Class Size Impact Upon Student Learning and Attitudes in the Introductory Marketing Course

Abstract

This article reports the results of a study which measured the impact of class size upon student learning and attitudes. Comparisons were made between a large and small introductory marketing class in terms of the amount of cognitive learning and attitude change produced. No difference was found between the large class and small class in terms of low-level and high-level cognitive learning, but the amount of attitude change differed significantly. The smaller section had more favorable attitudes towards marketing and produced a higher percentage of declared marketing majors. The results of the study indicate that special attention needs to be given to the decision of class size in the introductory marketing class, particularly with regard to increasing the number of marketing majors.