Lecture courses expand as interests of students shift

When students take a course with a great professor, word will always get out.

Whether through the Student Course Guide's reviews, a professor's popularity or word of mouth, some courses which began with modest enrollments may double or even triple in size.

One such course is COS 109: Computers in Our World. Taught by professor Brian Kernighan, about 40 students enrolled in the course last year, but this year enrollment has doubled.

According to a reviewer of COS 109 on the Student Course Guide last year, "Professor Kernighan is absolutely wonderful. [He] is one of the nicest, friendliest persons I've ever met."

"Even though he's the man, the myth, and the legend in the field of Computer Science he's extremely approachable and genuinely cares about his students," the reviewer continued.

It is for this reason in particular that Professor Kernighan said that he prefers teaching classes with smaller enrollments.

"I try to get to know the people," he said, and in a bigger class "there are always those few people at the back whom I never get a chance to get to know."

On the other hand, Kernighan noted that if a professor believes that the material he is teaching is interesting and worthwhile to students, then "the more people the better," he said.

Kernighan attributes the dramatic growth in enrollment this year, particularly in sophomores, to the fact that he addressed the Class of 2007 at the Freshmen Assembly last year.

"This may have persuaded some but dissuaded others!" Kernighan joked.

He is happy with the increased interest in his course but maintains that he would not like to teach a class of "hundreds," because it is more impresonal and less managable, he said.

Kernighan has not had to change his methods of teaching to adapt to the larger class size.

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However, he acknowledged that larger enrollments require more effort because no matter what the class size, "I try to get to know the people," he said.

Dramatic enrollment increases are not limited to classes in the sciences.

REL 252: The Early Christian Movement, grew from an enrollment of approximately 30 to 110 students in a year.

The course's professor, Elaine Pagels, believes that this surge is because of a "considerable increase" in interest in religion recently.

"It is a topic that is on a lot of our minds," Pagels said. The popularity of the bestselling "Da Vinci Code," by Dan Brown, has generated curiosity about the origins of Christianity.

"People want to know, 'how did it start? What is the real story?'" said Pagels.

James Ashenhurst '08 calls Pagel's class his "favorite."

"I had seen her on the Discovery Channel and read her books, so when I saw her name on the course guide, I had to take it," Ashenhurst said.

Though he would have preferred to be in a class of only 30 students, Pagels said, "I actually prefer [teaching larger classes]. There are more viewpoints."

Teaching a larger class is exciting when "there is such wonderful material," she said.

But, Pagels said that she misses "getting to know the individuals." She teaches several precepts in order to engage with students.

She said that the larger class size does not prevent students from participating.

"Students who want to come and talk, will come to talk," Pagels said.

Despite the dramatic increase in enrollment, Pagels is trying to find a way "not to lecture the whole time, but to have time for discussion," she said.

It is something that will be "a little trickier," she said.