Teaching during Covid-19 has given a lot of new experience in the field of online teaching. What have you experienced as the ideal number of students attending online classes?
Thank you for this valuable discussion.
I know that a fewer number of students is better for online classes. This is because when the number of online students is increased per each class, then you will need more extra time for questions and answers sessions.
But, despite all the aforementioned facts, let me tell you the actual situation at these critical days of Covid-19:
The maximum number of students in the face-to-face lab classes is twenty-four per each, but these classes of what we called online-learning are usually having more than fifty-five students per each!
We are using large groups interactive sessions because often difficult to arrange for small groups discussions, personally I feel that small group would get a better chance to interact and better student engagement would result.
Manisha Naithani Thank you for this both interesting and recognizable input.
It depends on the type of lesson. For a classic university course I see no limits, I even suggest that video lessons be recorded and placed on the learning platform. With practical activities it is more difficult. First of all, it is necessary to thoroughly prepare the activity: the introductory part, the questionnaire, individual practical activities and an evaluation towards the end. All these activities can be effectively managed with a reasonable number of students. In my opinion 12 students would be suitable for such a learning activity.
Success!
I prefer having classes not larger than 25, since it enables their active participation and resemble the "normal" class.
It depends on the platform used for the teaching and learning. The number may be as much as can be allowed by the online teaching platform
I think not more than 100 to be able to interact with all students
Mirna Leko-Šimić Hermann Gruenwald Remi Chukwudi Okeke
Chinaza Godswill Awuchi Omayma A. Eldahshan Thank you all for you input. It is interesting to read the different perspectives.
If the subject course is mostly about theories then lecturing is still a good method to apply, but I recommend no more than eight PPT slides having keywords and a picture example to help students (no matter the amount of learners) get a quicker idea of what's being discussed.
However, when it comes to a course that requires constant participation, such as teaching English language communication in business, then you'll need a smaller number of students (roughly about twelve) to configure out the time and methods for developing each of their skills to communicate better.
Ravee Art Phoewhawm Nadeesha Sewwandi Abegunasekara Thank you for this input. It supports our own experiences. Some of the administrators want more students attenting, but we argue that smaller numbers are better for learning.
Kjartan Skogly Kversøy
Dear Researcher,
I agree with my colleague from the research fraternity, Remi Chukwudi Okeke
. The fewer students I teach, the better it is for me. Online teaching is very difficult in a sense that you need to catch hold of the attention of the student for a long time. So more students immediately implies more difficulty. I have taught about 20 students once while teaching online. But given the choice, I will prefer to have batches of 2-3 students.Thank you.
Best regards,
Anamitra.
Anamitra Roy M.K. Tripathi Thank you for your input. This is valuable information for planning new classes.
@Kjartan: Most welcome. Given the situation it's up to our academic innovation to help the students learn better.
Ravee Art Phoewhawm Thank you. I do agree. It is always good with input from peers.
We have 20-30, which is too many. So I agree smaller numbers are better.
Neil Dagnall My experience is also that a number of 12 or less makes the teaching better more active.
This depends on the total no of students or candidates expected to be in attendance, up to 80% attendance and more is a good number
If batch size 20-25 is best to handle online classes with everyone interaction if possible. I hope so Kjartan Skogly Kversøy
The number of online students required time for questions and answers session. More students it means more time required. So it's depends on the time of class/lecture or conference.
Teachers are exposed to accept the new challenges of modern technology through online teaching and almost more than 80 percent of the students are attending online classes.
Smaller numbers are better but teachers are experienced to handle big class 40/50 students in a class as they are supposed to do so.
G. Stephen Aijaz Panhwar Ms Renjini Thank you for the interesting input.
30 Students in Graduate Classes and 20 Student in PG Classes.
In my experience, I don't think I should have more than ten students per class. I've had classes with more than 30 students, and it's hard to meet their pedagogical needs satisfactorily.
The optimal online class size is between 12 to 16 students for effective communication (Orellana, 2006; Tomei, 2006).
Wellyngton Chaves Monteiro da Silva Nusrat Jahan Sathi Neeraj Kumar Tripathi Thank you for interesting input.
Overcrowding reduces the effectiveness of the virtual system of learning especially if instructor simultaneously has to assess student's performances while engaging all students during or immediately after the virtual sessions.
I think from my experience in teaching online classes, from 20-30 is the ideal number of students.
Gopal Shukla Thank you for your input. Hermann Gruenwald I agree. It is a challenge to make the online teaching to good online learning. The amount of students is just one of many important factors.
Kjartan Skogly Kversøy It depends on whether students are active or not. In classes where students’ input is substantial, the less attendance, the easier the job for the teacher. But if the class is otherwise and most of the attending students choose to be silent receivers, then numbers do not matter at all.
Jinan F. B. Al-Hajaj Yes the classes are often very different. I do agree. Hermann Gruenwald I am sometimes amazed that some learners have little idea that learning actually is their own responsibility. Sometimes school itself is to blame for not facilitating this power.
I think the term "engagement", sometimes is misunderstood by some students. I think the transition from in-person to online teaching approach during this pandemic might have highlighted some of the old habits that feed into the lack of students' responsibility for their learning. For instance, I noticed that when you teach in-person you are more likely to remind students of the tasks that you have laid out in the course outline such as readings for that week, deadlines of assignments, and some other things that students could do independently by just following up the schedule in the course outline. Professors often come in early and spend time before and after class, checking if the students are on track or not. When comes to online teaching, you still give reminders but often not to the extent of in-person teaching. It requires a lot more of an independent adult learning approach, after all when students finish their degrees and take part in the workforce they will not necessarily have a person to remind them of what to do. They most likely will rely on their own sense of work ethics, which is key to employability, and perhaps an online calendar.
Online classes subjugates the creativity of both learners and teachers irrespective of numbers.
However to ensure proper response from learners side fewer is better ( 25-30 )
Gurudutta Japee Daniela Fontenelle-Tereshchuk Thank you for sharing. It seems in most cases that both the learners and the teachers miss meeting each other in the class room.
The smaller the better. Should not exceed 20 for making it more interesting and interactiv.
To ensure meaningful engagement I would say 15 would be ideal, but that obviously is almost never the case. I work with the a group with 35 students and have been trying to institute some breakout room group work, but does not seem to go too smoothly and desired outcomes are not really accomplished in group work assignments.
As number of students is proportional to the time allocated for the class, most important factor is student grade, understanding level and subject you are teaching. I am taking sessions on Statistics, SQC and Software Engineering with difficulty level 2&3 for UG and PG students. To me for 90 mins class it is best to have max 25-30 students in India for tier 2 Institutions.
Teo Neparidze Shirshendu Roy This is very interesting input. Thank you for sharing.
I agree with all the contributors. The fewer the better is the discussion on the online platform. It is imperative to have a constant interaction between the moderator and the students to have a interactive discussion. It has been seen that students sign in on the online platform and then continue to be signed in without being actually present on the site. It is important to have a ratio of 1:10 always so that we can efficiently conduct the class.
Aroop Mohanty Mohammad Abdulhai Thank you for sharing. I think the discussion is important. Many leaders in education have unrealistic ideas of how many students can attent online classes simutaineously. Collective thinking on this matter is important to maintain high quality of teaching and learning. It can be tempting, for economic reasons, to have large classes.
It dependence on the content of the course we plan to deliver and the extent we want student interact (questioning, answering and reflection), in this case 10-15 might be possible. In addition, the time also dependence on the above activities.
Kjartan Skogly Kversøy In my case, I could not have a choice because many of them are not attending virtual classes due to some reasons I guess. So, it is better to have as bigger as 40-50 students. I shall prepare the recorded slides to play them at their flexible time.
Rosalia Fotolela Thank you for sharing. I try to be tough on realtime attendance, but it does not always work out that way. I get your point.
Ali A. Al-Homaidan I also happen to have more than 20 but still the turn up was not good. You happen to give them a group work but they just ignore it. Or formative assessments by asking simple questions in a session but they just pretend as if they are not there. It is not always easy to control online session.
Ali A. Al-Homaidan Rosalia Fotolela Thank you for your input.
I didn't have the ideal number of students attending online classes.
I think not more than twenty students because easy to exchange learning experience and information with students (Teaching - Learning Process).
I guess the ideal number of students in an online audience depends on what os being done. For example, if it is a lecture there may be more than 20, but if it is a seminar and the work of each student must be traced...my experience shows no more than 10-12 students.
Zhelyo Zhelev Thank you for sharing. Every answer is very appreciated.
6 is best, any more and we have to mute cameras and mics. Software crashes when we're all in the room.
Marie Britz I am very happy if the attending numbers are as low as 6. The best it seems I can hope for in the current situation is 10-15. When we pass 12 I feel things get more difficult.
I agree with you Zhelev, because a lot of them have the device connected (online) but do other things.
As a teacher, I do not have the choice to control the number. I have to take the class for all and I need to cover the syllabus before their examinations.
What Agnishwar says is definitely correct in tradition teaching and learning process. But, it is so funny in active learning and teaching process.
Agnishwar Girigoswami Alemayehu Balcha Thank you for sharing. What are the size of you classes in average?
According to my experience, students are actively participate in online lessons rather than face to face teaching learning system.
G.V.P. Samaranayake Thank you for sharing. How many students do you usually have? Too many make my students less active.
Normally 85 - 90 students, but they are very actively participate rather than face to face.
I did not host more than 50 students. When the number of attendees increase, the interaction decrease between me (as an instructor) and students. I believe the ideal number should be under 40.
Mehmet Akif Karaman Thank you for sharing. I have similar experiences.
I had course included more than 100 students. Actually, it not ideal number.
Safaa K. Kadhem It sounds way too much. Thank you for your input.
https://www.bestcollegesonline.org/faq/how-important-is-class-size-in-an-online-college-course/
You're welcome Kjartan Skogly Kversøy, and thanks for recommendation!
Ideal students should be not more than 20 and it should be video linked
- Badges
- Science topic