Does Class Size Matter?

As economic pressures appear to force the college's hand in increasing class sizes, the time is right to really consider the importance of maintaining the size of classes that are taught at BCC.  From recruitment promises to the community that our classes are small to the college commitment to the significance of addressing the individual needs of students as a cornerstone to learning, how far will we go before larger class sizes begin to erode student success and retention? How far will we let economy drive decisions that impact valuable educational tools like discussions, interaction with peers, group work, cooperative learning, conferencing that provides frequent and timely feedback, and hands-on experiences that foster critical and reflective thinking that create a valuable and memorable classroom dynamic where students actively engage in their learning processes and are not looked upon as passive receptacles to deposit knowledge and information into?

The article below from Inside Higher Ed perhaps can fuel important discussion relative to the significance of class size in college, but more important for the Brookdale Community.

"Does Class Size Matter" by Daniel W. Barwick