Large classes: basic guidelines

There are four major requirements to work with large classes:

1. Well defined expectation right at the beginning of the course from first day of classes
2. Decrease anonymity by forming personal relationships with students
3. Encourage active learning
4. Self-assessment of teaching and class behavior from students and peer faculty

1. Define expectations

The first class meeting needs to be welcoming and informing about class expectations concerning attendance, tardiness, chatter, class dismissal, etc. A clear and very informative (read it “detailed”) syllabus can reduce student confusion about appropriate behavior and learning expectations. Students should realize that they are partners in the teaching and learning process and the responsibility is not fully on the teacher’s shoulders. Learning outcomes statements should be included in a typical course syllabus. Students must know how what skills they are supposed to be able to demonstrate by the end of the course and how they are going to be measured. Awareness that participation and attendance are two different things and how they will be measured. Any details about readings, quizzes, tests, homework, grading issues etc. Especially for very large classes details are very important to be spelled out in the syllabus and in the first day of classes. Students have a right to know what they will be able to do when they complete a certain course and should know what they’ll need to know for the next course.

Especially for the first day of class, recommended for each class, is good to keep a short check list. This will help you keep track of everything you intend to do or tell your students. At times there are diverse distracters in a class and you might forget one very important note for the upcoming exam, the check list will help you deliver that message even if the class took a different direction than first planned.

2. Decrease anonymity

Civility is increased when a student creates a personal relationship with the teacher or fellow students. The easiest way to create a personal relationship is by learning student names (however some teachers find this task very difficult).

One other way to make a personal relationship with different groups of students is to administer a background questionnaire asking students to list their home town, which student residence they live in, what is their major, why are they taking the course, extracurricular interests, first born, or number of siblings, if they are athlete students, etc. Collect the index cards with responses and tally the responses. Next class time list the different groups and ask students to stand up and let them cheer each other, or use the groups to ask questions from the particular groups, and use the personal interests or experiences as example background to draw their interest.
Instead of having office hours in the teacher’s office – which is a very hard task to have when one teaches 400 students and might be before exams 100 students wait in line – have the office hours in a empty classroom, if no blackboard is needed or if laptops are available the meeting can be held outdoors on the class web site. Encourage students to come for office hour discussions, and share their questions. It is always a good idea to use computers so the Q & A session can be recorded and posted on the class web site for the other ones who could not make it to the office hour session but might have the same question.

Later is a good idea to save the Q&A in a document and post it on the class web for future semesters. It is most likely that future generation of students will have the same questions. Always organize the Q&A document on topics.

3. Encourage active learning

Even in very large classes active learning is possible. A short class assignment (no more than 5 minutes of class time) will increase student learning.

In order to increase attention to the lecture, break down the hour lecture with short time active learning tasks.

Teaching strategies to be used in large and small classes:

- Think-pair-share

- Minute paper

- Formative quizzes

- Associational brainstorming

- Evocative visuals or textual passages

- Debates

- Role-playing

- Mini-Cases

In order to be efficient in using active learning in large classes follow the below guidelines:

a. Use only a short and specific task (e.g., List the most important points we discussed so far; List as many concepts as you can from the new ones learned in this lecture), and always post on the board clear written directions (oral directions can be confusing or not well heard)

b. Encourage participation by requiring that hand-outs or flashcard responses be turned in

c. Maintain order by limiting the time and number of members in the group

4. Self-assessment of teaching behavior - in general student evaluation from large classes list concerns about lecturing behavior such as talking too fast or too slow, too softly, writing too fast or blocking the blackboard, talking down, being unhelpful, employing confusing words on the examinations, and confusing grading practices. Unfortunately the course evaluations are presented to the teacher long after the semester has ended, in this situation the teacher cannot change anything in the teaching process of past semester.

Remember that students must know what they are expected they will be able to do by the end of the course and how they are going to be measured. Always list the learning outcomes clearly in the syllabus and stress in the first day of class the expectations and ground rules set forth in the course for a successful teacher-student collaboration and successful learning experience. Students always appreciate if you see them as responsible adults and active participants in the learning process.

However it is not enough to have good syllabus and ground rules, each teacher must be in tune with the flow of that certain class of students. One effective technique is to administer an informal course evaluation early in the semester so you can have a clear picture of how the class is going and still enough time to bring eventual changes.
The course evaluation to be most efficient should be administered by a neutral person (Faculty development and Assessment centers usually assist in this matter). The instructor of the course can set the questions of interest in the course evaluation. Questions should group in three major groups:

- What do students most like about the course and teaching?

- What they would like to see changed or improved?

- What would make the course a better learning experience? Offer suggestions to improve/change.

Another modality (especially for very large classes) is to use Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID) conducted by a specialist from the university Faculty development & Assessment Center, or conducted by a well seasoned colleague professor that has training and tact and does not teach the respective cohort of students in order to be neutral and not intimidate students’ responses.

Self evaluation can be conducted also by having a colleague faculty do a peer consulting. Peer Consultants are trained support colleagues who engage in a full range of consultation services as related to teaching, instruction, classroom assessment practices, and the scholarship of teaching. Peer Consultant activities include classroom observations, conducting focus groups, reviewing teaching evaluations, reviewing the syllabus, and counseling faculty colleagues in a supportive, confidential and nonjudgmental manner.