What are the Benefits of Sitting Upfront?
If you were to work on a computer how many people would you like to be sitting between you and the computer screen? Regardless of how big a screen you have, I think you would probably answer zero. Of course, you would like as clear a view as possible of the screen. I admit this is a strange question with an obvious answer. However, if I ask you the same question, but I replace the computer with a university scenario: If you were to attend a lecture or a class how many people would you like to be sitting between you and the teacher? I hope your answer is still zero, but if not I’m here to convince you of why it should be. We’ll aim to answer three questions:
- What are the benefits of sitting upfront?
- Why most people avoid sitting upfront?
- How to build the habit of sitting upfront?
What are the benefits of sitting upfront? By simply sitting in the front row, as close to the board as possible, you immediately create a clear advantage between you and all the other students sitting behind you. Why? Firstly, because you have a clear line-of-sight between you, the lecturer and the board. Everything of importance becomes clearer and larger. Your vision is by no ways obstructed by the back of anyone’s head. Secondly, you avoid the possibility of being distracted by someone checking their phone or someone playing with their hair. Whatever the distraction may be and even if it is only for a second it can break one’s concentration.
These first two points are rather quite evident to most, so let’s discuss the more nuanced points about why sitting in the front row is so useful: Sitting upfront immediately shows to your teacher/lecturer that you are a good student (or at least better than average one). They might not ever admit this, but it definitely makes a difference about what they think of you. At the very least on a subconscious level.
Most people (including your teachers) have these sort of stereotypes on the place you seat and what it says about you as a student.
It shows that you are there to pay attention and not slack off. I would go as far as saying that sitting in the front row is one of the first steps to creating a good relationship between you and your professors. You should find that after sitting in the front row your professors are more willing to help you and answer your questions, than if you were sitting further back. Why? Because if they notice you are sitting up front (and paying attention), then any misunderstanding you may have is more indicative of something not properly explained on their part, rather than as a consequence of the lack of your concentration. Therefore, they would be more than willing to clarify any points.
Another advantage of sitting upfront is the feeling of being observed. This is known as the Hawthorne effect. Initially, it was purported that this effect increased the productivity of workers who were observed, but since then, this claim has been scrutinised. The truth of the matter is the feeling of being observed does not directly cause productivity to increase, but rather it depends on how the observed individual interprets and reacts to the feeling of being observed. This is what ultimately impacts your productivity. Being observed can cause a sense of anxiety and uneasiness, which in turn could decrease one’s productivity; or it can create a sense of accountability and importance in one’s work, which in turn would increase productivity.
If the feeling of being intensively observed really makes you uneasy just remember that it is probably more of a feeling than what is actually happening. You think the people sitting behind you are staring at the back of your head because you can’t see what they are looking at, but in all likelihood, they are not even paying attention to you. You may feel like your Professors are paying particular attention to you because you are sitting closest to them, but they know that all the troublemakers sit further back and that’s where they tend to keep their watch.
Personally, It makes me feel accountable and gives me the energy to stay focused and maintain good posture for as long as necessary. What comes out of this feeling all depends on how you channel it. Does it make you want to shrink up into a ball or does it fuel your focus? Don’t try and avoid this feeling. Embrace this feeling of being watched by the others in the class,
Lastly and most importantly, it makes you more engaged in the class →the higher your learning quality → you absorb more knowledge → the less studying you have to do outside of class. Consider the equation:
Equation from Thomas Frank’s 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades
The higher your learning quality, the lower your study time has to be for a desired level of preparedness. If you’re going to take the time to go to class, you might as well make the most of it.
In the next part, we discuss Why most people avoid sitting upfront?