Larger classes & the quality of education

Here's another editorial I wrote for the Daily Beacon. It was published in the Tuesday, Sept. 1 issue, and can be found online here.

In the Monday, Aug. 24, Daily Beacon article titled “UT scheduling provides more seats with fewer class sections,” the Beacon reported that this semester UT offers fewer course sections but has nearly the same number of seats available for students as it did during the fall 2008 semester. As a result, some class sections have been enlarged.

We appreciate efforts to offer the courses students need to graduate in a timely manner, even if this means enlarging section sizes. But how does this increased seat capacity affect students’ educational experience?

“Perhaps the most surprising (and well documented) result in the literature on class size in higher education is that class size seems to have little or no impact on the acquisition and even the retention of basic course material by students,” according to a summary of class size studies, written by Richard C. Schiming and available at http://www.mnsu.edu/cetl/teachingresources/articles/classsize.html.

Perhaps larger classes do yield the same result grade-wise, but are grades the ultimate indication of learning?

In larger classes, professors do not get to know their students. This isn’t the fault of the professor; it’s nearly impossible to learn the names of 200 students, let alone personally interact with all of them about their individual educational goals in a single semester. You think, 200 — that seems like too many. Well, if a professor teaches four classes with 50 students in each class, that’s still the same amount of students to keep up with.

The best classes, the ones that are most beneficial to students, are the ones in which students get to know their professors and take the time to talk with their professors one-on-one about the student’s particular interests. Without this sort of interaction, a class can become a chore, just another requirement on the graduation to-do list.

In larger classes, students may absorb the same amount of information, but mere fact retention is not the sole indicator of intellectual growth. It is important to gain academic knowledge, but often, compelling class discussions (which are many times impossible in large classes) can be more intellectually beneficial than memorizing facts for a test. One or two meaningful conversations are often more enlightening than a semester’s-worth of academic memorization.

Schiming’s article supports this idea, as he writes, “When it comes to the attainment of higher-order academic skills such as problem solving, written expression and critical thinking, students in smaller classes do acquire more of these skills than do students in larger classes. Thus, while the literature demonstrates that large classes prove no obstacle to the acquisition of specific, course-related, factual knowledge, students in larger classes are at some disadvantage in developing an ability to think better by using skills beyond the basic acquisition of information.”

So, while we at the Beacon appreciate UT’s efforts to keep our graduation schedules on-track, we think it is important to consider the ramifications larger class sizes have on the quality of education at UT.

In the end, though, it is up to the student to take the initiative to improve her own academic experience. Unfortunately, all classes will not be conducive to student learning. Therefore it is vital for you, UT student, to initiate your personal, educational growth by making the effort to engage in intellectually stimulating discussions with your professors and peers both inside and outside the classroom.