The Advantages and Disadvantages Study with U-Shape Arrangement

Before welcoming new students to the classroom, a teacher must decide on the arrangement of the students' desks. There are many choices available for teachers, and the desk configuration selected will determine the way lessons are presented, how classroom behavior is managed and the way traffic flows. In a U-shaped arrangement, desks all point to a central spot in the classroom with an opening in the front of the room, like a horseshoe. In this article we going to discuss the advantages and disadvantages study with U-shape arrangement.

Study with U-shape arrangement has advantages for teacher and the students. The first, the arrangement supports frequent whole-group conversations as students are all able to see each other and the teacher at the same time. No one is able to hide in the back of the class and avoid participation, so even the most introverted students can be drawn in. The second, this arrangement helps the teacher keep an eye on everyone's actions and quickly reach and resolve conflicts or discipline problems. As with classroom discussions, students do not feel hidden in this configuration, and that may encourage them to improve their behavior. The third, this arrangement allows all students equal access to viewing demonstrations. Positioning the students so they can see the whiteboard and the front of the lab or work space will allow the teacher to explain and demonstrate the day's lesson without interruptions for rearranging or moving around the classroom. The last, the teacher can freely move around the students because there is a space in the middle and the U also provides space for students to move around during breaks.

The U-shape arrangement also has disadvantages. The first, this arrangement may take up more space in the class room. So, it will need more space if there are many students but the room is not large enough to accommodate it. The second, larger classes may have difficulty engaging in disscussion. Some student may not be focus when the teacher demonstrates his/her topic because the student is to much and the class is too large. The last, it will make the other class difficult to rearrange the seats. Some classes do not use this arrangement because their teacher use traditional arrangement in their class.