Open AccessThe latent four‐zone structure in classroom seating space
Author(s) -
Kitagawa Toshiaki
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
japanese psychological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.392
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1468-5884
pISSN - 0021-5368
DOI - 10.1111/1468-5884.00073
Subject(s) - psychology , space (punctuation) , preference , mathematics education , division (mathematics) , mathematics , statistics , computer science , arithmetic , operating system
The purpose of this study was to extract a latent space structure of classrooms from students seating preferences, and to determine whether classroom division on the basis of latent space structure is useful in predicting actual seating behaviors. The actual seating positions of 151 female junior college students were observed in classrooms once a week for one semester; then students were asked to estimate their seating preference among 49 seating positions in an imaginary classroom. Students did have different preferences for seating positions. A factor analysis suggested that classroom seating space should be divided into four zones: rear, front, center, and sides. A multiple discriminant analysis suggested that the seating positions that students actually took reflected a four‐zone structure. Classroom division based on the four‐zone structure proved useful in understanding students' seating behaviors.