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Does Class Size Matter in College?

Brett Stevens

Grand Canyon University ENG 106

April 29, 2018

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In today’s society, people might assume that bigger is always better. For example, fast

food restaurants taut their “super- size” meals, Costco is the “super-store,” and top universities

brag about their large student population with the advantages of an extra-large campus and the

multitude of classes available to students. Unfortunately, there is a trend today towards large

theatre-type lecture halls with professors or graduate assistants lecturing to 100 or more students

at a time. For a first- time university student this can be intimidating and a huge shock. For

example, in high school, class sizes are typically 20 to 30 students with a teacher instructing the

class, whereas once in college at Grand Canyon University classes can range from sizes numbering

20 to 80 plus students in lecture halls with only one professor. Student can struggle in this type of

environment where they are not getting the type of individualized instruction they may need or

have an opportunity to develop a relationship with the professor. The struggle with the large

student to professor ratio may also include the inability to comfortably ask questions in class. In

college, class size should be limited to 40 students to maximize the student’s relationship with

instructors and promote a more satisfactory environment for engaging the students. Grand Canyon

University should eliminate the huge lecture halls and otherwise re-evaluate how the class sizes

can impact academic success.

Navigating college can be stressful and challenging to many students especially when

confronted with excessively large classroom sizes unlike anything they have previously

experienced. Most students do not consider student to faculty ratios prior to arriving at school.

However, “once they begin taking classes, it appears that students’ feelings toward class sizes

begin to shift…where attitudes toward large classes are significantly negative” (Chapman,L.,

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&Ludlow, L., 2010). In the article titled “Massification and the Large Lecture Theatre: From

Panic to Excitement,” author James Arvanitakis writes that professors of extremely large classes

have few opportunities to address the needs of individual students and find themselves focusing

instead on students in the “middle.” That type of instruction will leave those who have struggles

in the class behind as well as students who might be more academically gifted.

At Grand Canyon University and other colleges, students in these large lecture hall type

classes may not feel free to raise their hand and ask questions for fear of looking foolish in front

of their peers or seeming like they are the only ones who do not understand the material in the

lecture. Furthermore, a student may have to either wait until after class, make an appointment, or

send an e-mail to have a discussion with the professor or teaching assistant so they can complete

their assignments (Sellers, E., 2018). This puts them in danger of falling behind in class and

affect their overall performance. Research done at Minnesota State University, Mankato

discovered that “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” (Schiming, R.C., 2013). Additionally, while a

large class may not be an issue with gaining knowledge in specific, course related information,

there are potential risks for the inability to develop better thinking skills that go beyond the basic

information presented in the class (Schiming, R.C., 2013). Instructors in very large classes are

more likely to emphasize learning factual knowledge and less likely to stress developing

communication skills (NCTE, 2014). Research has also indicated that students who enrolled in

large introductory courses tended to do poorly in the next level class compared to students who

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were in a similar small class environment (Chapman, L. & Ludlow, L., 2010). This means that

there are potentially long-term negative effects of large classrooms.

Another downside to significantly large class size is the loss of engagement between the

student and the professor and with their fellow classmates. Where class size exceeds 100

students or more, professors have little opportunity to interact with many in his class and may

not even know the student’s names. In cases where the class may also be taught by a graduate

assistant and not the actual professor, the students lose the expertise the faculty member can

bring to the classroom (Sellers, E., 2018). The overwhelming size also interferes with active

classroom discussions, interactions between classmates, and reduces the ability to meet other

students and form beneficial relationships such as study groups (Sellers, E., 2018).

A way to improve the student’s education and communication with the professor would

be eliminating the excessively large classrooms and limit the number of students in the class to a

more manageable forty students. Additionally, students should be permitted to view the intended

class size when selecting their schedules online thus avoiding the large lecture hall course. Once

the classroom is full it will no longer be able to select. Professors pay and schedule is also

important aspect of this, which is why professors would get paid as if they were teaching one

eighty student class to breaking it down to two forty-person class throughout the school day. In

order for this to all work, there would have to be more classes throughout the day for students to

attended and possibly more professors to hire.

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Another very important factor in this would be ensuring that the instructor’s assistants

have significant experience in the major for the class they are instructing. This will further

benefit the students in the class by providing additional help when the professor is unavailable or

due to class size, is impractical. The challenge for Grand Canyon University is to look at various

class size options and decide if the large classes where there is less expenditure of money are

worth the loss of academic success for their student body.

The best answer to this dilemma that universities have been struggling with, is capping

off the availabilities online for scheduling student’s classes, hiring more professors in regions

that have higher student interest for majors, and having the instructor’s assistants major be one

that will help enlighten and give reasonable help to the college students. These issues are not

new to the world of education with studies being conducted in the 1980’s and today utilizing

Student Teacher Achievement Record (STAR) analysis. According to Whitehurst and Chingos

from Brookings Institution, “STAR researchers have found positive effects of early and very

large class-size reductions on academic achievement in school and college attendance, with the

economic benefits of the program outweighing the costs” (Whitehurst, G.J., & Chingo, M.,

2011).

To adequately address the various issues regarding student academic performance and

student to professor engagement at GCU, the university must be considering class size. GCU

must limit class sizes to forty students for a more optimal and manageable outcome of academic

success. If GCU were to take all these roles into consideration and making it a concrete concept

at the school, the benefits will be more beneficial than any negative outcome. By reducing the

class size, it will not only improve grades, but also enhance student thinking and reasoning skills.

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At the same time, the enhanced academic success will reflect positively on the university which

may attract more students and other excellent faculty members. Another element to consider in

this study is “student involvement and personal contact between the professor and the students

make a significant difference in learning outcomes, and that this can be encouraged through

brainstorming sessions, asking questions and encouraging dialogue (Gilbert. S.,1995 ).” In

smaller classes, the students are more comfortable speaking own viewpoints and can actively

engage in discussion over topics that a professor can ask, this all improves critical thinking and

potentially a way to boost a grade when writing an essay. At Florida Atlantic University, the

Director of Academic Services and Enrollment Management states “Your college grades are the

centerpiece of your transcript; they may also be a part of your ticket to the grad school or career

(Acevedo, J., 2018). In this case, it is imperative the ones looking to further their education are

able to achieve good grades and are able to benefit from this smaller class size at GCU. Another

negative aspect that is looked down upon is the cost of having more classes due to the reduced

class size, although the National Council of Teachers English provides that schools “cannot

afford to reduce the size of classes because it would be too expensive. However, it is also

expensive when students leave” (NCTE, 2018). Students might leave a university to find a better

learning environment, but by having the benefits of a reduced size in class it will encourage the

engagement with the professor and be motivation for them to stay and continue their education.

Overall, capping off classes is a more beneficial way for students to be more actively engaged in

class, have a better learning and relationship with the professor, a way to improve their academic

achievements while attending Grand Canyon University.

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Large college classes are a fact of life on most college campuses and with increasing

pressure to contain costs and maximize faculty, they are probably here to stay for better or worse.

However, Grand Canyon University needs to reconsider when it comes to class size and the

effects it may have on the outcome of the students’ academic performance. Not only will

reducing class size improve the learning environment and create relationships with professors, it

will build reasoning and critical thinking skills. The students will be able to improve and

continue their education at GCU while enjoying the ability of a small classroom environment.

Instead of GCU losing money because of students leaving the University, this will give them a

reason to stay and possibly a way to further increase and retain enrollment on campus. This is

definitely a case where bigger is not always better.

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References

Acevedo,J. (2018). 5 reasons why class size matters. Retrieved from https://www.schools.

com/articles/5-reasons-class-size-matters

Arvanitakis, J. (2014). Massification and the large lecture theatre: from panic to excitement.

Higher Education (00181560), 67(6), 735-745. Doi:10.1007/s10734-013-9676-y

Chapman, L. & Ludlow,L. (2010). Can Downsizing College Class Sizes Augment

Student Outcomes? An Investigation of the Effects of Class Size on Student

Learning. JGE: The Journal of General Education,59(2), 105-123

Sellers, E. (2018). Small College Class Size Benefits. Retrieved from http://

education.seattlepi.com/small-college-class-size-benefits-1269.html

Schiming, R.C. (2013) Class Size. Retrieved from https://www.cset.mnsu.edu/

cetl/teachingresources/articles/classsize.html

Whitehurst, J., & Chingo, M. (2011) Class Size: What Research Says and What it Means for

State Policy. Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings. Retreived from

http://www.brookings.edu/brown.aspx

Why Class Size Matters Today. (2014, April 1). Retrieved from http://www2/ncte.org/

statement/why-class-size-matters/

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