average size of

science classes

The average class size was determined by dividing the number of pupils enrolled in a course by the number of sections of that course offered during the first term of the school year 1947-48. The over-all average is greatest for the lower junior high-school science courses, where there are 30 pupils for the seventh-grade general science and 29 pupils for the eighth-grade general science. The average for ninth-grade general science and biology is 26 pupils. The average class size for chemistry is 23 pupils, and for physics it is 19 pupils.

Tables 20 and 21 reveal the average class size in the common science subjects in various types and sizes of high schools. In the regularly organized high schools and in the undivided high schools, the average class size is about the same as the over-all average for all types of high schools. The largest averages for class size are commonly found in the various types of junior-senior high schools.

When the average class size for science courses in the various sizes of high schools is compared, it is found that science classes are commonly larger in the larger high schools. There appears to be a direct relationship between the size of the high-school enrollment and the average class size for the sciences.

If we assume that each of the 827 full-time science teachers was responsible for a minimum of 4 classes, and half of them had 5 classes, that would leave each part-time science teacher with the responsibility for 1 or 2 sections of a science subject. The over-all average for full-time and part-time science teachers was less than 3 sections of science each. The data in this report show that about one-third fewer science teachers teaching 5 sections of science could have taught all the sections of science offered by the schools.

Table 20.-Class size in seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade general science, by type and size of high school

Table 21.—Class size in biology, chemistry, and physics, by type and size of high school

In the light of these assumptions fragmentation of science teaching by the assignment of several teachers, each serving only one or two science sections, often results in the read-about-talk-about type of science teaching deplored by school leaders and tolerated by the pupils. One or a few effective science teachers, with full responsibility for the science work in a school, can perhaps change this situation. Competent science teachers will arrange, try out, and use equipment and supplies. They will care for, improvise, and order science materials. They will seek ways to improve science rooms and furnishings. They will demonstrate experiments and require experimentation of the pupils. They will encourage projects and field trips. They will make science a series of vital experiences which part-time teachers find it difficult to achieve. The large number of part-time science teachers revealed in this study suggests that division of responsibility may be the most serious weakness of our science teaching enterprise.

grade levels of pupils

in science courses

The study of grade levels of pupils in science courses was limited to biology, chemistry, and physics, since the general science courses are commonly established at definite grade levels. It has been a matter of common knowledge that biology is primarily a tenth-grade offering, but the availability of this course to pupils at other grade levels has not been known. Chemistry and physics have been accepted as eleventh- and twelfth-grade offerings, but the extent to which this is true and the extent to which pupils at other grade levels are permitted to enroll in these courses has not been previously determined.

Grade Levels of Pupils in Biology

There were 531 schools, or 74.3 percent of the 715 responding schools, which reported a biology offering. Of these responding schools, 438, or 82.5 percent, reported tenth-grade pupils in biology. A total of 93 schools, or 17.5 percent of 531 schools, reported that their biology pupils were from grades other than the tenth grade. Table 22 reports the number of schools which enroll the given percentage of biology pupils from the ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and postgraduate levels. A study of this table indicates that in 360 schools, more than a majority of the pupils are in the tenth grade, while 72 schools indicated that in their biology course, a majority of the pupils were from the ninth grade. In 31 schools a majority of the pupils in biology were from the eleventh grade, while in 22 schools a majority of the pupils in biology were from the twelfth grade. It is probable that some of these biology courses in which eleventh- and twelfth-grade pupils were enrolled were really separate courses in advanced biology. In the remaining 46 schools the pupils in biology came from several grades without a majority coming from any one grade.