The crowd in mind and crowded minds: an experimental investigation of crowding effects on students’ views regarding tuition fees in Germany

Abstract

In higher education, just amounts of tuition fees are often a topic of heated debate among different groups such as students, university teachers, administrative staff, and policymakers. We investigated whether unpleasant situations that students often experience at university due to social crowding can affect students’ views on the justified amount of tuition fees at universities. We report two experiments on whether conditions that lead to experienced crowding in higher education can affect how students cognitively deal with a given topic. Experiment 1 (N = 80) showed that the mere cognitive activation of crowdedness in text stories about situations related to student activities influenced prospective students’ estimates of what are justified university tuition fees. In Experiment 2 (N = 72), student participants wrote an essay on tuition fees in a small versus large room in groups of three versus six persons. Here, results showed that students together with relatively many others in a small room estimated higher tuition fees to be justified than participants in all other experimental conditions. We discuss the implications of the present findings for the configuration of classes in higher education.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Experiment 1: Text passages read by participants in the condition containing hints on limitations in space due to the presence of many students (translated from German)

Although the departments at the university arrange the allocation of university courses in different ways, most students should know their schedule for the present winter term by now. Anna (23 years old and studying in her 5th semester) told us: “The courses and lectures for the upcoming semester are already announced in the course catalog, so we know them long before the new semester starts. In the first week of the current semester, there was a real run for participation in the courses. There are far more students than places. So in the first session, lots have to be drawn for participation.”

Student activities are a major part of city life in Münster. For most students, the favorite way to travel is by bicycle. As Marie (19) told us: “Usually, I like to travel by bike. However, if I turn up just before the start of a lecture, I won’t be able to find hardly any empty seats. Many students throng into the lecture halls long before a lecture starts.”

Studying is not limited to lecture halls. Many students also study in the main library. Laura (24) describes the situation in the library as follows: “Currently, I am writing my bachelor thesis and I am working in here most of the time. However, ever since the start of term, it has been very busy. Being able to sit at a table on my own is not something I can take for granted. Sometimes I do not get a seat at all. Moreover, when there are so many students, it’s not that quiet either, even though they all do heed the ‘Be quiet’ sign. Some days, I cannot focus on my studies at all.”

Appendix 2: Experiment 1: Text passages read by participants in the condition containing no hints of limitations in space due to the presence of many students (translated from German)

Although the departments at the university arrange the allocation of university courses in different ways, most students should know their schedule for the present winter term by now. Anna (23 years old and studying in her 5th semester) told us: “The courses and lectures for the upcoming semester are already announced in the course catalog, so we know them long before the new semester starts. The number of interested students and the number of places available generally match. For example, in the current semester, I had no trouble getting a place on the first two courses I had chosen.”

Student activities are a major part of city life in Münster. For most students, the favorite way to travel is by bicycle. As Marie (19) told us: “Usually, I like to travel by bike. Even when I turn up just before a lecture starts, I can still choose one of the many empty seats in the lecture hall.”

Studying is not limited to lecture halls. Many students also study in the main library. Laura (24) describes the situation in the library as follows: “Currently, I am writing my bachelor thesis and I am working in here most of the time because it is easy to get some peace. Additionally, I can spread out my laptop and several articles across the table. In general, I can concentrate very well on doing my writing and work in the library.”