Hello everyone,

I've recently started a TEFL course, but some of the questions just seem a little vague to me. For example the following:

Look at the following series of seating arrangement options and the activities below. Decide which is the best seating arrangement for the given situation. Give brief reasons for your answers.

Seating arrangements: Rows, circles, horseshoes, groups, pairs, face-to-face pairs, back-to-back pairs, public meeting, wheel shape, buzz groups, opposing teams.

Activities:
Watching a DVD.
Explaining a grammar point.
Having a class discussion.
A role-play of a doctor and a patient.
Students carrying out a class survey.

Now, let's take the first one right here. Which seating arrangement would be best for watching a DVD? I was thinking "rows" at first, mainly because every face can see the screen directly, like in a cinema. Students are also not able to fully focus on each other, since they are all looking forward.. But.. Oh wait.. Are they watching it on a TV? Are they watching via a beamer and a bigger screen? Or are they actually literally watching at a DVD disc! :P Okay, the last one was a bit too much..

Anyway, I spoke to a Turkish friend of mine, who in fact is an English teacher in her home country. And she agreed with me. "Rows" would normally be the "best" one. "However," she added, "keep it in mind that horseshoe is loved by everyone nowadays." She told me all her classes are via the horseshoe seating arrangement nowadays! I was actually already having doubts about choosing either 'rows' or 'horse shoe' from the start. Also, when I Google the various seating arrangements I've noticed no one exactly thinks the same and uses it for different purposes in their own way.

So my question is basically how I will I be able to decide what would be the 'best' seating arrangement, when the question doesn't include what type of room you are in, how big the class is, et cetera? I just feel that without this knowledge, both "rows" and "horseshoe" could work equally well when I refer to the DVD question. Maybe I'm just thinking too much and either one would be okay? Since there is no tutor to contact via an online course, I figured I might ask for some advice via this site. You only get 3 chances (which should be enough, but still!) to pass and if you don't, you're out of the course!

I have a similar problem for "Students carrying out a class survey." I feel like it could be "opposing teams" where one person moves to the other side from time to time or "wheel shape," where they can also move around. Like I said.. It just seems to me that there are more options here that could equally well. Any advice is truly welcome!

There's too much explanation and detail missing to give a proper answer. Will the DVD be shown and then class dismissed (rows), or will there be class discussion afterwards (horseshoe)?

I have no great love for TOEFL courses and many of their instruction methods, so I'm not the best person to reply to this. Can you give more than one answer depending on the scenario? I see variations for each question/setting.

Well I'm afraid that...

"Look at the following series of seating arrangement options and the activities below. Decide which is the best seating arrangement for the given situation. Give brief reasons for your answers.

Seating arrangements:
Rows, circles, horseshoes, groups, pairs, face-to-face pairs, back-to-back pairs, public meeting, wheel shape, buzz groups, opposing teams.

Activities:
1. Watching a DVD.
2. Explaining a grammar point.
3. Having a class discussion.
4. A role-play of a doctor and a patient.
5. Students carrying out a class survey."

... is all there is. You can only choose one of them and explain your reasons. For example for the first with the DVD. Rows, because this way all the students face the screen, cannot or hardly interact with each other and as a teacher you can keep a good eye on them as well.

But I agree, they should have added extra information such as "there will be a class discussion afterwards" et cetera. But unfortunately what's written above is all she wrote :)

Have you finished this course yet as I'm doing the same one and find it very vague

First with a few exceptions there is not One right answer always, there are several good answers to many of the seating issues.

With that you are to say based either on your opinion or things learned in class or research what YOU think is best. And I will assume it will be discussed in class latter.

Issues of number of students in a class, and other things all make a difference