Chanel,
Building confidence in our online students is definitely something we need to do. Particularly older students and those returning to school. We also need to be aware of their potential technology anxiety and find ways to reassure them and help them through the first couple of classes.
Herbert Brown III
I can relate that statement to undergraduate students, or those returning to school after a ten year break. In the classes that I have taught, these group of students often need more personal attention; at least until they build their confidence.
Chanel,
Have you found that your administrators agree with this ratio? I have found people to be more accepting of around 15-16 students. What is your experience? What level of students are you referencing, all students, undergraduate, graduate?
Herbert Brown III
The optimal online student-instructor ratio is 1 to 10. The greater the student population, the less opportunity available for one-on-one interaction with students. Additionally, students may feel isolated from the learning environment if the instructors attention is spread beyond the optimal size.
Andrew,
I would certainly agree. With the small online classes I have taught it is harder to get a more in-depth discussion going and to maintain it. It is certainly easier though for me to respond to everyone in a very timely manner. I think 15-20 has been most ideal for the majority of my online classes. Some of my graduate classes would be ideal with a few less. Certainly the type of content, the depth and level of the content, and other factors play in to the optimal number.
Herbert Brown III
I am getting ready to teach my first online course, so I'm not speaking from experience here yet. But I would suggest about a 15-to-1 ratio might be ideal. 15 students should be enough to get a quality discussion going, while still being a manageable number for the instructor to handle moderating the discussion with comments and follow-ups. With a much larger group of students, I would imagine it becomes much easier for the student's discussion comments to become redundant, especially in those courses where students are forced to post to discussion boards a certain number of times per week. With a much smaller number of students, it can sometimes be difficult to stimulate a mult-faceted discussion with multiple viewpoints and ideas.
Daron,
I prefer about 15-20 students. I agree that there are many factors that influence that number including: level of material, difficulty of material, design of course (level of interactivity), level of the students, etc. Therefore, ideally the number should be set based on the course...however, I realize that is not typically what happens.
Herbert Brown III
Each student learns differently and requires different levels of assistance from the instructor. I have had courses with 18-22 students and feel in some cases that is a little high. The beginning courses the amount of students isn't as big of an issue as it is later in the courses when the material becomes more difficult. I want to give personal feedback and really get to know my students and I feel that we can get more interaction from the students that way as well. All of that being said I think 15:1 is my majic number that I am most comfortable with.
compreca,
Is this a "set" number for you under all circumstances? Would there be any other criteria that might exist that would cause this ratio to increase or decrease? What might some of those criteria be?
Herbert Brown III
The online student-instructor ratio is approximatley 1:20. The ideal ratio should be at approx. 1:15 to avoid overwhelming. Instructors who have more than 20 students per a course can not provide adequate feedback or one-on-one assistance when it is needed. Thanks, Compreca
Rob,
When students learn from other students it also helps to build a community among the students that often lasts well beyond the classroom and the program.
Herbert Brown III
Edwin,
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. There are so many different models for online education.
Herbert Brown III
The optimal online student-instructor ratio depends primarily on the type of course. Courses provided in an accelerated format (4 - 6 week) will have different ratios than those offered in a quarter or semester based duration.
My experience has shown that 15 students is optimal. I have experience in accelerated and traditional formats. When there is more than 15 students in the class, students often repeat the same information in discussions rather than continue to engage others in the conversation.
A class size of 15 typically allows the instructor plenty of time to grade assignments and provide proper feedback rather than rushing through assignments/quizzes/tests and providing generic or minimal feedback.
That's a great idea. I took several online courses for my Master's degree and I was always impressed with how much I learned from the other students. The conversations in this course are also very helpful. They're my favorite part of the course.
It doesn't seem like a lot but the courses are modules in a 6 month long degree program. Its only been going for several months and consists of graduates of our basic 9 month technician courses. We went on line with it to expand to others out of the geographic area and it is not widely known yet.New students start every five weeks and they flow from course to course. Each starting group of students who start together, finish together. I think our low enrollment right now is due to a students reluctance to try online education when they have gotten use to the classroom.The other obstacle is financing.They have have not set a limit for the number of students as the courses can allow up to 500. Our classroom version of this ends in April and we will be strictly online from then on.
Edwin,
This does sound confusing. I am surprised that your institution will "make" courses with 2-6 students in each that seems really low.
Herbert Brown III
Rob,
Absolutely, the level and content of the course does strongly correlate to the student-instructor ratio. Graduate courses that are usually heavy research and writing based typically have lower ratios. It can also be dependent on the types of activities you have in your course. You might be able to handle a few more if you have more student-to-student interaction then student-instructor interaction.
Herbert Brown III
I think around ten students per course is optimal and I may be running as many as 5 courses at a time. That would be fifty students. With this many students the task of managing emails, discussions and activities consumes a lot of my off time too. So far I have had only two to six students per course. There are 11 courses in the program. the students will do 2 courses with me and then be transferred to another instructor for two courses and then back again. If this sounds confusing, well it is.
I agree with the 15-20 student to instructor ration as a general guideline, but I think it would vary quite a bit with the type of course being taught. Courses that require a lot of grading time, such as writing or programming will also require more one-on-one interaction between the student and instructor.
Hector,
I agree that class size is an important factor in developing and running online courses. The class size can also vary depending on the level of the course work and the design of the course (assignments, discussions, etc.)
Herbert Brown III
