On February 2007, a survey was sent to faculty who teach large classes in CLASS. The basic idea was to ask what was working and what wasn't working. Below, you will find the results of the survey. If you would like to comment on the comments or add additonal thoughts to the pot, there is a comment box at the bottom of this page. For anyone who would like to contribute to the original survey, please do!
Questions on Survey:
- On average, how many students are in your large classes?
- What things do you feel work especially well in large classes?
- If you could improve or change one thing about teaching large sections, what would it be?
- How do you assess your students' learning? ("clickers," pencil and paper quizzes, scantron, essays, group projects, reports, WebCT, etc.)
- Do you use WebCT in large classes, and if you do, what parts do you use?
- If YOU were conducting this survey, what question(s) would you ask of faculty?
- On average, how many students are in your large classes?
| 170 |
| 145 before the drops; 120 after drops |
| 185 |
| 150-200 |
| 150 |
- What things do you feel work especially well in large classes?
| I have students do work in small groups and turn in the assignments and they seem to enjoy a break from lecturing. |
| Visuals when presented correctly as Powerpoint slides. Also, some of the newer classes have a more intimate feel. When I teach this course as two sections, the bigger one has 60-65 students. In this case, the classroom we usually use in Caroll building has quite a cramped feeling. Also, WebCT Vista can be quite effective in getting student participation and interaction. I wouldn't want to teach a large class without it or something like it. |
| Getting off the stage and mingling with the students as I lecture. Encouraging lots of class discussion. Not using the whole hour for a power-point presentation (it puts them to sleep). |
| Multimedia Lecture, intensive online materials |
| Nothing |
- If you could improve or change one thing about teaching large sections, what would it be?
| I would block all cell phone and internet access in the union theater so students spent more time focusing on the material and less on their "toys." |
| Consistent technology in all the classrooms. Getting the students to come my office hours and to those of the graduate assistant more often to prepare for tests. They will generally come to extra study sessions but rarely to our offices. Personally, I have heard about the clickers but I need to learn how they are used. |
| Having full time, trained, graduate assistants. |
| To provide sufficient graduate student help to break the sections down into discussion groups that would meet at least once a week. This would mean assigning at least four graduate students to each section of History 1112 that has an enrollment of 200 students. |
| More interaction with the students, although that's virtually impossible |
- How do you assess your students' learning? ("clickers," pencil and paper quizzes, scantron, essays, group projects, reports, WebCT, etc.)
| I assess student learning via quizzes and exams using scantron. I also have them work in groups and collect assignments but I count this for participation and do not grade the groups individually. |
| Scantron tests, with essays or short answers (often but not always); Online writing assignments |
| Scantron, essays, reports. |
| 3 exams that are 70% scantron and 30% short answer. The final is 100% scantron because no human being can do justice to as many as 200 sets of short answer questions, let alone real essays in 48 hours. |
| online and in-class quizzes, scantron exams, writing assignments |
- Do you use WebCT in large classes, and if you do, what parts do you use?
| I use WebCT to post grades. |
| Yes. Posting of lecture materials, Powerpoints, review guides, online projects. Posting of grades and comments on grades. E-mail system. |
| No |
| No |
| Yes, exams, mail, learning modules, discussion (sometimes) |
- If YOU were conducting this survey, what question(s) would you ask of faculty?
| What resources could the university make available to improve teaching large sections? |
| How much difference in student engagement/interaction do you see in classes that are over hundred versus those that have 60-65 students? |
| Give me a break! A survey is a tool for mindless administrators to use to either justify their success or place blame on someone else when failure occur. I have been teaching large sections in the Union since the Union's doors opened. The central issue here is that the University's administration is always looking for a free ride. I will believe that management on this campus will start to care about academics when they figure out how to pay for the demands on faculty and staffing that they make! You want greater educational effectiveness out of large sections, then provide enough human resources to make it possible to engage with students! |
| Is it worth it to have these large classes, or should we look at making all large classes online (totally) classes? |
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