<p>Typically for lectures that consist of about 40 or less students, I like sitting in the back. </p>
<p>What's wrong with sitting in the back. My econ professor last year referred to the people in the back as a sea of stupidity (though this was for a 200+ people class). LMAO</p>
<p>Nothing inherently wrong with it. People who sit in the front tend to focus more on the professor though, while the farther back you go the less you focus. This is speaking in general though… there’s always an exception.</p>
<p>I have always found that if I sit at the back, I can’t focus very well. I’m sure this applies to others too. I guess generally, more serious students sit in the front, because they can better learn the material. If you really want to learn the material, the place you’re sitting doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Yay for the back row!</p>
<p>I sit in the back of classrooms whenever I can and have gotten pretty good grades… But in general, people who sit there really don’t do as well as those who sit in the front. It’s because the people who study the most also like to sit in the front to pay closer attention.</p>
<p>One of my professors last year actually “proved” this. He let us pick permanent seats, and after midterms, showed us the averages of the front and back halves of the room. There was about a 5% difference.</p>
<p>My laptop is my number one distraction in class. When I sit in the back I am more likely to do stuff on my laptop and not pay attention. When I sit in the middle/front I don’t like using my laptop because I don’t like everyone behind me lookin’ at my biz-ness so I pay attention more.</p>
<p>The funny thing is, this year, the class that I fool around on my laptop the most in is the class I that I am getting straight As in.</p>
<p>Why not just leave your laptop at home, its not like you actually ever need it in class. Maybe you’re more discipline than me, but I know if I brought mine I would be on it all class.</p>
<p>Well, it depends on WHY you like to sit in the back.</p>
<p>Easier to sleep . . . never get called on . . .can facebook more easily . . can leave class faster . . . see the pattern?</p>
<p>So . . why do you like sitting in the back</p>
<p>Kei</p>
<p>I’m surprised no one has mentioned texting without the teacher noticing…that’s what people do in the back at my school. Also goofing around on laptops sometimes too. But mostly phones.</p>
<p>in lecture halls, i like to sit in the back because they’re all at 8am and i can sleep…actually what’s really funny is that there’s so many people snoring in the back that it’s hard to pay attention at all (200-400 person class)</p>
<p>in smaller classes, i generally just try to find the 1 lefty desk in the room and plop myself down. i never bring my laptop, it’s too heavy to carry around all day with everything else (i commute)</p>
<p>“Why not just leave your laptop at home, its not like you actually ever need it in class.”</p>
<p>Well for me, I use it in between classes to get work done since it would waste too much time going back and getting it. I used to take notes on it but I haven’t done it this year. I also try to stay on campus for as long as possible to avoid my roommate so its easier if i just bring it with me.</p>
<p>i have nothing to add to this thread, but JUST STEAL MY NAME WHY DON’T U^^.</p>
<p>Haha. In my Precalc lecture, about 400 people, I normally sit somewhere in the first 10 rows, but once I came in late and had to sit in the back. People were blabbing, acting all giggly and fake and obnoxious, and texting nonstop. There’s the difference.</p>
<p>You will be more likely to focus more if you sit in the front row than be distracted by the people in front or around you in the back.</p>
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<p>How many people in the class? Did he use confidence intervals to show significance? Seems like 5% isn’t a big difference anyway.</p>
<p>well my calc class is pretty small, of about 20 people and i found that in that room, specifically, i never fell asleep in the back and anywhere else i had a tendency to just doze off.</p>
<p>for big lectures, with slides, i don’t like to sit too up front because then i have to stretch my neck to lift my head up and down to see the screen and write notes. middle is nice… but that’s just me.</p>
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There were about 120 students. I’m no good at statistics, but it seems that an 87-82 split with a 120 sample size would be significant.</p>
<p>I always try to sit in the back. If something crazy happens, I can see it all. If I were in the front, I would be clueless.</p>
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<p>So two 60-person samples. The standard deviation for those proportions would then be ~4.5%. That’s not really a significant difference.</p>
<p>I’m a prof, and in my experience, the people in the front of the room in a 40 person class tend to be more engaged and more likely to participate in discussion. Probably has something to do with personal space? YMMV.</p>
<p>^ I’ve noticed that about myself - I always end up talking more in the classes where I sit in the front. It’s kind of embarrassing to shout over the heads of the whole room when you’re sitting in the back, but if you’re in the front it feels more like a one-on-one with the prof, so I think that’s why the people in the front talk more.</p>