ABSTRACT
Evaluation relies increasingly on the tests of mastery of the knowledge base. The more students you have, the harder it is to keep track of how each one reasons. It is very difficult to assess and support the variety of reasoners in a class of fifty or more students. Baseline variations in reasoning habits interacting with variations in motivation dominate the learning outcomes. That means that you can almost predict the final grade from the baseline assessment and the attendance record. Classes of sixty or more students shift the course design entirely toward lecture strategies. This does not mean that there must be a wholesale retreat on skills development. It is possible to build skill exercises into large classes. Very few teachers actually do so.
