Appendix C
Setting Up: Ensuring a Comfortable Room Ambiance
Setting Up the Room With Chairs
How the room is set up will greatly affect participant interaction. Included are four common room arrangements and their benefits and drawbacks.
| Set-Up | Benefits | Circle Seating |
Circle Seating |
||
| Stimulates interaction. Promotes more equal role between trainer and group members. |
Visual aids difficult to use. More difficult if large number of participants. No room to write. Materials must be balanced on laps. |
|
| U- Shape Seating | ||
| Leader more easily becomes part of group. Facilitates communication. |
Participants at extremes may be distant from each other, which may hamper communication. Takes time to arrange furniture. |
|
| Workshop Clusters | ||
| Good freedom for participants. Good discussion and diverse communication. Lots of participant working space. Can accommodate large groups. |
Takes lots of space. Visuals can be difficult to see. |
|
| Standard Classroom Seating | ||
| Easy to set up/rented facilities often set up this way. Can accommodate large groups. |
Participants cannot easily talk with or see one another. Leader clearly apart from the group. Visuals may be difficult to see. |
|
| X = Trainer X = Participants | ||
