{"id":60206,"date":"2021-11-11T15:20:48","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T20:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=60206"},"modified":"2021-11-11T15:20:48","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T20:20:48","slug":"why-australian-uni-students-have-a-right-to-know-class-sizes-before-they-sign-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/why-australian-uni-students-have-a-right-to-know-class-sizes-before-they-sign-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Australian uni students have a right to know class sizes before they sign up"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nProliferating metrics and rankings in recent decades have, for better or worse, reshaped the priorities of universities around the world. Despite this \u201cmetric tide\u201d, Australian universities provide little reliable, publicly available data on their class sizes. To this day, there is no mechanism for reporting how many students are allocated to the various types of classes at universities in Australia.<\/p>\n

The result is a clear lack of systematic evidence on how universities organise their teaching in terms of class sizes. We also don\u2019t know for sure how this may have changed over the years.<\/p>\n

3 reasons we need to know about class sizes<\/strong>
\nFrom a policy perspective, having reliable, publicly available data on Australian universities\u2019 class sizes matters for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n

First, class size metrics would provide prospective students with more meaningful information about a key aspect of their future learning experience.<\/p>\n

University rankings such as the Academic Ranking of World Universities are mostly geared towards research performance. They provide little guidance on how universities value and approach their teaching.<\/p>\n

Student-staff ratios are part of some rankings at least, but this information is similarly limited. These ratios do not provide accurate information on the actual sizes of the various classes students attend. They also generally do not distinguish between different fields of study.<\/p>\n

All this means student-staff ratios are a limited source of information.
\nSecond, class sizes could have impacts on students\u2019 learning outcomes and levels of satisfaction.
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"34 Australian universities declined in teaching capacity, which is measured by faculty to student ratios that indicate class sizes."<\/p>\n

Something tells me this is about to change?https:\/\/t.co\/u2sZC3KMO2<\/a><\/p>\n

— Silvio Contessi (@silviocontessi) June 9, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n