Proposition: This fear is the result of the environment created by the large lecture-style class.

I was not nearly as reticent last semester, in my ~30 person Contracts class seated at a large conference table, as I was and am in the 50-90 person lecture halls.

Has the growth of the size of law school classes had a detrimental effect on the per student quality of education?

Is there a stigma against “gunning,” when the setting is more intimate? Were it not for huge classes, one would not have to "gun" for the professor's attention.

Does the fear of error decrease in small classes as well? The cost of public humiliation decreases as you become more familiar with your colleagues.

I also hypothesize that students are more willing to volunteer to assist a classmate who is unclear on a topic that the rest of the class has mastered (read: collaborate) when that deficiency can be admitted without the fear of public scoff, and being inquisitive doesn't mean being pesky.

Unfortunately the economics of law school operations seem to weigh against any solution to this problem in regards to 1L classes, but I look forward to upper level seminars.

-- JonathanFriedman - 03 Feb 2009