Comments on: Online Class: What Size Do You Want To Be?

By: Tom Caswell

Tom Caswell — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:31:57 +0000

Thanks for pulling this together! I recently had a discussion on this topic with my brother, who is a product manager at Microsoft Learning. This is a huge issue for their certification providers. I need to share this with him…

By: Jared Stein

Jared Stein — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:57:57 +0000

I read through Oestmann, E. & Oestmann, J. (2006). Significant difference in learning outcomes and online class size. Journal of Online Educators, 2(1), 1-8. today. This study examines the outcomes of 5 large (20>) and small (<10) online masters level courses to determine if there are significant difference in interactivity and final grades. Contrary to some expectations they found that the average final grade in the large class size was 5% higher than the smaller class size. Also, the quality of discussion forum posts was judged to be greater–more substantial–in the larger class. The researchers interpret this as reflective of Vygotsky's socio-cultural learning theory "in which more opportunities for social interaction resulted in higher measures of learning outcomes"

I suspect their findings are at least in part due to the andragogical implications of studying adult, masters-level students.

By: Jared Stein

Jared Stein — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:53:41 +0000

@Ben, thanks! Glad it was useful. I’ve discovered a number of other articles since then, but none of them provide significant additional light on the matter.

Your grading load sounds tremendous. It’s commendable that you do all of that work. This actually reminds me of McCluskey’s theory of margin, which I’ve talked about re. student cheating, but of course applies to teachers as well. I wonder how many overloaded teachers resort to “cheating” on their grading when their load is too high…

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:03:31 +0000

Hey Jared – Great thoughts on a subject that’s been vexing me of late. I just began to research this topic, literally hours ago, and through the natural randomness that is my brain I ended up on your blog, excited to read this entry… yeah… anyway, I teach an entry level course and have several sections of it each semester. I’ve been combining sections in Bb, but, for whatever reason, it’s popularity has taken it to a nearly unmanageable point. From this one class I field a couple dozen emails and probably 150+ discussion board posts weekly. Then, when things come due I’m trying to grade 70ish projects (no TAs here, lol). Point being, I appreciate your thoughts and research. You’ve saved me time and have spurred my mind. – Ben

By: CogDogBlog » More Than Notes is Evernote

CogDogBlog » More Than Notes is Evernote — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:36:09 +0000

[...] Message of Twitter: “Here It Is” and “Here I Am” and Jared Stein’s Online Class: What Size Do You Want To Be? – both some extensive writings that deserve more than a twitter span of [...]