THE CLASSROOM

  • Carleton University seeks to be an "innovator in undergraduate education" - how is this reflected in the classroom and the nature of the instructor?

    • Commentary:

    • Despite changing enrolment and faculty numbers, the average section size has increased only slightly over the past five years.
    • First year class sizes have decreased in Arts and Social Sciences and Science with a small increase in Public Affairs and Management and Engineering (2000/01 as compared to 1999/00).
    • Overall undergraduate class sizes by Faculty have remained practically constant.
    • The percentage of sections taught by a sessional lecturer (a contract employee) continues to increase and now stands at 35.7% (2000/01), up from 34.8% the year before.
    • The proportion of sections taught by a lecturer or instructor has remained fairly stable at 20.6%.
    • In first year, the proportion of sections taught by teachers holding professorial rank has dropped below 50% and now stands at 43.7%. However, professors still teach a bare majority of students (52.0%).
    • The proportion of classes available on ITV has remained about the same over the last 5 years, but the percentage of students enrolled in ITV has declined steadily and now stands at 8.3%.
    • There was a slight increase in the number and proportion of classes delivered in the evening and 20.2% of enrolments were in these classes.