Teaching Tips: Special considerations for large classes

[Rowena Li]

Do you teach a large class? How large is large? 60 students? 100 students? Queens College has classes as large as almost 300 students in a single lecture hall. Clearly, providing effective instruction and staying sane given the additional complexities of administering a large class require some additional consideration. 

There are both advantages and disadvantages to teaching a large class. Most importantly, in a large class the instructor has the unique opportunity to engage with a variety of student backgrounds, experiences, and skill levels. However, faculty must adjust to the heightened sense of anonymity and the challenges of keeping students engaged.

The Center for Teaching & Learning has created a set of resources to assist you in both administering and engaging such large lecture classes: http://ctl.qc.cuny.edu/large-classes. This post includes suggestions for how to craft a syllabus that can address many potential student issues, considerations when testing students, strategies for overcoming student anonymity, as well as summarizing techniques for engaging teaching practices that can be conducted in such large lecture settings.  

You can read our past tips at: http://ctl.qc.cuny.edu/category/tech-tips.​

Best regards,
The Center for Teaching & Learning