included than when sitting closer to the front of the room and the instructor; they also reported a negative emotional affect while sitting in the back. Student participants sitting in the front of the room, on the other hand, reported higher levels of participation, motivation, and enthusiasm.…”

Section: The Chalk Talk Learning Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facilitating Student Engagement in Undergraduate Mathematics Lectures: A Multimodal Investigation

Fogarty-Bourget¹

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University students' success in core mathematics courses has been linked to their overall academic achievement in many undergraduate programs. This finding has prompted an ongoing inquiry into the way mathematics is taught, focusing, specifically, on the university mathematics lecture-the most common instructional activity-and on the extent to which it is conducive to student engagement, regarded as key to successful learning. This dissertation reports on a multimodal study of student engagement in undergraduate mathematics lectures with the purpose to develop a context-specific understanding of student engagement, and identify and describe aspects of university mathematics teaching that impact student engagement. A theoretical and analytical framework combining concepts from discourse studies, Vygotskian sociocultural theory, situated learning, multimodality, speech theory, and gesture studies is used to investigate university mathematics teaching as a complex discursive practice. The study responds to First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Natasha Artemeva, whose guidance and support have seen me through so many years of study and growth. Natasha, you have taught me so much. Thank you, for everything. To my wonderful parents, Virginia Bourget and Patrick Fogarty, thank you for always being there, for all your love and encouragement. To my partner in adventure and happiness, Hasi Eldib, your love, warmth, kindness, support, and caring are a gift. Thank you for always making summer feel close at hand. I love you. Thank you as well to all those who helped me along the way: To Professor Janna Fox and the members of my doctoral committee, Professor Sigrid Norris, Dr. Silva Ladewig, and Professor Iosif Polterovich, as well to my examiners Professor Christine Räisänen and Dr. Janet Mantler, thank you all for your time and invaluable feedback. And to my research participants, without whom this dissertation would not exist, thank you for your time and sharing. Joan Grant, Connie Wall, Tracey Wright, and Mike Barker, thank you for all that you do, every day, for the students and members of our department. Thank you for all your help. Special thanks to Claire and all the other wonderful, brilliant women with whom I have had the pleasure of sharing so many hours of hard work and writing: Christen, Codie, Janna, Lauren, Lisa, Nina, and many more. Thank you for laughing, listening, cheersing, collaborating, brainstorming, blue skying, and of course, for the countless units. I am so fortunate.

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Separate worlds: The influence of seating location on student engagement, classroom experience, and performance in the large university lecture hall

Cited by 45 publications

References 24 publications

Academic performance, class attendance and seating location of university students in practical lectures

Academic performance, class attendance and seating location of university students in practical lectures

Who They Are and How to Engage Them: A Summary of the REACT Systematic Literature Review of the ‘Hard to Reach’ in Higher Education

Facilitating Student Engagement in Undergraduate Mathematics Lectures: A Multimodal Investigation

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