What is a college classroom really like?

Large universities typically have way more lecture-based classes, whereas small colleges have small classes which are usually discussion-based and more interactive.

If you like voicing your opinion as well as listening to different viewpoints, then a small college is probably best for you where classes will be small and cater to discussions.

Some classes are mainly lectures with occasional questions to or from students; others are more interactive or even essentially discussion groups. Different professors and schools have different approaches. Usually the higher you go in college the more interactive the class will be.

Depends on the class. I had classes that were entirely lecture. I had classes where we'd go to class in our pajamas, take our shoes off, sit on the floor, move around the room, do hands on activities, etc.

It varies. Depends on size of the university: large U = lotsa students. Type of class: lower division, survey class (US History, American Lit, etc) = more students. Also depends on rooms available. Smaller colleges tend to be more "personal"; more prof interaction; fewer TA's; smaller classes. Larger schools are more impersonal, less prof interaction; generally don't care if you show up or not. If you're concerned about class size and personal attention, go small. Otherwise, go to a factory univ.

It can be a big class or a small one. There are no test makeups usually so if you miss the class you get an F for the test. Some community colleges take attendance 3 absences is an F in the class. Or they don't take attendance and if you don't show up "good luck" with the exams in bigger Universities I've been to both. They call on people still in small classes sometimes. But you don't have to take notes that's a plus.

Both.
You have classes that are lectures where you sit and just take notes.
And classes you will be required to participate in the class decussion
And classes in between

Each prof does things his or her own way. If you attend a large school, usually Teaching Assistant's (TA) do all the lecturing, not the real prof.

There are really too many factors at play to give you a concise answer. But here are some generalizations that can be made:

-Courses that are both required and non-interactive tend to have upwards of 100+ student. For example, my math 101 class was in an auditorium with 150-200 students. Why? Well, everyone needed to take it to graduate, and there was little professor-to-student interaction needed. Therefore, a "mass production" setting made sense.
-Courses that are major-specific are about the size of a high school classroom (20-30). My judicial politics class had about 20 students because it was only required for my specific degree, therefore the demand for a large classroom was simply not present.
-Highly niche courses that are neither patently fun or required have a pretty sparse classroom size (for example, my "Introduction to aesthetic philosophy" class had about 7 people in it).
-Courses that have several pre-requites are also pretty sparse
-Masters- and PhD-level courses are pretty small, too. The reason for that is because most students are simply not eligible to take these classes. Graduate students also typically need more time to discuss ideas and interact to foster professional-level growth (therefore a huge classroom setting wouldn't make sense). This is one reason why graduate-level classes are more expensive.
-Large state-run universities face more budget restrictions than small private schools, so you are more likely to have larger classrooms.

It really depends. I had large lecture classes with circa 100 students. Those typically took place in lecture halls. (In fact, the majority of those took place in one lecture hall.) Those were usually 100 or 200-level classes. As you get into your major, classes will typically tend to shrink. One class I took in my junior year had 4 students in it. (I guess your typical American college student just really isn't that into the effects that World War 1 had on Canadian society. The university decided the same thing the next year and axed the course. It's a shame, really, as it was a great course-something that only those who took it could discover.) Other classes had between 8-15 students. Generally, the smaller the class, the more individual participation is required.

it often depends on the how many students are in the class. When there are 100 or more students in the class, the room is uslally similar to an auditorium or moviee thatr.. with class of of 20 or 30 studnts. it is posible that the class room may be little tight with one big table or several desks. For a relatively small class. like a junior , sneior or graduat lvl class that may hav only seven to 9 or qo sudents. the class room can vary , not all of them may have audio visual equipment., but often they do have audio visual equipment . There are aslo entireely online classes wher tchnically you could be onlinee and in your birthday suit if you wantd to be. Ys, it can b lik a high schoo classrroom.

If th prof has TA. Th tas do not do th lecturing. The profeessore deos th lcturing. The TA' s may do the grading if it is lecture class. or The TA is resonsible for dong laboratory sections and is resonsiblee for grading eexersicees, tsts, an dlab proacticals. i was graduat TA who did introductory physical geology lab sections for 2 semesters.. I defintely prefer being on the student side of the desk. Grading is hard.

No TV's or posters.