I think I'm kind of the opposite. I've always been in classes with 30-35 students and don't mind (well, besides not liking to be in crowds). Now I hardly get any feedback except for test which we have every 1-2 months, since teachers have too many students to be able to correct homework.
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I have a feeling this is just a personal idiosyncracy or maybe just kind of loosely related to a craving for social interaction and a feeling of isolation that has been growing lately, but I don't know.
You're probably right. This might seem sort of off-topic, but reading your post reminded me of Benin, where people ask each other obvious questions like "Are you there?", "Are you awake?" (in the morning), "Are you eating?" (while you're eating).
http://www.geocities.com/fon_is_fun/Gre ... bvious.htm
According to this site it's used to fill lulls in conversation, but I think it's related to some deep human need to verify that you exist for other people or that other people also exist.