Why heterogeneous pods?
In Kagan's cooperative learning model, students are grouped by performance into four quartiles — then deliberately mixed so that every pod contains one student from each quartile. This isn't random grouping. The seating is intentional: students who sit next to each other (shoulder partners) are always two quartiles apart. That's the productive gap — close enough to communicate, far enough apart that the stronger student has to explain and the developing student gets a genuine thinking partner, not just an answer.
Pod of 4 — the default layout
↑ Far from teacher
↕ shoulder↕ shoulder
↓ Near teacher
Shoulder partners (Q1↕Q3 and Q2↕Q4) sit side-by-side — two quartiles apart. This is where the most productive peer interaction happens: the gap is wide enough to create a teaching moment, narrow enough that the conversation stays accessible.
Face partners (Q1↔Q2 and Q3↔Q4) sit across from each other — one quartile apart. These are closer in level, which works well for compare-and-check activities.
Pod of 3 — when the numbers don't divide evenly
↑ Far from teacher
↓ Near teacher
When class size doesn't divide by four, the remainder students form pods of 3. The Q4 seat is dropped — Q1 stays farthest from the teacher, Q2 and Q3 sit nearest. The shoulder-partner principle still applies: Q1 is two levels above Q3.
How to sort students into quartiles
Rank your students by overall performance in your class — grades, assessments, your professional judgment, or some combination. Then divide that ranked list into four equal groups. The top 25% is Q1, the next 25% is Q2, the next is Q3, the bottom 25% is Q4. It doesn't need to be precise — reasonable judgment is the point, not statistical exactness. You can always move individual students between quartiles after the initial sort.
When to reshuffle
Kagan recommends reshuffling pods every 5–6 weeks so students work with different peers throughout the semester. Your quartile assignments stay — only the pod combinations change. If a student's performance has shifted, move them to a different quartile before regenerating. The tool preserves your quartile sorts between sessions.