Huge lectures give Moore 100 aura of Rose Bowl

Monday, September 28, 1998

Huge lectures give Moore 100 aura of Rose Bowl

EDUCATION: Personal attention diminishes, feeling of anonymity
flourishes as class sizes on campus grow

By Adam Yamaguchi

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Entering freshmen may recall barely squeezing into classrooms of
36 students in high school. But at large public undergraduate
institutions like UCLA, classroom sizes are much different.

Many lecture halls, such as Moore 100 and Dickson 2160E, have
seating capacities of up to 400, though, as some students say, not
necessarily comfortably.

"Sometimes the big classes get a little cramped and
uncomfortable, but in general, it’s not too bad," said third-year
molecular and cell biology student Melissa Mackin.

Returning students are already accustomed to large classrooms,
but non-UC students and parents may be more than surprised to find
that Bruins are attending lecture with 400 other classmates.

When students decide where to go to college, many are attracted
to the personalized programs offered by smaller, private
colleges.

"I chose not to apply to UCLA because of how overcrowded I heard
the campus was," said Sandra Lin, a second-year student at Pomona
College.

But students who opt for UCLA trade in the intimacy for
anonymity in lower division life science, chemistry, math,
psychology and economics classes that typically enroll about 300 to
400 students per lecture. Enrollments for upper-division classes
generally are lower, ranging from 80 to 150 students.

One of the most popular undergraduate classes, Biology 40 (the
study of AIDS) enrolls up to 800 students each quarter.

A few years ago, the course was held in the Ackerman Grand
Ballroom to accommodate the 1,000 students enrolled, according to
associate registrar Anita Cotter.

Recently, California has made a push to reduce classroom sizes
for kindergarten through third-grade students, and the change has
improved the reading ability of students.

Cathy George, evaluator in the Class Size Reduction program in
the state department, said that the aim of the program is to help
younger students learn to read. No definitive studies on class
sizes for college students were available.

In many of UCLA’s lower-division lectures, instruction seems
institutionalized, and intimate, personal attention is almost a
luxury.

"At first, I was hesitant about coming here because I heard that
classes had over 300 people," said third-year business economics
student Eric Lee. "But that’s just how UCLA is, and I’ve already
gotten used to it."

With over 23,000 undergraduates, holding smaller, more intensive
classes may not be practical, but does it sacrifice the quality of
education? By choosing to attend UCLA, do students really sacrifice
the the personal instruction and attention offered by smaller
colleges?

"The thing about big lectures is that if you have questions, you
have to wait until after class to ask them. But if you really care
about learning, you’ll go ahead and ask questions," Lee said. "I
don’t think the quality of education suffers."

Professors believe large classes change not so much the quality,
but the dynamics of instruction.

"I don’t think having such large classes detracts from
education," said Professor Michael Suman, who teaches nearly 400
students per quarter in Communication Studies 10.

"I teach it differently. When you teach so many students at
once, it’s impersonal. Discussion sections are where students can
engage in discussion intimately."

Suman also pointed out that some students may have questions but
are intimidated about approaching professors.

"Obviously, there are effects of teaching so many at once. At
some point, the number of students becomes meaningless. When you
have over 200 students, it’s just a sea of faces," said Peter
Nonacs, a life science professor who will instruct over 700
students this fall.

One drawback to large classes may be the different teaching
styles necessary to instruct 300 students in one setting.

"What you end up having to do is administer multiple-choice
tests and not long, written-out tests, which are harder to grade,"
Nonacs said.

"One of the things, as a lecturer, is that you cannot really
encourage questions in lecture," he said.

Although professors cannot always stop to answer questions
during lecture, they provide an opportunity for students to seek
individual help at office hours.

It’s up to students to take the initiative to ask for help, but
professors said that office hours are not always greatly
attended.

Suman holds office hours twice a week and encourages students to
come, but attendance varies.

"Some students like to come every week, while many times, I’m in
the office by myself. They just don’t take advantage of the
opportunities," Suman said.

Students can also attend smaller discussion sections, which are
often structured around answering students’ specific questions.

Though many students may not seek out individual attention, they
seem to prefer going to big review sessions.

"Surprisingly, the response for office hours is less than you
would think. But large review sessions are incredibly
well-attended," Nonacs said.

There are no obvious alternatives to holding large, unwieldy
classes, since professors and lecturers simply do not have time to
teach additional sections.

Professors on average teach five classes a year in addition to
research, and lecturers teach two or three classes each
quarter.

Last year, about 2,332 faculty members taught, but even if there
were enough instructors to split lectures into smaller sections,
officials in the registrar’s office would have to find a time and
place to hold the classes.

Haines Hall 39, which seats 370 people, is in use nearly 70
percent of the time (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), so squeezing in another
lecture isn’t as easy as one would think.

Last year, there was a quarterly average of 1,583 undergraduate
lectures and 2,109 secondary sections, according to Bob Cox, a
principal administrative analyst in the Office of Academic Planning
and Budget.

When there are time and room conflicts, course planners end up
having to schedule classes for unpopular class times, such as at 8
a.m., which often do not receive full enrollment.

Unless UCLA undergoes a massive construction boom, slashes the
number of admitted students or heavily increases the number of
faculty, it looks as though undergrads will continue to attend
classes with hundreds of peers.

"If you want personal attention, you’ve got to go to the
professor yourself," Lee said.

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