Size Matters
Being heard and communication is key to learning when it comes to learning, then why do we pack classes so much? Simply put, it is much more cost effective to have a class of 30ish students than paying another teacher or the same teacher to teach another class. This isn’t even the worst of it since most 4 years have classes of over 300 students. But I’m sure you already know that and to avoid insulting your intelligence anymore let’s move on to the prevailing issue. Smaller classes offer up a multitude of advantages such as easy access to the teacher/professor and a tighter group of students.
In smaller classes we often have a pretty easy time reaching our teacher/professor for help, emails, office hours, and often just directly asking after class. In a larger class this might be more difficult as while office hours are still there, it’s a much different situation as professors must now juggle between hundreds of students. Hundreds of emails, papers to grade almost immediately after class, and fighting for attention during office hours. All of this culminates in a situation almost akin to trying to vy for a parent’s attention in a large family.
In addition class sizes also affect the student on student relationships as the smaller the class the more tight knit the student populace is. Like a small suburban community, most students would know each other pretty well as the sea of faces in a normal class now shrinks to a mere puddle. There would be a greater push to talk to each other since there isn’t really a wealth of choices which in turn could improve student relations for the less socially inclined. A network of contacts which could assist each other on assignments, lessons, you name it and we even can observe it in private schools where the population of students is so miniscule you could recognize anybody at a quick glance.
Overall if it was cost effective I wholeheartedly believe that it would be of huge benefit to institutionalize small classes and safely say size does matter. (Yes Entire Post Was Just An Excuse To Make A Joke)
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You raise some good points about smaller classrooms. Though you have more choice when it comes to who you work with in larger classes, having a smaller class where everyone has to work together can help people build bonds and get more help on assignments, like how you said. There’s also that feeling of uniqueness someone feels when they’re in a class with a small number of students, making them feel like they’re deserving of their spot in the classroom.
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