Quantity vs. Quality
In post secondary education, is it better to give a small number of students a higher quality of education or is it better to give a lesser quality to a larger number of students in order to gain recognition and accredidation for a school.
I have found that class size can vastly effect the way I am able to instruct my class. During the lecture portion it can be a benefit because of the varied experiences that can lead to discussions about our topics, leading to a quality with quanity senario. Yet when in the lab portion of the class it limits the amount of one on one quality instruction that I can provide to each student. Since I often have to try and be more breif with each student to move on to the next student in need of assistance. I have had students in the past comment on how they were frustrated with waiting for the instruction they need when in larger classes. In a smaller class you are able to give students the attention they need to learn the material and keep them successful.
It's very important to have small teacher/student ratio. Because in vocational setting,student need more one on one due to length of program. Most of vocational programs are fast paced compare to community college program. I also believe in multi tasking Instructor and First impression.
Depending on the mentality of the students most would think that the larger classes are taking away from their education, and quality. This happens when a majority of students are struggling and they feel like the one on one isn't there. Even though you may encourage mentors to help; the one being helped may have a mind set that if the Instructor isn't the one helping, he or she is getting cheated. If this happens then the Instructor must figure out how to get the students to buy into that stratagy
Typically, lab size determines class size. What circumstance leads to too many students being assigned to a lab? How often does it happen? Are lab assistants used to provide support?
I guess if all you have to do is lecture, and you are in a lecture hall with 30 students, I agree the number of them won't matter, but what happens when you take them in a lab and there's only one of you to get around and tend to all 30 of them. Then what happens to their quality of learning? In our school the difference between 28 students in a class and 18 is huge! If a student can't get his/her hands on the equipment they lose interest and want to give up. So you stay late and tutor them, not because they have special needs, but because the institution has too many in one class.
quality should be always be the same but for quantity the students may suffer due to the fact that the teacher may not have plentiful time for each student note: lab time is very much one on one teaching.
I have tried, and struggled with this in lab. I use the lab to reinforce main points of my lecture. But with 30 students, I have to tailor my time, and lectures so I can spend less time answering remideal questions, or explain something I have repeatidly gone over before previously.
I do not find this to be true. It is my experience if an instructor manage his or her class, there is not any problems or the problems are minimun and a quality education can still take place. Instructors on my campus talk about this all the time, and we feel it is easilier to teach to a large class as opposed to a small class. With a large class, you can get the students involved more with group activities, students discussing and brainstorming off one another with different opinions filtering throughout the room. All of this can make the lecture very exciting if the teacher handle and manage the process correctly. The instructor has an opportunity to listen to the opinions of the students in each group and discuss those ideas in the lecture or closing remarks.
My definition of a quality lesson is when the instructor can teach a lesson, get feedback from his or her students, and both he and his students came away with something learned. So, as you can read, I enjoy large classes or mat least more than 5 students in a class. What's you opinion? LBrockett
Is this really true, Windi? More students bring more questions and more disruptions. As an instructor, I find it more difficult to cover the normal syllabus when a class is much larger than normal. I find the converse it true too.
One of the things that distinguishes career schools from the traditional sector is the smaller size of classes. Furthermore, the lab portion of a course is usually taught by the same faculty member that delivered the lecture.
In an impacted program, the quality may be affected if the instructor is also trying to provide hands on instruction as well as lecturing. In some cases this may lead to spreading oneself thin and thus not being as effective.
I don't think the number of students should affect your quality of teaching a lesson. The lesson should be of the same quality every time you lecture.
Quality can be delivered to one or more students without the size. It is all in the presentation and perception.
It's hard to argue with your statement, Willinette. The challenge is finding an appropriate balance point. How do suggest avoiding ‘putting a lemon out there'?
I feel that it is better to have quality than quantity. The better the student that we put out there the better it is for those involved all around. Putting a "lemon" out there is not going to help the school's reputation, nor will it help other students from that particular school, that's going out there with a purpose ( which is to succeed). It only helps the financial aspect. I can understand that, but we need not only to be concerned with money, but what are we giving our clients and customers?
Thanks for your reply. Some of our online classes require group projects but not all. We are still working to develop chats and other tools for communication. We are also in the beginning stages of developing online student organizations. We are hopeful that some of these steps will develop a greater sense of community and break down the isolation you mentioned. Online education does present unique opportunities and challenges for developing community and meeting the needs of the type of student who selects online programs.
Isolation is one of the major causes of attrition, Gail. Unfortunately, it is also very common in on-line programs. To counter-balance isolation, many schools require students to work in teams to try to build some connections with people and develop a support group. Instant messaging and voice over IP are tools that help these groups communicate.
Using temperament assessments also provides insight to help your advisors better understand the student and his/her preferred communication style. Making that information available to study group members can be very useful as well.
Anything you can do to give ‘personality' to an impersonal environment is going to help retention.
I smypathize with the question Troy has raised. Our online programs are growing exponentially but we are challenged by attracting adult students who are not necessarily prepared for the level of work and rigor of study. I used to work in admissions and understand the importance of enrollment numbers. Now in student affairs, I am working with students who either did not listen to their admissions advisor about class expectations and time commitment or don't have the problem solving skills to stay the course when other things intefere in their life. We have recently added more resources to assist students with life issues, by referring them to a rescource and counseling service. We are working to expand our orientation and other communication tools to help students from admissions through graduation to be more successful. Our academic dean is working with faculty to keep standards high but make sure they are available to assist students who need extra help. When students call me about issues, I recommend they speak with their instructors as well as myself. We recognize we have a lot of work to do to increase retention. I really like your definition of retention as a by product of doing the right things the way. I am open to other suggestions you have on this topic.
It's not an “either … or†choice, Troy. Retention is the by-product of doing the right things the right way. Retention is about finding ways to raise the student to the standard, rather than lowering the standard. This is particularly important when a school is new in the market. Where you set your standards and how you treat your students determines how you are perceived for a long time. Most of the “slackers†that I have met really want to succeed. Many of them have never been successful and don't know how; they need to learn the tools. Is your institution ready to help?
