Seating Arrangements Research Articles

STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SEATED AREA FEATURES AND FLOOR PLAN COMPOSITION OF OPEN READING SPACES IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN JAPAN

This study aims to clarify the relationship between seated area features and floor plan compositions of open reading spaces found in 55 Japanese public libraries completed since 2000. These elements are approached from the viewpoints of floor plan forms, bookshelves area arrangement, seated areas, and seating arrangements in seated areas. In particular, the statistical analyses of 792 seated areas – based on the nature of users’ coexistence with the viewpoints of socio-petal, socio-fugal, and side by side – eight types of seat arrangements in seat areas and the relationship between seat arrangement types and floor plan form types can be found.

Partakers with the Altar

Contrary to prevalent assumptions, city magistracies did not simply pay for the upkeep of the churches used by the Dutch Reformed church. Based on the archives of churchwardens for the eleven public churches of Amsterdam, this article shows that for about a century between 1650 and 1750 the churches paid for themselves, how this was possible, and why they eventually came to rely municipal subsidies. After the devastations wrought by Revolt and Reformation, the buildings were refurnished in a luxurious style, befitting the prestige of the city. Burgomasters imposed a seating arrangement that, maintained by a variety of church attendants, reflected the hierarchical order of society. The biographical background and the work of these attendants provide a window into the ritual of churchgoing. During the heyday of Amsterdam’s prosperity people were happy to pay or the services the churches provided, including the display of rank and dignity. Economic decline, critique of the established social order, and changing religious sensibilities undercut this source of funding. The report of an auditing committee, analysing the administration of churchwardens in 1795 and 1796, testifies to the difficulties even the staunchest Batavian revolutionaries experienced when rethinking early modern public finances.

An efficient decision support system for selecting very light business jet using CRITIC-TOPSIS method

PurposeThis paper aims to assure the selection of the most suitable very light business aircraft which is preferred by the passengers based on effectiveness and aesthetic comfort. The proposed approach to determine the light business jet aircraft would provide long-range, less travel time, cozy seating arrangements, on-board lavatory facility, other aesthetic ambiance (audio systems, light systems and temperature-noise control) and appliances at reasonable flight cost.Design/methodology/approachThe selection of a light business jet is obtained through multi-criteria decision-making based on the speed limit ranges from 0.57 to 0.70 Mach number and the distance traveled up to 3,000 km with the best aesthetic comfort level. To validate the approach, case studies of five aircrafts such as Honda Jet HA 420, Cessna Citation jet M2, Embraer Phenom 100, Eclipse 550 and Cessna Citation Mustang are performed. To obtain the best suitable business jet, criteria importance through intercriteria correlation (CRITIC) and technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is used to determine the rankings of listed aircraft.FindingsThe study concludes that the Cessna Citation jet M2 is chosen as the best Very Light Jet (VLJ) on the basis of speed, range, weight, cost, aesthetic and comfort. Based on the sensitivity, mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and symmetric mean absolute percentage error analysis (sMAPE), the most and least sensitive criteria for a business jet came out to be cost and speed, respectively.Originality/valueA real case study for several parameters of five different jets such as Honda Jet HA 420, Cessna Citation jet M2, Embraer Phenom 100, Eclipse 550 and Cessna Citation Mustang are shown in this paper. Based on the case study numerical values are assigned with speed, range, weight, cost, aesthetic and comfort which are applied with CRITIC and TOPSIS to obtain the most suitable business jet among the five mentioned jets which are rarely found in the literature.

SARS-CoV-2 aerosol risk models for the Airplane Seating Assignment Problem

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between passengers on airplanes is a significant concern and reducing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 or other viruses aboard aircraft could save lives. Solving the Airplane Seating Assignment Problem (ASAP) produces seating arrangements that minimize transmission risks between passengers aboard an aircraft, but the chosen risk model affects the optimal seating arrangement. We analyze previous risk models and introduce two new risk models, masked and unmasked, based on previous experiments performed aboard real aircraft to test aerosol dispersion of SARS-CoV-2 sized particles. We make recommendations on when each risk model is applicable and the types of seating arrangements that are optimal for each risk model.

Teaching Strategies, School Environment, and Culture: Drivers of Creative Pedagogy in Ghanaian Schools

Creative pedagogy in educational institutions has been the mainstay of sustainable development globally as it ensures high standard human capital with a high level of imagination and problem-solving potentials. However, there are several drivers of creative pedagogy. This exploratory study employed the embedded mixed methods design with qualitative and quantitative approaches aimed at exploring the perspectives of teachers in selected pre-tertiary institutions in Ghana on the teaching strategies, school environment, and culture as drivers of creative pedagogy, using Lin’s creative pedagogy theory. The findings have shown that teaching strategies, school environment, and culture that promotes flexible and independent thinking, problem-solving and collaborative skills ensure students’ creativity development. The study recommends the implementation of learner-centered teaching strategies, a flexible teaching curriculum that encourages creativity development, smaller class sizes, semi-circular seating arrangements, and an introduction of a permissive culture that allows students to think and explore outside the box in Ghanaian schools.

U.S. vehicle occupancy trends relevant to future automated vehicles and mobility services

Objective Identifying current occupant travel patterns can inform decision making regarding the design, regulation, and occupant protection systems helpful for automated vehicle systems and mobility services. Methods Two travel data sets were analyzed to quantify travel patterns: the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), which provides data on household trips logged for a 24-h period, and the 2011–2015 National Automotive Sampling System–General Estimates System (NASS-GES), which contains data sampled from police-reported crashes. Analysis identified trends with driver age and gender, occupant age and gender, time of day, day of week, trip purpose, trip duration, vehicle type, as well as occupant role as solo driver, driver of others, single passenger, or multiple passengers. Results In NHTS, the median trip duration is 15 min; only 10% of trips last longer than 40 min. Trip duration does not vary with occupant role or vehicle type. Variations with trip time of day and day of week show a unimodal pattern for weekends, as well as weekday trips for those aged 55 years and older and non-solo occupants aged 18 to 29 years. Other occupant groups have a bimodal weekday travel pattern with peak trips corresponding to morning and evening rush hours. In GES, approximately half of occupants are solo drivers. Female drivers aged 55 and older travel alone 60% of the time, and drivers under age 18 and female drivers aged 30 to 54 drive alone on less than 45% of trips. Approximately 13% of occupants are single passengers, and 16% travel with a driver and at least 1 other passenger. About 16% of occupants are front seat passengers. Conclusions This analysis of vehicle occupancy provides insights on what ridership of future automated vehicles and expanded ride-hailing services may look like. Because half of occupants are solo drivers, only 16% are multiple passengers, and median trip length is just 15 min, proposed alternative seating arrangements intended to promote comfort and passenger interaction may not represent the typical future vehicle use case in the United States. Knowledge of current occupancy patterns can help automated vehicle designers and regulators develop safe seating scenarios that meet customer needs.

Spaces for Creativity: The Role of Physical Environment in Creative Problem Solving

Previous literature has studied how the physical space influences organizational processes and outcomes, and recent studies have delved deeper into this topic by examining the impact of organizational decisions such as relocating offices, reconfiguring into open-office layouts, and adopting flexible seating arrangements. However, the literature has often overlooked the role that the actual visual features of physical space could have on organizational members’ behaviors or performance in important areas such as creativity. We investigate whether a visually stimulating physical environment (as a whole) has a causal effect on individual-level creativity. Specifically, we study how two contrasting physical spaces (visually “quiet” vs. visually stimulating spaces) influence the two most widely recognized types of creative thinking—convergent and divergent creative thinking. Taking a controlled experiment approach, we randomly assigned 116 participants to either a visually “quiet” or visually stimulating space and asked them to solve a convergent or divergent creative thinking task. We found that participants performed better in the convergent creative thinking task in the visually stimulating space and that participants performed better in the divergent creative thinking task in the visually “quiet” space. The implications of our findings for organization designers challenge the wide-spread belief that creative workspaces with many visual stimuli serve as silver bullets for fostering creative problem solving.

Sexual History Taking: Perspectives on Doctor-Patient Interactions During Routine Consultations in Rural Primary Care in South Africa.

BackgroundSexual history taking for risk behavior contributes to improving health outcomes in primary care. Giving the high numbers of people living with AIDS, every patient in South Africa should be offered an HIV test, which implies that a comprehensive sexual history must be taken.AimTo describe the optimal consultation process, as well as associated factors and skills required to improve disclosure of sexual health issues during a clinical encounter with a doctor in primary health care settings in North West province, South Africa.MethodsThis qualitative study, based on grounded theory, involved the video-recording of 151 consultations of adult patients living primarily with hypertension and diabetes. This article reports on the 5 consultations where some form of sexual history taking was observed. Patient consultations were analyzed thematically, which entailed open coding, followed by focused and verbatim coding using MaxQDA 2018 software. Confirmability was ensured by 2 generalist doctors, a public health specialist and the study supervisors.Main Outcome MeasureSexual history was not taken and patients living with sexual dysfunction were missed. If patients understand how disease and medication contribute to their sexual wellbeing, this may change their perceptions of the illness and adherence patterns.ResultsSexual history was taken in 5 (3%) out of 151 consultations. Three themes emerged from these 5 consultations. In the patient-doctor relationship theme, patients experienced paternalism and a lack of warmth and respect. The consultation context theme included the seating arrangements, ineffective use of time, and privacy challenges due to interruptions and translators. Theme 3, consultation content, dealt with poor coverage of the components of the sexual health history.ConclusionOverall, sexual dysfunction in patients was totally overlooked and risk for HIV was not explored, which had a negative effect on patients’ quality of life and long-term health outcomes. The study provided detailed information on the complexity of sexual history taking during a routine consultation and is relevant to primary health care in a rural setting. Pretorius D, Couper I, Mlambo M. Sexual History Taking: Perspectives on Doctor-Patient Interactions During Routine Consultations in Rural Primary Care in South Africa. Sex Med 2021;9:100389.

Effects of the Wall-Faced Seating Arrangement Strategy on the Behavioural Patterns of the Students in the Architecture Thesis Design Studio

The results of the exercise on the Wall-Faced seating arrangement in an architecture thesis design studio reveal the positive effects on the progress, concentration, and design of the students. The seating arrangement encouraged the students for more design products and development through increase the sense of competition. The seating arrangement changed the concentration of the students from the central part of the studio as a location for social interaction toward the drawing board as the learning target of the studio with more concentration on the drawing boards. The seating arrangement changes the concentration from the people in the studio as subject to the drawing board and design development as the object. In the new seating from the level of the collaboration between the students enhanced and the students communicated consistency to enhance the level of the design project in the studio. The research findings reveal that the students present five behavioural patterns in the design studio in the seating arrangement including collaborative, individual, separated, isolated, and disruptive. The level of collaboration, sharing of design ideas, and design development in collaborative behaviour are sufficient and effective although the level fades out in the other behavioural patterns.

The good, the bad and the sofa: Order of protocol among EU leaders in the context of the Union's external representation

ABSTRACT The joint visit by European Council President Michel and Commission President von der Leyen to Turkey in April 2021 sparked a heated discussion on the EU's diplomatic protocol rules. The reason: the seating arrangements provided when the two met with Turkish President Erdoğan. Michel and Erdoğan sat on chairs, while von der Leyen was given a sofa, implying a lower rank. This triggered a diplomatic incident between the EU and Turkey and increased intra-institutional tensions in Brussels. This article analyses EU protocol rules and explains the order of precedence of its leaders in foreign policy. It argues that EU protocol rules lay out a clearer hierarchy for its leaders than what was implied in the aftermath of the incident. However, the rank that the Commission President holds when he/she is representing the EU externally together with the European Council President requires clarification since their respective foreign policy competencies are different.

Academic discipline as a moderating variable between seating location and academic performance: implications for teaching

ABSTRACT Previous research on university students’ academic performance indicates that students’ seating locations can be an indicator of their academic performance. However, previous research on the relationship between university students’ seating locations and their academic performance is mixed, and there is a lack of research about whether students’ academic discipline moderates this relationship. This study addresses this gap in the literature through a study of 182 university students in Hong Kong. Biglan categorization was used to classify disciplines into soft (a low degree of consensus) and hard fields (a high degree of consensus). The results revealed that students from soft fields who sat at the front of a class performed better than their counterparts who sat at the back, while the performance of students from hard fields was not significantly influenced by their seating location. This article’s findings suggest that classroom seating arrangements should be tailored to academic disciplines to maximize their efficacy and that universities should redesign classroom layouts to extend the experience of sitting at the front of a class to all students.

Spatial Components Guidelines in a Face-to-Face Seating Arrangement for Flexible Layout of Autonomous Vehicles

Fully autonomous vehicles are not yet available for consumers to experience; however, as experts predict they will be ready for the consumer market in the not-too-distant future, it is important to consider the spatial design of such vehicles. As the interior of a vehicle is a confined space, it is important to design a flexible layout in different aspects of the overall space. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the relationships among various elements related to the use of space in a face-to-face seating arrangement. Using mock-up, observational surveys, questionnaires, and the think-aloud research method within an ethnographic observation framework, we conducted experiments on three study participants who were aware of the changing concept of autonomous vehicles. One of the key findings of our analysis is that various activities and actions can occur in a face-to-face seating arrangement. It is important to recognize that face-to-face seating arrangements are not just to facilitate conversation but can be seen as an environment in which each passenger can conduct other in-vehicle activities individually. Based on these findings, we recommend that needs for activities be considered when designing spatial components in a face-to-face seating arrangement.

Speakership, recipiency and the interactional space: Cases of “Next-speaker self-selects” in multiparty university student meetings

This paper addresses the pragmatics of meeting interactions by focusing on a locally managed turn-taking system in a recurring meeting activity that is yet to be examined, namely, roundtable update discussion. In these activities, a meeting chair appoints primary speakership to each participant to give an update on recent work, during which non-chair, non-primary co-participants may contribute ideas and raise questions. By examining a collection of four cases of one specific turn-taking practicev, namely, next speaker self-selection, this study illustrates: 1) how the static, seated interactional space affords a non-chair, non-primary participant various multimodal resources in pursuing and constructing his/her self-selecting actions, and 2) how co-participants mobilise the multimodal resources that are made available by the physical seating arrangements in the local ecologies of the activity, to carry out mutual monitoring and orientation in accordance with their emerging roles. Particularly, this study explores the systematicity of participants’ mobilisation of multimodal resources by revealing the hierarchical order of gaze/head movements, upper torso and gesture when deployed in side-by-side and face-to-face seating arrangements. Such an explication shed new lights on how visual access in-between incipient self-selecting speakers and current speakers is exploited as a publicly-available resource to contextualise the operation of turn-taking.

Creating an ethos for learning: classroom seating and pedagogical use of space at a Chinese suburban middle school

ABSTRACT The classroom is a crucial, everyday element of children's geographies with important socio-spatial characteristics that demand scholarly attention. This study ethnographically investigates the production of meanings in the classroom space through seating. Building on the conceptual framework of spatial dialectic (Lefebvre, H. 1991. The Production of Space. Translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith. Oxford: Blackwell), it theorizes that classroom space is a fluid process that shapes and is shaped by the everyday spatial practices of teachers and students. Specifically it draws on the fieldwork conducted at a suburban middle school in China's underdeveloped northwest region, exploring the process by which the hierarchical seating arrangements are used as a pedagogical tool for creating a charged space conducive for learning at the classroom level. The study reveals that the built space in the classroom has been transformed into a space imbued with moral terms, in and through which students are expected to commit themselves to schoolwork.

Design and Development of Enhanced Exam Hall Seating Arrangement Automation System

During exam period, it is very hectic task to find out the venue of the examination hall and which seat is allocated to a particular student. Students used to face many problems for finding the exam hall and their seats. Therefore, an exam hall seating arrangement system is needed to computerize the traditional way of preparing the examination hall allotment and generate the hall seating arrangement plan automatically for smooth conduction of exams. The proposed system will guide the students to find out their respective examination hall during their exams. This would also show the respective seat of a student in a particular row of their examination. The other objective of developing this system is to help the students to direct them to their respective examination hall without delays for going on searching for hall plan and their seat allotment. It contains the student, department, subject, staff details, examination hall and their seat allotment. This system will also send the hall number and seat allotted to a particular student through that student’s registered email id. The classifier algorithm is used for efficient generation of seating arrangement and Advanced Encryption System (AES) algorithm is used for password verification of registered users for ensuring high-level security.

Occupant pre-crash kinematics in rotated seat arrangements

The introduction of automated L5 driving technologies will revolutionise the design of vehicle interiors and seating configurations, improving occupant comfort and experience. It is foreseen that pre-crash emergency braking and swerving manoeuvres will affect occupant posture, which could lead to an interaction with a deploying airbag. This research addresses the urgent safety need of defining the occupant’s kinematics envelope during that pre-crash phase, considering rotated seat arrangements and different seatbelt configurations. The research used two different sets of volunteer tests experiencing L5 vehicle manoeuvres, based in the first instance on 22 50th percentile fit males wearing a lap-belt (OM4IS), while the other dataset is based on 87 volunteers with a BMI range of 19 to 67 kg/m2 wearing a 3-point belt (UMTRI). Unique biomechanics kinematics corridors were then defined, as a function of belt configuration and vehicle manoeuvre, to calibrate an Active Human Model (AHM) using a multi-objective optimisation coupled with a Correlation and Analysis (CORA) rating. The research improved the AHM omnidirectional kinematics response over current state of the art in a generic lap-belted environment. The AHM was then tested in a rotated seating arrangement under extreme braking, highlighting that maximum lateral and frontal motions are comparable, independent of the belt system, while the asymmetry of the 3-point belt increased the occupant’s motion towards the seatbelt buckle. It was observed that the frontal occupant kinematics decrease by 200 mm compared to a lap-belted configuration. This improved omnidirectional AHM is the first step towards designing safer future L5 vehicle interiors.

Students’ preferences for seating arrangements and their engagement in cooperative learning activities in college English blended learning classrooms in higher education

ABSTRACT Previous research has documented that seating arrangements have great impact on student's active engagement within classrooms. However, insufficient attention has been given to students’ preferences for classroom seating arrangements and their engagement in college English language blended learning classrooms in higher education. Employing questionnaire surveys and a case study method with a sample of 94 first-year college students, the present research examined how students’ preferences for seating arrangements affected their engagement in cooperative learning (CL) activities in English as a foreign language (EFL) blended learning classrooms in higher education. The analysis through a two-way repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) indicated that a semicircular seating arrangement was better for integrating students into the CL activities than a rows-and-columns seating arrangement in terms of communication affordance, concentration maintenance, and classroom environment. An analysis with a Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that students’ preference for the former seating type remained the same; that is, they preferred semicircular seating both before and after they had experienced both kinds of seating types because it promoted a better classroom experience. Implications for how to utilize seating arrangements to enhance student engagement in EFL blended learning classrooms in higher education are discussed.

The Effectiveness of U-Shape Seating Arrangement Strategy for Discussion in Speaking Class

This resaerch is focused on the effectiveness of U-Shape seating arrangement strategy for discussion in speaking class at teh first grade students of SLTP Negeri 2 Pematang Raya. The Problem of this research are: 1) How does the teacher implement U-Shape seating arrangement for discussion in speaking class of the first grade students at SLTP Negeri 2 Pematang Raya? ; 2) Is U-Shape seating arrangement effective for discussion in speaking class of the first grade students at SLTP Negeri 2 Pematang Raya? : 3) What are the students’ responses toward U-Shape seating arrangement for discussion? The objective of this research are: 1) To describe implementation of U-Shape seating arrangement for discussion in speaking class of the first grade students at SLTP Negeri 2 Pematang Raya; 2) To analyze the effectiveness of U-Shape seating arrangement for discussion in speaking class of the first grade students at SLTP Negeri 2 Pematang Raya; 3) To know the students’ responses toward U-Shape seating arrangement for discussion. From the data anaysis it can be concluded that : 1) The teacher uses her strategy to implement U-shape seating arrangement for discussion in speaking class of the first grade students at SLTP Negeri 2 Pematang Raya. U-shape seating arrangement is effective for discussion due to some proofs. First, U-shape seating arrangement helps the teacher leading the discussion well. The teacher can clearly give instruction to the students, easily monitor the students, and easily interact with the students during discussion in U-shape seating arrangement on the first day and second day observation; 2) The students show good responses toward U-shape seating arrangement for discussion. 55.56% of number of the students state that they like implementing U-shape seating arrangement for discussion, and 22.22% of number of the student’s state that they like implementing U-shape seating arrangement for discussion very much. Besides, 51.85% of the students state that they feel comfortable with U-shape seating arrangement for discussion, and 33.33% of them state that they feel much comfortable.

The Relationship between Workplace Window and Seating Arrangement

The partnership of public and private sectors, civil society and citizens are required in the realization of the Envision 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Target number 8 goal is the main focus of this paper, by investigating the current work environment effects on its occupants. Office occupants spend most of their time in the work environment, hence it is appropriate to ensure a healthy environment is maintained. Presently, the workplace seating arrangement is mostly done neglecting the benefits of the window and view which provides a restorative effect to the occupants. A total of 267 respondents were involved in this study using a cross-sectional approach. The study was carried out in Kogi State Government offices in Nigeria. The study made use of a close-ended questionnaire. Subsequently, descriptive analysis and Structural Equation Modelling were used to obtain results. The results showed a valid model, the factors that are interrelated in the relationship between seating arrangement and window reveal a low overall regression weight. The low output suggests that urgent measures need to be put in place to sustain a healthy environment for occupants. The path diagrams reveal that seating arrangement to view satisfaction is significant. In practice, the findings of this study will serve as a useful indicator to provide positive solutions and enforce policies that will maintain a purposeful and effective workplace allocation for occupants. It is hoped that the study will give an insight into the enforcement of the Bill empowering Facility managers and other building stakeholders to effectively practice in public buildings, thereby promoting a healthy working environment.

Editorial Letter

Editorial Letter