I think you have to go to one of the more selective ones to get anything out of it. The schools that will take anyone who is warm and breathing have to pass most of those students. If the class is crowded you also have to deal with grading. If you have an adjunct they will be making very little money and unless they stand a chance of getting a promotion they will have few prospects.
Professors with overcrowded classes and adjuncts generally will want to simplify grading as much as possible, so tests will have a limited number of “correct” answers and group projects (grade socialism) will abound.
If you have a nonselective college, group projects will be used to get students who have difficulties with the material across the finish line to a decent grade.
Some professors will have a sort of baseline level you have to get past and will include the real learning as an extra for those so motivated. Some professors will do exactly the same thing but will put the fear of God into you to make you push as hard as you can. You will despair, you will feel as though you will be grateful for a “C” and then you will find you have received an “A.”
” If the class is crowded you also have to deal with grading. If you have an adjunct they will be making very little money and unless they stand a chance of getting a promotion they will have few prospects.”
This is pretty much the definition, IMHO, of many freshman level classes. These I believe, serve a useful purpose in quickly weeding out students who cannot handle a demanding quantity of work, cant stay sober long enough to learn, and can’t manage their money. However, it is one big party until they drop out.