Smaller classes provide more room for learning
Elise Maloney
Issue date: 2/17/09 Section: Opinion
Small class sizes provide benefits to students throughout their academic careers, including helping them form relationships with their professors.
Many universities around the state have large class sizes. This can create many problems for students who could possibly need extra help from their professor. Having such large class sizes can also interfere with participation or class discussion. For some students, class discussion is the greatest form of studying. Large class sizes make having a one-on-one relationship with your professor much more difficult, and students well know how difficult creating a professor-student relationship is. Being at Augusta State University allows students the opportunity to ask their professors questions after class, along with asking many questions while in class.
Larger class sizes become a problem not only with getting the help you need, but the enormous classes also have an effect on some students' attendance. Larger universities do not take a roll for their classes, and while roll-taking does seem to be a nuisance, it actually motivates students to go to class.
What if you knew you could skip as many classes as you wanted to? Would you only come to class to take the exams? First semester students might feel as though all the core classes are a waste of time. They might believe they can learn just as much by not coming to class and simply reading the material on their own. However, that is simply not the case.
Among the benefits of having smaller classes is the issue of recommendation letters. Recommendation letters are essential for most students going on to earn their master's degree or even a doctorate, and the professors are the people who will write them for you. In larger universities, student could graduate without ever having the same professor twice, or worse, students might never meet with their teachers one-on-one. Letters of recommendation can make or break a person's future, so imagine a professor you have had once and have maybe never spoken a word to holding the fate of your future when they know nothing about you as a student, much less a person.
Many universities around the state have large class sizes. This can create many problems for students who could possibly need extra help from their professor. Having such large class sizes can also interfere with participation or class discussion. For some students, class discussion is the greatest form of studying. Large class sizes make having a one-on-one relationship with your professor much more difficult, and students well know how difficult creating a professor-student relationship is. Being at Augusta State University allows students the opportunity to ask their professors questions after class, along with asking many questions while in class.
Larger class sizes become a problem not only with getting the help you need, but the enormous classes also have an effect on some students' attendance. Larger universities do not take a roll for their classes, and while roll-taking does seem to be a nuisance, it actually motivates students to go to class.
What if you knew you could skip as many classes as you wanted to? Would you only come to class to take the exams? First semester students might feel as though all the core classes are a waste of time. They might believe they can learn just as much by not coming to class and simply reading the material on their own. However, that is simply not the case.
Among the benefits of having smaller classes is the issue of recommendation letters. Recommendation letters are essential for most students going on to earn their master's degree or even a doctorate, and the professors are the people who will write them for you. In larger universities, student could graduate without ever having the same professor twice, or worse, students might never meet with their teachers one-on-one. Letters of recommendation can make or break a person's future, so imagine a professor you have had once and have maybe never spoken a word to holding the fate of your future when they know nothing about you as a student, much less a person.
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