COLLOQUY Responses
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COLLOQUY Responses
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 Several responses in this debate have speculated whether large class size or administration responses to student complaints contribute to behavior problems in the classroom. Based on my own experiences, I believe that both do. My first position was at a large (20,000+ students) public institution, and as a cost-saving measure, the size of selected history survey classes was increased to 400 students per class. However, because our department did not have teaching assistants, this impersonal lecture was the only teaching contact with the students. In one of these classes, I had a student who became so disruptive and threatening that I asked another student to call campus security. Although the student left before security arrived, I was later told by administrators that I could not have thrown him out because he'd paid his tuition and had a right to be there. In my present position, I have classes of no larger than 35. I know the names of all the students, and I have had a chance to talk to each of them individually about the class, their interests, and their goals. I'm able to use a variety of teaching methods that include small-group work, which allows the students to become more involved in the material. My students are required to come to class on time (and virtually all of them do so) and they know that they are expected to be polite and attentive. I believe that the small size of the classes is partially responsible for this decorum, but the clearly-stated college policy on classroom behavior is also important. I also realize that a Jesuit institution has a mission and public image very different from that of large state schools, and this may shape the students' expectations -- and consequently, their behavior. Finally, many of our students have been through Catholic primary and secondary schools, which also may have conditioned their behavior in the classroom. This is not to say that I don't occasionally have a disruptive or disrespectful student; however, I do not agree that the responsibility for this behavior rests solely with the professor. While I want to work with the students to help them learn, they are the ones who are ultimately responsible for what they take out of the classroom. If we conform and adapt our teaching to suit the needs of a single student, are we meeting the needs of the remainder of the class? And what kind of preparation are we giving them for their lives and work after college? Will their future employers be willing to overlook such behavior, or reassign them to tasks which they find more congenial?
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