Hello, TIPsters:
Last month, I sent a post regarding our campus' insistence that we justify our
class sizes. We are a 4-year liberal arts school that "sells" itself as
offering smaller classes than, for instance, UW-Madison. We are being asked to
provide research-based information to support our class caps.
One faculty member volunteered to check for published reasearch; so far he has
found that learning outcomes in general ed courses that are larger (e.g., 200)
are similar to those in smaller classes. He hasn't found anything on class
size in more specialized courses, and the gist is probably that no school would
be crazy enough to offer an upper level course for 200 students.
Our current caps are: general psychology, 40; child, adolescent, social, etc.
30-35; measurement, intro to experimental and techniques classes, 23-30;
advanced experimental 12.
I would greatly appreciate it if faculty from other 4-year schools would share
their typical class caps with me. The dean wants me to respond on Monday, of
course!
Further, if you know of any research on class size and effectiveness or
satisfaction, that would be helpful. We have data from focus groups with our
own students where they have stated they like smaller classes, but that's about
it.
Thanks!
Pat Bromley,
University of Wisconsin-Platteville
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
