The classroom is used to induce anxiety and reverence for experts. Math class does not reliably produce math skills, but it does reliably produce ’math anxiety’, the belief that math is out of an ordinary person’s reach, and the belief that mathematicians are a class apart.
"Professor Yum-Tong Siu, whose class began with 50 students in 2003, said he actively tried to whittle down the class size. As The Harvard Independent reports, the class dropped down to 25 students, but Siu added: "I want to reduce it a bit more." The goal: 20. "We want a group of students with similar backgrounds so we can proceed at a pace that can suit them at the same time, so they don't feel bored or over their heads," said Siu."
https://web.archive.org/web/20140121131045/http:/www.harvardindependent.com/2003/10/math-55-dont-try-this-at-home/