Pitt\u2019s English department increased course caps last year to accommodate enrollment growth, and faculty members are raising concerns about the impacts of larger class sizes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The English department<\/a> in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences<\/a> saw an increase in the maximum number of students allowed to enroll in a course following the University\u2019s growing enrollment<\/a>, according to University spokesperson Meredith Herndon. English faculty members said larger class sizes can increase instructors\u2019 workloads and limit the amount of individual feedback they can provide to students.<\/p>\n In the English department, first-year writing course caps increased from 19 to 22 students, while writing-intensive courses caps went from 22 to 25, according to Herndon.<\/p>\n Herndon said the increased course caps were intended to accommodate Pitt\u2019s enrollment growth and ensure students can access required courses.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Dietrich School, like all of Pitt\u2019s undergraduate schools, is charged with making strategic adjustments to accommodate enrollment fluctuations to be sure that our students have access to the courses they need,\u201d Herndon said. \u201cSometimes that has meant increasing enrollment caps, sometimes that has meant offering more sections of particular courses.\u201d<\/p>\n Shannon Reed, an English professor and director of undergraduate studies for the Creative Writing program, said classrooms in the Cathedral of Learning, a building where many English literature and writing classes are located, have size limitations that can prevent courses from reaching the 25-student cap. This can result in different sections of the same course having different enrollment limits.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have sections of courses that are maxed at however many the classroom can hold, which makes a disparity that\u2019s unfair to the faculty members,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n Herndon said all Dietrich courses have a minimum class size, but some classes operate below the minimum depending on the space they are assigned.<\/p>\n \u201cSome departments may offer courses below the class-minimum because of the nature of the course and\/or any size restrictions of the classroom or lab in which it is offered,\u201d Herndon said.<\/p>\n Reed said differences in class size can affect professors\u2019 workloads, particularly when instructors are responsible for grading papers and providing feedback to individual students.<\/p>\n \u201cI find that frustrating because my workload increased without my capacity to work increasing, and I feel that that ultimately is a price paid by the students in my class,\u201d Reed said. \u201cThey\u2019re not getting the same level of attention that they would have gotten when I [taught] 19 students.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael Meyer, an English professor, said there is a correlation between smaller classes and success for writing. He said having more students per class negatively impacts a professor\u2019s ability to provide students with what they need.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ideal class size for a writing class is 12 to 14 students, so 25 has a strong negative effect on our ability to effectively teach individuals,\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n Meyer said effective instruction can be delivered in larger classes, but writing courses require more individualized attention, which is easier to provide in smaller classes.<\/p>\n \u201cWriting is different because writing is individualized,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cA smaller class size makes that easier than a larger class size.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Meyer, increased class size caps mean professors have less time to work individually with each student. Meyer said he has adapted his instruction to ensure students are engaged and can participate in a larger class.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s forced me to adapt my instruction so [students] can lead discussion,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cFor a student in a writing class, it\u2019s easy to hide in large classes.\u201d<\/p>\n Greta Tibus, a sophomore English writing major, said smaller class sizes help develop a community and positive learning environment.<\/p>\n \u201cI think smaller class sizes are better for learning,\u201d Tibus said, \u201cThey allow for more communication between peers and instructors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pitt\u2019s English department increased course caps last year to accommodate enrollment growth, and faculty members are raising concerns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-292247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cWe only see students for two and a half hours in class each week, and so when the numbers keep going up, it\u2019s cutting back the minutes [that] we can deal with them one-on-one,\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n