Does class size affect student performance?

Will Bettmann

According to a recent study released by CNN, smaller classes lead to improved overall performance.

Although the study tracked Tennessee elementary school students, the issue of class size is also a concern for universities.

Harvard Law School recently announced it would spend $20 million just to reduce class size.

In South Carolina, colleges are funded according to their success in meeting quantifiable goals, one of which is average class size.

The student-to-faculty ratio at Utah State University is significantly higher than at comparable doctoral universities, according to Jeane Vinsonhaler, director of the Office of Planning and Analysis at USU.

She said the ratio at USU is 23 to 1, compared with 14 to 1 at the University of Utah and a national average of approximately 15 to 1.

“There has long been a need here to reduce average class size,” Vinsonhaler said. “We have articulated that need to the Board of Regents for at least the last five years. We’ve had a lot of growth, particularly in certain colleges, like Business Information Systems and Family Life, and our resources haven’t always kept up.”

She added that in 1999, the last year for which statistics were available, only 15 percent of classes offered at USU had more than 50 students, while 42 percent had fewer than 20 students.

Many students and faculty feel there is room for improvement. Alena Johnson, a graduate student who teaches in the Family and Human Development department, said she struggles with the size of her family finance class, which has one section with 110 students and another with 250.

“I’m torn, because I think everyone should take the class, and if we limited class size that would limit the number of students who could take it each semester,” she said. “On the other hand, it’s really hard to give the kind of assignments I like to give. I know a lot of teachers just give assignments that can be graded with Scantrons. It’s also harder to have discussions, since a lot of people just don’t talk in such a large group. I don’t know most students’ names. It’s frustrating, because I like to know the students, but it’s just not possible.”

Shante Tinsley, a junior broadcast journalism major who is in Johnson’s class this semester, said the number of students in the class presented problems.

“Sometimes people don’t have a place to sit,” she said. “The teacher has to use a microphone, which is staticky and doesn’t always work. She’s a good teacher, but some of the stuff is just out of her control.”

Brett Parsons, another student in the class, added that a lot of students either don’t show up or walk out in the middle of class because they don’t think the teacher will be able to identify them.

Large introductory classes are a fact of life at most universities, but USU tries to place students in smaller classes in their junior and senior years, said Provost Stan Albrecht.

“I don’t think we can say that big classes are automatically negative, or that small classes are automatically good, but I’d be concerned if someone did four years of huge classes – I’d feel we’d done them a disservice,” Albrecht said.

Ben Riley, president of Associated Students of USU, said even as a senior he has not been able to get into small classes in his business major.

“I’m a senior, and I don’t have small classes. I’ve got 50 to 100 students in my business classes. I think one of the best – and most important – experiences students can have is when they develop a close, mentor-type relationship with a professor in their major, but that’s hard to do in a big class,” Riley said.

Riley did note that USU President Kermit Hall has earmarked as much as half the money from his requested 3.5 percent tuition increase to hire new teachers.

However, both Riley and Vinsonhaler are quick to note that the tuition increase will not be enough to significantly reduce the student-to-faculty ratio.

“More than anything, we need help from the Legislature. The tuition increase will help, but students can’t carry the onus by themselves,” Riley said.