Impact of Class Size on Learning in the Health Classroom

Purpose:to determine the impact of differing pedagogical settings which occurred by increasing class size from 50 to 150 in Personal Health Management classes. Specifically, would students in larger classes be able to: participate in class, engage in personal health projects, examine, plan, and change personal health behaviors, and would large classes affect transactional distance. Additionally, this study investigated if there were differences by year in school, gender, and final grades.

Methods:The participants were enrolled in required general education health classes during the fall 2006 and spring 2007 semesters at Kutztown University. The participants completed a 26-item anonymous questionnaire related to the classroom learning environment, motivation for behavior change and transactional distance. The students completed a 5-point Likert scale form at the end of each semester. The participants also recorded gender and year in school. The dependent variable for this study was the differing pedagogical settings. During the fall semester the class size was limited to 50 students, in the spring all the health classes were conducted in large classrooms of 150 students.

Analysis/Results:The independent variables were the 26 questions, gender, year in school, and final grades. SPSS Version 10 was used to analyze the data and t-tests were computed between all variables to determine the difference between the means. All data was confidential and participants remained anonymous. Out of 26 items 25 were statistically significant. A total of 960 college students successfully participated in the study. There was no statistically significant difference between genders. There was a significant difference between the year in school each semester. It is important to note that pedogical teaching styles changed dramatically fall to spring semester.

Conclusions:The small group intimate interactions and multiple writing assignments that occurred during the fall were eliminated during the spring semester. A lecture style of teaching was predominantly used during the spring. The students reported that they were able to text message, take naps, and work on other homework in the large classroom setting. Conversely, students were less able to work in small groups, communicate with other students and professors, voice their opinions and hear diverse opinions in the large classroom. Additionally, students were not called on to speak, or challenged to reflect on health issues while in the large classroom setting. Final grades were found to be statically different with more A's in a smaller classroom.