Aural skills class sizes

Zachary Cairns

For those of you with teaching positions, I'm curious to know what your class sizes are for aural skills classes.  My university is in an interesting spot of having a growing music program, with (modestly) increasing enrollments, and shrinking budgets.  We have been able to get by with a single section of aural skills (for each level), but last year there were 35 students in Aural Skills 1, and this year we're looking at 30.  Obviously, this is too many students for one section...at least, assuming we want them to learn things and develop skills.  But our request to split into two sections was denied because it would require throwing a few extra peanuts to an adjunct faculty member.  

Our course catalog lists the class as officially having a cap of 40, which (I'm told) is the default cap assigned to all classes unless another cap is specified.  So, we'll be doing what we can to change that cap this year.

In the meantime, what is the cap on your school's classes?  What is the usual enrollment of each section?

Thanks for your help!

Zac

William Marvin

Hi Zac, at Eastman we keep skills classes at 12 or fewer. Even 12 is a lot; I can't imagine assessing, coaching, and listening to all of the students in a skills class of the size you describe here. Best wishes, Bill 

Ciro Scotto

Hi Zac,

When I came to OU, enrollment in aural skills classes could range anywhere from 20 to 30 students. I set the cap for all aural skill classes to 15. Of course, lower caps means more instructors, but the payoff is a lower percentage of students are now failing aural skills. 

Timothy Chenette

My most recent numbers are 57 for AS 1 and 41 for AS 3 (the highest level we offer). We get by with 2 TAs present and actively helping during MW classes and then having Friday breakout sections of up to 20. It's huge, but it means our most qualified instructor(s) can teach everybody.