ABSTRACT

Previous research has documented that seating arrangements have great impact on student's active engagement within classrooms. However, insufficient attention has been given to students’ preferences for classroom seating arrangements and their engagement in college English language blended learning classrooms in higher education. Employing questionnaire surveys and a case study method with a sample of 94 first-year college students, the present research examined how students’ preferences for seating arrangements affected their engagement in cooperative learning (CL) activities in English as a foreign language (EFL) blended learning classrooms in higher education. The analysis through a two-way repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) indicated that a semicircular seating arrangement was better for integrating students into the CL activities than a rows-and-columns seating arrangement in terms of communication affordance, concentration maintenance, and classroom environment. An analysis with a Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that students’ preference for the former seating type remained the same; that is, they preferred semicircular seating both before and after they had experienced both kinds of seating types because it promoted a better classroom experience. Implications for how to utilize seating arrangements to enhance student engagement in EFL blended learning classrooms in higher education are discussed.

摘要

先前的研究表明，座位安排对学生在课堂上的积极参与有很大影响。然而，在高等教育中，学生对课堂座位安排的偏好以及他们对大学英语语言混合学习课堂的参与没有得到足够的重视。本研究采用问卷调查和案例研究方法，以 94 名一年级大学生为样本，研究学生对座位安排的偏好如何影响他们参与英语作为外语 (EFL) 混合的合作学习 (CL) 活动。高等教育的学习课堂。通过双向重复测量方差分析 (ANOVA) 进行的分析表明，在交流可供性、注意力维持和课堂方面，半圆形座位安排比行列式座位安排更利于学生融入 CL 活动环境。使用 Wilcoxon 符号秩检验的分析表明，学生对前一种座位类型的偏好保持不变。也就是说，他们在体验这两种座位类型之前和之后都更喜欢半圆形座位，因为它促进了更好的课堂体验。讨论了如何利用座位安排来提高学生在高等教育中的 EFL 混合学习课堂中的参与度。注意力维持和课堂环境。使用 Wilcoxon 符号秩检验的分析表明，学生对前一种座位类型的偏好保持不变。也就是说，他们在体验这两种座位类型之前和之后都更喜欢半圆形座位，因为它促进了更好的课堂体验。讨论了如何利用座位安排来提高学生在高等教育中的 EFL 混合学习课堂中的参与度。注意力维持和课堂环境。使用 Wilcoxon 符号秩检验的分析表明，学生对前一种座位类型的偏好保持不变。也就是说，他们在体验这两种座位类型之前和之后都更喜欢半圆形座位，因为它促进了更好的课堂体验。讨论了如何利用座位安排来提高学生在高等教育中的 EFL 混合学习课堂中的参与度。