Nancy,
This is very consistent with many online instructors and some existing research. Thank you for your contribution.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
In the courses I teach, the maximum amount of students I have had in one class has been 23. I am currently teaching two MS Office classes. When I first started I was overwhelmed by all that I had to do, but now that I have some systems developed I feel more in control and I am doing a better job connecting with my students. I would say that 1 to 20 would be optimal and no more than 25 per class.
Have a great day!! Nancy
Stephanie,
Most veteran instructors in online classes agree with you approximation. Good post.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
One would say that a number of 20 students would be too much. I do think that it is course related though, because specific course require a smaller instructor - student ratio. I have seen this in math classes.
Carol,
All of your rationale is on target. 12-15 is a very good number for most online classes.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Honestly, this is my first course on this topic and I have not instructed in the online forum yet. I teach at a local college and I've been interested in this topic for some time and decided it was time to dive in. But, an ideal ratio in a face-to-face is 15-1. I have found that 20-1 becomes difficult to provide the one-on-one attention should several need it at the same time. I would think that would even be more true in the online forum. I know as an online student, there were times me, or students in my group needed specific guidance that required the instructor to communicate back and forth for a couple of days. With a 24-48 turn around in feedback, it seems it would be very taxing on the instructor to have too many of those! Additionally, not all students are as adept to online learning as others and need a little more attention for the first few tasks that can further consume time. I would think 12-15 would be ideal.
c. staup
John,
Good rationale. I agree that anything over 25-30students has a strong tendancy to dtract from the overall engagement of individuals.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Too few student impact class participation--and the instructor has to really pull them into discussion. Too many students can be overwhelming with posts and actually dampen participation.
I actually have had classes with few 3-4 students, but if I take the extra steps I can engage them in discussion. I think the best option is a class size of 10-15--smaller than the traditional classroom, but remember we are expecting more reading than just text books. A large class in my opinion is one with 30-40 students.
Roy,
Good numbers and good rationale.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Personally I like to have between 10 and 15 students so that the threaded discussions become more interesting and students learn from each other.
Madelyn,
This sounds about right. Your rationale for this type of class makes good sense. Thank you for sharing your insight.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Iteach court reporting and it requires readback time, so in order to insure that we have enough time, our classes need to be not more that 15-1. Of course, this is an ideal number, but we do have classes that are larger. It takes a bit more ceativity in lesson planning. I would say that more than 20 is not in the best interest of our students.
Claudia,
Yes, Joe's post is insightful. It helps us 'dig deeper' for a more thoughtful approach.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Claudia,
Your rationale is sound. Many would agree, especially for classes with a subjective orientation (e.g. philosphy, creative writing, etc.). Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
ok this post really is helpful. It does go along with my thinking. However, I did not consider the classes that require less attention.
It would seem that you could handle the same amount of students as a classroom. However, in online courses, you are corresponding individually and as a group. The additional individualized attention needed I would think would mean the optimal number should be somewhere around 15 to one.
Darlene,
Your opinion on this is commensurate with the majority of quality online instructors. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Mariya,
Good point, because the individualization of the student to teacher communication is one of the strengths of online instruction. Thank you for sharing.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I really believe that the optimal online student-instructor ratio is dependent on the specific course of instruction. A course in basic office systems could result in a ration of one instructor to 20 or more students without major difficulity. Complexed courses such as Medical Coding would probably fair better with a smaller class size so to increase class interaction and feedback.
The optimal online student-instructor ratio for an online course is what realistically can be accomplished given the subject matter, the nature of the assignments and their type. To keep the quality of our teaching online the smaller student-faculty ratios should be considered.
