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Random lecture hall courtesy Google Images

As I type, I am watching my Anthropology teacher fiddle with the electronics in our classroom. He mentioned during the first day of class that Adams 150 holds 350 people. That got me thinking about the various classrooms and their capacities here on campus. Here in Adams, I understand that there are two rooms that hold 350 people. In Neilson - two 300s. In the National Weather Center - a 400 seat auditorium. Of course, Dale Hall takes the cake at a whopping 500+ seat monster of a room.

Your first thought might be - wait, that room isn't really all that big if you think about it. Well sure, it isn't now, but to other people not from OU or to you as a freshman that room is freakishly large. My friend Shari mentioned that her largest class at Cameron University in Lawton is only about 60 kids. 60 kids?! I promptly told her that one of my very first classes at OU (Intro to Mass Comm) had a full 500 people enrolled (only about 250 or so ever showed up, 400 on exam day). Obviously she found it hard to believe that I was one person among 499 others trying to learn.

To contrast sharply, Melissa is enrolled in a class with a whole four people (Lighting Styles). Ah, the beauty of the School of Drama.

*To update: anthropology is still in session... he mentioned he is putting the notes up on Learn, so I stopped my brain after that*

So, back to capacity.

I always wondered how large some classrooms are at other universities. Obviously, educational entities aren't trying to cram everyone they can into one class. Or are they?

After about ten minutes of crude research I was unable to find any universities that can beat Dale Hall 200. Many stop short of the 400s. Many actually don't go over 250 seats.

This opens up some questions: why do we have such large lecture halls? Why are the classes so large (besides the usual stupid explanations such as saving money or time to try and put everyone in one class every T/TR)? How would the learning experience be different if these classes were smaller?

All of these questions are obviously not easy. Absolutely none of the questions actually capture my curiosity enough for me to care more than giving it deep thought for two minutes. But, since I'm in class and not paying attention, it might be important to note.