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ABSTRACT
This dissertation illustrates about the existing seating arrangements in the schools of Bangladesh which are believed to play a constructive role in fostering students' learning in the classrooms. By investigating from the perspectives from the teachers and the students, this research exposes the present conditions of the seating arrangements that decrease the quality of teaching and learning in most of the schools. To sum up, collaboration among the teachers, school authority, education board and the government is needed to improve the seating arrangements in schools for utilizing effective teaching and learning practices.
1.1. Introduction
Seating arrangement is an important factor in the classroom setting because it can contribute to both positive and negative impacts on clasroom teaching and students' learning. From the hypothetical research, it has been found that effective communication among the teachers and students in the classroom is the key to their success in effective teaching and learning (McCorskey and Mcvetta, 1978, p. 99). Proshansky and Wolfe (1974) ilustrated that, "Learning is a dynamic proces and the utilization of physical space should be an echo of that proces" (p.562). McAndrew (1993) believes that, through research about classroom ecology associated with seating arrangement, we can understand how the classroom environments affect the students and their interaction with the teacher and the other students.
Since, classroom interaction involves the learning and participation of the students in the lessons and activities, certain seating patterns may facilitate or restrict the interaction among the students and the teachers. For example, traditional seating arrangement in rows is a teacher -centered seating which seems to minimize distractions among students and facilitate independent work, tests and lecture notes. The semi -circular seating arrangement is both a teacher -centered and student -centered seating which facilitates whole class discussion. On the other hand, the modular seating arrangement is a student - centered seating which facilitates small group discussions and Cooperative Learning (Partin, 2009, p.04). In this way, the seating arrangement can affect the level of interaction between the teacher and the student by facilitating specific activity patterns in the classroom (Wineman, 1986, p.12). Moreover, it also has the potential to encourage desirable behavior, contribute to students' misbehavior and even asist or impede classroom teaching (Daniels, 1998, p.30).
If the seating arrangement...