{"id":13106,"date":"2013-02-01t08:00:21","date_gmt":"2013-02-01t13:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/?p=13106"},"modified":"2013-03-21t15:42:25","modified_gmt":"2013-03-21t20:42:25","slug":"ask-professor-pedagogy-first-time-teaching-a-200-student-survey-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/2013\/02\/ask-professor-pedagogy-first-time-teaching-a-200-student-survey-course\/","title":{"rendered":"ask professor pedagogy: first time teaching a 200+ student survey course"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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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)
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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
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you might also be interested in our upcoming events on\u00a0teaching large classes: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n