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Show page 20 lessons, fail 2001 Connie Madden, a clinical instructor, demonstrates nursing techniques on a mannequin. Students said working in small groups makes teaching more effective. when he grades their assignments himself. "It is a lot of work if there are 100 students in a class, but it is worthwhile... that just means that you must grit your teeth, close yourself off from distractions, and get to the job," he said. Brown said he learns more about his students when he grades their assignments. Students who are cheating or using copied material for their papers are more easily caught when the instructor is familiar with students' work. This cannot always be accomplished when an instructor is taking turns grading papers or tests with a teaching assistant, he said. Instructors also will learn more about the effectiveness of their teaching if they are grading the assignments and witnessing the students' responses rather than just seeing a list of grades. "You will learn what general concepts you failed to get across in class," Brown said. Another drawback instructors face in large-format classes is lower student preparation, often because students think they can hide in the crowd. Knowing names or faces of students is often a way to encourage student participation, Brown said. Boardman, a finance professor, said walking around the classroom also keeps students on their toes. He walks up and down aisles, sits down beside students or makes eye contact as he's teaching. Instructors also mentioned a drawback that students often don't think about: some instructors do not feel comfortable with large groups. Standing in front of hundreds of students can be intimidating, and there's always the challenge of where to begin. Instructors who are veterans of teaching large-format classes say being an effective teacher begins with attitude. "It is discouraging that there is a lot of reluctance on the part of professors to teach large classes," management professor Scott Young said. "So I decided I'm going to be the best at it because not many teachers want to do it." The comfort level in a classroom is something you create, Young says. He tries to ease the barrier between student and instructor by using personal information cards. At the beginning of the semester the students fill out the cards and every day Young reads 12-20 cards out loud. This way, not only is he getting to know his students, but also the students get to know each other. Brown, a geology professor, uses a similar technique. He asks students to write down their names, majors and why they're taking the class. He also calls roll for the first few days to learn names. "If you treat students as individuals, they respond much better to in-class questions, and a bond of sorts is formed," Brown said. David Vergobbi is a communication professor who is famous among communication majors for his insistence on learning every student's name. He teaches Mass Communication Law classes with 50 students and Public Relations Cases and Campaigns with 60-70 students. It takes him a week or two, but from then on, he calls students by name. "The quicker I can develop a comfort zone in the class, the |