OCR Text |
Show lessons, fail 2001 page 25 Teaching Large-Format Classes: Perspectives BY HELEN ZSOHAR, Ph.D, RN I read with great interest and enthusiasm the drafts of the articles that appear in this edition of lessons, and am pleased to offer my own perspective of issues associated with large classes. Numbers of students, faculty/student ratio, and physical configuration and size have all been used as indicators of large classes. As a faculty member with years of experience in teaching in large and small classrooms and clinical settings, I have come to realize that the most important factors influencing effective instruction and ---------------------- exemplary teaching are not size or quantity dependent. They are based on a fundamental understanding of the dynamics and implications of human relationships in the teaching/learning process. Regardless of class size, an environment that awakens or flames a student's passion for learning is key to success in education. The accountability for creating and maintaining this environment is shared between faculty and Regardless of class size, an environment that awakens or flames a studenVs passion for learning is key to success in education. students. There are some techniques and strategies the teacher can use that promote the sort of classroom climate in which most students and faculty would thrive. At the beginning of this reflection I indicated the importance of the human relationship. As mentioned in one of the accompanying articles, an excellent way to establish an effective bond between teachers and learners is to learn the students' names. When we address students by name we reinforce their connection with the teaching/learning experience and foster the notion that they are known and belong. I begin this process by studying the class roster before the semester begins. If I get a good idea of the names of the students in my class ahead of time, my task in learning names once I'm in the classroom is greatly facilitated. This sounds like simple advice until one considers the classroom may have 350 students. Arriving 10 minutes early in the classroom and engaging students in discussion may be an effective way to begin this process. Another strategy that works is to always ask students to identify themselves when they are asking a question in the classroom or making a response. Connecting names with faces as students turn in examinations or homework is also very helpful. Regardless of the strategy the teacher uses, name ---------------------- identification is a very important component of a successful large class experience. Several years ago I read an article by Paul A. Trout published in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The title of his article was "Incivility in the classroom breeds 'education lite.'" In the article he addressed several aspects of classroom behavior and teacher evaluation that centered around inappropriate student behavior. How does the teacher, especially in a large classroom setting, create and foster an environment where both students and teachers have a similar understanding about unacceptable classroom behaviors? Recently a colleague talked with me about the fact that in her class of 80, students had developed a pattern of inattentiveness and, in some cases, overt rudeness when fellow classmates were doing formal presentations in class. I asked her to pose this question to the total class: "If this was a board meeting of a corporation, and someone was demonstrating the kind of behaviors being demonstrated in this classroom when a student or students are giving a report, first, would this be considered acceptable |