Engaging Large Classes

Large classes have become a fact of life in colleges and universities across America; even as academic funding has decreased, class enrollments have continued to rise. Although students, teachers, and administrators are often concerned by the potentially negative impact of uneven teacher-to-student ratios, large classes also offer many potential advantages that are less recognized and not always maximized. In Engaging Large Classes, the authors demonstrate that large classes can be just as stimulating and rewarding as smaller classes. Written by experienced teachers of large classes across a wide range of disciplines and institutions, this book provides faculty members and administrators with instructional strategies and advice on how to enhance large class settings. This book summarizes many of the core issues related to successfully teaching large classes, including An honest review of the advantages and disadvantages of large classes Advice on how to design, plan, manage, and fairly assess large classes The universality of large-class issues across disciplines, from classroom management to working with teaching assistants Strategies for using classroom technology, active learning, and collaborative learning Seventeen detailed examples of large classes from a range of higher education institutions The authors not only present an overview of research on teaching large classes, they also equip readers with helpful insight into the mechanics of large-class pedagogy. This book has the potential to change the way academia views the reality of teaching large classes.