THE CLASS‐SIZE EFFECT UPON ACTIVITY AND COGNITIVE DIMENSIONS OF LESSONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

This study examines the effects of class size upon the verbal interactions and the cognitive level of medical instruction. The major findings of this study indicate that: (a) the percentage of the teacher's verbal activities increases with the group size; (b) the shortest teacher‐lectures are given in medium‐size classes; (c) the longest student‐answers and student initiations are observed in medium‐size classes; (d) the maximal diversity of verbal interactions is found in medium groups, while the minimal is found in large groups; (e) the percentage of interactions at the lowest cognitive level (knowledge) increases with class size; (f) longer interactions are observed in large classes at the knowledge level, and in smaller classes at the analysis and evaluation levels; (g) the minimal cognitive diversity is found in large groups; (h) both activity and cognitive total scores decrease as the class size increases. The implications of these findings are discussed.