Now that we have started college courses, I have been thinking about the topic of lecture hall classes, and whether or not kids are more likely to be distracted with so many kids in one classroom. There have been numerous studies done, and many of them show that kids in smaller classrooms are more likely to be successful with the content that they are learning. ncte.org states that “In smaller classes, students tend to be as much as one to two months ahead in content knowledge, and they score higher on standardized assessments.” Personally, it is a huge adjustment moving from high school classes of 20-25 kids to college classes with upwards of 500 people. I tend to become more distracted in an environment where there are more people and it is harder for me to focus on what the teacher is trying to say.

The reason I find myself more engaged in a smaller class is because it is easier to participate and interact with the learning subject with less kids. I think it is pretty hard to stand up and ask a question in front of so many people, so that is one fear that many students may have in a bigger lecture hall. In addition, student-teacher relationships will be much stronger in smaller classrooms, because the teacher will not have as many kids to meet. Overall, it can be seen that smaller classroom sizes give a benefit to the students, rather than being in a huge classroom. So if there is the option, it might be a better choice to take the smaller class than the bigger one.

http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/why-class-size-matters