Better motivated students populate the smaller classes at many institutions. However, there is one significant difference between large and small classes that appears consistently in the research. When it comes to the attainment of higher-order academic skills such as problem solving, written expression, and critical thinking, students in smaller classes do acquire more of these skills than do students in larger classes. Thus, while the literature demonstrates that large classes prove no obstacle to the acquisition of specific, course-related, factual knowledge, students in larger classes are at some disadvantage in developing an ability to think better by using skills beyond the basic acquisition of information. Here again the various research studies over the years have reached some consensus.
Smaller classes do lead to a more positive attitude toward the subject matter of the course.
Students tend to be the most upset when confronted with larger classes in their majors. Students tolerate larger classes for general education courses, elective courses, or prerequisite courses in other disciplines more readily. Students definitely expect smaller classes in their major and express dissatisfaction if they do not get them. Larger classes appeal less to students with higher GPAs. Better students seem to desire the positive impacts of smaller classes on the development of higher order cognitive skills.