It seems to me that any number would be arbitrary. Its like asking is 93 an A or is 90 an A. There are so many factors that can affect the effectiveness of the learning experience. For example: the nature of the material being taught, the level of computer or Internet expertise of the students, and the type of learning activities being used. I work with a courseware development company from time to time. The company has set 20 as the maximum class size. It has nothing to do with the learning. It's really about effectively managing a roster of users. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.
Virginia,
Thank you for contributing your experience to our forum.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
This is true Dr. Vaillancourt! My courses that are larger may be less difficult content such as medical terminology. While it takes hours for grading to be completed it is "doable". If I am teaching a capstone course to master's students it is much more difficult to manage the grading of such intensive courses. It is definitely related to the course content, the audience (Undergraduate or graduate students) and the length of the course for delivery of the material.
Debbie
I have taught online courses from 5-40 students and the ideal number is 12-15 in my opinion. This offers enough students for ongoing discussions and groups if you choose to assign those. Any less and there seems to be less interaction and more can often lead to the teacher being overloaded with grading and some of the students being lost in the mix.
Debbie
Based on my experience, I find that a ratio of 1:20 is optimum because it really allows me as an instructor to get to know my students better. I find it especially hard to establish a report with students when teaching online. The fewer students the easier it is to reach out to them on a more personal bases so that the do not feel the isolation that sometimes comes with virtual learning.
I have had very limited experience teaching on-line,but many hours of taking on-line courses for my DBA degree. From this experience (in particular a statistics class on-line) I feel that the more complex the material, the smaller the class should be. The initial chat session helped to calm my fears and the CMS offered a rich source of support material so I was able to do well.
Rebecca Smith
I teach at three different universities. I find the optimal student teacher ratio is 20:1. This allows time to respond to students' needs individually. It also allows for some extra time to customize the classroom setting to include those students who are fearful and who might "disappear" into the whiteness of the background if not drawn out.
Russell,
Yes, a comprhensive analysis by the institution concerning their own courses would be ideal.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I feel the Optimal Online Student-Instructor Ratio is when the instructor respects the student as a person, by addressing the student by name. This give them a sense that they are important to the class and not just a number. Thank you
Hello James.
I agree with your assessment in the final paragraph of your post. What would you consider as some of the situations that exert the most "pressure" on institutions to increase class sizes? In the final analysis, could the answer have to do with the "bottom-line" in most cases, or are there other important factors to consider?
Russell
The optimal student-instructor ratio for a successful online course would depend on several factors. If the course management system is of a high standard with good technical support, then the facilitator could handle a higher volume of students per course with expectations of greater student participation and subject retention. It is preferable that class sizes are smaller in any given teaching situation. This allows students, depending on their particular level of learning ability, a greater opportunity for instructor interaction. Also, institutions should take into consideration (and be aware of) all of the activities required of a facilitator when managing an online course in real time (for instance, emailing, office hours, discussion board participation, reading and commenting on assignments, and final posting of grades) in order to gain a greater understanding of optimal student-instructor ratios that are beneficial to course instruction, student learning, and instructor well-being.
Rick,
Well stated. Yes, there are many components to consider. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I don't think there's a hard and fast answer to the question of student ratio but in general it's probably a few less than what you would have in a normal classroom. I base this primarily on the premise that it's more time consuming to communicate with the students online. In a normal classroom you can provide two-way instantaneous communications. Online there's more of a time lag involved and you rely more on asynchronous rather than synchronous communications. Some other considerations include lengthy of the course or how much content is in the course, grading criteria, number of activities, desired student/instructor interaction, etc. Also I think instructor online teaching experience is a factor.
I teach at two different schools. One of these schools is at the master’s level. I have found that as an instructor, the smaller the number is usually better as I can take more time to respond in-depth to student portal posts. That being said, I am currently completing a course that only has three students, two dropped the course. While in many cases this could have been a complete flop, the students that were in the class were very involved and professionally advanced. I would definitely say there are a minimum number of students that make a class successful, but there are other factors that contribute to this as well. Every semester I reiterate the importance of each student's contribution, and very often utilize the phrase "you get out what you get into the course".
On another note, I am amazed to hear some of the other instructors are able to manage and maintain a good student/teacher relationship when there is 30+ in the class. Maybe part of this is that individual posts tend to get longer and more detailed/in-depth as you progress from Associates up through undergrad, master's, and ultimately doctoral.
Additionally, I will bring up the often taboo topic of man-hours and compensation. While this is by no means the way an instructor should judge course involvement, or class size, it is a consideration because of the amount of time required by the instructor to provide an excellent educational experience. At what point does it go from being a fair workload for the instructor to taking advantage of his/her time? From a business perspective, schools want to see as many students as can 'fit' in a class because ultimately each head equals tuition dollars, but what happens when the instructor's time/load equals $4/hour?
All in all there are many aspects to consideration of class size, and it's a real balancing act that is for sure.
The optimal online student-instructor ratio is 20:1. I am basing my answer as an adjunct instructor. This means I have other commitments besides school. All my work for school is done during a 3 hour period in the evenings M-thursday. I will answer some questions early Friday, but try not to look at the computer on the weekend.
Perry
Hello Jared,
Thank you for your contribution to this item. Would you be willing to share some of the more recent research sources that you have encountered? I always like to keep the 'research arsenal' updated. Thanks
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Ha! I have to laugh when I read this question. That's because I believe that this is a well-researched topic and the optimal student-instructor ratios are well-known. In my experience, classes with 20 or fewer students are best -- and this, I believe, coincides with the research in this area.
Yet, I have seen schools, in an effort to cut expenses, commonly run online classes with as many as 45 students. That, of course, makes for a greatly diminished student experience -- as well as a course that is nearly unmanageable for the instructor. It's disappointing to see schools that cannot look past the short-term bottom line to see the long-term negative impact this has on faculty, students, and the school.
From the aspect of a student the ratio has a little meaning. Depending on the content of the course it could be more beneficial to the student to have more people participating in the forums and discussions because it is a learning experience and very useful source of additional information...And at times that is more useful than the one on one communication with the instructor. Courses with very specific scientific content on the other hand would be more valuable if there is more personal attention and access to the instructor when needed. What makes the learning experience good and valuable to the student is not always the most practical or cost effective to the school providing the online classes. So attention should be paid at the point of course material development and prerequisites needed so the instructor can be the reference source and guide in learning rather than reteaching old concepts and information. Therefore even with all the benefits of technology I think the ratios of the online classrooms should closely shadow the conventional classrooms which are based on content and level of expertise.
I have taught online courses at a number of different universities. Some have had a high instructor to student ratio like 40 to 1 and others have had raios closer to 20 to 1. I have found that the fewer students in each class the more effective interaction I am able to engage with each student during the course.
Frank Nolan
Two parallel processes take place in an online environment: Students become more active, reflective learners and students and teachers engage in learning through the use of technology and become more familiar with technology by using it. The metric of student teacher ratio has become an important factor to be considered for online education. If the class strength is very small, then it means that there will be reduced opportunity to collaborate and learn from each other. Students often learn from each other's questions and remarks. Lesser number of students would mean a very limited interaction. It also means that there is reduced competition within students and lesser motivation to work hard to perform well. Believe it or not, competition is one of the biggest motivators and this motivation will be lost / reduced if there are too few students in the class. Usually the class size around 20-25 is optimal but the class size depends on other logistics like student enrollment and availability of teachers. However often most of the online classes do have an average student population of 30 students, which often takes into account the drop rates.
