We did exploratory
simulations for two types
of traditional teaching
models: 1) students taught
in sections of roughly 40
students per section, and
2) students attending
a common lecture and
assigned to small discussion
sections led by teaching
assistants. We focus
on instructor compensation
because these costs
comprise a substantial
portion of the recurring
cost of teaching and are
the most straightforward
to measure. We compare
the current compensation
costs of each of the
two traditional teaching
models to simulated costs of a hybrid model in which most
instruction is delivered online, students attend weekly faceto-
face sessions with part-time instructors, and the course is
overseen by a tenure-track professor.