A circular seating arrangement is best suited for small group discussions

Amol R Dongre

Kalaiselvan G

Mahalakshmy T

Mahalakshmy, T

Dongre, AR

Kalaiselvan, G

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How Does Seating Arrangement Matter While Teaching in Small Groups?

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Letter: 
How Does Seating Arrangement Matter While Teaching in Small Groups? 
Authors 
Mahalakshmy T, Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical 
Education and Research, Puducherry, 
Amol R Dongre, Kalaiselvan G, 
Professors, Department of Community Medicine, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry. 
Address for Correspondence 
Dr. Mahalakshmy T, 
Assistant Professor, 
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, 
Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, 
Puducherry, India.  
E-mail: mahalakshmi.dr@gmail.com 
Citation 
Mahalakshmy T, Dongre AR, Kalaiselvan G. How Does Seating Arrangement Matter While Teaching in Small Groups? Online J 
Health Allied Scs.2014;13(1):14. Available at URL: http://www.ojhas.org/issue49/2014-1-14.html 
Open Access Archives 
http://cogprints.org/view/subjects/OJHAS.html 
http://openmed.nic.in/view/subjects/ojhas.html 
 
Submitted: Jan 13, 2014; Accepted: Apr 28, 2014; Published: May 15, 2014 
 
Abstract: A circular seating arrangement is best suited for 
small group discussions. 
Key Words: Discussion; Seating; Circular 
Introduction: 
According to Medical Council of India's regulations on 
Graduate Medical Education 2012, two third of the schedule 
should include interactive, practical, clinical or/and group 
discussions.1 These activities mostly happen in a small group 
setting. The success of the small group teaching depends on 
opening up the students, so that they actively participate in 
the discussion. Physical positioning of students in the group 
is known to affect their interaction and contribution to the 
group discussion.2 We attempted to find out how and why 
student's participation varies in a traditional or a circular 
seating arrangement during small group teaching. 
Results and Discussion 
This study was done in the Department Community Medicine 
of Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital in 
Puducherry, South India, which admits 150 students per year. 
In the clinical posting, students were presenting their family 
which they followed for two weeks focusing on the factors 
influencing health at family level. This small group 
discussion (25 students) was moderated by a faculty. For the 
first five presentations there was a traditional seating 
arrangement with several rows of desks facing the facilitator 
and presenter. The next five presentations happened with a 
circular seating arrangement. Students gave a written 
feedback on the seating arrangement. The process was 
observed by two independent silent observers. They made 
notes and sociogram of students' interaction. The moderator 
also made a written note on her experience during the 
presentation. Manual content analysis of the notes and 
feedback was done. Since these seating arrangements was 
aimed at motivating students to participate in the discussion, 
we used predefined themes based on Maslow's hierarchy of 
needs for motivating learning.3 
Table 1: Students' feedback on circular seating 
arrangement. 
Themes Presenter (10) Other students (25) 
Physiological 
needs 
I was better audible 
and did not need to 
raise my voice. (3) 
I did not need to turn 
behind to hear the 
comments of those 
sitting behind (3) 
Safety 
I could see everyone, 
it made me feel 
confident. (2) 
I could clarify queries 
better (1) 
Facilitator was seated 
amongst us, so I could 
tell my points freely. (6) 
Belonging 
Everybody was 
attentive without 
distraction. I felt I was 
listened to (1) 
Everyone participated 
in the discussion and 
shared their views (4) 
We could not hide 
behind and we listened 
actively (2) 
Self esteem 
 
I felt like a group of 
experts sitting and 
talking (1) 
More interactive (7) 
Gained more 
knowledge (2) 
Students preferred the circular seating arrangement. Students' 
feedback is summarized in Table 1. The observer's notes and 
sociogram pointed that in circular seating arrangement 
student's participation increased; there was interaction 
amongst them, raising many discussion points. Sociogram 
showed that in traditional seating arrangement students were 
distracted by having collateral talks or preparing for their 
presentation. Presenters were less anxious in the circular 
seating arrangement. The facilitator felt that the group 
 
This work is licensed under a 
Creative Commons Attribution- 
No Derivative Works 2.5 India License 
Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences 
Peer Reviewed, Open Access, Free Online Journal 
Published Quarterly :  Mangalore, South India : ISSN0972-5997 
Volume 13, Issue 1; Jan-Mar 2014 
2 
 
discussion was under control as eye contact was better and 
was able to identify and involve silent students. 
Often during the clinical positing of undergraduate training, 
small group teaching is done. It is important to create a good 
educational environment.3 Retaining all other factors and 
only changing the seating arrangement opened up the 
students, motivating them to participate in the discussion. 
Circular arrangement made them feel that each one is 
important, thereby encouraging the adult learners. 
Distractions were less because of better visibility and good 
eye contact. To summarize circular seating arrangement was 
preferred by the presenter, other students and facilitator. It 
could be used in many small groups teaching scenarios in 
undergraduate teaching such as in case/family/project 
presentation in clinical postings, briefing and debriefing in 
practical classes and tutorials. 
References: 
1. Medical Council of India. Regulations on Graduate Medical 
Education. 2012 p. 1-45. 
2. Gunia B. Did I Do That? Group Positioning and Asymmetry in 
Attributional Bias. Negotiation and Conflict Management 
Research. 2010;3(4):358-378. 
3. Hutchinson L. Educational environment. BMJ (Clinical 
research ed.) [Internet]. 2003 Apr 12;326(7393):810-812. 
Available from: http://www.bmj.com/content/326/7393/810. 
Accessed May 6, 2014. Accessed January 13th, 2014 


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How Does Seating Arrangement Matter While Teaching in Small Groups?

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