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BigBlackEquus
Joined: 05 Jul 2005
Location: Lotte controls Asia with bad chocolate!
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 Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:49 pm Post subject: Average University Class Size? |
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What is the average university English class size?
University teachers, please tell me how large your classes are, and if they are large, how you tailor your lessons to be effective.
Thank-u |
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SuperHero
Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Location: Superhero Hideout
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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My class size averages about 25 which is a little large but very managable. My lessons are based around group work so my students sit in circles (round tables) of 4-5 students and do whatever activities I presnent them with.
Generally my focus is on building learner autonomy and confidence rather than actual English because in the grand scheme of things, the 64 hours of class time I have them for is not going to significantly affect their ability to use English. |
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jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Smallest class 5, largest 15. |
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teachmeenglish
Joined: 14 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 11:57 pm Post subject: |
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| 42!!! |
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Harpeau
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Location: Coquitlam, BC
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 12:02 am Post subject: |
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| My classes are 15. I will not allow any more into them. Though I do have a movie English class that has 20 students (through no choice of my own). Breaking them into small groups is a very good idea. |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 12:30 am Post subject: |
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MIne average around 20. For my first couple of years I taught in a program with 10-12 in each class. I have decided that I like the enegy level in a class with 20 or more students, but it does take planning to keep things hopping in conversation class.
In a writing or a content course, 20 to 25 is fine, but, of course, that means more reading papers and grading. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 3:59 am Post subject: |
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Wow! Things have changed in uni classes. The last I knew, they were around 40. If I had known there were classes of 20 or less, I would not have signed on at a high school. P-tooey to all you uni teachers who kept the good news to yourselves.  |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 4:09 am Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
| Wow! Things have changed in uni classes. The last I knew, they were around 40. If I had known there were classes of 20 or less, I would not have signed on at a high school. P-tooey to all you uni teachers who kept the good news to yourselves. |
There has been some initiative on the part of the government to reward unis for lowering the size of the conversation classes. I don't remember the particulars, but for those who are often very critical of Korea, I want to point out that there are a lot of attempts going on to reform and improve education.
And I cannot imagine trying to teach conversation to 40 students~  |
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Industrial Strength
Joined: 02 Dec 2003
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 6:15 am Post subject: |
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| desultude wrote: |
| And I cannot imagine trying to teach conversation to 40 students~ |
then you won't be able to imagine how i taught my english conversation class of 72 students last semester! the average was over 50 for all my classes.
this semester is great though as my average class size has dropped to 40. of course that's because we all teach an extra class. 
hmmm |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 3:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Industrial Strength wrote: |
| desultude wrote: |
| And I cannot imagine trying to teach conversation to 40 students~ |
then you won't be able to imagine how i taught my english conversation class of 72 students last semester! the average was over 50 for all my classes.
this semester is great though as my average class size has dropped to 40. of course that's because we all teach an extra class.
hmmm |
Where in hell do you teach?
The only classes I have heard of that large are content courses. That is bad for you and for your students. |
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Industrial Strength
Joined: 02 Dec 2003
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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| desultude wrote: |
There has been some initiative on the part of the government to reward unis for lowering the size of the conversation classes. I don't remember the particulars, but for those who are often very critical of Korea, I want to point out that there are a lot of attempts going on to reform and improve education. |
do you have any more info on this or some links? i'd like to read about this new gov't. initiative. i imagine that is why our uni has lowered the class sizes. i doubt it was because of our recommendations. 
according to teachers who worked here 5 years ago, "conversation" classes in excess of 100 were not uncommon. i guess 100 to 40 is a lot of improvement in 5 years!
is |
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Industrial Strength
Joined: 02 Dec 2003
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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question, are all of you teaching a mix of first-year and upperlevel converstation courses, or are you teaching in your university's foreign language insititute? i.e. are you teaching for the english dept. or the institute, or both?
we teach mainly first-year students in mandatory english conversation classes which are large and unwieldy. this is part of the english dept.
there is also a language institute on campus for which the students can pay extra. these classes range in size from 10-20.
where are your numbers coming from?
thanks,
is |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Industrial Strength wrote: |
question, are all of you teaching a mix of first-year and upperlevel converstation courses, or are you teaching in your university's foreign language insititute? i.e. are you teaching for the english dept. or the institute, or both?
we teach mainly first-year students in mandatory english conversation classes which are large and unwieldy. this is part of the english dept.
there is also a language institute on campus for which the students can pay extra. these classes range in size from 10-20.
where are your numbers coming from?
thanks,
is |
I am teaching in the American Studies Department, both language and content courses.
The people who teach in the freshman English program also have classes of 20-25, or maybe slightly more. They are the ones that told me that the governement was "encouraging" smaller class sizes with incentives and sanctions.
I'll ask around about what the government mandate is. I only heard about it from the freshman English profs on my campus. The program here hired additional faculty to lower the class sizes this year.
Oh, yes, there are also "institute" type classes taught on campus and those classes are 10-12 students. |
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Zed
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Shakedown Street
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 11:31 pm Post subject: |
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| My "conversation" classes average about 70. The largest I've had was 105. This is at a 2 year college. |
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Paji eh Wong
Joined: 03 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2005 12:19 am Post subject: |
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| My largest is 29, with an average in the low 20's. |
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