Budget cuts swell class sizes at UW

They leafed through their textbooks, whispered, ate lunch, tapped on their laptops, played Sudoku. More than 500 students packed the main theater of Kane Hall at the University of Washington recently, waiting for class to begin. Nearly 200 more filled the balcony section.

That's 700 students in all in this introductory biology class — more students than attended freshman Meagan Evans' entire high school last year, back in Wisconsin.

"Take out your clickers and put away your cellphones, please," said the lone figure on stage, professor Toby Bradshaw. Biology 180 was under way.

Last school year, this was a big class with 400 students. This year, as Bradshaw puts it, "it's a whopper." In response to state budget cuts, the biology department has axed a half-dozen courses, funneling 300 more students into Biology 180.

It's one example of how budget cuts are playing out in university classrooms across the state. In 2009, lawmakers cut $500 million from higher education over two years as the state budget went into free fall. This year, the governor proposes to cut $90 million more.

Federal stimulus money and 14 percent annual tuition hikes have helped offset some of those losses. Other sources of money, such as research grants and alumni gifts, have remained intact. But the cuts have still been deep.

Over the past year, the UW has eliminated 850 staff positions, reduced its language offerings and cut its swimming program. Washington State University has cut theater and dance. And Western Washington University incurred the wrath of some alumni by dropping football.

The UW hasn't yet reported the number of large classes it's hosting this year. But Kane Hall is booked solid every day and is regularly filled with 700 students, the maximum that can fit into any campus lecture hall.

Figures show that even before the worst of the budget cuts, the number of large classes was on the rise.

Five years ago, there were 122 classes in the UW College of Arts and Sciences with 200 or more students. Last year, there were 143 — including 47 classes with 300 or more students. The college accounts for almost all the largest classes.

Opinions vary on whether, and to what extent, such classes diminish the learning experience. The biology department has tried to balance its jumbo lecture classes with small, 20-student lab sessions led by teaching assistants.

In the recent Biology 180 class, Bradshaw, who's been teaching for 25 years at the UW, explained the different ways cells divide. The slides he projected onto the screen behind him were blank across the top because students in the balcony couldn't see the whole screen from their steep angle.

"Anybody know who this is?" Bradshaw asked, projecting a picture of Lee Hartwell, the local Nobel laureate. "It's not the latest 'American Idol' judge."

As Bradshaw spoke, his wireless microphone occasionally cut out, although that was compensated for by his commanding voice.

He stopped to conduct a spot quiz. Students picked a multiple-choice answer to a question he posed, using wireless clickers a little smaller than an iPhone. Their answers were instantly entered into Bradshaw's computer, counting toward a small part of the students' final grades.

Paying attention

Bradshaw and other professors say clicker technology, which has taken off at the UW the last couple of years, is a lifesaver in big classes. It forces students to attend lectures and to pay attention throughout.

And it allows Bradshaw to get instant feedback. If most students get the right answer, he can move on. If most get it wrong, he can go back over the point.

In the aisle, teaching assistant Kevin Curran kept an eye on the 60 students he's been assigned. A graduate student, Curran is one of 14 TAs for the class.

Four of the assistants are undergraduates — the first time Bradshaw's used undergrad TAs in this class. Unlike graduate assistants, undergraduate TAs don't get paid. They work for academic credit, providing another budget savings.

Curran tried to make sure none of his students was holding two clickers. It's one way they can game the system — one friend skips class, while the other answers the quizzes for both.

Students caught doing this face losing all their clicker points for that class. Repeat offenders can get kicked out of the university.

Ana Mari Cauce, the Arts and Sciences dean, said there is a skill to teaching large classes, and not every professor can pull it off or would even want to try.

She said successful techniques vary — some ham it up, others walk out into the class "Oprah-like" to engage students, yet others let the material do the talking.

"You need to be able to keep the class engaged. Students don't learn if they're not paying attention," Cauce said. "Part of it is simply being able to project your voice out."

Students have mixed reactions to the big classes.

"It kinda sucks," said Liz Miller. "It's a flip of the coin whether you are going to get a good professor or a bad professor. But no matter what, you are one of 700, and you're seen as one of 700."

Natalie Gross, on the other hand, likes big classes. She said she prefers sitting back and soaking up a professor's wisdom rather than feeling the pressure to participate.

Freshman Meagan Evans said she recognized most of the 600 or so students at the Catholic high school she attended in Madison, Wis. In Biology 180, she looks across a sea of strange faces.

"So many people"

"The first time I walked into that class, I was a little overwhelmed," she said. "I honestly thought it was crazy that there were so many people in one class."

Evans, who hopes to go to medical school, said she makes a point of attending the optional question-and-answer sessions Bradshaw often hosts after his four-times-a-week lectures.

She said the budget cuts have affected not only the size of her classes but also the options. For instance, she's taking one night chemistry lab that ends at 9:20 p.m. because it was the only one she could find to fit her schedule.

Biology 180 students rarely, if ever, get one-on-one time with Bradshaw.

Most get their questions answered online, at something called the GoPost, a forum that's available for many classes. Bradshaw monitors it hourly, often allowing TAs or other students to answer questions and occasionally stepping in when needed.

He said there are benefits to big classes. "You are taught by people who are at the cutting edge of research in their field," he said. "The UW is a research powerhouse, and students get the latest and greatest information from people who live and breathe this stuff 24/7."

But there are challenges in teaching so many students — like figuring out how to grade all the exams.

Biology 180 students are required to take weekly, short-answer exams online, which add up to about 15 percent of their grade.

After each exam, a computer program randomly assigns each student someone else's test to grade. The students don't know whose test they are grading. Bradshaw monitors the grading, and students face academic penalties if they consistently grade too high or too low.

"The truth is that students learn almost as much from reading the responses as they do from writing them," Bradshaw said.

Back in Kane Hall, Bradshaw asked the class a question, and waited for someone to call out the answer. Seven hundred faces stared back at him in silence. Nobody, it seemed, wanted to risk getting it wrong.

After all, there was quite a crowd watching.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com