Minnesota State University Reporter

Media Credit: Illustration by Keven Klos | MSU Reporter SELF-IMPOSED SEATING: Students may sit in the same classroom seats for stability, social reasons, and better class performance. [Click to enlarge]

When the semester begins and students are returning to their studies, they worry about many things. Whether the class is going to be easy, difficult, boring and the most important -- where to sit.

Usually, teachers don't assign seats, so students have free range of where they can sit. Once a student finds that perfect spot, he or she tends to stick to that seat for the rest of the year. If someone were to take that seat at any point, there is a feeling of annoyance toward the person that is sitting in 'your' seat. Yet, why is it that we stay in the same spot the entire year? Why do we choose the areas in the room that we do?

"People are motivated by a number of factors, some of which are rational while others are irrational," said Minnesota State psychology professor Vinai Norasakkunkit. "From a cognitive perspective, people are motivated to seek predictability, stability and order. Sitting in the same place in the classroom may fulfill such a need."

In other words, students sit in the same seats because it's comfortable to them. Norasakkunkit also talked about social implications of sitting in the same seat.

"Doing so may also help people avoid social conflict, which is likely to increase if they have to negotiate and renegotiate everyday how they want to position themselves in a social context like a classroom setting," he said.

Another aspect of this question is if where we sit in the classroom affects how we learn and are able to comprehend what we are being taught. Psychology professor Kimberly O'Farrell recalls the research of her mentor, Edgar O'Neal, when she was a student at Tulane University in New Orleans, La.

"From his research and others, it is clear that students perform differently in a class depending on where they sit," O'Farrell said. "Students in the front, center of classrooms perform better than students on the sides, middle and rear. This is a function of both self-selection and characteristics of the location."

Another fact is when the seats are assigned and the teacher habits in the classroom.

"When they are assigned their seats, students in the front and center of the room typically perform better than students in other locations," said O'Farrell. "There are several reasons why this might be the case. Teachers provide more attention to students in the front of the classroom. They also attend more to students on the side that corresponds to their favored hand (i.e., right-handed teachers favor the left-side of the classroom)."

This could mean people that are seated in those areas are less likely to fall asleep, or goof off. They are more apt to be caught and get into trouble then the people that are seated in the back.

Does this mean that all of the people in the back of the class should move forward if they want to do better? No, but it is something to think about as you are walking into your next class and sit down in that little space you like to call your own.

Carrie Schilling is a Reporter staff writer

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