Immediacy, ensemble setup, and classroom space: A quasi-experimental study among secondary instrumental teachers and students

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of closed and opened setup conditions on students’ and teachers’ reported immediacy, affect, motivation, and group cohesion in band and orchestra classrooms. A secondary purpose was to explore relationships among students’ and teachers’ reported immediacy, affect, motivation, and group cohesion. Six teachers and 379 of their students participated in the study. In this within-subjects experiment, teachers were asked to teach with their classrooms arranged in closed and opened setup conditions. In the closed condition, teachers used a traditional setup of arcs and were not asked to change their use of space when teaching. In the opened condition, an aisle was added to the ensemble setup and teachers were provided with strategies to encourage movement toward and among students when teaching. At the end of each condition, teachers and students completed measures of constructs related to immediacy, affect, motivation, and group cohesion. Results indicate the effect of the intervention increased negative affect among students, teacher proximity was associated with negative affect among students, and students’ perceptions of their teacher’s immediacy was found to have positive relationships with student affect, motivation, and group cohesion.