SUGGESTED ANSWER TO QUESTION 2A-4

It is difficult to say whether or not this is a reasonable suggestion to make. There are at least two uncontrolled variables that could explain why people who sit in the center seats of the first few rows tend to do better than other students in the classroom. First, people who sit in these seats may be more motivated to do well in a course. For example, they may decide to sit close to the instructor because they do not want to miss anything the instructor says during the class. If the variable of motivation is the cause of their better performance, then it is unlikely that telling someone to sit in the center seat in the first row will have any influence on his or her grade.

On the other hand, there is a second variable that may explain why people who sit in the center seats of the first few rows tend to do better than other students in the classroom: such people often participate more in the class discussion, perhaps because they get called on more by the instructor or because they feel less inhibited about participating due to their close proximity to the instructor. Class participation may facilitate active learning of the material. In this case, telling someone to sit in the center seat of the first row may have a positive influence on their grade.

You may have thought of other variables that may be important for the effect of seating on course grades.