I teach for a couple of online schools. As I have read in the previous posts, I also have had classes at the 30 student or so level. I have also had classes with 5 students. The optimal level truly depends upon the complexity of the material, the subject matter of the course and the assignment load placed on the students, which directly correlates to instructor work load.
Having a large number of students in a class which is straight forward, does not require a lot of creative thinking and is an introductory type of class is manageable.
Conversely, if the material is at a higher level or technical in nature, requires creative thinking and theory application, a large class is not manageable.
Joe
Bruce,
Thank you very much for providing this very helpful resource.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Jeffrey,
Your experience and rationale are right in line with the majority of online educators.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I think that the optimal online student-instructor ratio is 25:1.
I really have nothing to base this on seeing as though this month will be my first online classroom. I think that 25 is a good number as its not too much and not too little. Although, I should have a better answer at the end of the term.
The optimal online student-instructor ratio will vary and depend on a range of factors. First and foremost, ensure that educators/teachers are “fully qualified†in the subject matter and the ability to “motivate†learners. This can increase the student-instructor ratio; that is, more students to the same instructor.
Additionally, the subject taught can impact the student-instructor ratio; for example, a math or science course may require more individualized attention than (say) liberal art courses and therefore a lower student-instructor ratio. By the same token, upper level undergraduate courses (300 and 400) may require a lower student-instructor than lower level courses (100 or 200). The same can be accurate for graduate students who will demand additional guidance and therefore require a lower student-instructor ratio—small does not necessarily means better.
Nonetheless, Tomei (n.d.) argument seems plausible by suggesting that an online course requires fewer students due to the higher demand for instructor’s “real time response;†that is 24/7. As a result, the “ideal traditional class [should be] 17 students while the ideal online class size [should be] 12 students†(Tomei, n.d., para 39). With some minor variation (adjustment for subject matter and UG v. G course work), this should be the norm (12:1) for a student-instructor ratio.
Tomei, L. (n.d.). The Impact of Online Teaching on Faculty Load: Computing the Ideal Class Size for Online Courses. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. Retrieve from http://www.itdl.org/journal/Jan_04/article04.htm
My opinion is that the optimal student-instructor ratio should be no more than 30 to 1. In order for an instructor to be effective as a teacher and facilitator of online learning, my experience over the past 10 years of online teaching has taught me I cannot be effective with more than 30 students. There are papers to grade, students to work with one on one, and group projects that need my guidance. One might argue that a low student-instructor ratio is not as important as it is in a classroom setting because in a classroom setting a more intimate experience is preferable while it is not as important in an online course. I disagree with this. At one of the schools I teach at online, we have online chats. If we have too many students in a chat, it is difficult to manage the number of student chat questions within the time frame of the chat.
I think it depends on the level of the course. Undergraduate courses can have higher enrollments while graduate ones seem to have smaller class sizes. I suspect this is because of the difficulty of the material and the need for more formative feedback. I have been reading about Massive Open Online Courses with thousands of students. It will be interesting to see how effective these are.
I have been teaching at AIU and I find that the teacher/student ratio of 1/20 is about optimal.
I will say that the optimal ratio should be 25:1 (twenty five students to one instructor) for undergraduate students and 20:1 for graduate students. I base my estimate on synchronous chat participation, asynchronous discussion, grading/feedback, and turn-around requirements for emails.
For synchronous chats, lower number of students per instructor will lead to low participation and higher number of students will lead to interaction difficulties. For asynchronous discussion, higher number of students will likely lead to more posts by the instructor and hence higher presence. The quantity as well as the quality of posts made by an instructor will determine how vibrant and energized threaded discussions are. However, there has to be a limit and that limit should be about 25 students per class because an instructor can comment on only a few pots (at lease on posts made by a third of the students)
Online students receive authentic assessments. A typical authentic assessment takes more time that traditional grading. Also, most the communication between instructors and students in an online class occur through email. Instructors are required to read these emails well and provide appropriate replies. Unlike in a traditional school where an instructor receives a handful of emails per week, in an online class an instructor could receive hundreds of emails per week depending on the number of courses that the instructor teaches and the number of students in each class.
I believe the optimal student to instructor online ratio is 20:1. Once you go beyond this ratio, it become difficult to effectively communicate with students on a personal level. The online environment requires consistent communcation with students so that someone is managing that students time effectively. Some students are well equiped to manage their own time as they have highly developed organizational skills. But I find that tis is usually about only 50% of the class or less. Therefore, many of the students without these skills fall through the cracks as a result of losing their focus or missing deadlines.
The courses I have taught online have averaged around 15 - 20, which is sometimes excessive in my opinion. I am comfortable with these numbers, but at times, in lengthy discussions, I find that I chop my responses and answers down to manage my time properly, and feel I sometimes cheat my students out of my full attention to the topic at hand. I know some places have 30:1 but I would feel this would be more than I could handle and provide my full abilities to my students.
I do not believe there is a specific number. I want to make sure all the students have a high quality learning experience in the online learning environment. This means that I give them consistent, timely responses to their postings and questions and demonstrate that I am meeting their needs. I want to lead them toward each learning objective.
James,
This is consistent with many of the instructors. Thank you for your contribution.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Norwyn,
Thank you for sharing your experience and adding your contribution.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Saudat,
This is what many of the good online instructors relate. Thank you for your contribution.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I have taught online classes for a number of universitites. I have seen ratios from school to school average from 15:1 to 35:1. I have to say that I feel that students get much greater involvement and personal attention in the lower ratios. Therefore I would suggest that a ratio of 15:1 on the low end 25:1 on the high end, with 20:1 being optimal for the most personal attention and value being added for individual students.
It is very difficult to put an exact number to this question since all student body, commit and level of dedication varying. These factors will affect the instructor level of engagement for each individual student. However, in my experience with the student body I have worked with I think about 15 students per class would be ideal. If every assignment is going to be a writing assignment which requires formative feedback and individual student assistance, then with 15 students the instructor will be able to dedicate enough time to each student to aid in the learning process.
Desiree,
Your distinction is important, because the dynamics can be very different. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I would say that optimal online student/instructor ratio would be 15-20 students. I say this because an online course will require much greater effort to maintain attentiveness and connectivity. Therefore, the smaller the number of students, the more effective an instructor can be in terms of fostering student engagement and developing the classroom community.
Shawna,
Good observations. I see those numbers as very good for many types of classes and learners.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
