ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the changes in class size at Oxford Polytechnic which is the setting for most of the innovations in course design analysed in subsequent chapters. The central results of a research study on the problems faced by teachers and students in large classes are then discussed. For students the dominant problems are anonymity and passivity. For staff the dominant problems are not being able to relate to students as individuals and being overwhelmed by the number of demands placed upon them. The scale of these problems shows that radical changes are needed in the ways that courses are delivered.
