This paper presents the results of a two-part study that investigated classroom seating design preferences among elementary classroom teachers. In part one, the researchers mapped and classified seating arrangements that were in actual use across 294 regular classrooms (grades K-5) in 21 public elementary schools. Subsequently, the researchers…

One primary class moved from seating in rows to groups to rows, the other from groups to rows to groups. In both, on-task behavior was higher in rows. In a second study using rows for individual work, time on task increased substantially and, for a target group of three disruptive pupils, it increased dramatically. (SK)

This study examined the effects of color and light on the learning of eleven 6-year-old elementary school students. The students were videotaped to identify off-task behaviors and had their blood pressure measured while in a standard classroom with white walls and cool-white fluorescent lights, as well as in a classroom with light blue walls and…

Investigated the effect of row versus table (clustered desks) seating arrangements in three classrooms with children having emotional and moderate learning difficulties. Results showed on-task behaviors doubled as conditions changed from desk clusters to rows. Rate of disruption was three times higher in the desk cluster seating arrangement.…

Outlines a study of two teachers' image of "the classroom as home" illustrating how personal and professional experiences are expressed in their classroom practices. Offers a theoretical concept of "image" as knowledge incorporating theoretical, practical, objective, and subjective experience. (MD)

In order to determine what programs and practices in teaching reading were being used by the elementary schools in Saskatchewan, a survey was carried out in the winter of 1973. Eighty-two percent of the questionnaires (630) were returned by the schools. The survey shows that elementary schools in Saskatchewan use a variety of plans for classroom…

This study documents the kinds of planning that teachers engage in before a lesson begins and identifies differences in planning procedures between teachers. The subjects were 40 second- and fifth-grade teachers in California including 20 teachers with high average pupil gain scores and 20 teachers with low average pupil gain scores. The teachers…

An elementary school teacher and an architect taught six third graders some principles of designing ideal classrooms. These subjects' ability to observe and design environments was shown to be significantly greater than that of students in an uninstructed control group. (Author/WB)

The experience of designing and making installations of school furniture in collaboration with three countries--Norway, Portugal, and Spain--and of performing additional work in France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom provides the basis for this report. The ages of the pupils in the schools concerned ranged from 3 to 13 years. A theme of…

Examined the effects of a technology-enriched classroom on student development of higher-order thinking skills and student attitudes toward computers in grades five and six. Describes use of the Ross Test of Higher Cognitive Processes and the Computer Attitude Questionnaire, compares results with students in traditional classrooms, and suggest…

Comments of experienced teachers suggest that writing may be avoided in school not simply because of its inherent difficulty, but because its undertaking typically lacks connection to anything else in the lives of students or teachers. It is possible that teachers can best serve the acquisition of writing skills by structuring the social occasions…

Teacher achievement expectation effects were investigated for third- and fourth-graders (24 boys and 24 girls, each grade) in open and traditional classrooms. The main and interaction effects of teacher achievement expectation (High/Low), class type (Open/Traditional), sex of child and grade level on students' behavior and teacher-student…

The instructional part of Trinidad's Follow Through program is based on the High Scope model developed by the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization headed by Dr. David Weikart. Now in its second year, the program emphasizes the development of individualized conceptual competence. Certain kindergarten through grade…

Fourteen classrooms were grouped according to environmental format (open/mixed/traditional) and differences in teacher-student interaction patterns and perceptions of responsibility for outcomes assessed. As predicted, open classrooms showed the highest percentage of dyadic interactions. Also as predicted, open classrooms tended to show the lowest…

A study was conducted at a new elementary school in central Virginia to investigate influences on teachers' choices of seating arrangements and to determine the best seating arrangement to use. Four classroom teachers, each with an average class size of 20 students, volunteered to be observed and interviewed. The teachers taught at different grade…