Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: [Phys-l] large class questions



There are studies, but I'll leave it to John Clement to cite them. The results however are pretty much common sense--big, bigger, biggest--no real difference. You have to get the classes pretty small < 24 (I think) to see some effects, but I'm not sure if the studies were controlled enough to account for pedagogical differences in the presentations. I taught a 64-80 student Gen ED class for many years. Recently we've split that into two 32 student sections and that makes a big difference. I try to conduct classes as dialogs and the smaller size greatly improves that. I also get better attendance (not because of crowding but rather because it is more obvious if one is absent in the smaller group.)

OTOH, I had my Calculus based course swell from 12 to 24 (the former WAS the class size limit--the latter is the new class limit since we had no way to accommodate the other 12 students). Here my integrated lab/lecture/tutorial course has suffered. I have been forced to demand (rather than have optional) working in groups--taking one homework and one lab assignment from each group of 3. I won't know until the first test (coming soon) how well that is working but do suspect I have a number of students currently riding the coat-tails of others (despite warnings). I was running 4-75 minute classes and had been able to get enough lab work done in a 75 minute time frame to function, but with 8 tables of three, I found it impossible to get enough done. I have now collapsed the course to 3 100-minute sessions--which are working better (I was using a 8:30-9:45 time slot so 8:00-9:45 didn't create any time conflicts for a mid-semester change ;-).

Anyway, the point here is that large classes limit the pedagogical approaches (clickers not withstanding) and will do so at 50, 100, 250. If you are personally doing any of the grading and/or helping students outside of class, the bigger the class the more the work. If you aren't, then 80 to 120 won't change much of anything.

Rick

***************************
Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN
rtarara@saintmarys.edu
******************************
Free Physics Software
PC & Mac
www.saintmarys.edu/~rtarara/software.html
*******************************


----- Original Message ----- From: <marx@phy.ilstu.edu>
To: "Forum for Physics Educators" <phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 10:38 AM
Subject: [Phys-l] large class questions



Our department offers a Gen Ed physics course, which attracts approximately 550 students per
semester. The class is currently taught in a room with approximately 85 seats with an enrollment limit
of 85.

Yesterday, at out department meeting, it was suggested that we increase the size of the classes
(moving to a different room, of course) to perhaps 120 per section; and we would then offer fewer
sections.

Some faculty claimed that it doesn't make any difference if there are more than 40 or 50 students. So,
we have two issues, (1) Is there a difference in teaching outcomes between a class of 85 and a class
of 120? and (2) Is there an effect in a large lecture hall when every seat is filled (100 % attendance) as
opposed to having 10-15% of the seats empty with 100 % attendance?

In my opinion, having every seat filled makes the room seem too crowded and some students will feel
uncomfortable with that and not come to class as a result. In addition, in my classes, I like to do group
activities with groups of 4 to 6 students; and having empty seats makes moving around easier. Most of
the other faculty only use passive lectures and multiple-choice, computer graded tests.

_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l