by Dana Hanna
Teaching large classes presents unique challenges and opportunities. Here’s some ideas to help you navigate the complexities of large class teaching effectively.
How is it Different?
Engagement and Attention Span
- Challenge: More students in a room can make it harder to engage with individual students, which means the attention span of the class can get much shorter.
- Strategies:
- Change Activities Frequently: It’s recommended to change things up every 15 minutes. Incorporate pauses, games, challenges, polls, or group activities to reset the energy in the room.
- Active Engagement: Walk the room and actively get to know the students. This can be facilitated with a short poll, quiz, or survey prior to the session.
- Be Organized: Have all classes and assessments well-structured and clearly set out. Many students may be scared to ask clarification questions in a large setting.
- Clear Assessment Explanation: Ensure that assessment tasks are clearly linked to the learning outcomes (LOs) of the course.
Assessment and Marking
- Challenge: More students means more assessments to mark, making it difficult to maintain consistency and complete in required deadlines.
- Strategies:
- Online Assessments: Use quizzes, multiple-choice questions (MCQs), and short answers to make marking automated and easier[1].
- Group Work: Fewer assessments to mark, but balance this with the additional complexity of group assignments.
- Peer Assessment: Especially useful for longer assignments with staged submissions. Students can provide feedback on initial drafts.
- Individualized Feedback:
- Use voice-recorded feedback for short-answer assessments.
- Provide a detailed answer key. If the class performs poorly, a follow-up assessment could involve comparing student work to the answer key and reflecting on improvements.
- Highlight common mistakes and areas where students did well.
- Set aside consultation time for students to ask specific questions and receive feedback on assessment. Clearly designate these sessions so student know when they are and that this is a valuable source for individual feedback.
- Rubrics: Help set clear expectations and reduce queries about marks.
- Practice Exams: Provide practice exams and example answers to build student confidence and reduce questions.
- Flexible Assessment: Not all assessments need to be counted. For example, counting the best 8 out of 10 assessments can reduce issues related to illness and extensions and manage the load in administering this element.
Communication
- Challenge: Communication can escalate quickly with large classes.
- Strategies:
- Class Discussion Features: Move away from email and use class discussion features on platforms like Wattle or Canvas. Encourage students to answer each other’s questions, while you monitor daily.
- Set Expectations: Let students know you will devote a specific time each day (e.g., 30 minutes to 1 hour) to answering questions.
- Office Hours: Avoid answering technical questions online, as this can be time-consuming. Encourage the use of office hours, either in person or via Zoom.
Showcase of Effective Practices
On Tuesday 1 April 2025 the CBE held a showcase on large class teaching. The slides from these presentations are available below
- Anna: Using partial notes and blue bars in class to boost engagement.
- Gen: Implementing a flipped classroom model, workshops, and tutorials.
- Marina: Incorporating guest speakers to provide diverse perspectives.
- Bronwyn: Emphasizing structure and clear communication.
- Madukhar: Leveraging tutorial participation to enhance engagement.
- Kathy: Utilizing online quizzes and group assignments.
Sources:
https://lile.duke.edu/resources/art-and-science-of-teaching/teaching-large-classes
[1] Please note, this is great for low stakes assessment that can be more about providing timely feedback and keeping students engaged with material. It is not advised for end of semester exam or high stakes assessment.