Does the Seat Matter? The Influence of Seating Factors and Motivational Factors on Situational Engagement and Satisfaction in the Smart Classroom

Abstract

As a technology-enhanced student-centered learning environment, smart classrooms are becoming increasingly popular in higher education. It is undoubtedly important to understand how seating and motivational factors affect situational engagement and satisfaction in smart classrooms. Pre-survey, experience sampling method, and post-survey were used in this study to conduct a longitudinal survey of 113 pre-service teachers in three courses at a university in central China. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, hierarchical linear modeling, and hierarchical linear regression were used to investigate the effects of seating factors and motivational factors on engagement and satisfaction in smart classrooms. We found: (1) for the seating factor, the distance of the seat from the center point predicted student situational engagement in the smart classroom; (2) for motivational factors, needs of competence and competence during the activity predicted student situational engagement, while autonomous motivation at the beginning of a course strongly predicted student situational engagement in subsequent activities; and (3) of all the factors, situational engagement was a significant predictor of students’ final course satisfaction and fully mediated the relationship between autonomous motivation and satisfaction. Finally, some practice implications are discussed to improve engagement and satisfaction in technology-enhanced environments.