| \n <\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2018\/07\/09154331\/mailbag-300x300.png\" "\\"mailbag\\"") <\/a><\/p>\n ask professor pedagogy<\/strong> is a twice monthly advice column written by 2022年世界杯中国小组赛积分 staff. one aspect of our mission is to cultivate dialogue about teaching and learning, so we welcome questions and concerns that arise in the classroom; particularly those from vanderbilt faculty, students, and staff. if you have a question that you’d like professor p to address, please send it to us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n by adam wilsman, graduate teaching fellow<\/em><\/p>\n (professor p. is away at a conference this week)
\n<\/em><\/p>\n dear professor p.,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n recently, my department head notified me that i would be teaching our department\u2019s largest survey course next semester.\u00a0 this 200-student class will be the largest i\u2019ve ever taught and i\u2019m worried about how i will handle it.\u00a0 i have typically taught classes of 15-40 students in which leading discussions is relatively easy, but in such a large class, i think i\u2019ll just have to stick to lecturing.\u00a0 this worries me.\u00a0 i can see my students\u2019 glazed over looks already! help!<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n – leery of large lectures<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n dear leery,<\/p>\n you\u2019re right to be concerned.\u00a0 teaching large classes comes with many challenges.\u00a0 many of us have the tendency to teach these large classes as our professors taught us: with a lecture-heavy approach and discussions often pigeon-holed in weekly discussion sections.\u00a0 the trouble is that large lecture classes don\u2019t simply cause glazed over looks, but they also tend to promote student disengagement and feelings of alienation.\u00a0 this is especially problematic because these introductory survey classes so often represent students\u2019 introduction to the college classroom.\u00a0 a freshman\u2019s experience in a survey course could be the difference between finishing college and dropping out early.\u00a0 furthermore, the large size of these courses and the resulting feeling among students that they are disconnected from the professor and tas erodes many students\u2019 sense of responsibility.\u00a0 this is why a few short weeks into the semester, attendance in these large lecture classes tends to plummet.<\/span><\/p>\n here at vanderbilt, approximately 8.2% of classes have 50 or more students.[1]<\/a> while that may not seem like a lot, most of us will teach large lecture courses at some point in our careers, whether at vanderbilt or elsewhere.\u00a0 so how can we make our large classes feel small (or at least smaller)?<\/p>\n of all the special challenges that large courses present, there are also advantages.\u00a0 in these large classes, think of your students as a diverse human resource to be drawn upon in pursuit of your learning goals.\u00a0 there are always enough students for interaction, so do what you can to facilitate productive interactions.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n| \n <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n you might also be interested in our upcoming events on\u00a0teaching large classes: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n \n- teaching to thousands: a conversation about massive open online courses (moocs)
\n<\/strong>thursday, february 21, 3:10-4:30pm<\/em><\/li>\n - teaching large classes
\n<\/strong>tuesday, february 26, 4:10-5:30pm<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nfind out more about these events and register now.<\/a> <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
it can be more difficult, but it is not impossible to foster rich discussions in large lecture classes.\u00a0 as in the case of discussion sections, it is simply vital that you set the right tone from the beginning.\u00a0 make it clear during the first weeks of class that you expect students to question you and interact with your lectures.\u00a0 take intermittent breaks to field questions or use a muddiest point exercise to coax questions out.\u00a0 integrate discussion questions into lectures every 10-20 minutes to maintain student focus.\u00a0 after all, many studies suggest that our students struggle to focus on one task effectively much longer than that.\u00a0 this integration of discussion questions into lecture isn\u2019t always easy.\u00a0 coming up with discussion questions that promote student participation and encourage reflectivity is not a simple task, but requires time and thought.<\/p>\n you should also consider the role that technology can play in stoking student participation.\u00a0 classroom response systems, or clickers, are an effective way to encourage students to debate and can embolden students to talk who would otherwise sit quietly.\u00a0 similarly, online discussion boards, used in-class or out, can provide structured opportunities for students who are otherwise too shy to participate in class discussion.<\/p>\n finally, one can always integrate small-group activities into the large lecture class.\u00a0 studies suggest that small-group activities promote student mastery of material, enhance critical thinking skills, provide rapid feedback for the instructor, and facilitate the development of affective dimensions in students, such as students\u2019 sense of self-efficacy and learner empowerment.[3]<\/a> you can ask small groups of 2-5 to process content by talking through it, writing about it, or presenting it to the class.\u00a0 assign group members roles (like facilitator, recorder, divergent thinker, etc.) or distribute a group assessment rubric to keep groups relatively balanced and fair, with fewer students simply \u201calong for the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n ultimately, there\u2019s a lot that we can do to shake-up the traditional large class and you do not need to simply lecture every class.\u00a0 try to integrate discussion and group-oriented activities to break up the class period and you\u2019ll notice fewer of your students drifting off!<\/p>\n want to do some additional reading for more ideas? i suggest these resources:<\/p>\n \n- cooper, james l. and pamela robinson.\u00a0 \u201cthe argument for making large classes seem small.\u201d <\/span>new directions for teaching and learning<\/em> 81 (2000): 5-16.<\/span><\/li>\n
- heppner, frank. <\/span>teaching the large college class: a guidebook for instructors with multitudes<\/em>.\u00a0 san francisco: john wiley & sons, inc., 2007.<\/span><\/li>\n
- renaud, susan, elizabeth tannenbaum, and phillip stantial. \u201cstudent-centered teaching in large classes with limited resources.\u201d <\/span>english teaching forum<\/em> number 3 (2007).<\/span><\/li>\n
- stanley, christine a. and m. erin porter. <\/span>engaging large classes: strategies and techniques for college faculty<\/em>.\u00a0 boston: anker publishing company, inc., 2002.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
– professor p.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n
\n\n[1]<\/a> u.s. news and world report.\u00a0 \u201ccolleges: 瑞士vs喀麦隆走地.\u201d\u00a0 accessed november 29, 2012.\u00a0 http:\/\/colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com\/best-colleges\/vanderbilt-3535.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n[2]<\/a> susan renaud, elizabeth tannenbaum, and phillip stantial, \u201cstudent-centered teaching in large classes with limited resources,\u201d english teaching forum<\/em> number 3 (2007): 13.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n[3]<\/a> james l. cooper and pamela robinson, \u201cthe argument for making large classes seem small,\u201d new directions for teaching and learning<\/em> 81 (2000), 12.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n .<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ask professor pedagogy is a twice monthly advice column written by 2022年世界杯中国小组赛积分 staff. one aspect of our mission is to cultivate dialogue about teaching and learning, so we welcome questions and concerns that arise in the classroom; particularly those from vanderbilt faculty, students, and staff. if you have a question that you’d like…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":9660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[167],"tags":[168,88],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2018\/07\/09154331\/mailbag.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13106"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |
|
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2018\/07\/09154331\/mailbag.png\" "\\"mailbag\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n