Oswaldo Hernández-Hernández | Staff Writer
hernane5@imail.losrios.edu
Classes become even harder when the class is full, the waiting list is full, and the room is full of students standing or sitting on the floor. I have been in this situation many times. There are times when I am enrolled in a class and I do not even get to sit down.
Professors should not allow students to sit in class just to see if there is a chance for them to add. During the first weeks of the semester, this situation prevents students who are actually enrolled to get the most out of what they paid for.
Along the same lines, with too many students in a class, chances are that if one does not understand the material the professor might not have the time to clarify it.
In order for most students to learn, there has to be interaction between the professor and the students. Sections that are crowded become an impairment to student-professor interaction. There are times that a class has so many students that by the end of the semester the professor ignores the names of his or her students.
City College student Gabriela Estevez, 20, said that in the process of adding and dropping students from a section, students lose part of their education.
“You do not get to participate as much,” said Estevez. “There are so many students in there that [the professor] can only focus on those who actually participate.”
There are many professors who allow more than 40 students in a classroom with the excuse that many of them will end up dropping the class halfway through the semester.
Paul Frank, a City College political science professor, is currently teaching two classes that are each double the normal capacity.
“I have two classes in one classroom with 75 students,” Frank said.
Frank is an outstanding professor in that he is able to handle the greater number of students, but are students themselves able to handle a crowded classroom?
School officials should take into consideration the needs of everyone and not over enroll a section.
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