Class size was once restricted by the size of rooms available but new Internet technology has made physical capacity irrelevant in the case of environmental science 110 (ESC 110). Although ESC 110 is scheduled in Kane 130, which has a capacity of 704, the option of taking the course on the Internet has resulted in an enrollment of 1,004.

"I absolutely never thought I could teach such a large course," said associate professor Robert Harrison who has been teaching at the UW for 14 years. "But I enjoy it immensely and want to teach as many students as want to take it."

In the last five quarters, ESC 110 class size has increased from 120 to 165, to 328, to 718 and now to 1,004 students. There are 628 students in the lecture section and 376 in the Internet section.

Due to the large number of students enrolled, the class is a diverse group of years and majors. Of the students in ESC 110, 73 percent are freshmen or sophomores. Despite being an introductory course, 16 percent of the students are juniors, 11 percent are seniors and one is a graduate student. In addition, there are 62 different majors, according to Harrison.

"I thoroughly enjoy the wide variety of faces, dialects of speech and diversity of thought," said Harrison, pointing out the positive aspects of having such a large class.

While some students take the class because it satisfies the natural world requirement, Harrison also believes UW students have a strong personal concern for the environment. Sophomore Shira Kaufman agrees with Harrison on this point.

"I don't know if this class will be applicable to all majors, but many students take the class for the personal benefit to their lives," said Kaufman.

Harrison believes the Internet option allows students with jobs and other responsibilities to also receive the benefits of an environmental science class.

The students taking ESC 110 over the Internet will not see any difference in material covered. Internet students download the lectures either as PowerPoint files or view them with a Web browser. The Internet and lecture students take tests on the same material but at different times. During spring quarter 2001, the Internet students scored almost exactly the same exam scores as the lecture students.

"It is nice that you don't have to go to class. I like the independence," said sophomore Molly Boyajian who chose the Internet option. "It is more conducive to work."

In addition, Internet students are free to attend lectures in Kane 130, and lecture students can use the Internet version. For the required group project, which forms 250 groups of four students, the lecture and Internet students often mix. According to Harrison, there haven't been any problems unique to Internet vs. lecture students.

According to Harrison, the downside of the large class is the inability to get to know each student personally. However, Harrison attempts to keep track of students by monitoring the e-mail help list, the EPost discussion list and the student group projects posted on the Internet.

"There are many challenges in teaching this course, and it's always fun to see technology put together to try and do the best job of teaching with limited resources," said Harrison.

Harrison admits that the class may seem impersonal to students. Even the five TAs have difficulty getting personal when they each have an average of 200 students.

"It is easy to get lost in the crowd," said Boyajian. "You have to be more focused."

Another drawback of having such a large enrollment is the cancellation of the field trip portion of the course. The last time the class took a field trip to Mt. Rainier in winter 2001, it took over an hour and a half just to take a rest stop.

Harrison still teaches small field-oriented courses like Wildland Soils, which takes a five-day backpacking field trip through the North Cascades wilderness. There can only be 10 students and 2 professors, since wilderness law prohibits groups larger than 12.

"I wouldn't want to give up that kind of teaching just to teach large courses," said Harrison.