Seating Groups

University or high-level/diverse classes:

• assigned into groups for the semester/period of time that have assigned groups of seats in the classroom 
• groups based on mixing up something diverse, like home cities for students who come from many different places, so the students are not resentful
• deterrent for coming in late because student would have to somewhat disrupt class to get to their seat instead of sneaking in and sitting in the back 
• reduces talking generally because the students are less likely to know those seated around them
• encourages students to get to know other students in the class 

The last two points somewhat contradict each other. My experience in a class like this was in an intro-level college class, so there was a lot of information to cover, so there was not much time for the students to socialize and get to know each other. However, the we had certain clicker quizzes that we could work on together, so there was a degree of getting to know each other.