Dr. Michael,
Your experience is very common among online university instructors. Do you agree that the 30-35:1 is the optimal ratio? Would there be any advantage to handling the 100 student in four groups of 25 for discussions, open chat sessions and other full-group activities to allow all participants more access in those 'total class' activities? Some instructors have expressed the mid-twenty sized groups as being more productive for these 'learning community' activities.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
That's a tough question. I can only guess based on my experience, and I will say that at one university where I teach there are 15-20 students each term. This seems like a manageable number. I never feel overrun the way that I do in a class with 35 students. However, it always depends on how many classes I'm teaching at a time.
After all, what's the difference between teaching one class of 50 or two of 25?
As long as you have time to give full feedback and be available for students, it's an ideal size.
I am teaching online course in two universities. The number of students ranges from 1 to 35!
From my experience, if a class has less than 10 students, it will be difficult to have meaningful discussions, because some students will not participate until right before the due date!
But if there are more than 20 students, it is difficult for the instructor to give targeted indepth feedbacks to individual student. Some schools require the instructor to answer 80% of the discussions submitted by the students. if there are 30 in the class, you need to answer more than 20 discussions, I find it difficult to have 20 different questions to ask!
Dr. Vaillancourt,
In my case, I think the optimal student instructor ratio in an online setting is 20:1 or if possible, maybe less than 20 students to 1. Since I teach mathematics, I usually spend a lot of time reviewing students' solutions and for this, I need to be detail oriented. I want to be as thorough as possible so that the student will understand that even a missing negative sign will lead to the wrong answer.
At the online university where I teach, the ratio is 30-35:1, and I typically facilitate three courses at one time (or about 100 students per session). I can effectively work with 100 or more students at a time in most areas (e.g., emails--which I answer promptly--and Live Chats and office hours of Instant Messaging). Grading is certainly the one component that is high-pressure given large numbers of students. My grading (100 x 2 assignments = 200 papers) typically happens between Sunday and Wed. each week. Grades must be posted by Wed. midnight. The instructor must somehow manage to combine large numbers of students with personal attention; it is the Grade Book Comments and email responses that often allow the most personal attention.
Patrice,
Yes, I agree five students does not make for optimal interactivity. My experience is that 20-25 students seem to maitain a vibrant energy for the interactivity of the discussion forum. Thank you for your contribution and inquiry.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I have been teaching on line for 9 years, and I feel that the ratio of 30 to 1 is optimal. After reading other posts, I see that I agree with others in this forum regarding that statement.
How do my comrades in this forum feel about a minimum class size requirement? In my most current teaching sessions, I have taught advanced classes which contain between 5 and 15 students. The discussion forums have been successful, but I feel that the banter with a group of 30 students more engaging. I feel that there are so many different experiences that you can learn about with a group of 30. The discussion forums in the group of 30 were much more robust than those forums with just 5 students. It seems that there are so many different walks of life, i.e. health care professionals, military, businessmen, entreprenuers, which provided life experiences in the discussion forums. In the smaller group of students with similar backgrounds, the differences with regard to personal experiences were more limited. Have any of you felt that way?
Sincerely,
Patrice Nybro
AIU Online
Professor of Finance
William ,
Okay. This is well within the acceptable range.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
William ,
This is a reasonable scenario. Very good. Thanks.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
A student ratio of 20:1 is acceptable, but on the higher end. I would prefer a class of 15:1, but can work with a class of 20 students.
Nick: "back in the day" I attended lecture classes with a huge ratio in the neighborhood of 100:1. This was not a very positive learning experience. Generally it was lower end courses where there was no constructive interaction with the professor.
If you are capable of handling 30 students that is admirable. I have had classes of this size and have found that I don't connect with this number of students as well as if it were half that number.
If I understand the question, the student-instructor ratio would be the class size. In my view it is a 15:1 ratio, or a class size of 15. In my experience this is an optimal size class in which students interact with each other and the instructor. Instructors can engage in discussions with a majority of the students each week. So, every two weeks of the class the instructor has connected with every student in the class. In parallel, students will replicate this communication process.
Amy,
Very good analysis and rationale. Thank you for sharing.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
James,
Excellent observation. Thank you for sharing.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
The optimal online student-instructor ratio is dependent upon many factors, such as the topic and the type of assignments that have been integrated into the course.
If the topic is something that is more subjective, such as philosophy or religious studies, which is what I teach, I believe a ratio of 1:20 is reasonable. I find I have more time to really engage with the students when I have around this ratio. At one university that I teach at, I have a ratio of 1:35 and it is very difficult to truly engage each student.
If the assignments for the course are lengthy papers, film reports, and other lengthy, written assignments, it is also helpful to have a ratio of around 1:20. If the majority of the assignment are quizzes, exams and short discussion questions, I think the course can function with a higher ratio.
Having taught at 6 different universities and colleges (online and in person), I have found that less that 20 students is optimal for graduate level study.
There is always pressure to increase class size in every institution. Fortunately, higher ed has a little push back from students on higher class size. Not much, since many have been conditioned by our public school system to take what comes and make the best of it.
Mitchell,
Yes, 35 seems to be the top end for most. It seems most instructors feel the optimum is 20-25. Thank you for your input.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I suppose it depends on the quantity of assignments that will be regularly submitted. I teach at an online university where a standard class size is 35, and students turn in two assignments per week. This amounts to 70 assignments per week to be graded, assuming that everyone turns it in. The administration likes to have grades turned in within 48 hours which can create a challenge. In the end, there is a balance between the number of students and the number of assignments, which I suspect is also based on the complexity of the subject matter in the course one is teaching as well. In the end, a lower faculty-student ratio will always result in better learning experiences for the student.
Robin ,
This is consistent with many educators' experiences. Thak you for sharing yours.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
