You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
- Six classroom diagrams
-
Hello friends,
It was great meeting and working with you all a few weeks ago.
A couple of you came up to me after the seminar and asked about the orientation of the tables and seats in the seminar, noting that the seating arrangement would be a good way to organize the classroom. This was precisely something I had wanted to talk about, but there wasn’t enough time to discuss everything.
For me, the physical classroom layout is very important. The way that furniture is organized signals right away whose voices matter in the room. Some layouts signal that the instructor’s voice is really the only one that matters. Other layouts signal that student voices matter a great deal.
I have attached a document titled, “Six classroom diagrams” in the “files” section of this site. I had hoped to discuss these diagrams in the seminar. I made them to stimulate conversation about how the physical layout of the classroom can affect how active the learning environment can be for students.
Figures 1 and 2 show traditional classroom arrangements where all the action is clearly happening at the front of the room where the instructor is. I don’t like these layouts, because they do not encourage students to listen and respond to each other’s ideas. I do everything I can not be stuck with a classroom that looks like Figure 1 or Figure 2.
Figure 4 is the closest to the layout we had in our seminar. We had a larger number of seated folks than is shown in the diagram, and when this happens I seat people on the inside of the U. If you do this, it is important to only put students on the inner sides of the U, and not at at the base of the U where they will have their backs to the screen/board.
I like classroom layouts that resemble Figure 3 or 4 because I can easily walk around the room to see what students are doing on problems, question students, pair or group them for short discussions, and conduct whole-group discussions where all students can see and respond to each other. I also like these layouts because there is no “back” of the classroom where students might hide.
Figure 5 is an example of what I do in the event that I have a small number of students in a class. I hate it when there are tons of desks in a room, and students are all sprinkled around with several empty desks between them. That is a great way to have a low-energy class. When I know I don’t need all the desks, I move them out of the way (facing them backwards so they are clearly not an option) and make a U shape so that everyone is close to each other and me.
Of course we work at institutions where it can be difficult to get these classroom layouts. In some cases, the college will declare that furniture cannot be moved. This is a real drag. In these instances, you might be able to negotiate that a few classrooms are set up in student-centered orientations and kept that way. You may also attempt to engineer a classroom trade with a faculty member teaching at the same time who prefers a more traditional room layout.
It can be time-consuming to move desks around in larger classes, but you will find that after you do this for the first few classes, students will chip in to help out.
As a group of faculty, you can also develop a view about the kinds of classroom furniture and layouts you desire, and bring those preferences to the college administrators. Over time, as classrooms are renovated and new furniture is purchased, your wishes should be taken into account. Don’t leave this up to administrators who may not appreciate the impact that classroom layouts have on teaching and learning.
Best,
Steve
Director, Active Learning in Adult Numeracy & Mathematics
http://www.alanproject.org
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
