Transcript Energy Release from Fat

Best Practices for Teaching Large
Classes: Tools for the Trade
By: Dr. Pamela Haibach, Dr. Amanda Lipko, Dr. Margaret
Logan, Dr. Craig Mattern, & Dr. Adam Rich
Topics to be covered:
•Lecturing
•Active Learning
•Technology
•Course Management
•Assessment
Definition of a Large Class
• The point at which the design and
implementation of course structure and
activities are significantly influenced by the
number of students enrolled in the course.
Joe Cuseo: “The Empirical case Against Large Class Size: Adverse
Effects on the Teaching, Learning, and Retention of First-Year
Students” in Journal of Faculty Development, January 2007
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Large class size increases faculty reliance on the lecture method of
instruction.
Large classes reduce students’ level of active involvement in the
learning process.
Large class size reduces the frequency and quality of instructor
interaction with and feedback to students.
Large-class settings reduce students’ depth of thinking inside the
classroom.
Large class size limits the breadth and depth of course objectives,
course assignments, and course-related learning outside the
classroom.
Students’ academic achievement (learning) and academic performance
(grades) are lowered in courses with large class size.
Students report less course satisfaction in large-sized classes.
Students give lower overall ratings (evaluations) for course instruction
delivered in large classes.
Great summary of our perceptions, but are they true?!
Dr. Lynne Moulton, Sociology
Why keep lecture in the toolbox?
• Student readiness for selfdirected learning varies…
maybe more so now
• Lecturing presents a model
for intellectual work,
thought, and expression
• Impracticality of presenting
all material in hands-on way
• We also learn from lectures
Source: Burgan, Mary. 2006. “In Defense of Lecturing” Change 38 (6): 30-35.
Learning in large class requires a
good teacher!
March 7, 2010
Building a Better Teacher
By ELIZABETH GREEN
What’s good about lectures?
•Student-centered learning
•Technology is increasing our ability for asynchronous
learning… enabling delivery to an even larger audience!
Main challenge to straight lecture…
• you’ve got 10 minutes….
Tips for Effective Lecturing
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Promote Interaction
Change-up flow
Humor
Cadence
Body movement
Props
Narrative delivery
Adam Rich & Pamela Haibach
– ‘approaches in which students actively examine
issues while the instructor provides structure &
support’ (Hamlin & Janssen, 1987)
– Includes:
• Cooperative learning – involves both group goals &
individual responsibility (Slavin, 1991)
• Collaborative learning – less structured, but
emphasizes the social context of learning (Oxford,
1997)
Traditional lectures
•Effective collaboration skills are desirable,
maybe necessary, in the workplace.
•Active learning, i.e. when students are doing
things and thinking about the things they are
doing , learning is improved.
•When the student does the work, as opposed to
be given the answer, value increases.
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Small discussions
Debates
Case Studies
Class discussion
Question and Answer
• http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/cii/resources/tea
ching_tips/large_classes.asp
• No graduate students!
• Grading, preparation, time – all done by us!
• Physical limitations
Clickers in the large classroom:
Do they work?
• Increase student engagement
• Facilitate learning
• Improve outcomes
What are students really learning?
traditional lecture
<g> = (post-test – pre-test)/(100-pre-test) = ‘thorough learning’
(Adapted from Duncan, “Effective Use of Wireless Student Response Systems”, n.d.)
Physics
learning
at the
University
Colorado leads
What
difference
does
InteractiveofEngagement
make?the
US!
Traditional lecture
(popular professor)
Clickers
Clickers
+tutorials
© Copyright Steven Pollock 2007
Red and white histogram bars are for 52 classes throughout the US.
Students will like your class better!
Clickers in the large classroom:
How to use them
• Track attendance
• Check students’ prior knowledge
• Survey student attitudes
• Check student understanding
• Facilitate discussion and peer learning
• Hold students accountable for class preparation
Podcasting for Large Classes
Does it benefit student learning?
• Most papers measure student perceptions but
do not directly measure performance
• Student perceptions
– Particularly useful in large lecture classes
– Can listen in class more as opposed to focusing on
note taking
Lecture for Review
• Strengths (Univ of Washington 2006 report):
– Consumes minimal instructor time
– Students can catch up after missed class
– Help to prepare for homework, labs, and exams
– May assist students with learning disabilities
• Weaknesses
– Difficult to hear questions/discussion
– Hard to search within podcast
Does it benefit student learning?
• Shaw(2009) examined if students who used
podcasts had greater understanding of
biological concepts measured by exam scores
• No sig improvement in exam scores
• Student attitude very positive
Supplemental podcasts
• Often thoughtfully approached with clear
educational goals
• Example uses
– Listening exercises in language classes
– Laboratory directions/demonstrations
• May free up class time for more interactive
classes
Course Management in Large
Classes
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/coach_gs_teac
hing_tips/2010/10/going_from_classroom_chaos
_to_control.html
Communication Suggestions that Work
for Me!
• All emails must come from Brockport email address,
have a salutation and a “signature”.
• Don’t answer emails containing questions covered in
the syllabus.
• If an email requires an extended answer, ask that the
student speak to you in person.
• Any verbal agreement with the student about an
absence, different exam time, etc., must be confirmed
with an email from the student.
Include This Information in Your Syllabus!
The Syllabus
• Craft the syllabus carefully! Be clear about the “rules
of the course”. Be sure to apply them.
• Include information on dates of exams, etc. Structure
the course to minimize makeup exams and quizzes; be
clear about the policy on late work, etc., then enforce it.
• Include your policy on electronic equipment in the
classroom, if it is different from the campus policy.
(My favorite: laptops are fine for note taking, but
students using them must sit in the first two rows.)
• Remember that you can always loosen rules,
but it is much more difficult to tighten them!
More
Tips
• Schedule exams for Wednesdays in a MWF class, to
reduce number of accommodations needed. Never
change the dates.
• Have a colleague help you proctor exams, and return the
favor.
• Have a grading rubric; and have a process for requests
for regrades.
• Use clickers for active learning, feedback to you on
student understanding—and to monitor attendance
• Give students most of the clicker points for
participation.
• Only count the top X of Y (I use 30 of 36), to avoid
dealing with excuses.
And Now…
Convince Them that You Are on Their Team!
• Be respectful, and ask them to do the same.
• Be positive when answering student questions.
• Address all student issues privately first, if possible.
• Be organized about EVERYTHING that happens in class.
• Honor your office hours, or reschedule them.
• Tell them that you are there as a resource, to help them
be successful. (Of course, they need to do their part!)
Testing & Assessment in Large
Classes
Minnesota State University, Mankato CELT,
Class Size Article
 …there is one significant difference between large and small classes that
appears consistently in the research. When it comes to the attainment of
higher-order academic skills such as problem solving, written expression, and
critical thinking, students in smaller classes do acquire more of these skills
than do students in larger classes. Thus, while the literature demonstrates
that large classes prove no obstacle to the acquisition of specific, courserelated, factual knowledge, students in larger classes are at some
disadvantage in developing an ability to think better by using skills beyond
the basic acquisition of information.
http://www.mnsu.edu/cetl/teachingresources/articles/classsize.html
Assessment Methods
Considerations:
 What are your assessment goals for the course?
 What are the learning outcomes in the course?
 What are your available resources?
Common Assessment Tools:
 Exams/Quizzes
 Multiple Choice vs. Short-Answer/Essay
 Written Assignments & Presentations
 Designed meaningful assignments that can be realistically
graded
KEY: Do the best you can, given the constraints of a large class.
Assessment Methods
Suggestions:
 Provide feedback as promptly as possible
 Use ANGEL gradebook for posting grades
 Do not hand back exams
 Space written assignments out throughout semester
 Assign presentations throughout the semester
 Use group assignments and presentations
 Be as available to students as possible while still respecting your
time and other responsibilities
Student Assessment of Large Classes
Common Perceptions
 Larger classes are viewed more negatively by students
especially within their major
 Better students dislike larger classes
 Perception of less faculty-student interaction in large
classes
 Faculty believe that students learn more in smaller
classes
From: Minnesota State University Mankato CELT
webpage
Class size and Course Evaluations
Robust negative relationship between course
evaluation scores and class size exists
– Bedard & Kuhn (2006) – economics classes (USA)
– Walia (2008) – economics courses (USA)
– Westerlund (2008) – intro to math courses in Sweden
Class size and Course Evaluations
Yet…..
 Minnesota University CELT page – “research consistently
indicates that class size does not affect student evaluations of
faculty in any significant manner”
 Papo (1999)surveyed 246 students from a range of courses at
South African University about their perceptions of large
classes and found that students did not “perceive large class
teaching as problematic”
– Note: they did not use course evaluation form
Considerations
 Suggestion that class size might have more of an effect
on poor instructors compared to good instructors
 Evidence that small, seminar style courses tend to get
better evaluations
– Due to number of students?
– Opportunities for teacher/student interactions?
– Student interest level – small, seminar courses are typically
taken in student’s major
 Influence of course evaluations on tenure decisions
Conclusions
 Our perceptions about large classes are generally true, but some
issues are more important than others!
 How do students learn “higher-order academic skills such as
problem solving, written expression, and critical thinking”?
 Good instructors matter; in general, better instructors in smaller
classes are better instructors in larger classes.
 Reduce the use of lecture; increase active learning.
 Use technology, but use it wisely!
 Majors or potential majors should be in smaller sections where
possible.