Large Lecture Halls vs. Small Classrooms

[kitty613]

Hi Everyone!
Gosh, it's been sooo long since I've been on this forum. Glad to me back. 🙂 I was wondering if anyone could give me your thoughts on taking pre-req's in large lecture halls vs. small classes? Currently, I attend a school with small classes(max 40), but I have to transfer to a state school to save money. I love taking small classes because I like that the instructor knows me and he is willing to help me out. I also I feel comfortable asking questions in small classrooms as well. I just can't fathom taking a science class with hundreds of students. What are the disadvatages or advantages of taking pre-reqs in large lecture halls? How are the labs taught (by TA's?) What are the labs like? I really would like to hear about your experiences. I want to thank everyone in advance for helping me. Sorry for all the questions!
-Kitty613 ^-^

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[Lissarae06]

I don't mind taking classes in large lectures, but I know a lot of people do. As for knowing the professor: you can get to know your professor in a large class as well. Just go by their office and introduce yourself, ask questions, etc. I never had a problem with it. The whole class would meet for lecture and then the labs would be split into a lot smaller sections.

 

[hedgiehog]

I've taken classes that were both small and I don't really have a preference one way or the other. If you're willing to make the effort their will be opportunities to get to know the professor and vice versa. There's always office hours, you can ask questions before or after lecture, etc. I don't tend to ask questions during class because I'm fairly shy but in my larger classes I would find that many times someone else would ask the exact question I had. The labs are broken up into smaller groups and run by a TA, with the professor occasionally wandering in. I liked this because I got to know a TA very well and then always had someone I could go to for questions. A lot of the large science classes I took also had separate optional review sessions run by the TA. My Biochem class had about 200 people in it and on average 20 people showed up to the weekly reviews. I felt more comfortable to ask questions and the TAs were very helpful. They went over difficult concepts more clearly and gave us practice problems that were only available to those who attended the session. Since the TAs helped grade the test I got a sense of what they were looking for in terms of answers which gave me a leg up for the actual test.

In short, you can still get all your questioned answers, you may get to know your TAs better (which is useful since they may help grade stuff), and if you make the effort you can still get to know the professor.

 

[NStarz]

I personally loved taking my prereqs in smaller classes (max 25-30, some as few as 6!). I would have never been able to learn organic chem in a lecture hall of 600 people. I never had a TA in undergrad and I feel that it really helped me stay focused as the professors were personally invested in my education. Just my $0.02. Obviously there are benefits to both styles, but I really loved the smaller classes.

 

[lailanni]

I went to the largest (and most difficult) school in the state. My biochem class had 700 people in it. Not going to lie, it was hard. Mostly because by that time only the pre-meds, pre-pham, pre-dental, etc kids were left. The average was set at 2.8 and graded on a curve. We all know what GPA it takes to get into a professional school. It was cut throat.

Most of the larger classes have lecture together, then break into smaller sections of around 30 that meets with a TA. Your TA and professor will have office hours. My campus also had study centers available with tutors you could speak to for free.

To me, a larger class size meant learning how to teach yourself, or find out the resources that could help you learn. In a smaller class there might be more hand holding. In a larger class it's more like sink or swim.

Ultimately I was glad I had the larger class sizes. It forced me to find out how I study best and do it effectively. When I got to vet school I knew my study strategies. I wasn't phased by a ton of material I had to teach myself - I already had my system down.

 

[Trematode]

I went to a small undergrad institution. My largest class (intro biology) was 128, but all of my other classes were 6-50, with my biology classes having an average of ~15 students.

I have heard that it is easier to get research experience at larger universities. That is one argument that can be made.

My chem grades are horrible and I flunked math my first semester of university, so by all means, I have never been at the top of the heap. Would I have gotten the opportunity to do research and an honours thesis if I had gone to a large, competitive university? Would I have had the opportunity to present my research at different venues if I were competing with 60+ other honours students for a select number of spots?

The professors at my university made an effort to get to know students. Once they recognized me, they would say hello to me in the hallway. I met a professor I never had before at a conference and he hired me, without ever having me as a student. The dean of the department is a reference on my CV because I had him for 3 classes and he got involved with the honours presentations and biology society events.

I felt like if I would have went to a larger university, I would have been dismissed because of some of my grades. Despite that, I have racked up a pretty impressive CV.

The chemistry department had even fewer students (6 chem majors graduated with me). Because there are so few of them, all of them get research jobs in the department after completing their first year.

I have never attended a large university. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I would have stayed with the university I graduated from.

 

[PetPony]

If I like the class, it really doesn't matter where I am, but for classes like chem and physics, I would like a smaller room. We start out every semester with about 350 people in chemistry. The numbers do drop with every test we take, but we still have the same room and it feels weird to me. I don't pay too much attention in classes I don't like if I know the professor won't notice. My chem prof does know my name though because I came in a lot in the beginning of the course last semester. So as long as you go to their office hours or talk to them after class, they will probably remember you.

 

[kakurubird]

I don't pay too much attention in classes I don't like if I know the professor won't notice.

This is exactly the big difference for me. The largest class I had in undergrad was orgo (maybe? or intro bio? either way, ~80 students) and it was so much easier for me to drift off and lose track of what was going on. I had the same prof. for a later class as I did for intro bio and when there were 12 of us in the room and he could see if I was taking notes, listening, thinking about his material, I actually did those things during the class instead of spending an hour "decorating" my printed lecture slides and then having to go back and actually read them after class.

(In terms of professors knowing your name, though, I had a conversation with our orgo professor about an exam in the hallway once where he used my name and referenced my previous exam grades and the trend. I had never met this professor outside of class (well, except for him maybe walking past while I was in the department lounge, but had never talked to him). Freaky experience.)

 

[PetPony]

This is exactly the big difference for me. The largest class I had in undergrad was orgo (maybe? or intro bio? either way, ~80 students) and it was so much easier for me to drift off and lose track of what was going on. I had the same prof. for a later class as I did for intro bio and when there were 12 of us in the room and he could see if I was taking notes, listening, thinking about his material, I actually did those things during the class instead of spending an hour "decorating" my printed lecture slides and then having to go back and actually read them after class.

That's what I meant. In big classes, the prof won't know if I pay attention, so I don't. If it were small and he'd notice what I did, I would pay attention to his lecture and participate.

 

[kakurubird]

I got what you meant PetPony, just elaborating from my POV. 🙂

Seems like we have similar styles of focusing in class!

 

[PetPony]

Oh ok, now I got it. I guess I can use language barrier as an excuse for this. ;D jk.

I love being at a big university because of all the research I can choose from and I love having the vet school here because I can shadow there and meet lots of new people. I do wish though that I could have smaller classes for chem, physics and bio. I guess I should've applied to the Honors College, but at that point in time, I didn't even want to go to this school..

 

[pooter]

For the most part, I enjoyed my little tiny college experience. For me, though, there is such a thing as too small. Over the course of trying to take biochem (in a class of 12), I had my self-confidence ripped into tiny pieces and stomped on repeatedly. Somehow, a prof's "you're an idiot" look is just so much more potent at close range.

 

[bayarea15]

Mixed. If you are shy and dont want to be noticed like me, I think I would like the larger classes. That said, no I have never taken one!

I am considering a small private university to transfer to. It's got ehh 1200 ish students total. Avg class size is 16. I think it would be good for me...I would be able to ask questions as well as perhaps higher quality. But again, key word is perhaps.

 

[sumstorm]

I attended a small lib arts college where my average classroom size was 8 students, my largest was 40. I found attending vet school an absolute shock; we only have 80 students in a classroom, but the passive lecture style and general volume of noise (seats squeeking, people sniffling, etc...normal noise) really gets to me. I have wondered if attending courses more like this would have better prepared me for learning in this environment, at the same time, I feel like I have a better comprehension (vs memorization) of background subjects like biochem and physiology than many of my fellow students. Given a choice, I would go to the environment you learn best in, but keep in mind that the large lecture environment is how most of your vet school lectures will be (at least in my experience.)

 

[skittles12]

I had a mixture of both large and small classes during undergrad. Intro biology was 300+ students, and upper level sciences were 80-100. Then I had really small classes, like Latin and upper level animal science, that only had 12-15 people. I definitely felt more pressure in the small classes because the professor can tell if you are paying attention and if you know your material. I didn't have a problem with the large classes--if I had a question I would email the professor or stop by there office. I do think I had a harder time paying attention in the large classes...which may be due more to how much I hate listening to people read straight off of powerpoint slides....

 

[Trematode]

In large classes, you do not get to play Jeopardy (with prizes!) as review or have a lab exam scavenger hunt (with prizes and fame!) .

 

[OH Bunny Girl]

I think the actual university matters a bit too. I've taken both large classes (300+) and small classes (~20) at two different universities. The university with an "ok" reputation had on average ok professors (some were better than others), and the university with a really good reputation had amazing professors at both large and small levels.

However, the really good school is private and tuition is 4 times that of the ok school. So, perhaps you get what you pay for?

 

[StartingoverVet]

For me the + of large classes: Anonymity, could read the newspaper in the back (this was before laptops!), could miss class.

But for learning purposes... you just can't beat small size.

Also, teaching style for most large classes seems to degenerate into plowing through a powerpoint presentation with little actual teaching (with mostly rare exceptions).

Smaller class size means profs have to actually teach.

 

[OH Bunny Girl]

Smaller class size means profs have to actually teach.

Smaller class with a poorly lectured powerpoint = TORTURE!

 

[variegata]

My SMALLEST science class had 120 people in it. I personally, didn't mind the anonymity of the large lecture halls, but I'm also the sort of person who doesn't need (or want) a lot of attention in class - if I don't understand it, it's because I need to go home and look and think myself. Professors did have office hours, which I rarely went to. As far as TA sections went, some were required, but usually they weren't. Some TAs were helpful, some were pretty much useless. You just had to try going to a few different sections to figure out which one (if any) were going to be worthwhile.

I was totally fine with small classes for things like Italian since a large language class would have been impossible, but I don't think I would have done any better if there were fewer people in my science classes.

 

[kitty613]

I went to the largest (and most difficult) school in the state. My biochem class had 700 people in it. The average was set at 2.8 and graded on a curve. We all know what GPA it takes to get into a professional school. It was cut throat.

Do most large lecture halls grade on a curve?? That sucks!

 

[kitty613]

I attended a small lib arts college where my average classroom size was 8 students, my largest was 40. I found attending vet school an absolute shock; we only have 80 students in a classroom, but the passive lecture style and general volume of noise (seats squeeking, people sniffling, etc...normal noise) really gets to me. I have wondered if attending courses more like this would have better prepared me for learning in this environment, at the same time, I feel like I have a better comprehension (vs memorization) of background subjects like biochem and physiology than many of my fellow students. Given a choice, I would go to the environment you learn best in, but keep in mind that the large lecture environment is how most of your vet school lectures will be (at least in my experience.)

You bring up a good point sumstorm. Do large lecture halls better prepare us for vet school? I would probably think so based on your experience. It's just I'm always the one with a zillion questions in class (yeah, I one of those people! haha). I'm just terrified of large lectures, especially since I don't always grasp concepts as quickly as some people do.

P.S. In any classroom I've been in (big or small) I've alwasys been extremely distracted(and annoyed) by noises in class. So, when I take quizzes and tests, I wear earplugs. Some of my classmates poke fun of me for this, but whatever...it works for me. 😛

 

[kitty613]

As far as TA sections went, some were required, but usually they weren't. Some TAs were helpful, some were pretty much useless. You just had to try going to a few different sections to figure out which one (if any) were going to be worthwhile.

I'm curious. Do most large lecture halls have TA sections for lecture material (regardless if they want to attend or not). I know this is standard for labs. I would really like to know because I would probably be one of those people that would need to go to an additional section! 🙂