Class Size Determination and Decision Making in LIS Online Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a national landscape of the decisions made by LIS programs regarding online course enrollment caps. Online education expands learning opportunities for all students and is particularly attractive to nontraditional students who are more likely to have employment and family obligations that make attending traditional face-to-face classes difficult. At the same time, online learning can exacerbate existing opportunity gaps between certain student groups, depending on how well-prepared students are for online learning. This survey methodology study investigated course enrollment caps and the reasons behind the limits placed by Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) programs nationwide, in an effort to identify ways online education structures at the University of South Carolina iSchool could be transformed to ensure a resilient future of diverse library and information science (LIS) professionals.