Managing Large Classes

Videos

1. Short Video on Teaching Large Classes (Link)
   (requires Real Player)

Articles & Reports

1. "SECRETS of teaching large classes REVEALED" University of Pittsburgh newsletter
   
   You're driving down a hill. A child steps out into the street ahead of you. You hit the brakes. Your car stops well short of the child, but a cop gives you a speeding ticket anyway. Should you fight the ticket?
   
   That's one of the real-world questions that Pitt physics professor Chandralekha Singh poses to her large-enrollment classes to get students talking among themselves about physics concepts she has covered in lectures. Singh and other Pitt faculty members shared some of their teaching techniques during a day-long Summer Instructional Development Institute on "Teaching Larger Classes." (Link)
   
   
2. "Beating the Numbers Game: Effective Teaching in Large Classes" by Richard M. Felder Department of Chemical Engineering North Carolina State University
   
   This article was presented at the American Society for Engineering Education conference in 1997. In-class exercises, out-of-class group assignments, and preparation and organization tips are described. (Link)
   
   
3. American Accounting Association
   
   This article focuses on the context of large classes in accounting education. A chart listing 7 tips for teaching large class sizes is included. (Link)
   
   
4. "A System for Improving Distance and Large-Scale Classes" by Jon Anderson Preston and Russell Shackelford, College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology
   
   This article presents “lessons learned" and an in-progress system that facilitates the interaction and information flow of students, raters, and instructors in distance and large-scale classes. (Link)
   
   
5. "But I Teach a Large Class..." by Linda Dion, University of Delaware
   
   This article describes how problem-based learning was effectively used in a large biology class. (Link)

FAQs, Handbooks & Guides

1. "A Survival Handbook for Teaching Large Classes"
   
   University of North Carolina-Charlotte
   
   This handbook includes the topics of management of the paperwork, management of distractions, perceived anonymity of the students, improving lectures, technology, and diverse background and preparation of the students. (Link)
   
   
2. Chapter 5 of a Faculty & TA Development handbook at the Ohio State University.
   
   This chapter focuses on classroom student activities, writing, laboratory and clinical instruction, with a discussion of other possible strategies for active engagement. It begins with a discussion of the traditional lecture, listing best practices, and then move into suggestions on how to incorporate other methods into the course. (Link)
   
   
3. "Large Classes: A Teaching Guide" Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Maryland.
   
   To navigate the guide, one only needs to click on a topic in the table of contents. Some of the topics include: establishing ground rules, personalizing the large class, writing in lectures, and improving teaching through student feedback. (Link)
   
   
4. "The Teaching Large Classes Website" University of Western Ontario.
   
   The purpose of this site is to assist in making learning in large classes as effective, productive, and enjoyable as possible.
   At this site, Allan Gedalof's Green Guide: Teaching Large Classes is reproduced with kind permission from the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
   
   Topics in the guide include preparation, classroom strategies and behaviors, interactive methods – general practices and specific strategies, team teaching, and outside the lecture hall. The site also has an "Ask an Expert" section as well as a PowerPoint Primer and a "Best Practices" in using technology in the large class. (Link)

 
The Short Story – Managing Large Classes in 100 words or …

1. "Suggestions for Establishing Rapport With the Students When Teaching Large Classes" University of Ottawa
   What to do and what not to do are presented in bulleted lists. (Link)
   
   
2. "Teaching Large Classes" University of Syracuse
   This is a succinct bulleted overview of pointers for teaching large classes. (Link)
   
   
3. "Better Communication in Large Classes"
   
   The information on this site is adapted from Maryellen Gleason's Better Communication in Large Courses and J. Richard Aronson's Six Keys to Effective Instruction in Large Classes: Advice from a Practitioner. The topics are presented primarily in bulleted lists. (Link)
   
   
4. University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
   
   This link provides a tip on how to take attendance and gather formative feedback at the same time. (Link)
   
   
5. "Large Classes and the Perception of Fairness"
   
   This site describes practices in which faculty may be lax, and, as a result, students perceive inequities. Some of the topics include cheating, grading, classroom standards, use of collaborative learning, and insensitivity to diversity. (Link)
   
   
6. "Developing Effective Lectures: Helpful Hints for Teaching Large Classes"
   
   This site provides a bulleted list of more than 20 suggestions for effective lectures. (Link)
   
   
7. "Teaching Large Classes: A brief cost-effectiveness analysis with some concrete suggestions to offset losses" University of North Carolina @ Wilmington
   
   This information is presented as a chart. The categories include the advantages and challenges of teaching large classes, as well as suggestions for overcoming the challenges. (Link)

Lecture & Lab

1. "Teaching and Learning in Sections and Labs" Center for Instructional Development and Research
   
   This site provides useful information for those who are teaching large classes with a lab component. (Link)