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Strategies for TeachingLarge Classes

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Table of Contents

Quick Reference ............................................................................................................................6

A Guidebook for Instructors with Multitudes....................................................................................8

Book Review: Large Classes Create Special Challenges ......................................................................9

Actively Engaging Large Classes in the Sciences..............................................................................10

Strategies for Large Classes ............................................................................................................11

Tips for using Questioning in Large Classes ....................................................................................12

Large Classes: Approaches Taken in One Discipline ........................................................................13

Virtual Teams with Fluid Membership............................................................................................14

Tips From the Pros: Managing a Large Online Class ........................................................................15

Virtual Sections: A Creative Strategy for Managing Large Online Classes ..........................................16

Large Courses and Student Expectations ........................................................................................17

What do Students Think about Active Learning? ............................................................................18

Objections To Active Learning........................................................................................................19


Strategies for Teaching Large Classes • www.FacultyFocus.com

5


Strategies for Teaching Large Classes

Large classes are among the most important at any institution because many studentswho enroll in these classes are new to the college experience. Yet these courses often

don’t get the attention they deserve and are often taught by the least-experienced facultymembers.The big challenges of teaching large classes—and some of the reasons senior faculty

often choose not to teach these classes—include finding ways to engage students, provid-ing timely feedback, and managing logistics.When faced with these challenges, many instructors are tempted to revert to lecture

mode and multiple-choice tests. There are alternatives.This special report describes some of these alternative teaching and course management

techniques to get students actively involved without an inordinate amount of work on theinstructor’s part.

— Rob KellyEditor

The Teaching Professor

6

Case StudiesThe Art of Questioning (7)

Daniel J. Klionsky, University ofCalifornia-Davis, teaches an introduc-tory biology course with about 300learners. In a class that size, learnersfeel a safe anonymity and there is atendency toward reduced participa-tionIn this type of environment, it is

not only important to get the studentsto ask questions, how he phrases hisquestions to them is critical.He used to ask, “Where does our

water fall on the hardness scale?” Heseldom got more than one or two veryquiet responses. The problem wasthat he was asking an individual tocome up with a specific numericalanswer and to commit themselves tothat answer in front of the entireclass.Now he asks for a show of hands

and he rephrases his query into sev-eral questions, “Raise your hands ifyou think our water has a hardness ofless than two. Raise your hands if youthink it is between two and six,” etc.This generates a huge response.This approach turns the large class

into an advantage for the shy learner,because, if a learner raises a hand,they participate while maintainingtheir anonymity – they are just one ofmany who are raising their hands atthe same time.Why bother getting everyone to

raise a hand? In Klionsky’s opinion,the very act of having to choose ananswer and make a sign of the com-mitment to that answer draws stu-dents into the discussion.

Have you tried active learning strategies in your largeclass, only to find learners resisting your efforts? Haveyou put learners in groups to work on discussion

questions, only to see most of them sitting silently while afew make feeble comments?(9) Have you asked if there arequestions—None.(7) Have you asked for someone to explaina concept, only to face a sea of heads bent over notebooks orelectronic devices?Learners need to be active, engaged, and involved, but how many can participate

when there are 150 in the class? How many learners constitute a large class? If thecollege is small, 50 may seem like the masses. If it’s a research university, 50 mayseem small. The perception and reality of size depend on many factors. For exam-ple, if you have 40 students in a foreign language course, it’s large. Bottom line: Ifyou believe you teach a large class, you do and you face one of the most challeng-ing types of teaching assignments.(5)

How Do Instructors Successfully IncorporateActive Learning Techniques in Large Classes?• Instructor Preparation is Crucial.Large courses can’t be ad-libbed. Frank Heppner author of Teaching the Large

College Class: A Guidebook for Instructors with Multitudes advises that, in a largeclass, saying one thing and then deciding to make a change can be a logisticalnightmare. In large classes, instructor preparation matters a great deal.(1)

Heppner says a bad policy is better than an inconsistent policy. The massesquickly become negative if an instructor starts fussing around with a course policy,especially if that policy pertains to evaluation or grading criteria. Things go muchmore smoothly if changes are implemented between semesters rather than mid-semester.(1)

• Put it in writing.Written requirements make learners accountable even if they weren’t in class

when something was discussed, even though “a classmate said” that they onlyneeded three references, even though a learner is “sure” the teacher said chapterfive would not be on the exam. Besides giving the instructor a way to deal withthe plethora of student learner excuses, this practice helps the instructor becauseit forces decisions about policies and procedures before problems emerge.(1)

• Use detailed grading rubrics.Rubrics speed up grading and still allow instructors to give learners a clear

explanation of what their grades mean, without having to add commentary.(6)

ACT IVE LEARN ING IN L ARGE CL ASSES

Quick Reference

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Complex Content?You Betcha!(2)

Imagine 90 veterinary studentssinging “It’s Beginning to Look aLot Like Rabies.”Deb Wingert and Tom Molitor,

University of Minnesota, report thatin their large science classes (morethan 50 students) student groupsare assigned a virus family toresearch and then teach to the restof the class. Frequently they usewell-known songs and othermemory devices.Can students deeply learn com-

plex content this way? Based ontheir experience, they say, “Youbetcha!”Interactive strategies used in their

large science classes:• Interactive Lecture — Shortlecture segments alternatedwith group work.

• Cooperative Learning Groups— Stable groups meet through-out the course to work on prob-lems, case studies, and researchprojects.

• Jigsaws — Each learnerteaches content to other groupmembers.

• Games — Competitive gamesenthusiastically engage learn-ers, i.e., Jeopardy and Monop-oly-like games. Winners earncourse points.

• Constructive Controversies —Groups prepare positions onpolarized topics, and thendebate the issue during class.

• Group Tests — Learners takethe test individually, and thenthey take it again as a group.Students receive an average oftheir own individual and thegroup’s score as their grade forthat test.

• Set the tone earlyLearners need to be presented up front with the design of the course and its

activities.(4) Studies by Machemer and Crawford(8) and by Messineo, Gaither, Bottand Ritchey(9) found that learners who take large classes are more likely to preferand expect a teacher-centered environment where they can be passive observersand preserve their anonymity.On the other hand, Heppner(1), Klionsky(7), and Messineo et. al.(9) found that

learners will accept almost any rules for how the class is run, as long as expecta-tions for the course; the teaching, learning, and assessment methods planned forthe course; and how to be successful in the course are clear at the outset and areconsistently applied.

• Use interactive lecturesTeaching in large classes should not be restricted to lecture only. Group activities

can be interspersed with lecture material to enhance learning. Assign learners togroups during the first class meeting and make it clear that these groups will meetthroughout the course to work on content analysis, problems, and case studies.(2)

Break lecture content into 10- to 12-minute modules. Then, have learner groupsactively process content by talking about it, writing about it, or work on a sampletest item or a short problem-based situation. Even though these interactions arebrief, they help students grasp, apply, and analyze the content rather than justmemorize it. These short, interactive “think tanks” also reset students’ attentionspan for the next 10- to 12-minute content chunk. End your interactive lectureswith an assessment measure, like a one-minute paper on the muddiest point.(2)

• Keep groups on taskGroup discussions must be guided with worksheets and study questions.(4)

For larger projects, assign roles like recorder, checker, gatekeeper, and divergentthinker.(2) Always provide learners with a clear direction on what kinds of thingsthey are hunting for and how they should be processing what they find.(4)

Hold groups accountable for how well they work together as well as forproducing completed assignments.(2) Tie group activities to the learner’s finalgrade. Create rubrics to grade the individual’s contribution, the whole project(if applicable), and peer assessment from the other group members.(6)

• Online considerationsThe tasks outlined above also apply to managing large online courses.(3 & 6)

� Prepare early and put course policies and expectations in writing.� Use Interactive Online Lectures by interspersing reading components withactive processing components.

� Support group assignments with written guidance materials.� Tie group activities to the learner’s final grade.Note: When there are more than 25 learners who are required to participate in

an online course, the discussion boards and chat rooms can become overwhelmingfor students and difficult to manage for the instructor. Use the virtual groups youcreate to help manage interaction by assigning each group its own set of discussionboards. All learners respond to the same discussion topics but in a more meaning-ful and manageable fashion.(6)

• Seek FeedbackIn addition to a general course evaluation, ask students for feedback on team-

work projects/exercises, particularly those that are newly implemented. Use thecomments received to adjust, abandon, or confirm the use of specific teamworkprojects. (Roby, p. 23)

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The headline of this article is thesubtitle of a new book on teaching

large classes, authored by a biologyprofessor. In the preface, author FrankHeppner reports that he has beenteaching large classes (and he considers300 students a “small” class) for 38years. He stopped counting the numberof students taught once it reached20,000. He confesses to having made“every horrendous teaching error youcan make” and explains how these mis-takes led to his book: “Once I passedmy 50th semester of introductory biol-ogy, I began to regret that my profes-sion doesn’t have a real apprenticeshipfor teaching—why should every youngprofessor facing his or her first bigclass…have to make the same mistakesI did and, perhaps more important,why should they not know that every-body…has the same problems? I could-n’t think of a good reason, and that’swhy I decided to write this book.”(p. x)The book covers a host of topics

related to large classes, including test-ing, grading, managing TAs andgraders, using media effectively, anddevising activities to use when theclassroom is an auditorium. In the firstchapter, he describes the large-classteacher as a course manager and thensuggests how that should affect theteacher’s thinking about the large class.The following are samples of pointsillustrating how these courses shouldbe approached from a section aptlytitled “Why Your Class Could Belong tothe Chamber of Commerce.” (p. 3)Sooner or later, everything that can

happen, will happen, and you need tothink about it and be ready for it. Thepoint here involves the law of averages

and, given the number of students inthe class, the likelihood of somethingunusual happening. Heppner reports astudent experiencing a grand malseizure in class, a female student goinginto labor during a final exam, and astudent emailing from prison to askwhat he should do about the final, ashe was being held without bail. Obvi-ously, events like these don’t happenregularly but as Heppner points out,managers are the ones everyone turnsto when the unusual occurs.Large courses can’t be ad-libbed.

Heppner thinks it’s a whole lot easierto “wing it” in a small class. In a largeclass, saying one thing and then decid-ing on a change can be a logisticalnightmare. This advice is also based onthe inability of most people to ad-lib infront of a large audience. In largeclasses, instructor preparation matters agreat deal.A bad policy is better than an

inconsistent policy. All students, butespecially beginning students, needconsistency in courses. It helps themmanage the anxiety that college-levellearning experiences provoke. Themasses quickly become negative if aninstructor starts fussing around with acourse policy, especially if that policypertains to evaluation or grading crite-ria. Things go much more smoothly ifchanges are implemented betweensemesters rather than midsemester.Put it in writing. This bit of advice

relates to the previous suggestion. Itmakes students accountable even ifthey weren’t in class when somethingwas discussed, even though “a class-mate said” that they only needed threereferences, even though a student is“sure” the teacher said chapter five

would not be on the exam. Besides giv-ing the instructor a way to deal withthe plethora of student excuses, thispractice helps the instructor because itforces decisions about policies and pro-cedures before problems emerge.Start like Attila the Hun; finish as

Mr. Rogers. “Whatever your teachingpersonality, it will be easiest for bothyou and your class if you start out thesemester at the most extreme form ofyour personality, and then if thingsseems to be working out okay, you canrelax a bit. On the other hand, if youstart out cozy and friendly…and theclass gets the idea that you aren’t reallyserious about things like deadlines, ifyou get tough later on, they will feellike you have turned against them andaren’t really as nice as you seemed tobe.” (p. 10)Don’t try to teach them as you

would have liked to be taught whenyou were their age. College professorsaren’t like today’s typical college stu-dents, especially those beginningstudents who take the large classes.Generally, students in large coursesaren’t as motivated as professors werewhen they were students. And gener-ally, students in courses do not havethe same learning style as their profes-sors. It is far smarter for teachers tofind out about the students they areteaching rather than make assumptionsabout them.Heppner ends his book with this

observation, “Teaching large classeswell is the most difficult and challeng-ing task in academia and offers thefewest tangible rewards. Knowing,however, that you have a real, positive,and inspiring effect on hundreds orthousands of young people will morethan compensate for the liabilities. Doit right and you will have former stu-dents all over the world who will begrateful to you for the wisdom yougave them.” (p. 150)

Reference: Heppner, F. Teaching theLarge College Class: A Guidebook forInstructors with Multitudes. San Fran-cisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007.


A Guidebook for Instructorswith Multitudes

By Maryellen Weimer

Engaging Large Classes: Strate-gies and Techniques for CollegeFaculty edited by Christine A.Stanley and M. Erin Porter

The Book in a Nutshell: Perhapsthe most challenging instructional

assignment involves teaching largeclasses. How many students constitutea large class remains a matter of per-ception. If the college is small, 50may seem like the masses. If it’s aresearch university, 50 may seemsmall. Likewise, editors of this newvolume believe that the perception andreality of size depend on many factors.They point out, for example, that ifyou have 40 students in a foreignlanguage course, it’s large. Bottom line:If you believe you teach a large class,you do, and you can benefit from read-ing this book.Large classes are easily the most

difficult of all classes to teach. Mostfaculty do whatever it takes to avoidteaching them, and they therefore fre-quently end up being assigned to thenewest and least-experienced faculty inthe department. What an introductionto college teaching! It’s dauntingenough to assume autonomousinstructional responsibility for two,three, or four classes, to say nothing ofattempting to develop a teaching stylethat works, but the problems com-pound when presenting new contentbefore 100 students.Large classes challenge all teachers

because so much of what we knowabout effective instruction is just thatmuch more difficult to do in largeclasses. Students need to be active,engaged, and involved, but how manycan participate when there are 150 inthe class? Students need lots of con-

structive feedback, but how can theteacher provide it when there are 100essays to grade? Students learn better iftheir connection with the teacher ispersonal and individual, but how canthe teacher even learn an individualstudent’s name when there are 75 inthis class and 275 total in the semes-ter’s teaching load.And despite the growing prevalence

of large classes, few resources existdevoted to supporting those assignedto teach large courses. And so the firstbeneficial characteristic of Stanley andPorter’s book is the topic. And this isno trivial treatment of the subject. Thisis a 350-page collection containing 29individually authored chapters cover-ing virtually all aspects of large-courseteaching.The book is divided into two sec-

tions. Part one covers “key concepts,”including designing, planning, andpreparing for the large course, lots onclassroom management issues (withthe best chapter title prize going toLynda G. Cleveland for “That’s Not aLarge Class; It’s a Small Town: How DoI Manage?”), using active learning inlarge courses, and working with TA’s.Part one’s final chapter summarizes

both recent and vintage research onlarge courses. The effects of class sizeon learning have been studied vari-ously over the years with findings thatattest to their mixed results. But fac-ulty who know firsthand the learningchallenges these courses present tostudents will be comforted by the hon-esty in this chapter and the book:These editors and their authors do notsugarcoat what it takes to succeed inthese courses.Section two’s chapters are all written

by faculty with firsthand experienceteaching large classes. They representmore than 20 disciplines. However, ifyou only read about your own, you’llmiss valuable cross-disciplinary advice.As with any anthology, some chaptersare better written and more insightfulthan others, but all ring with theauthority of first-person experiences.This section also ends with a sum-

mary chapter prepared by the editors.It’s a marvelous distillation of thewhole book, and if your time is lim-ited, start with this final chapter. Itgives you the book in a nutshell andmakes you want to read the rest of thebook.Who Should Read This Book? The

answer to that question is simple: any-one who teaches large classes. Wehaven’t had an if-you-could-only-take-one-book-to-the-moon resource onlarge classes. This book could well beit.A Bit From The Book: From Lynda

G. Cleveland’s chapter about not beinga class but a small town, based on herexperiences teaching a 500-studentundergraduate course in the manage-ment science and information systemsdepartment at the University of Texas-Austin:“One approach to mega-classes is to

approach learning as if you are teach-ing a small city, not a class. Get yourcreative thinking into that gear! I dis-covered my class has more residentsthan 400 cities in Texas! My introduc-tion the first day of class begins withthe proclamation that we are not amega-class; rather, we are a small city.Our magical, imaginary city of Cleve-land [note the author’s last name],Texas has a “bank” (incentives forclass participation), “insurance andcredit card companies” (extra creditopportunities), and jail (penalty forbringing cell phones to class, fallingasleep, etc.) to give you a few ideas.”(p.19)“By teaching 1,000 students, you

develop a public image. My students


Book Review: Large ClassesCreate Special Challenges

By Maryellen Weimer

PAGE 11�

fondly dubbed me ‘The Mayor.’ Youwill rarely go anywhere in your com-munity without running into current orformer students. Your personal life isnow on view. Be aware. You will teachfar more by your actions out of theclassroom than you realize. Manyteachable moments occur outside ofthe classroom. Enjoy them. Cherishthem. Remember them. You mold thefuture, you teach.” (p. 27)

Order online from http://www.anker-pub.com

Imagine 90 veterinary virology stu-dents singing “It’s Beginning to Look

a Lot Like Rabies.” In our large scienceclasses (more than 50 students) eachthree- to four-member student group isassigned a virus family to research andthen teach to the rest of the class. Fre-quently they use well-known songsand other devices. Can students deeplylearn complex content this way? Basedon our experience, we say, “Youbetcha!”We contend that actively engaging

students in the learning process is notonly essential, it’s the key to deep andmeaningful learning. Increasinglyresearch supports this contention.However, teaching large classes, partic-ularly in the sciences—introductorybiology, physics, immunology, and pro-fessional curricula such as veterinarymedicine, for example—offers manyinstructional challenges. Rather thanresponding to these challenges, mostmath and science faculty opt for theteacher-centered lecture format. Onesurvey suggests that 89 percent ofmath and science college teachers con-tinue to use lectures, even thoughresearch indicates that when studentsare engaged, more and better learningresults. We think the difficulties ofinvolving students in large classes canbe overcome. We’d like to use the restof this article to share just a few of theinteractive strategies we’ve used in ourlarge science classes.

Interactive Lecture—Our interactivelectures begin with an attention-gettingintroduction—maybe music, a cartoon,or even a provocative question—followed by 10- to 12-minute lectures.Then, in groups of two or three, stu-

dents actively process content by talk-ing about it, writing about it, andworking on a sample test item or evena short problem-based situation. Eventhough these interactions are brief,they help students grasp, apply, andanalyze the content rather than justmemorize it. These short, interactive“think tanks” also reset students’attention span for the next 10- to 12-minute content chunk. We end ourinteractive lectures with an assessmentmeasure, like a one-minute paper onthe muddiest point.

Cooperative Learning Groups—Webelieve that teaching in large scienceclasses should not be restricted to lec-ture only. Group activities can be usedto enhance learning. We assign stu-dents to three- to five-member groups.These groups meet throughout thecourse to work on problems and casestudies. In immunology (a class with100-plus undergraduate and graduatestudents) we set up these groups dur-ing the first week of class. The prob-lems and research projects the groupsare assigned are sometimes presentedorally, other times in writing. We keepthe groups on task by assigning roleslike recorder, checker (checks groupmember consensus and understand-ing), gatekeeper (ensures that all mem-bers participate), and divergent thinker(responsible for presenting the groupwith new ideas). Groups are account-able for how well they work togetheras well as for producing completedassignments.

Jigsaws—In these cooperative learn-ing groups, students read and shareresearch articles or other reading


Actively Engaging Large Classesin the Sciences

By Deb Wingert and Tom Molitor, University of Minnesota

FROM PAGE 9

assignments. Each student is responsi-ble for teaching essential content toother group members, with under-standing and mastery checked by theinstructor.

Games—Competitive games enthusi-astically engage students in large sci-ence classes. Within a “Jeopardy!”-likeformat, student groups can be ran-domly selected. They pick a categoryand answer each item with a question.Our teaching assistants ration Monop-oly-like money to group winners, withthe top-producing group earning pointsapplicable to the final grade. A host ofpopular game templates can be foundonline at http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/powerpoint/games/index.html.

Constructive Controversies—Thelarge class can be divided into smallgroups and given polarized topics todebate, with one group for and anotheragainst. They prepare their defensesand then two randomly selected groupsdebate the issue during the classperiod. The remaining studentscontribute by asking questions.

Group Tests—In immunology class,students take exams two ways: individ-ually and as a group. Students firsttake the exam by themselves. Aftersubmitting their individual tests, theymeet in small groups to take the sametest as a group. An average of the indi-vidual and group scores representseach student’s score for that test.Students report enhanced satisfactionwith the test process, and they tell usthey learn more. We have not estab-lished that empirically.

Active engagement in the learningprocess helps prepare students to func-tion proactively and effectively in ourglobal community and to address ahost of challenges facing us in today’sworld. Our advice? Start small; maybetry a think-pair-share strategy. But dostart working to engage and involvestudents in large science courses.

Increasing class size continues to be areality on many campuses. The two

articles highlighted here both providespecific and detailed accounts of howinstructors are managing to maintainrobust active learner components inlarge courses.Here are the specifications on each of

these courses: Environmental Geogra-phy 201 at Ohio University functions asa “gateway course” into the popularenvironmental geography major track.It enrolls between 120 and 200 stu-dents.Geology 206, Oceans and Nations,

is a mid-level undergraduate oceanog-raphy course that focuses on humaninteraction with the marine environ-ment and international relationsinvolving oceanic issues. Taught at BallState University, it satisfies aglobal/international studies distribu-tion requirement. Between 100 and 120students enroll in this course. Bothcourses have TAs assigned to them.Recently redesigned (with support

from an internal grant fund), Environ-mental Geography now includes threelarge lecture sessions per week andone weekly discussion section. Stu-dents are divided into five-membergroups that meet throughout the quar-ter. In those groups, students exchangeinformation, collaborate on shortassignments, and evaluate each other’swork. Team photos are taken to facili-tate name recognition and to developgroup cohesion.Groups are also used in the Oceans

and Nations course, but they are con-vened during the course’s regularlecture sessions. Again these discus-sion groups are permanent. Studentschoose group members (four to six) in

the fifth class session, and a seatingchart is used to ensure that groupmembers are seated near each other.In Environmental Geography, various

themes are explored. Students com-plete a journal assignment (it may becompleted individually or as a group,depending on the discussion instruc-tor) in which they keep track of every-thing they discard during a seven-dayperiod. The assignment description dis-tributed to students is included in thearticle. To ensure that discussion sec-tions remain connected to the course,a fishbowl strategy is used in whichrepresentatives from the various dis-cussion groups gather around a tableat the front of the large lecture hall anddiscuss the results of their most recentassignment.In Oceans and Nations students dis-

cuss readings and video presentationsin their groups. They begin with areading that sets out detailed guide-lines for having successful discussions.To ensure that students come to theirgroups having done the reading andprepared to discuss, they are givenworksheets that must be completedprior to the discussion. The TA checksfor completed sheets as students arrivein class. After a 30-minute discussionof the reading or video presentation,four to eight groups are randomlycalled on, and a spokesperson fromthose groups reports to the rest of theclass on the discussion. Groups musthave a new spokesperson for eachreport. The group reports are thengraded.In both courses, discussion-group

activities count toward the students’


Strategies for Large Classes

By Maryellen Weimer

PAGE 13�

final grades. In Environmental Geogra-phy, students earn a discussion sectiongrade and in Oceans and Nations,discussion-related activities count for25 percent of each student’s grade.Both articles offer advice to other

instructors interested in incorporatingactivities like these in their courses.The Environmental Geography coursedescribes the evolution of the coursedesign, including some iterations thatwere not as successful as the currentstructure. Both include more descrip-tions of activities completed by and inthe discussion groups than we havetime to highlight here.Among the advice offered for others

interested in using discussion activitiesare these suggestions: Those associatedwith the Environmental Geographycourse report that adding the discus-sion section “proved challenging to thefaculty members and teaching assis-tants assigned to the course.” (p. 236).They say that to ensure a smooth tran-sition, those associated with the coursemust be prepared to jump bureaucratichurdles and that financial support isneeded to ensure continued TA supportto guarantee that students have theopportunity to participate in a field-tripexperience and to replace equipmentas needed.The Nations and Oceans team offers

a long list of keys to success, whichincludes specific advice for using groupdiscussions structured like theirs. Hereis some of what they recommend:First, students need to learn up frontabout the design of the course and itsactivities. The course needs to bescheduled in a room without fixedseating so that discussion groups cancircle together. Group discussions mustbe guided with worksheets and studyquestions. “Never in this class are stu-dents presented with a reading orvideo presentation, without havingsome clear direction on what kinds ofthings they are hunting for and evalu-ating within it.” (p. 264). And theyconclude with this recommendation:

Iam frequently asked how I getstudents to loosen up, to feel comfort-

able asking questions, and to take anactive role in the learning process, espe-cially when teaching large classes. Iteach an introductory biology coursewith an enrollment of about 300. Thestudents feel a safe anonymity amidtheir classmates, and there is a ten-dency toward reduced participation.Through trial and error, I have learnedsome helpful techniques for engagingthe class. Amazingly, much of what I doall happens on the first day of class.Setting the tone seems to be critical.

In a general sense, I find that studentswill accept almost any rules for how Irun a class, as long as I make themclear at the outset and am consistent intheir application. This includes how Iwant the class to interact with me as aninstructor. I have become a strong pro-ponent of cooperative learning. I wantthe students to be an active part of theclass, to be thinking while they are sit-ting there and not simply writing downevery word I say.On the very first day I make it clear

that I want them to ask questions andinteract with me during lecture. I do thisin five ways. First, I tell the studentsthat I welcome questions.

I explain that if they have a question,in a class of this size, it is likely that adozen other students have the samequestion. I proceed to relate an anec-dote from when I took Japanese incollege. The instructor said, “To ask aquestion is a shame of a lifetime. To notask a question is a shame of genera-tions.” The instructor explained thatwhile it might be embarrassing to ask aquestion, by not asking a question, youpass along your ignorance to your chil-dren and so on down the line.Second, I make the entire class liter-

ally raise their hands. I ask them tohumor me for a few seconds and to justraise their hands — first the right half ofthe room, then the left half, then themiddle. They will actually do this ifasked. I point out that they are clearlycapable of raising their hands and that Iwant them to do so if they have anyquestions. Perhaps they are willing toraise their hands on the first daybecause they are doing it as a group andnot individually.When I was a teaching assistant, the

instructor told the class to hiss if theydid not understand. It worked. Thestudents found it easy to hiss because


FROM PAGE 11

Tips for using Questioning inLarge Classes

By Daniel J. Klionsky, University of California-Davis

“Fully honor the students’ discus-sions work in testing. Test questionsshould address both the content mate-rial and students’ developing under-standing of the issues.”

References: Buckley, G. L., Bain, N. R.,Luginbuhl, A. M., and Dyer, M. L.(2004). Adding an ‘active learning’

component to a large lecture course.Journal of Geography, 103, 231-237.

Rice-Snow, S., and Fluegeman, R. H.(2004). Maintaining a small-group dis-cussion focus while brining interna-tional issues into the large classroom.Journal of Geosciences Education, 52(3), 260-265.

PAGE 14�

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they did not have to specifically identifythemselves. It is also hard to ignore agroup of students who are hissing atyou. I opt for a slightly differentapproach and ask students to yell“stop.” I tell students that with thismany people, I might miss a raisedhand, but I will hear a shouted “stop.”Amusingly, I have on numerous occa-sions heard a student yell “stop” only tolook up and see him or her pointing atsomeone else whose raised hand I hadmissed.Third, I get the students to interact

that very first day. I give an example ofscience that comes from their everydaylives and then ask for feedback. I verybriefly discuss water hardness — anappropriate topic for the area where welive — and ask them to guess where ourwater falls on the hardness scale. Thereis no obvious right or wrong answer, sothere is no harm in guessing.Fourth, I coax the questions. If I think

there is some confusion but I am notsure exactly why, I might ask a series ofquestions: “Are there any questions?”None. “So you all understand the prop-erties of carbohydrates?” Still nothing.“That means if I were to ask you on themidterm whether a carbohydrate wouldbe more soluble in oil or water, youwould know how to answer?” This usu-ally elicits a response — several, in fact.Why go to this length to get a question?In my experience, the questions usuallyexist. Hearing them gives me a bettersense of what the students might havemisunderstood, or more likely, what Imight have explained poorly.I want to add a fifth point. To me, it is

not only important to get the studentsto ask questions, but it is also criticalhow I phrase my own questions. I usedto ask, “Where does our water fall onthe hardness scale?” I would seldom getmore than one or two very quietresponses. The problem was that I wasasking an individual to come up with aspecific numerical answer and to com-mit themselves to that answer in frontof the entire class.

In this article we summarize aresearch project with some

exploratory descriptive work that seeksto establish the state of practice withrespect to large class in the field ofcriminal justice. We summarize someof the findings of interest belowbecause we don’t think that the way inwhich large courses are taught in crimi-nal justice is all that different from howthey are taught in lots of closely, andeven in some not so closely, relatedfields. But even more important, wehighlight the work because the articlemodels an approach that could be prof-itably replicated across all academicdisciplines. How do faculty approachlarge classes in your discipline? Howuseful is it for large-course instructorsto have these benchmarks? How usefulis it for disciplines to have descriptionsof current practices that might prof-itably be used to develop standards—not for the purpose of making allpractice the same, but for the purposeof establishing the basic tenets of goodand best practice within a discipline.This research team started by survey-

ing the literature for techniquesadvocated for use in large classes.Then they surveyed large-courseinstructors to ascertain the extent to

which these preferred approaches werebeing used. About 30 percent of thefaculty in this sample employed tradi-tional lecture formats exclusively.Another 50 percent enhanced lectureswith multimedia presentations of mate-rial. The rest used different approachessuch as Socratic dialogue. Only 25percent of the sample reported usingactive learning techniques, althoughmore than 40 percent reported usinglearning groups.Even though literature on teaching

large classes recommends “personal-ization,” that is, faculty getting toknow their students, nearly 66 percentof this sample reported that they didnothing to get to know the students.Interestingly, class size was not a rele-vant variable here. Sixty-two percent ofthe faculty with class sizes below 80reported that they did nothing; 58 per-cent of instructors with classes largerthan 150 students reported that theydid nothing.Over 90 percent of these faculty

reported that they did encourageparticipation, although 40 percentreported that the amount of participa-tion in their large classes was lower


FROM PAGE 12

Large Classes: ApproachesTaken in One Discipline

By Maryellen Weimer

Now I ask for a show of hands and Irephrase my query into several ques-tions, “Raise your hands if you thinkour water has a hardness of less thantwo. Raise your hands if you think it isbetween two and six,” etc. This gener-ates a huge response. This approachturns the large class into an advantage,because, if you raise your hand, you

are just one of many who are raisingtheir hands at the same time. In asmall class, you cannot count onany other hands going up. Whybother getting everyone to raise ahand? In my opinion, the very act ofhaving to decide and make a sign ofthe commitment draws students intothe discussion.

PAGE 15�

15

than it was in their smaller classes. Inthis faculty group, 89 percent reportedthat they had no discipline problems.One respondent shared a rather novelapproach to managing disruptions. If astudent is marginally disruptive, theinstructor pulls out a yellow piece ofpaper and hands it to the student as awarning. If the disruption persists orbecomes major, the student is handeda red piece of paper, which functionsjust like an ejection in soccer. If youget it, you’re out of class.Basically these researchers found

that faculty who teach large classes incriminal justice did not use the tech-niques and practices recommended forlarge-class instruction. This is not sur-prising, given the response to the finalsurvey question that asked if therespondent could “recommend any lit-erature that had helped them instructtheir large classes. The overwhelmingmajority (90%) of professors knew ofno such literature.” (p.118) Normsexpecting that practice be informed byanything other than experience con-tinue to be absent in higher education.

Reference: Morabito, M. S., and Ben-nett, R.R. (2006). Socrates in the mod-ern classroom: How are large classesin criminal justice being taught? Jour-nal of Criminal Justice Education, 17(1), 103-120.

Here’s an interesting model forgroup work: form the groups in a

large class; give members the option ofworking face-to-face, by phone oronline; and change the membershipacross the life of the group. BrianDineen opted for this model in hisupper-division organizational behaviorcourse because he felt it closely repli-cated conditions now common in pro-fessional contexts. Employees workwith others in a virtual environment,and frequently, as tasks evolve, mem-bership in working groups changes.In the article (reference below),

Dineen provides complete logisticaldetails for the assignment, includingthe following important elements thatwere used: groups were made up ofthree to five members; for each of eightweeks they analyzed short cases rele-vant to course material and answeredtwo questions related to the case; andgroup work, which counted for one-fourth of their grade, included a peerevaluation component. Even thoughstudents had the option of meetingface-to-face or by phone, 70 percentreported that they completed the entireexercise without ever meeting face-to-face. Instead, they used private bulletinboards that the instructor set up forthem within WebCT.For comparative purposes, Dineen

kept membership in half of the 26groups stable. Those students workedtogether from start to finish on theproject. In the other groups, Dineenchanged group membership weekly;in the second week, groups gained andlost one member, and in the third andfourth weeks they gained and lost twomembers. Students did not know howlong they would be in the group. They

simply received an e-mail announcingthat they had been reassigned toanother group. They could no longeraccess their previous group’s bulletinboard and were given access to anew one.Dineen looked at the impact of this

group work design across a number ofdifferent variables. He collected datafrom students before the experience,on weekly surveys and on the anony-mous end-of-course evaluation. Fromthe data gathered, Dineen discoveredthat most of those who responded tothe surveys did not have previousgroup experience in a virtual environ-ment. The inexperienced groupreported significantly higher degreesof learning outcomes and confidencethan those who had worked in virtualgroups before.Among a number of interesting

findings, Dineen learned that socialloafing, where team members rely onother group members to do the workfor them, was less of an issue on theteams with fluid membership. Heexplains this finding by citing otherresearch documenting that whengroups contain strangers, team mem-bers tend to be on their best behaviorbecause they are somewhat inhibitedby people they don’t know. Quantita-tive data indicated that social loafingwas isolated to less than 5 percent ofpossible cases. However, levels ofcohesion reported by group memberswere higher in those groups with stablemembership. Interestingly, students ingroups with fluid membership did notreport lower levels of internal commu-nication or decreases in their perceived


Virtual Teams with FluidMembership

By Maryellen Weimer

PAGE 16�

FROM PAGE 13

16

abilities to influence group decisionmaking.Also of note were some findings

related to extraverted and introvertedteam members. Results “show thatintroverts actually felt more influencethan extroverts during this exercise andperceived a greater cohesiveness andbetter internal communication.” Thisfinding held true regardless of whethergroup membership was stable or fluid.(p. 613) Dineen suspects that thevirtual environment somehow “levelsthe playing field,” making it easier forintroverts to contribute during groupinteractions. “This is importantbecause it suggests that conductingonline team exercises might bring moreequivalent contributions from all teammembers.” (p. 613)This article is exemplary not only for

the creative design of the group work,but also for the comprehensive way inwhich the impact of the approach wasanalyzed and assessed. This is animpressive piece of practitioner peda-gogical scholarship.

Reference: Dineen, B. R. (2005).TeamXchange: A team project experi-ence involving virtual teams and fluidteam membership. Journal of Manage-ment Education, 29(4), 593–616.

The following tips from Susan Ko,director of the Center for Teaching

and Learning at the University of Mary-land University College, can help youmaintain course quality and interactionin high-enrollment online courses:

• Use study groups for some dis-cussions. Have students in groupsof up to 10 members conductthreaded discussions. Let themknow that you will be observingthese discussions, and have thempost a summary of their discus-sions to a classwide discussionarea.

• Divide topics into manageableunits. Keep the number of maintopic threads to a minimum in asingle discussion to avoid confu-sion. You can create a new topic oreven a new discussion if needed.But be sure to explain how thesediscussions are organized, so stu-dents can follow them easily.

• Explain the protocol for respond-ing to a post. Make sure that stu-dents know to accurately title eachposting to correctly reflect the sub-ject they wish to discuss. Also,have students quote the section ofa previous posting to which theyare responding.

• Reconsider posting requirements.In a small class, you may requirestudents to respond to an initialprompt and then to the posts oftwo classmates. In a larger class,this amount of posts may not beappropriate.

• Don’t feel obligated to respond toevery student. You may be able tocombine responses to more thanone question or encourage stu-dents to respond to their class-mates’ questions.

• Use group assignments. Turn anindividual assignment into a groupassignment, and grade both theindividual contribution and thewhole project.

• Use peer review. Create a rubricfor students to assess oneanother’s work.

• Use a detailed grading rubric toprovide feedback. This will allowyou to give students a clear expla-nation of what their grades mean,without having to add commen-tary.

Reference: Ko, Susan. “Tips for Man-aging Larger Online Classes.” DE Ora-cle @ UMUC. November/December2007. Accessed March 19, 2008, athttp://deoracle.org/online-pedagogy/classroom-management/tips-for-managing-larger-online-classes.html.


FROM PAGE 14 Tips From the Pros: Managing aLarge Online Class

By Rob Kelly

17

When there are more than 25 stu-dents who regularly participate

in an online course, the discussionboards and chat rooms can becomeoverwhelming for students and difficultto manage for the instructor. Weeklychat rooms become crowded, whichmakes it difficult for everyone in thechat room to keep up. Weekly discus-sion boards become populated with somany postings that students and fac-ulty feel inundated with the amount ofinformation to read through and/orreply to. While the discussion and chattools are critical to successful onlinecourses, creative strategies need to beidentified to help manage large onlineclasses.In a recent semester I found myself

with 40 students in my Introduction toInformation Systems Course. As a wayto avoid having my students possiblyfeel overwhelmed and inundated in mycourse, I came up with a simple solu-tion to managing the challenge of sucha large course—I created virtual sec-tions. The “virtual section” is a way toachieve all the benefits of a smallerclass within a large class.To create my virtual sections I used

a feature available in most course man-agement tools that allows the instruc-tor to split the class into multiplegroups. Rather than splitting the classwith the intent of having the studentswork in “teams,” which is often therationale for grouping students, I splitthe class with the intent of groupingstudents into multiple sections for thepurposes of chat and discussion only.Here’s how I set up my virtual sec-

tion. With my class size of 40, I splitthe class into two separate groups. Stu-dents with last names ending in A–Kwere placed into Group 1, and thosewith last names ending in L–Z wereplaced in Group 2. For each week ofthe course, I set up a separate set ofdiscussion boards for Group 1 andanother set for Group 2. The groupsalso had their own set of weekly chatrooms as well. Approximately 20 stu-dents were placed into each group,which is what created the two “virtualsections” within my single course.When splitting online classes into

groups for the purpose of more man-ageable interaction, only the chat anddiscussion components are affected.This is good news for the instructor.E-mail, lecture notes, assignments,assessments, and all other course com-ponents are visible to the entire class.No additional modifications were madein order to keep track of the “groups”for any other component of my onlinecourse.Incorporating virtual sections into

my online course came with someminor added responsibilities thatneeded to be addressed. Once thecourse had started, it was importantthat I was aware of any students whowere added late to the course. Thesestudents needed to be quickly placedinto one of the groups, so that theywould have access to a discussionboard and chat room. Also, by splittingmy class into two groups, I wasresponsible for conducting two chatsper week, rather than just one.With that said, I feel that the com-

mitment I have invested into creatingthe virtual sections has been wellworth it. I have noticed that whenstudents were a part of a smaller class,the overall quality of the interactionwithin the course improved immensely.The result has been more meaningfulinteraction that is more manageable forall involved.

Lisa Panagopoulos is an instructor atthe University of Massachusetts Lowellin the IT department. She teaches com-puter-related courses both online andon campus. She also teaches the “Intro-duction to Online Teaching Strategies”course to instructors as part of theUMass Lowell Online Teaching Insti-tute.


Virtual Sections: A CreativeStrategy for Managing LargeOnline Classes

By Lisa Panagopoulos, MS CE

18

Have you tried implementing someactive learning strategies in a large

course only to find students resistingthose efforts? You put students ingroups and give them some challeng-ing discussion questions, only to seemost of them sitting silently while afew make feeble comments to whichno one in the group responds. Facultyauthors of the study referenced belowhad students in their large classes tellthem that discussion was a waste oftime. “I’m not going to be tested onwhat other people in class think!”(p. 125) This kind of resistance canquickly dampen faculty commitmentsto active learning strategies. Thesefaculty honestly reported that theywondered if it might just be easier toreturn to straight lectures.However, before making that retreat,

they decided to try to understand whystudents were responding so nega-tively. They designed a 136-item surveythat inquired about all kinds of atti-tudes and experiences in large classes.They administered the survey to stu-dents in 14 sections of courses offeredby five departments: music, history,math, psychology, and sociology. Thesurvey asked about large courses gen-erally rather than about the courses inwhich it was administered.A number of interesting results

emerged from the data. For example,the researchers compared the answersgiven by students in their first semesterof college with those of students whohad already taken large courses at thatinstitution. They found that those stu-dents who had already experiencedlarge courses “were more likely toprefer and expect passive-learningapproaches in large courses.” (p. 130)

More troubling, those experiencedstudents were less committed to theirlarge courses. Researchers support thisconclusion by pointing to data indicat-ing that these students more stronglypreferred lectures, were more likely toskip large classes, wanted to be toldwhat to do in large classes, didn’t wantto work in groups, were less willing todo ungraded work, and had less inter-est in large classes that offered a mix ofclassroom activities.Both new and experienced students

expected that lower skill levels wouldbe important to success in largecourses. For example, more than 90percent in both groups expected thatthey would be given multiple choiceexams in large courses. Very fewexpected that they would have to writeessay exams.If large classes challenge students

less and if students resist beinginvolved in them, then the authorsworry about those beginning studentswho take mostly large courses. Givenall the research that establishes a con-nection between involvement andretention, they question the viability ofmaking all introductory courses largecourses, wondering if class size mightnot contribute to students’ decisions todrop out.Their findings helped to explain the

student responses they were seeingin large courses. The findings alsorejuvenated their commitment to usestrategies that involved students inthese courses. However, the findingsraise the question of how students’expectations as a result of previousexperiences in large classes can bechanged. They decided that changehappens one classroom at a time. If

students start experiencing activelearning activities in large courses, theywill at some point come to expectthem. In addition to a number of otherhelpful strategies the researchers arenow using successfully in their largeclasses, they conclude with an impor-tant reminder: “Not all students areprepared for active learning experi-ences. ... Therefore, we are very openat the beginning and throughout thesemester in discussing our expectationsfor the course, the teaching, learning,and assessment methods planned forthe course, and how to be successful inthe course.” (p. 132)

Reference: Messineo, M., Gaither, G.,Bott, J., and Ritchey, K. (2007). Inexpe-rienced versus experienced students’expectations for active learning in largeclasses. College Teaching, 55 (3), 125-133.


Large Courses and StudentExpectations

By Maryellen Weimer

19

Do students understand why facultymembers work so hard to get them

engaged with course material? Is itclear to students that involvement andlearning (deep, lasting learning, thatis) go hand in hand?One good place to look for answers

to these questions might be a required,general education course. And that isprecisely the venue Patricia Machemerand Pat Crawford chose in order tostudy student perceptions of activelearning. They replicated their studyfour times in classes that ranged insize from 125 to 180. Eight differentactivities were used in this integratedstudies course in social and behavioralsciences; five cooperative learningactivities (involving group work), twoindependent active learning activities(students used a Web-based programto prepare for exams, for example) andthe traditional lecture (the usual 50minutes, delivered from behind apodium, enhanced with PowerPointslides). Students rated these variousactivities on a five-point scale.Overall, across the four different

classes from which data werecollected, students rated traditionallectures significantly higher than coop-erative learning activities, and theyrated the active learning activitieshigher than the cooperative learningwork. Researchers were surprised bythese results. They explain how thecourse objectives and format were ide-ally suited for the use of cooperativeand active-learning approaches.Despite that, students valued the tradi-tional lectures and active learningactivities virtually equally and did notvalue the cooperative learning activi-ties as highly. When students had to

work with others, that diminished thevalue of the activity in their eyes.Machemer and Crawford attribute

these results to the anonymity that ischaracteristic of large courses. “Askingstudents in a large class to learn collab-oratively forces them to lose theiranonymity. Students may select a largeclass because they seek a teacher-centered environment, where they canbe passive observers and preserve theiranonymity.” (p. 24) Moreover, studentsare reluctant to share responsibility forlearning with a group. Researcherswonder if the desire not to be involvedwith others is part of the general per-ception that general education coursesare something students have to get outof the way, that they are a “diversionfrom their actual plan of study.” (p. 27)They are not the courses students takemost seriously, not the ones in whichthey want to expend extra effort.Supporting these suppositions about

attitudes toward general educationcourses was the finding that studentsvalued any activity (active, coopera-tive, or traditional) that improved theirexam performance. The most highlyvalued activity of the eight was theexam preparation program, followed bya cooperative learning exam reviewsession.Do these findings mean that teachers

should abandon the use of groupwork? The researchers point out thatthis study measured students’ percep-tions of the value of the activities. Thatmay be quite different from the actualvalue of the activity as it relates learn-ing outcomes. Students may not alwayswant what is best for their learning. Ashas been pointed out many times inthis publication, sometimes students

resist various forms of active learningbecause they require students to workharder. We think that is the very reasonfaculty ought to be using them.

Reference: Machemer, P. L., andCrawford, P. (2007). Student percep-tions of active learning in a large cross-disciplinary classroom. Active Learningin Higher Education, 8 (1), 9-30.


What do Students Think aboutActive Learning?

By Maryellen Weimer

Quick ReferenceSources:

1.A Guidebook for Instructorswith Multitudes (pg.8)

2.Actively Engaging Large Classesin the Sciences (pg.10)

3.Virtual Sections: A CreativeStrategy for Managing LargeOnline Classes (pg. 16)

4.Strategies for Large Classes(pg. 11)

5.Book Review: Large ClassesCreate Special Challenges(pg. 9)

6.Tips From the Pros: Managing aLarge Online Class (pg. 15)

7.Tips for using Questioning inLarge Classes (pg. 12)

8.What do Students Think aboutActive Learning? (pg. 18)

9.Large Courses and StudentExpectations (pg. 17)

20

If you think everybody’s pretty muchon board with the idea of active

learning, think again. An article inAcademe describes active learningas “a philosophy and movement thatportends trouble for the future ofhigher education and the Americanprofessoriate.” (p. 23)The author acknowledges that active

learning is a movement and describeshow faculty will experience it—through workshops that address howto incorporate writing and discussionin large classes. “You’ll also be exposedto vast numbers of books and articlespromoting active learning, including aninternational journal with the straight-forward title of Active Learning inHigher Education. The movementhas thus acquired academic andprofessional legitimacy.” (p. 24)Recognizing the origins of active

learning in theories of education likethat proposed by Dewey, the authornotes, “There are some good ideasamong the reams of articles and booksabout active learning.” (p. 26). But hecontends active learning is a smokescreen designed to cover deeper prob-lems in higher education—like classsize, where if active learning principlesare used, they can make the large classseem smaller and therefore make largeclasses more likely.The logic is convoluted, and the case

supporting a connection betweenincreasing class sizes and the interestin active learning rests more on corre-lation than causation. It is not substan-tiated with evidence. Even moredistressing is the author’s ignorance ofthe research that justifies approachesthat engage students in learning. Theauthor makes one reference (two

studies) and then objects to educa-tional jargon. Would you presume toread a research journal in physics,sociology—name a discipline—andthen decry the author’s use oflanguage?Educational research, like that in

countless other fields, is not written tobe read by outsiders, and yes, that doesrelate to why so much research has solittle impact on practice, but that’s adifferent problem. The point here isthat the research on active learning isimmense, and its implications for prac-tice have been ably translated (seePrince, M. (2004, July). Does activelearning work? A review of theresearch. Journal of EngineeringEducation, 223–231).We need to be reminded that much

of what we believe and take forgranted is still up for grabs in othersectors of the academy. Reading anarticle like this behooves and preparesus. You never know when you mightbe called upon to answer objectionslike these.

Reference: Mattson, K. (2005, Janu-ary–February). Why “active learning”can be perilous to the profession.Academe, 23–26.


Objections To Active Learning

By Maryellen Weimer

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