Big lecture hall, rustling papers, people coming and going — it can be a lot during an exam. A distraction-reduced testing space gives you a calmer setting to focus and perform at your best. This page walks you through how to use it.
More About Exam Accommodations: Distraction-Reduced Seating
The Office of Accessible Education (OAE) understands that conference rooms, seminar spaces, and lecture halls vary greatly by square footage, seating capacity, and seating arrangements. In an effort to maximize the limited space available for accommodated exams, we have renamed and redefined “distraction-reduced” exam rooms. The operational rule of thumb for a distraction-reduced testing environment is to use one-third of a room's seating capacity to provide students with adequate space while reducing distractions. All locations listed in 25Live display seating capacity on their websites; however, we understand this may not be true for all potential testing spaces on campus.
- Faculty, lecturers, and TAs: If you need assistance in scheduling rooms for private and/or distraction-reduced testing accommodations, please work with your departmental student services staff. Another resource is 25Live, which can be used to request classrooms and space(s) on campus; 25Live can be accessed at scheduling.stanford.edu.
Sample Seating Configurations
Please find a list of sample seating configurations using the new seating framework to identify how many (or few) students may sit for exams in a given space. The OAE is always available to consult should instructors have questions about a specific space.
Conference Table
- Seating capacity: 6
- Distraction-reduced testing capacity: 2
Square Table
- Seating capacity: 8
- Distraction-reduced testing capacity: 2
Curved End Table
- Seating capacity: 10
- Distraction-reduced testing capacity: 3
Boat-Shaped Table
- Seating capacity: 12
- Distraction-reduced testing capacity: 4
Box Configuration of Tables
- Seating capacity: 14
- Distraction-reduced testing capacity: 4
Rectangular Configuration of Tables
- Seating capacity: 16
- Distraction-reduced testing capacity: 5
Classroom Configuration of Tables
- Seating capacity: 18
- Distraction-reduced testing capacity: 6
Small Lecture Hall with Chevron Rows
- Seating capacity: 49
- Distraction-reduced testing capacity: 16
Lecture Hall Configuration
- Seating capacity: 72
- Distraction-reduced testing capacity: 24
