October 24, 2018

What is the effect of class size on student learning?

Dr Kelvin Seah Kah Seng, Lecturer at the NUS Department of Economics, discusses the pros and cons of reducing the number of students per classroom in the latest ASK: NUS Economists column in The Straits Times. He points out that while smaller classes will reduce stress on teachers and give them more time to implement lesson plans that encourage more critical thinking, as well as lessen incidences of classroom disruption, more teachers will need to be hired and more classrooms built, which will be a large expenditure. Dr Seah also explains how student performance cannot always be tied to class size, stressing that a student’s innate ability is difficult to assess and analyse. He adds that policy makers need to consider whether there are better ways to improve student learning other than reducing class size, and that students’ current learning experiences need to be assessed to determine to what extent they need improvements.