John Horvath

ENG 111
Instructor: Liana Miller
04/2015
AMS Essay
In higher education, students are worried about their performance on a grading scale.
While this is obviously a valid worry, students should also be worried about the performance of
their teachers as well as their academic community as a whole. Within the education system are
issues that need to be addressed. The main issue is large class size. This it affects a students
ability to learn in the classroom, retain information, and be an independent learner. These
distractions, such as an out of control classroom due to a larger class size, teachers cannot help
all the students as much as they need. A large class size also stretches an instructors resources
thin, not allowing them sufficient time to prepare for classes or instruct the way that they could.
The classroom environment impacts the students learning and grasping of the information
taught, as well as contributes to the outcome of their grade. Within the classroom there are many
underlying elements that can cause students to fail. The smaller the class size, the better learning
environment, better education for the student, and an increase in application of teaching methods
for teachers. With the increase in class size due to schools trying to cut the budget anywhere they
can, they are damaging the central reason for a learning institution, teaching students and
preparing them for the future.
With the increase of tuition nationwide there has been an attempt made by universities to
increase the classroom size in order to cut costs and increase student numbers. While this does
save money for the universities, it leaves the teachers overworked, underpaid, and over

encumbered with students, often with more than thirty students per class. This tactic is
ineffective when it comes to the education of students and leads to many conflicts and issues
with learning. The student to teacher ratio is not sufficient to a good learning environment, and
causes chaos within the classroom as well as while the instructor is preparing their curriculum.
The more students per teacher in the classroom, the less time the teacher has to spend with each
student. Some students thrive with one-on-one learning to fully understand the information. By
decreasing the class sizes the teacher then has further time to help students that need the
additional help. Mike Rose states in his article, I Just Wanna Be Average, I was turned down
flat by USC and UCLA, but Jack MacFarland was on the case. He had received his bachelors
degree from Loyola University, so he made calls to old professors and talked to somebody in
admissions and wrote me a strong letter. Loyola finally accepted me as a probationary
student.(Rose, 311) Since Mike Rose was given individualized time with a teacher he grew to have
a personal relationship with him. He was unsure initially if he would do well in college, but due to
the relationship he had with his teacher, he had someone who was not only showing him that he
could succeed, but was willing to help him do so.
Smaller class sizes make the students less likely to become distracted and also give them

a more personalized learning experience. When there are more students filling a classroom, this
makes it difficult for the instructor to focus on each individual student. This gives the students
the opportunity to get lazy, since they are not held as accountable. They feel as if the teacher
doesnt pay attention to them, so they choose to do other things to occupy their time in class, just
like Marry Sherry states in her article Our son was a high-school senior when he had Mrs.
Stifter for English. He sits in the back of the room talking to his friends she told me. (Sherry,
339) Mrs. Stifter had too much to pay attention to, and therefore could not see that each student
was not learning properly. These distractions can be cellular devices, other books, other students

and even other classes. The distractions tend to lead to the students falling behind in their classes.
These students that are behind in the class tend to give up and try hide and stay unnoticed in
class instead of participating, which ultimately effects their grade. Mike Rose continued in his
article, I would hide by slumping down in my seat and page through my reader, carried along by
the flow of sentences in a story.(Rose, 300) If the class sizes were smaller, the teacher would
have the ability to take notice of these distractions, and stop them from happening. When the
teacher has the complete attention of the class, there would be an increase in class participation, a
better understanding of the material, and in the end an overall better learning experience.
Some teachers are restricted by their curriculum with larger classes. With larger classes,
teachers have to struggle to properly prepare for the class, grade assignments, and get a complete
picture of the learning ability of the class individually and as a whole. When classes are smaller,
class discussion is more likely, and gives the teacher a chance utilize different techniques in
teaching. Bell Hooks shines some light on teaching strategies in her article Engaged Pedagogy.
She states,When i was an undergraduate, Womens Studies was just finding a place in the academy.
Those classrooms were the one space where teachers were willing to acknowledge a connection
between ideas learned in university settings and those learned in the life practices. And, despite
those times when students abused that freedom in the classroom by only wanting to dwell on
personal experience, feminist classrooms were, on the whole, one location where I witnessed
professors striving to create participatory spaces for the sharing of knowledge.(Bell,254) The

teachers can expand more on certain subjects and go further into depth, allowing the students to
grasp the concepts in different ways. Due to the fact that students lack comprehension, they
sometimes pass the class without actually understanding the material. Mar Sherry states this
perfectly, Their validity will be questioned only when their employers discover that these
graduates are semi-literate. Eventually a fortunate few will find their way into educational repair

shops.(Sherry, 338) Many students would benefit from extra assistance, because each student
learns in different ways. Some students cannot understand or grasp what is being taught from a
traditional lecture style class, while others thrive on it. So by having smaller class sizes it will
lead to a greater understanding for the students and allow them to utilize different teaching
techniques that will benefit the students as well as the teachers.
Although, there are many ways to improve the dimensions and learning environment in
the classroom, restricting the class size will be a more plausible for the students as well as the
teachers. To fix the problem of large class sizes schools should hire more staff to decrease class
size, or perhaps hire assistant teachers to split classes into learning groups based upon learning
styles. It will improve student teacher relations, by focusing on the students individual needs and
allowing students to grow a personal relationship with those who are shaping their education.
The classroom distractions decrease because of the extra attention given by the teacher. The most
important factor is the diversity in the teaching methods. Each student learns differently, and
with enforcing restrictions on class size, the teachers will have more leeway on curriculum and
will give the teachers a chance to show their abilities. This will cause the education and learning
processes within the classroom to improve, increasing the likelihood of students leaving with the
information they were meant to grasp. The students as well as the teachers need support to learn
the information given. Without appropriate support, the education will fail, not just the student.

Works Cited
Hooks, Bell. Engaged Pedagogy. From Teaching to Transgress. Reproduced by permission of
Routledge, INC., part of Taylor Francis Group.
Rose, Mike. I Just Wanna Be Average. Reprinted with the permission of The Free Press, a
division of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, from Mike Rose, lives on the
Boundary: The Struggles and Achievements of Americas Underprepared. Copyright 1989
by Mike Rose.

Sherry, Mar. "In Praise of the "F" Word." (1991). Print.