Washington: Lectures are oral presentations intended to present information or teach students about a particular topic and understand how students interact and learn within the lecture theatre environment is central to successful learning.
In a new study, researchers examined students' reasons for choosing particular seats in a lecture hall and investigated how seating positions correlate with student performance.
Many students preferred sitting with their friends, while others were more concerned with either attracting or avoiding the lecturer's attention. Some students chose seats that allowed them to see and hear clearly, while others picked easily available seats that made them feel less anxious.
Friendship groups who sat together tended to achieve similar grades, and students who sat alone at the edges tended to do worse than average. Lecturers may be able to use these findings to provide assistance to anxious students and to support the learning of all students by encouraging interactions between the different groups.
Lead author Dr. David P. Smith, said, "Interaction is a key part of learning and knowing who the students are interacting with can be a great benefit when designing activities."
The full findings are present in the journal- FEBS Open Bio.
