Class Size Research Literature Review

Although researchers acknowledge it is difficult to isolate class size from other variables, and that ineffective teaching methods will nullify the advantages of a small class size, a review of the literature reveals that class size generally has a small and negative effect on retention, achievement, engagement, development of communication skills, teaching evaluations, and teaching effectiveness. However, within instructors there is great variance in the effect of class size on each of the above outcomes. A common thread in the literature is that engaging students in the learning process is important and the differences found in small versus large classes may be because the engagement element is often lost in larger classes.

Student Retention and Achievement

Arias and Walker. Additional Evidence on the Relationship between Class Size and Student Performance. Research in Economic Education. 2004. Studied the same instructor, course, and content to control the instructor variable: two large classes (90 students) and two small classes (25 students). Compared total exam scores and found a significant negative relationship between class size and student performance. Students in small classes performed 3% higher on the exams. Binghamton University OIR. The Effects of Class Size on Student Performance and Retention at Binghamton University. 1997. A study of all Binghamton students, with an accounting for demographic variables. Increasing class size had a negative effect on student achievement. A student in a class of 5 had a probability of receiving an A of .52. This was 2.4 times higher than a student in a class of 290 students, where the probability of receiving an A was .22. Increasing class size lowered student achievement at a decreasing rate. This means that adding 10 students to a class of 10 had a larger negative impact on grades than adding 10 students to a class of 200. Increasing average class size decreased the likelihood of a student returning to college. A student with an average class size of 20 had a .97 probability of returning to the university, whereas a student with an average class size of 240 had a probability of returning of only .80. Hancock. Effects of Class Size on College Student Achievement. College Student Journal. 1996. A study of nine sections of statistics classes were compared. Classes were either small (n = 6) or large (n = 3). For this study the instructor, lectures, and exams were held constant. Results indicated to difference in performance across students in the small and large classes.

Hattie. Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Related to Achievement. 2009. A meta-analysis of 96 studies that examined 785 estimates of effects on class size on student learning was examined (N = 550,339). Results revealed a very small advantage for small classes over large ones (d = .13). Comparisons used in this meta-analysis included effect size estimates from all levels of education, including, K-12 data. It is suggested that the effect student learning on increased or decreased class sizes are largely contingent upon the ability of the teacher to adapt their teaching approach to the size of the class in question. Kokkelenberg, Dillon, and Christy. The Effects of Class Size on Student Grades at a Public University. 2008. A study of 760,000 observations of undergraduate students over a four year period to assess the effect on class size on student grades was conducted. Results indicated that class size is negatively related to grades. The effect of class size on grades held constant when controlling for a host of factors, including peer effects, student ability, level of student, level of course, gender, minority status, and other similar and theoretically relevant factors. The effect of class size on student grade was more pronounced the larger the size of the class. Robinson and Wittebols. Class Size Research: A Related Cluster Analysis for DecisionMaking. Education Research Service. 1986. A review of more than 100 relevant research studies using a related cluster analysis approach. Similar kinds of research studies were "clustered" or grouped together, such as studies of the same grade level, subject area, or student characteristics. They concluded that reducing class size is especially promising for disadvantaged and minority students. Positive effects were less likely if teachers did not change their instructional methods and classroom procedures in the smaller classes. Toth and Magnana. Class Size and Achievement in Higher Education, a Summary of Current Research. College Student Journal. 2002. A review of the findings of eight studies on the effect of class size on student learning was conducted. No consistent pattern in the findings emerged. Of the eight studies, three found mixed results, two found greater learning in large classes, two found greater learning in small classes, and one study showed no effect of class size on learning.

Quality of instruction, learning, and interaction

Bedard and Kuhn. Where Class Size Really Matters: Class Size and Student Ratings of Instructor Effectiveness. Economics of Education Review. 2008.

The researchers examined the impact of class size on student evaluations of instructor performance using data on all economics classes offered at the University of California, Santa Barbara from Fall 1997 to Spring 2004. The researchers controlled for both instructor and course fixed effects. The researchers found a large, highly significant, and nonlinear negative impact of class size on student evaluations of instructor effectiveness that is highly robust to the inclusion of course and instructor fixed effects. Carbone and Greenberg. Teaching Large Classes: Unpacking the Problem and Responding Creatively. In To Improve the Academy. 1998. The researchers found that only 25% of students in large classes at the University of Maryland agreed and 41% disagreed with the statement, The size of the class does not affect my ability to learn. Furthermore, students indicated that large classes were bothersome because of the lack of interaction (in and out of class) with faculty, lack of lecture structure, and reduced frequency of testing to assess their understanding of the class material. Cooper and Robinson. The Argument for Making Large Classes Seem Small. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. Spring 2000. An examination of the prevailing realities of teaching in large spaces was conducted. The authors track faculty teaching styles in large classes. It is noted that in the early 80s that approximately 80 percent of faculty (N = 1,800) reported lecture as their primary pedagogical tool in large classes. Recent data from faculty members (N = 450) find that this number remains unchanged. It is argued that the large spaces mandates lecture as the dominant style and therefore, effects of class size on student learning is a function of the pedagogical choices that are made as the result of the given teaching space. Joe Cuseo. The Empirical case Against Large Class Size: Adverse Effects on the Teaching, Learning, and Retention of First-Year Students. In Journal of faculty Development. January 2007. A review of the literature on class size that finds: #1. Large class size increases faculty reliance on the lecture method of instruction, #2. Large classes reduce students' level of active involvement in the learning process, #3. Large class size reduces the frequency and quality of instructor interaction with and feedback to students, #4. Large-class settings reduce students' depth of thinking inside the classroom. #5. Large class size limits the breadth and depth of course objectives, course assignments, and course-related learning outside the classroom, #6. Students' academic achievement (learning) and academic performance (grades) are lowered in courses with large class size, #7. Students report less course satisfaction in large-sized classes, and #8. Students give lower overall ratings (evaluations) for course instruction delivered in large classes. Fischer and Grant in Studies of College Teaching: Experimental Results. 1983. In an analysis of audiotapes of 155 class sessions in 40 undergraduate courses at multiple institutions, the researchers found that class size significantly affected the level of cognitive skills used by students in the classroom. In small classes (15 or fewer students), when

students spoke in response to instructor-posed questions, the average level of thinking displayed by their discourse was that of analysis; in medium-size classes (16-45 students) student discourse was characterized by a lower level of thinkingcomprehension; and in large classes (46 or more students), the discourse of students who participated in class most often reflected factual recall. Kuh, et al. Involving Colleges. 1991. In a multi-campus observation-based study, the researchers found that large classes were the primary factor in students not engaging in courses. In very large courses the majority of students did not have a single interaction with the professor. Mitchell and Beach. How Changing Class Size Affects Classrooms and Students. Office of Educational Research Policy Brief. 1990. Meta-analysis of achievement data which shows that class size has a substantial and cumulative effect on student learning. The most important factor was that instructors represent a fixed resource with their time divided among students. Lowering class sizes from 40 to 20 results in a 6 percentile gain on achievement tests. Meta-analysis shows that class size decreases improve student and teacher attitudes and encourage more effective teaching techniques. Wulff, Nyquist, and Abbott. Students' Perceptions of Large Classes.In Teaching Large Classes Well. 1987. Survey of the perceptions 800 college students enrolled in large-sized introductory courses at the University of Washington. Students in these courses reported that they: (a) more easily lost attention, (b) more easily became distracted by classroom noise and student conversations, and (c) were less motivated because of the impersonal nature of the class and lack of individual accountability.

Writing
Gregory Glau. Stretch at 10: A Progress Report on Arizona State Universitys Stretch Program Journal of Basic Writing. 2007. Discusses the course success and retention success of movement from cap of 26 to 19 in composition courses. Students passed and were retained at a 4% higher rate in these small classes. This study does not control for the variable of the effect of instructor. Position Statements by the National Council of Teachers of English, the Conference on College Composition and Communications, and the Association of Departments of English All of the major professional organizations in the field of composition recommend course sizes of no more than twenty students, based on the literature on class size and writing.

CSUS Faculty Survey

2008 survey of CSUS faculty (n = 117) found that class size increases have resulted in less class discussion, less personal interaction, less writing, decreases in class attendance, less feedback on writing, less instructor and student interaction, more difficulty with classroom control, and an increase in teacher workload. 63% of respondents indicated that they have experienced a significant increase in class size in the last three years.