Classroom – Chairs and Desks

Computer and Seating Arrangement Improvements

We often find it necessary to change the seating and desk arrangement when we first arrive to a classroom. These room rearrangements can range from small but inconvenient to quite complicated distracting to the students . There are several important factors needed to implement an effective room arrangement.  Our preferred seating arrangement is at the BOTTOM of this page, you can skip directly to that if you want to set up your classroom.  If you would prefer to UNDERSTAND why this last layout works best for TKP classes, then read on…

Computers and seats:

Teaching Kids Programming (TKP) conducts pair programming, which requires 1 computer for every 2 students. We’ve realized that we often neglect to clarify that the room layout requires 1 seat per student. Here are various examples of problematic seating arrangements:

Scenario 1:



Question: How many students can attend this class?

Common Answer: 16. If there are 2 students per computer and 8 computers present, then 2×8=16.

Actual Answer: 8. 8 computers may be present, but there are only 8 available seats. Therefore, only 8 students will be able to sit in the classroom.

Scenario 2:

Question: How many students can attend this class?

Common Answer: 6.The seats are now the limiting factor. Since there are only 6 seats available, the classroom can only hold 6 students.

Actual Answer: 4. Since the students are paired, it is necessary to have 2 seats next to one another. Since neither desk can support 4 seats, only 2 stations are possible for use.

Scenario 3:

Question: How many students can attend this class?

Common Answer: 4. There is only room available for 2 groups of 2 seats. Therefore, only 4 students can attend.

Actual Answer: 6. However, if the room is rearranged as the following:

It is now possible to have 3 pairs.

In conclusion, there are three important factors to account for when considering the number of students that can attend a class based upon the desk and seating arrangements.

1. Computers – 1 computer must be present for every 2 students.
2. Seats – 1 seat necessary per student.
3. Desk Space – Each desk must have 2 seats available.

General Room Arrangement:

We find that many school computer rooms are laid out in the following manner:

The above seating arrangement makes it extremely difficult for students to see what the teacher is doing.  This arrangement is commonly used for teachers to look over students’ shoulders as well as increased access to electrical plugs by being close to the walls. At colleges and professional training centers, this seating arrangement is not common. Most professional computer labs have the following room layout:

If teachers are concerned about whether they can look over students’ shoulders, we suggest the possible solution of hanging a large mirror angled 45 degrees at the back top of the classroom.  This last seating arrangement (shown below) is the one we prefer for TKP classes.