<p>So, my state is trying to increase class sizes for every grade from fourth and up saying that there is no evidence that class size has any impact on student's learning. I'm curious now. Do you guys prefer large or small class sizes and why?</p>
<p>Small class because you get more individual attention from the teacher. The larger the class size, the more the student has to self-learn.</p>
<p>Small, obviously. More intimate, feel more of a connection with students, more individual attention, etc. For instance, there are two AP Calc AB classes in my school. One of the classes, due to a scheduling mixup, is full at 27 kids. On the other hand, my class has around 10 kids. We’ve been ahead of them the whole year.</p>
<p>EDIT: From what I’ve heard from friends in the other class, it’s not a problem of class intelligence or teacher competency. The only other big variable, then, is class size.</p>
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<p>Scheduled class speed strikes me as a big variable. Much bigger than, say, class size.</p>
<p>I think it really just depends on the teacher and the willingness of the class to learn. An excellent teacher can adapt to almost any class size.</p>
<p>This year, my AP Calc BC class has 8 kids in it. Next period, I have AP English Language, with 29 kids. Both are the best classes I’ve ever had in their respective subjects, and the class size contributes a lot to that. The wider variety of opinions and points of view in English make discussions much better, while the sense of community built by only having 8 kids (6 of whom, including me, have been in the same class together for 7 years) is incredible.</p>
<p>It really depends on the specific class and subject; however, there is much less risk of a small (<15 students) class being a bad class.</p>
<p>It only takes one or two kids to disrupt the class and change the dynamic. The bigger the class the bigger the chance one of them will be disruptive.</p>
<p>I go to boarding school so my classes range from 9-17 students. I guess I like that classes can have more discussion and whatnot since they’re smaller; the only downside is getting more attention from teachers when you don’t want it (when you’re not paying attention, haven’t done homework, etc).</p>
<p>My English class had 39 kids in it (now, due to a few schedule changes, we only have 36.) It’s not bad, especially if you’re lucky enough to have a good teacher. However, you do get a lot less attention and you have to figure things out for yourself.
It does depend on the class, however. We only have 20 people in our hon. chem class, but the small size doesn’t help much.</p>
<p>small class size, large grade size (like total students)</p>
<p>Small. I feel swallowed up in classes of 18-21 kids. Although that might be because our classrooms are really designed to hold 16 students max…</p>
<p>My classes range in size from 5 (French) to 18 or 20. (Stats)</p>
<p>It’s not so bad if you’re in the front or second row if you’re in a big class, but I about died when we had assigned seats in French 1 and there were twenty-one kids in that class and I got stuck in the middle of the second to last row. I finally asked the teacher to move me and the next day she placed me in the front row. It was a lot better then.</p>
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hah… There are rarely classes that big in my school. 20 is almost enough to create two sections. XD</p>
<p>Just out of interest, do you live in Idaho?</p>
<p>I have a slight preference for larger classes. They offer more flexibility for me as a student, and the supervision is less direct. Plus, an increased number of students decreases the teacher’s incentive to give long, involved homework assignments and increases the emphasis on examinations. There is never any problem with getting involved in the classroom because I simply raise my hand whenever I want to say something.</p>
<p>I think the teacher attention argument is totally bogus. Even in a class of 10 students, it’s terribly inefficient for the teacher to spend extensive amounts of time helping any individual student. One-on-one is the only way to get that kind of help, and you can do that at lunch or before/after class.</p>
<p>With that said, a very small classroom can be a lot of fun when everyone already knows each other. </p>
<p>I think classes between 10 and 20 students are the worst of both worlds.</p>
<p>This year has been the year of the smallest classes for me.</p>
<p>Alright, IB History for me… is the largest with like 36 people.</p>
<p>IB Math HL and IB Spanish each have like 14 people in it, that’s including me.</p>
<p>IB Chem… We have like 24 people in there, and it’s the only class.</p>
<p>IB English: Around 20…</p>
<p>AP Gov…: 20 something.
IB CS: 16.</p>
<p>small classes are the best.</p>
<p>Small classes are better. The differences in learning styles/capabilities are already varied; having a larger class size means that the students who are ahead have to wait for the others. Conversely, the students that are behind have to struggle to catch up. Either way, it’s hard to get work done. Add behavioural problems to the mix and, well, that’s a problem.</p>
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I don’t understand. Why do students who are ahead have to wait?</p>
<p>relating this to college… class size is supposed to be a factor in choosing the college for you. who actually prefers the 500 people, auditorium size classes over the small, <20 classes?</p>
<p>^^The teacher’s more reluctant to move on if there are students who don’t understand.</p>
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I do.
Then you have bad teachers. This would never happen in most of my classes. We stick to a schedule, and those who can’t take it are expected to drop into a lower-level course.</p>
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<p>Depends on the subject. If it’s a science class, there really isn’t much difference.</p>
<p>I find that in math classes in auditoriums, I usually have a better view of the chalk board.</p>