RUME 28
2026
Alexandria, Virginia
Class Size, Room Setup, and Use of Group Work: Undergraduate STEM 2019-2025
Page: 1377
Didactic lecture remains the dominant pedagogy in introductory undergraduate STEM courses. Alternatives, such as group work, are often met with barriers such as course enrollment (class size) and classroom setup. In our study, we investigate whether changes in course enrollment and classroom setup relate to changes in the amount of time instructors dedicate to group work. Data was gathered, via survey, from instructors teaching undergraduate introductory STEM courses in 2019, and again from the same instructors in 2025. These instructors were categorized based on whether their course enrollment increased, decreased, or remained the same, and pairwise t-tests were conducted on each groups' 2019 and 2025 reports of group work usage. Our analysis indicates that there are no significant differences in the amount of time spent doing group work (between 2019 and 2025) regardless of whether, and how, their class size changed.