<p>Class sizes may be smaller than other places, but still 30-35 students (which I see is the usual class size - see here</a>) seems a bit much for discussion (in lecture/non-seminar classes), and as far as I know there are no discussion sections.</p>
<p>Does discussion take place during lectures (by which I mean non-seminar classes)? How prevalent is class discussion during lectures at Carleton? Also, do you feel satisfied with the interactivity of the learning experience and with the class size?</p>
<p>Those figures will probably be thrown off by the very few classes that have over fifty students. My bio class has 100 people in it because it’s a freshman lecture, but those are rare outside of intro science courses. These classes are then divided into 20 person lab sections, with prefect sessions for anyone who wants further information on the material.</p>
<p>I have had three discussion-based classes (I’ve taken mostly science/math/lecture classes, but will be taking a lot more humanities in the future), one with 22 students, one with 15, and one with 11 (which I’m in now). Generally, it depends on the professor, but I am overall satisfied with many of the discussions I’ve had in class, especially in my social justice class. </p>
<p>However, there is discussion in some lecture classes - it jsut depends which. My winter biology class had 50 students, and yet was actually heavily discussion-based. It was weird at first, but it actually really worked. My professor asked us a lot of questions during lecture, and then had us split into small discussion groups at least once per class. It really depends on the subject, professor, and class size.</p>
<p>I have only had 1 huge intro class that was 70 people, but the rest have all been 30 or under. In fact, last term my largest class had 20 (the other two were 9 and 12), and this was as a freshman. I’d say the classes are pretty personal here, and the professors are for the most part very excited about getting to know you. And like reesespiecez, even in my 70 person class we often broke up into small discussion groups and I was definitely engaged with the material almost all the time.</p>
<p>Intro classes always throw these stats off as they are usually the biggest class on campus. I’m in intro biology right now and there’s 120 people, however this is a very very rare occasion. The class however like reesepiecez mentioned is broken up into 20 people lab sections and there are prefect (TA) sessions that you may attend for extra help.</p>
<p>Outside of these intro classes, it’s very rare for classes to be above 20ish people. All the other classes I’ve had usually consist of 15 people or less and discussion definitely happens. And professors are definitely accessible outside of class time here.</p>
<p>The numbers on the registrar’s are the maximum number of people who may be in a class, not necessarily the number who will register. This term, I have 25 people in one of my classes, 20 in another, and 10 in the third. The 25 person class seems HUGE compared to most of the classes I’ve taken at Carleton over the past couple of years! I’ve only had one class with more than 30 people in it.</p>