Receiving a roster of more than 50 students might create a series of stress bubbles for instructors. But there are some tips and best practices that we have collected from graduate students and professors to help ease some of the insecurities associated with large lectures, making the experience more enjoyable for both instructors and students.
In our experience, the best professors of large classrooms use the course material to bring content alive. Lisa D. Lenoir recalls during her undergraduate days at Indiana University-Bloomington, a professor who taught her Greek Mythology. He used the theater-size classroom to transport students to Greece, where the mythological characters became visually alive through the stories and the larger-than-life characters. And he did not use PowerPoints! This was before PPTs were a thing…
Lenoir remembers he spoke to her during class once, sharing a good word about her performance. She was shocked he even knew her! This early experience speaks to the small but impactful ways instructors can engage with students in large classrooms in a meaningful way. Especially when students take classes with so many of their peers, they often feel like just a number in a sea of students, which can leave them feeling less motivated to learn.
We want you to be some version of this Greek Mythology professor, with your own brand of excellence. Below you will find a variety of large lecture teaching tips to help encourage student learning. The learning environment remains dynamic, as the pandemic has shown us; course material can be delivered face-to-face (F2F), virtual, or hybrid (both). We offer a guide to help administer large lectures like a pro, giving you hints with a key: F2F, virtual, or both.
Tips for Face-to-Face Teaching:
- Instead of standing by the classroom podium or in one area, try walking around the room and through the aisles while facilitating class. It not only increases student engagement by keeping everyone’s eyes on you as you move across the room, but it also discourages students from using their phones and laptops for non-class-related distractions as you walk past them. Pro tip: Remember to wear comfy shoes because you will be moving around a lot!
- Review your roster. Most course rosters have pictures of the students as well as their majors. Knowing who is in your class can help you to personalize and tailor the experience, if necessary.
Tips for Virtual Teaching:
- Use the LMS to organize content and set up discussion boards with students randomly divided into smaller groups. Groups of 10–12 students can allow students to interact with each other.
Tips for Both — F2F and Virtual Teaching:
- To get students excited for the class/content, start with an attention-getter or icebreaker. For example, play music at the beginning of each class, play an interesting video or news clip or incorporate current events that may even tie into the specific course content. You may also question students about current events or watercooler topics to increase engagement.
- Student discussions or Q&A sessions throughout the lecture will also help student deepen their understanding of course content. If you find yourself short on volunteers, begin calling on students randomly (or students that seem to be distracted with their phones or laptops). No takers? Stop the class and ask students to write a one-minute paper with a question about the content.
- To increase student engagement with both the instructor and other students, introduce a think-pair-share activity (around 2–3 students for F2F). Ask students a question or assign them a small task/activity and have them pair up with other students sitting near them to discuss/execute the activity. Then, you can have students input their responses online via a Canvas assignment or simply call on a few groups of students to share or ask for volunteers to share with the class. For virtual large lectures, randomly assign students to breakout rooms instead (more than 2–3 students can be assigned to a virtual group).
- To help recap the content introduced in class, end the session by asking students for three takeaways related to something they learned that day. For F2F classes, you can divide the students into three general sections and ask for one takeaway from each side of the room to prevent the same few students from answering each time. You may also have students submit takeaways through a Canvas assignment that can serve as a completion grade or attendance.
- A fun and easy way to collect attendance is by using a codeword of the day, which can be announced at the beginning of class. Students submit the word in a Canvas assignment that is only available for a few minutes.
- Build in extra credit or low-stakes reflection assignments for completion, which will enable you to learn more about your students.
- Use an agenda to stay on task during the class period (i.e., housekeeping) and end with upcoming assignments and what students should expect for the next week to help them stay organized.
- With so many students in one class, staying consistent with emails, announcements, and reminders (e.g., every Sunday or every M, W, F), is another way to help keep students organized. Large lectures can be overwhelming and intimidating for students who may not speak up and ask questions like they would in a smaller classroom environment. Pro tip: Make sure you understand how the end user interacts with the learning management system you are using. For instance, emails from Canvas will appear in both their Canvas inbox and school email inbox, whereas announcements are not always set to appear in their emails and may not be checked as frequently.
- Another way to help students feel more confident in a large lecture is to craft and structure a syllabus that builds in consistency as well as flexibility. GSIG member LaRissa Lawrie says her mentor organizes content where lectures can be extended or shortened, depending on how well students grasp course content.
