In a perfect world there would be about 12 students to one instructor. In the real world I agree that a good number is about 15 to 20. I have taught for a few different colleges both online and on campus and have had courses with 12 students and course with about 30. In my experience the smaller the number of students the better feedback and guidance they receive. In the time it takes us as instructors to manage the online classroom, participate fully in the weekly discussions and manage grading the assignments for the week complete with qualitative feedback; obviously the higher the student number the lower the quality of feedback. This can be frustrating at times because I know the best way to help my students succeed is with great feeback and sometimes there just isn't enough time.
15 students to 1 instructor is the optimal online student-instructor ratio.
I believe this will give students a significant number of classmates to interact with and not overwhelm the instructor with grading.
Juliet,
Most people I talk with about this subject come up with about 15-20 give or take a few. You bring up an important point - Attrition in programs. DO you or your school do anything to follow up with the students that drop out to determine WHY they dropped out. You might find that there are common themes that you and the school can address that would ensure the students stay in the courses.
Herbert Brown III
Gary,
Can it also depend on the content of the course or the level of the content? Do you want 30 students in an online writing-intensive course?
Herbert Brown III
I have had courses with 4 and courses with 14 (Never more...my school is small) and I think that 4-is not enough for really good interaction and more than 14-people start to get lost in the shuffle. Plus, I need to really key in to each student to monitor and evaluate them. A dozen for me (a dozen of quality students that make it the end) is a good number for me. Unfortunately...I tend to lose a lot, especially in INTRO courses...
I believe it depends on how many classes you are teaching and what the work load is. If you are teaching five classes, and have 30 students in each one, and the instructor doesn't have time to respond to forums for example, it would definitely impact the students learning ability. However if the work load is lower, say 2 or 3 classes a class of 30 may be more appropriate. So I definitely think it depends on how many you are actually doing.
It definitely depends on the difficulty level of the course. The more difficult the course, the more time the instructor will need to grade papers, give students the ever-important feedback, and respond to student inquiries. I believe 15 - 20 is the max amount in a class. If the subject is difficult, I would hold the class level to 12.
Aaron,
I agree with your statement, but how do we tell what that magic number is? After the class begins we can't easily add more, and we certainly can't kick the students out of the class after it begins, so how can we know what that optimal might be?
Herbert Brown III
An Optimal Online Student-Instructor ratio is having enough, however not too many students enrolled in the online class. Having too many students enrolled in the class will jeopardize the individual attention that the instructor can give to each student.
Regina ,
What is a large group in your opinion? 40-50? What would you consider an ideal smaller group...10-15? Just curious what works for you.
Herbert Brown III
From my experience, as each student will require individual attention and may in many circumstances require that the instructor repeat themselves multiple time, unlike the ground classroom, a rato of between 20 and 25 is optimum. If there are too few, discussions will suffer yet too many and the instructor's time to spend on each student becomes less. I have taught small online classes such 8-10 and large one 40+.
My personal idea ratio depends on the content material being discussed, in certain circumstances large number are beneficial due to the ability to have group projects. In more complex situations and detailed information a smaller group is better to incorporate material at a more granular level.
Suzanne,
I would say that most people feel the ideal ratio is in the same range that you mention.
Herbert Brown III
Diana,
I teach many technical and software courses and I agree with your ratio. I prefer a low ratio for graduate courses as well for the similar reasons you mention here about the amount of quality of the interaction and feedback.
Herbert Brown III
Regina ,
Do you have a personal ideal ratio?
Herbert Brown III
I think the answer to this question varies depending on the subject. In a math class where there can be learning problems and fear, it makes sense to have a smaller number of students.
I teach sociology and my classes require a lot of discussion and application of sociological concepts to real life examples. The more examples people see, the easier it is for students who are struggling to understand. For this reason, I believe a large number of students per instructor (section) is better. I am very comfortable with a 20:1 ratio, as this gives us diversity of experience, while still affording me enough time to help students who are struggling individually.
The optimal student ratio can vary from class to class and subject matter objectivity. Ideally, a small ratio would allow for more one to one activity however; larger classes have a better opportunity for group projects which can incoroporate more freedom for creative thinking.
What a great question! I have found it depends on the subject matter. While I am hands-on with all my students, my courses requiring a software or technical component, are more challenging for students. In these courses, I would like to see a lower student-instructor ratio of typically not more than 20 students. For the non technical classes, I am open to however many students sign up for the course; which generally is not 30 to 35 students. I find more than 30 students I am quickly overwhelmed with the volume of assignments, questions and one-on-one assistance I like to give to my students. I also find with online learning, the students are less engaging in the discussion forums if the class size is too large. They are less connected to the other students in the course.
Susan,
Could you break the discussion assignment in to phases? How the first required post from everyone due earlier and then have the follow up discussion on the posts due by the end date/time. It depends on the structure of the discussion assignment.
Herbert Brown III
I work at an adult technical school our ratio is 20:1 maximum. This ratio works since we have this "team" of students for 3 other classes as well. It is a good number for discussions to take place without being overwhelming. Depending on the topic, there are great discussions that take place.
The one problem that I do have is the students that wait until the last hour to submit their post. This does not allow other students to comment on their information. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get students to respond quicker? Our posts usually open Thursday afternoons and the students have until Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. to respond to me and to two other students.
