Marketing Classroom Spaces: Is it Really Better at the Front?

Abstract

Students spend much of their time in college seated in a classroom. Their seating choice can indicate something about students' general perceptions regarding seat selection and academic achievement. However, actual seat location may also play a role in student performance. This preliminary research focused on the seating choices of 373 undergraduate students in smaller (i.e., fewer than 35 students) marketing courses and their performance. The results indicate that students generally perceive that seat location does not influence overall academic achievement or course performance. Indeed, there was no significant difference in cumulative grade point average based on seat selection. However, students in the front row did earn a significantly higher course grade than those seated in the back half of the room. The trend for course grades to decrease as distance from the front of the room increases was most pronounced for those whose cumulative grade point average was in the middle third of all students in the study. Thus, encouraging students to move forward even in smaller classes can influence performance, particularly for average students, in spite of student perceptions to the contrary.