Themes: Teaching More Students

In Fall 2003, TSS presents a series of workshops and group learning opportunities around the theme “Teaching More Students.”

We recognize that faculty members have an enormous amount of pressure from all directions, and that many of our techniques, suggested readings, or recommendations require too much time to put to good use, and that many of them strike people as best suited for smaller class sizes.

With the advent of Ontario’s double cohort and forecasted demographic growth, pressure on class sizes is unprecedented. This semester, we want to focus our attention on ways to make the teaching part of your role more satisfying and less stressful especially in your larger classes, not in spite of them! Typically idealistic, it is not unrealistic. You have asked for tips on classroom management with disruptive students, group work and active learning with more students, “stage” presence with more students, and techniques to promote deeper learning even in multiple choice testing situations. Our workshop series, therefore, covers these topics with hands-on experiences. In addition, we are offering the space and time for those faculty who wish to meet on a regular basis for several months to learn more about this topic. These groups – learning communities – may form subgroups or perhaps peer relationships that carry on to meet self-determined objective.

We’ve also arranged with the consent of the professors involved for pairs or small groups to visit some lectures in Rozanski Hall and War Memorial Hall during the week of October 20^th and the week of October 27^th.  In November, the groups and the professors involved will meet to discuss the observations.

What follows are links to the Workshop Series, the Learning Communities, a form for requesting an observation experience, and a list of resources (print and online) relevant to the topic.

Learning Communities site (coming soon!)

Request to Observe Large Class Teaching

Request to observe a large class teacher (please include your name, department, and extention).

Resources

Links

http://fp.uni.edu/its/et/tlt/larger/default.htm (ideas on Community, Feedback, Lectures, Organization/communication, Testing and Grading)

http://www.sonoma.edu/CTPD/largeclasses.htm (a really great clearing house of links)

http://136.142.42.14/utimes/issues/34/020530/06.html (games in Larger Classes)

http://idsnews.com/news/100598/campus/100598incivility.html (on incivility in larger classes)

http://www.umaine.edu/UMaineToday/Teaching.htm (lots of good links esp. see active learning area)and of course

http://www.tss.uoguelph.ca/resources/onlineres/large_classes.htm

Books

Teaching Large Classes, by Alan Gedalof (available from TSS)

Engaging Larger Classes: Strategies and Techniques for College Faculty,
edited by Christine Stanley and M. Erin Porter (available from TSS)

Teaching Large Classes: Tools and Strategies, by Elisa Lynn Carbone
(available: LB2331 .C336)