October 31, 2017

Dr. Kevin Stange, Associate Professor (U-M, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy)

Dr. Mark Umbricht, Project Manager, U-M Institutional Learning Analytics (UMILA)

Reflections offered by Lisa Emery, Associate Registrar for Faculty and Staff Services

Abstract:

Institutions typically report class size as the percentage of courses with a given enrollment range. These measures are used widely by college guidebooks and in college rankings, such as those constructed by U.S. News and World Report. An implicit assumption built into this measure is that the student experience will match the traditional measures of class size. We argue that the traditional measure does not accurately represent the student experience and misses important variation by college, major, and year in school.

In this talk, we will describe why the traditional measure of class size is inadequate and then document how class size as experienced by students at the University of Michigan varies across colleges, major, and year. We also suggest adjustments that can be made to traditional class size measures to better represent the student experience. We will also share preliminary results from a study that measures the relationship between class size, student outcomes, and the cost of a course.