-=> Quoting Sheila King to Melvin Billik <=-
 -> I don't disagree at all with the points you are making.
 -> Keep in mind I said that there is a LOOSE CORRELATION between
 -> class size and success.
 SK> The only reason the correlation is loose IMHO is because it is
 SK> impossible to isolate and control for that factor alone. Because of
 SK> the very many other variables affecting student performance, it is
 SK> extremely difficult to know whether, in any study on class size, that
 SK> is the responsible culprit, or perhaps some other factor.
It seems to me, on average, about one in every 10 kids is going to
give you headaches. And the amount of trouble they cause is given
by the expression "n squared", because troublemakers develop synergy
(whereby the whole has a greater effect than the sum of its parts)
1 kid, not too bad. 2 kids, that's 4 x as bad, 3 kids - now you have
9 x the grief. In a largish class, say between 30 and 40, you're
likely to have at least 3 troublemakers, depending somewhat on the
academic level and the type of course (grade 12 Calculus should be
fairly quiet). So I would say the larger the class, the more likely
and more often there will be problems. The only salvation is that
on any given day two of the three will skip class.
coffeerp@adan.kingston.net  Û] COFFEE MUG SOFTWARE Û]
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