The classroom
If you can, learn the names of your students. Use their names whenever you can.
Start out with a tight structure (high expectations and demands). You can always loosen up later. The reverse won't work.
Tell something about yourself.
Write on the blackboard and define terms with which students might be unfamiliar.
Acknowledge difficulty you might have had when first introduced to the subject of topic being taught. Offer learning tips.
Be careful not to create a perception of favoritism. Never date your students.
Treat everyone fairly. Provide everyone the same opportunities to ask questions, meet with you, get extra credit, etc.
The physical experience of the large classroom is very different for instructors and students. The instructor's area is much larger with space for movement and belongings. Usually, the instructor's area is at the lowest level of the room near a door with decent ventilation. Students may be crammed together in chairs with small writing arms and little room for storage of personal belongings. Their seating area tends to be warm and stuffy, especially toward the end of the day, making it difficult to stay alert. Students arriving late or leaving early disrupt others. There may be insufficient space for taking some types of exams, such as open-book, or requiring use of hand-held calculators.
There is fixed seating in all but one of the twenty large classrooms ranging in size from 110 to 418 (the exception is Temporary Classroom 3).
At the beginning of class, the room can be noisy. Be alert to the background noise that will make you difficult to hear. Don't say critical things in the first minute of class.
In large classes, it is especially important to develop personal connections with students. Arrive early and become acquainted with the students who are there. Ask them their names. Use appropriate snippets from your conversation to emphasize point during the lecture (e.g., "As Kim mentioned before class….")
Bring 3x5 index cards and have students fill them out with name, phone number, e-mail address and any other information that you feel would help you get to know them better (e.g., why they are taking the class, what they hope to learn, etc.). These serve a dual purpose: contact information in case of questions about projects or exams, and it lets you know who was there the first day of class.
Be aware that some students like the anonymity of large classes.
Ask students to pair off and introduce themselves. If you have any pair or group discussion activities in class, be sure to have students introduce themselves to one another. Do the same in discussion sections.
Make sure each student has the name and e-mail address of at least two classmates.
Circulate among the labs and discussion sections. Consider teaching one.
Join the TA in distributing handouts and returning exams or assignments.
Schedule some office hours in a more informal environment, such as the Coffee House, where you can meet with more than one individual at a time.
Invite a small group to meet with you in your office or for coffee, or a brownbag lunch. Repeat until everyone has been invited.
Students may feel anonymous and that might affect how they behave. Discussing "ground rules" for behavior, emphasizing fairness, civility, and courtesy to other students can set a positive tone.
Review responsibilities - what is expected of the student, and what is expected of you. Include respect in the list. Some instructors review the campus Principles of Community. Others establish a verbal contract with the students the first day of class.
Think about how you will deal with minor infractions - loud talking, cell phones ringing, rude comments, reading The Aggie in class, etc. Mentally role-play it so you don't lose your cool when it happens. Stopping your lecture and a brief comment may be sufficient.
If the behavior is too disruptive to ignore, speak with an experienced colleague or any of the TRC program coordinators (530-752-6050). In more extreme cases contact Student Judicial Affairs to understand your alternatives. If there is an immediate threat to your safety or that of other students, contact the campus police.
Making your course interesting and stimulating
Be enthusiastic about the subject. If you don't care, why should they?
Look for hooks - something to engage them in the class.
Use humor if you can. Show that you are approachable. If you are not good at spontaneous humor, use a cartoon or tell a funny story related to the field. You can find discipline jokes on the Internet.
Get psyched up before class -- take a walk, rehearse, meditate, use mental imagery -- whatever works for you.
Focus the attention of the class at the beginning - start with a slide, review of last lecture, tells a related anecdote.
Look at your students, listen, convey respect. The only difference between them and you in intelligence may be time on the planet.
Use the active tense (e.g., "The experiment showed that …." vs. "It has been shown that ….")
Relate subject matter to concerns outside the classroom -- current events, their lives, "real world" problems.
Be sensitive to the students' level of attention. If it wanes, change the routine.
Use media such as videos or slide presentations to enhance your lectures.
Create variety, not necessarily within each lecture, but across the quarter (guest speakers, slides, movies, group discussion, a student panel in front of the room for Q&A). Experiment!
Start and finish on time so that students will learn to be punctual, and attentive until the end of the class hour.
Write an outline on the board. It keeps you on track and lets the student know where you are and where you are going.
Maintain as much eye contact as possible.
Teach to the entire class, not just to one side or the middle front rows.
Have yourself videotaped and see that you don't have the habit of talking to the blackboard or favoring a side of the room or the floor while you speak. See request at (http://trc.ucdavis.edu/trc/services/evaluation/videotaping.html).
Board work
a. Write on the blackboard from top to bottom, left to right. Don't skip around or cram into the corners or edges so that students can read the small print.
b. Gauge blackboard space - don't start out too big and then run out of space.
c. If students need to copy your drawings or other board work, give them an idea of how much space they will need (e.g., "I'll draw 3 graphs side by side for comparison," or "allow about 1/2 page for the equation."
Conclude each presentation with a brief summary and a preview of coming attractions.
Think big and loud.
Check
a. that students can hear you.
b. visibility of your writing from the back of the classroom. If chalk doesn't show up, try overheads. You can order extra ones for the classroom.
c. audibility and visibility for students in wheelchairs. The only room for them may be in the back.
Gestures must be larger to be scaled to the size of the room and the distance between you and your student. Students likely will not see facial expressions. For example, a raised eyebrow or rolling of your eyes to communicate disbelief may not be noticed by students.
Walk up and down the aisles during lecture and solicit questions and comments. This can decrease the physical distance between you and the students, which is especially important in large rooms.
With fixed-seating, student-student interaction is difficult. Also, instructor-student interaction may be difficult, particularly toward the sides and back of the room.
Repeat questions asked by students so that all can hear.
Classical Notes is generally only available for larger classes. Let students know whether or not Classical Notes will be available for your course. If not, consider distribution your own notes or outlines (see earlier section on Handouts).
If you use Classical Notes decide ahead of time the degree to which you want to be responsible for their accuracy (i.e., review them before publication, or tell the students that you are not responsible for their accuracy).
In large classes, students are less likely to ask questions, especially if they are confused or don't understand the material. Assess whether or not students are grasping the class material by asking questions in class (allow time for their answer).
Use the 2-minute question technique -- at the end of the lecture hour, have them anonymously write down the main points of the presentation, or ask them a question. Review these to get an idea of where they are.
Students in large classes are more likely to feel free to leave without a clear approval from you. As the end of the hour nears, don't make closing or summary comments until you are ready to have the students start packing up to leave. Develop a pattern from the first day of class that important information (summary, announcements, etc.) will be provided immediately prior to dismissal, clearly stating they should not leave until you have dismissed them. Don't end with a whimper – "Well, I guess that is it for today…."
Increasing student participation and discussion
Have a strategy for initiating discussion.
Start out with non-threatening types of participation. Ask easy questions. Have students talk to one another.
Prepare discussion questions in advance, create thoughtful ones.
Ask questions that do not have simple right or wrong answers (i.e., avoid recitation).
Use rhetorical (no answer being expected) questions to get the students thinking about an issue (e.g., "Here is a question you should consider.")
Decide how much time you want to devote to Q&A, and when you want them to occur (e.g., throughout, at the end, at a specific time set aside for that purpose).
Reward question-asking; thank the students for their participation.
Show students that you very much like receiving and answering questions.
Repeat questions so that all can hear.
Encourage other students to answer the questions.
Don't ask questions in an intimidating fashion (e.g., "Is there anyone who does not understand this?")
Bring in and answer questions that were asked outside of class.
Collect questions at the end of class and then answer a couple at the beginning of the next session.
Ask a question that requires thought and judgment and have students discuss in groups of 3-5. Let them know that you will call on some for a response.
Use the above groups to generate a question to ask you.
Role-play a "press conference" with students as reporters and you as respondent.
Select students ahead of time and notify them that they should be prepared to discuss the material at the next class meeting. Rotate through the roster.
Encourage participation through a show of hands (e.g., "How many of think that the answer is 'X', how many think it is 'Y'?"
Consider using an automated "audience response" system (experimental as of this writing).
When asking questions, allow sufficient time for students to respond. Use the silence. Let them become uncomfortable with it.
Try the "think, pair, and share" technique - students are given a question or problem to ponder, then pair or get in a small group, share their thoughts, and come to a conclusion.
Divide the large classroom into smaller units based on location (e.g., upper left quadrant), have them select a name for their "group" and then call on them in class to answer questions. "So, what would the 'Campus Avengers' recommend as the most appropriate economic measure?"
Consider using student discussion leaders. Send around a sign-up sheet for volunteers. Students are sometime more likely to respond to a question from another student that from the instructor.
To facilitate discussion or questions, shift your location by moving to another part of the room or in front of the podium in order to signal a shift in mode.
Form teams to debate or discuss an issue in front of the class.
Form groups and give assignments to be done as a team.
Acknowledging student diversity
Determine the entrance level skill and knowledge of your students by giving them a pretest.
Tell the class what entry-level skills and knowledge are required for their success in the course.
Teach to different levels of preparation and teach something of interest to both the non-major and the major.
It is better to overestimate than to underestimate the ability of the students.
Be sensitive to your own potential biases, such as favoring a particular group or section of the room for questioning. Ask the same type of questions of all students. Use examples that reflect the at least the diversity of the California population (which is extensive).
For students having difficulty with the course material
- prepare supplementary materials
- hold review sessions that show them how they can improve
- provide examples of well-done papers and/or exams (you can develop a file of these over time)
- refer them to the campus Learning Skills Center http://www.lsc.ucdavis.edu/
- form study groups with guidance of how to use them (e.g., explaining concepts, exchanging study tips)
- run an extra help session taught by you, your TA or undergraduate tutors. Invite everyone to attend (avoids B+ whiners claiming they are being discriminated against, and does not finger those doing poorly).
Let your best students know that you are aware of their outstanding performance. Encourage continued study through related courses or independent study (199 units).