Class Size and Academic Achievement in Introductory Political Science Courses

Abstract

Research on the influence of class size on student academic achievement is important for university instructors, administrators, and students. The article examines the influence of class size -a small section versus a large section -in introductory political science courses on student grades in two comparable semesters. It is expected that students in the small-class section will perform significantly better on exams than students in the large-class section. The empirical analyses demonstrate, however, that class size does not significantly influence grades. Instead, prior political science knowledge, ACT scores, and course attendance significantly and positively influence student exam grades as well as final course grades. ARTICLE HISTORY

Preparing for the First Solo Teaching Experience: An Alternative to Learning as You Go

“…This is especially true if you are writing multiple-choice exams in that you have to write not only a multitude of questions, but also multiple answer choices per question. Exams also put more pressure on students and results may not accurately reflect how much they have learned in the class due to other mitigating factors such as class size and the intellectual propensities of the students (Leithner 2011;Towner 2016).…”

Developing a Shared Understanding of a Sense of Community in Large Classes

“…Currently, research about class size focuses on the whole university rather than individual units or subjects. Most of the research tends to focus on student performance rather than student engagement with the empirical link between class size and student performance being debated for decades (Towner, 2016). The premise seems logical: As class size decreases, academic achievement increases.…”

“…However, research also suggests that performance may also be dependent on discipline with research in fields such as political demonstrating no adverse effects on student performance (Towner, 2016).…”