When discussing education reform, many people think of hot topics that are focused on what is being taught and how it is being taught. These topics include teaching for standardized testing, class size, teacher evaluations, etc. However, not much thought is put into the importance of where the students are being taught. Many studies have shown that the room a student sits in during class has major effects on their performance. For instance, students are found to score higher on exams if the assessments are given in the same room that the class normally meets. Students are used to learning in that space, and can use the aspects of the familiar classroom to recall information. They can remember where the teacher stood when presenting an important point during lecture, or look up and remember where their professor circled an important point on the chalkboard.

This is just one instance of how the setting of learning is very important. The subject I would like to bring up is something that I have not heard much discussion over, and that is the physical structure of the classroom. The arrangement of desks matters, the position of the professor matters, much more than you would expect. The typical classroom setting – even rows of desks, teacher lecturing and using the blackboard in front of these desks – is not, in my mind, the most effective layout for the quintessential learning environment.

Let me preface my next few points by stating that this idea of altering the typical classroom structure does not hold for all subjects. The ideas I have in mind are ones that encourage interaction among students, increase communication and deliberation, and allow for the learning process to be self-sustaining. These aspects of the newly-designed classroom would not be very useful in a calculus course, for example. These types of classes hinge heavily upon the instructor relaying all of the information necessary for learning the subject to his/her students, rather than presenting an idea and having the students discuss the topic further.

What is wrong with the typical classroom? First, this arrangement of rows upon rows of desks creates physical obstacles for those students who do not get a seat in the front of the classroom. Students in the back of the room must bob and weave their sight through the back of the heads in front of them, hoping they can catch a glimpse of the board. This arrangement creates more than just physical boundaries. This structure creates a perceived caste-system, with the seemingly higher achieving, outgoing students sitting in the front of the classroom, and the shy and under-motivated students sitting in the back. This design also alienates the professor, making them incredibly intimidating, and hard to relate to. This is especially harmful in college, where asking for help from the professor is already intimidating enough. While they lecture in the front of the classroom, a gap is created; a divide that transforms the professor into an intangible entity of knowledge, who can never be reached for assistance.

So, what do we do to fix this problem? The solution is simple, but varies depending on the course being taught, and at what level the instruction is taking place. For this post, let’s focus only on discussion-based college courses. In his article, “A Place for Learning: The Physical Environment of Classrooms,” Mark Phillips details his preference for a semi-circular seating arrangement. He states, “A semicircle encourages interaction and enables all students to see each other. This is important if you place a high value on relationships between students, building community and creating an open environment” (Phillips, http://www.edutopia.org/blog/the-physical-environment-of-classrooms-mark-phillips). It is no secret that the semi-circular arrangement promotes conversation, which is incredibly important in courses like Philosophy and English. However, what is more important about this arrangement, is that it makes students comfortable sharing their viewpoints, and helps them build strong human relationships, something that has been declining ever since the birth of social media. Deliberation is a lost art, and this arrangement would help students develop this important skill. This orientation also allows the professor to become part of the group, including him/her in such a way, that they are no longer intimidating to the class. As subtle as it is, the arrangement and structure of the classroom can play a major role in the quality of students’ education.