(In fact, in my evil little mind, I might be tempted to send a Dave to a table just a bit above him, to show him that he's only hot shit in his own mind.)
That's not evil. That's exactly how I would want to be treated in a class. I don't want to learn from people who know less than me, I want to learn from people who know more than me!
I think this is key to make progress in any learning environment, i.e. to find a group that one presumes as being slightly better than oneself. It seems to push at least myself to try harder and become better. But of cause the gap shouldn't be too large, otherwise it is annoying for the group and demotivational for the oneself.
(In fact, in my evil little mind, I might be tempted to send a Dave to a table just a bit above him, to show him that he's only hot shit in his own mind.)