From my personal experience, a smaller size of class population enables the instructor to pay attention to each and every student, especially during tutorial or practical sessions. Every student could be approached, monitored and interaction between learners and instructor could be easily fostered.

A study conducted by Zhao, Kuh, and Carini (2005) compared the experiences of students in small classes in a Chinese university with those in large classes in a U.S. university. The findings suggested that students in the small classes in China reported higher levels of engagement and interaction with their professors, and that these factors were positively related to their academic performance. The study also found that smaller class sizes were associated with higher levels of student satisfaction and lower levels of academic stress.

Zhao, C. M., Kuh, G. D., & Carini, R. M. (2005). A comparison of small classes in China and large classes in the United States. Research in Higher Education, 46(5), 471-494.

As I point out in my research(ATTENTION-DRIVEN DESIGN: HOW INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS DESIGN TO CAPTURE THE LEARNER’S ATTENTION), the answer to this question must first be answered by defining attention for each environment and the learners. At first glance, it might seem that smaller classroom sizes would be better for the environment. After all, smaller classes mean fewer students, which would mean a smaller carbon footprint overall. However, the answer is not quite so straightforward.

In fact, there are several factors to consider when it comes to the environmental impact of classroom sizes. For example, smaller classes may actually lead to increased transportation emissions if students are being transported to multiple locations. If a school has multiple small classes, students may be more likely to need to be bussed or driven to different locations, which could lead to increased emissions from transportation.

Additionally, smaller classes may also require more resources in terms of energy and materials. For example, if a school has multiple small classes, each class will need its own classroom, which will require heating, cooling, lighting, and other resources. This could result in a larger overall carbon footprint than if the same number of students were consolidated into larger classes in fewer classrooms.

However, there are also some potential benefits to smaller classroom sizes when it comes to the environment. For example, smaller classes may be able to more easily implement sustainable practices like composting, recycling, and reducing waste. With fewer students to manage, it may be easier for teachers and staff to encourage and enforce these practices, which could lead to reduced waste and a smaller environmental impact overall.

In addition, smaller classes may be able to more easily integrate outdoor learning opportunities into their curriculum. With fewer students to manage, teachers may be able to take their classes on more frequent nature walks or field trips, which could help students develop a deeper appreciation for the natural world and the need to protect it.

Ultimately, the impact of classroom size on the environment will depend on a variety of factors, including transportation patterns, resource usage, and curriculum design. However, with thoughtful planning and consideration, it may be possible to design educational environments that are both sustainable and effective for students.

@Dennis Chan Paul Leong, thank you for your reply. Do you think the expenditure and eco-system resources used to maintain a smaller classroom is helpful or harmful to the environment? Learning in smaller group might be a better approach to improve the quality of learning, what about the effect on the environment.

@Malik Stalbert, thank you for your detailed explanation

For sure, doing a large number of small classes would have an impact to environmental footprint as detailed by Prof. Malik Stalbert.

However, the first think to evaluate is how big a school impact to environment. Probably, if we would have three times more school, the negative impact wouldn't be as big as other sources of impact.

On the other hands, the positive impact of offering smaller classes would be huge on education and preparing better citizens. The society would have a great gain.

In addition, it would result in a bigger improvement if we focus the education of those to more green behavior. So, before measuring the immediate green impact, let's work on education to really solve the green impact on the near future.

Hi Nwankwo Kalu Thanks for your question.

In my humble opinion, keeping the class sizes small can affect the environment in both positive and bad ways, depending on various factors and we could make the initial decision based on the benefit-cost ratio or subjective-objective analysis.

Justifying the sustainability context, the 3 key pillars namely the environment, social and economic elements (WCED, 1987).

My opinions with scenarios are as follows:

(1) Environment: Smaller class size generates a lower carbon footprint in environmental engineering, less energy is required to cool the classroom (in Malaysia) and thus lesser carbon dioxide (CO2) is generated, including keeping the unwanted waste such as cans, plastics, papers, etc. to a minimum, reducing landfill waste...

(2) Social: As mentioned, smaller class sizes can result in more personalized learning, which can boost student engagement and, ultimately, produce higher academic results or address the desired learning outcomes in the 21st-century education model. When a more holistic student is produced, I believe this will be an added value to our environment - a brilliant environmental scientist!

(3) Economic: Lower classroom sizes could lead to a higher teacher-to-student ratio, which could put more expectations on teachers, greater resources such as more rooms needed, and operating cost, etc. Thus, this might offset some of the benefits stated above.

Overall, I wish to conclude that no single methodology works perfectly every time. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the effectiveness is influenced by a number of factors. I suggest to consider the technical “plan-do-check-act” procedure when deciding on any new approach!

World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. Oxford University Press.