Talk:Essay:Advantages of Large Classes

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I had large and small classes in both high school and college. I much preferred the small classes (less than 25 or so); I learned better, I made better friends and I had a much closer relationship with the teacher.

For four years I went to a very small school. At its biggest point there were 80 something kids from K-12! My average class size was anywhere from 4-16. This has its own disadvantages though: team sports were non-existent, the band and choir program were lacking, and if cliques arose they would be much more devastating. But that's just my experience.HelpJazz 12:08, 18 October 2008 (EDT)

Your second paragraph identifies why large classes have key advantages. Your first paragraph merely repeats the misperception. You didn't have large classes in high school, and you don't know if you really learned better in the smaller classes. The large classes inevitably have better competition, more insights, and better socializing.--Aschlafly 12:22, 18 October 2008 (EDT)
I did have large classes in high school, and in college, and for that matter, elementary school. The first time I had a class with fewer than 30 students was probably the 6th grade. I'm not saying that small classes are always better, just that, for me, they were. I'm also agreeing with you that small schools do have problems, which is part of the reason that I moved back to a larger school in the 10th grade. HelpJazz 12:45, 18 October 2008 (EDT)
I think that both have advantages and disadvantages. Different subjects also are probably better taught in different ways, as well. A big group discussion about history can be great. Some topics, though, like calculus, I think benefit from a small student to teacher ratio because of the mental leap involved in understanding it. Corry 13:01, 18 October 2008 (EDT)

In high school we had groups of about 40 students and it was difficult to get the teacher to explain something individually. I never heard much in the way of great insight from a high school student, there is often a lack of life experiance to draw from for that. If 6 or more students need to be expelled from a class for the day for discipline then in my opinion the teacher is a miserable failure since maintaining control is a core element of teaching. I do agree that in recent years the class sizes have become so small that one wonders at the justification for it since test scores do not reflect an improvement. In the college I attended the lectures were often 50 - 150 students and the lecturer asked no questions and did not allow student questions. You had to consult a tutor for any additional help. It worked well because the pattern was , lecture, tutorial , practicle session. the practice session was where we worked through a set of questions and had the lecturer or tutor available to explain. Markr 13:06, 18 October 2008 (EDT)

Socially, a large party is usually better than a small party, all else being equal. There are more people to meet and interact with. The social dynamics of the classroom are no different. A small class means seeing and hearing from the same handful of people over and over. Tedium and depression set in quickly.
If you've never learned anything from a high school student, then you're missing the boat entirely. Most of mankind's greatest works, writings, insights, discoveries, proofs, etc., were by teenagers. The larger your class, the greater the chance of something special coming from the students, all else being equal.--Aschlafly 13:59, 18 October 2008 (EDT)