Student Outcomes in Online Courses: When Does Class Size Matter?

This quantitative study investigated the relationship between class size and student outcomes (final grades DFW rates) in online higher education courses offered by a large, 4 year public institution United States. The following cut-off points were used: 8-15 vs. 16 or more students, 8-30 31 8-40 41 8-50 51 students. Course level data included average final rates for 391 undergraduate taught during years 2017 2018. Significant results suggest that students earned STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) upper-division when 30 fewer suggests it may be beneficial to limit certain kinds of fewer, as tipping point where benefits smaller classes wear off.