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The Personal Lecture

How to make big classes feel small 5

How to make big classes feel small

  • Cynthia LaBrake, a lecturer in chemistry at the U. of Texas, often has her 400 students break into small discussion groups. Her 1970s-era classroom, which is scheduled for an overhaul next year, has desks bolted into the floor, posing a challenge. "We crawl over the space to reach them," she says. "It’s not ideal, but we make it work."
    BACKGROUNDER

    The Personal Lecture

    By Katherine Mangan
    Students have complained for generations of feeling like nameless specks in a cavernous lecture hall. Faculty members often dread such a sea of blank faces. Now universities are experimenting with ways to liven up those classes.
  • Students toss "snowballs" — crumpled wads of paper containing summaries of Gary Green’s primary lecture points — in his forestry and natural-resources class at the U. of Georgia.
    News

    How One University Encourages Innovation in Teaching

    By Katherine Mangan
    The University of Georgia organizes faculty learning communities to help professors rethink the lecture.
  • News

    5 Ways to Shake Up the Lecture

    By Katherine Mangan
    Flipping the classroom has gotten the most attention, but professors have a variety of approaches in their toolkits to improve the student experience.