Large Group Teaching

Centre for Educational DevelopmentORHEP Project

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www.orhep.brad.ac.uk

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Large Group Teaching

Centre for Educational Development

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Session Outline• Expectations• Starting Points – Definitions etc.• Practical• Ideas



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Learning Outcomes• To have an understanding of the basic

principles of working in a lecture room.• To have resources which you can follow

up to learn more.• To have some ideas of how to push the

boundaries of your current practice.



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What messages does the lecture room give?

• To learn is to acquire information• Information is scarce and hard to find• Trust authority for good information• Authorized information is beyond

discussion• Obey the authorityFrom Wesch (2009) ALT-C Keynote



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• What comes to mind when thinking of teaching a large group lecture?

Notes:



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Definitions• What do we mean by large group?• Over 30 = , over 50 = , over 100 =

– The number which places a constraint on what we think we can do? My own comfort

– The number which places a constraint on the types of activity we can do? What is actually possible.



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Definitions• What do we mean by lecture?

– Write you definition on a piece of paper.– The way we deliver?– The content we deliver?– The physical space we are in?– Can it be whatever you want it to be?



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Delivery“The classroom lecture is a special form of communication in which voice, gesture, movement, facial expression, and eye contact can either complement or detract from the content. No matter what your topic, your delivery and manner of speaking immeasurably influence your students' attentiveness and learning.” Barbara Davis.http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/delivering.html this website also includes some really useful tips for delivery.


http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/delivering.html


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The Dr Fox Effect“In a critique of student evaluations of teaching, professor of law Deborah Merrit summarized the Dr.

Fox Effect as it was observed in the first experiments, in which American actor Michael Fox gave a

lecture to a group of ten under the guise of "Dr. Myron L. Fox": "The experimenters created a

meaningless lecture on 'Mathematical Game Theory as Applied to Physician Education,' and coached

the actor to deliver it 'with an excessive use of double talk, neologisms, non sequiturs, and

contradictory statements.' At the same time, the researchers encouraged the actor to adopt a lively

demeanor, convey warmth toward his audience, and intersperse his nonsensical comments with

humor. ... The actor fooled not just one, but three separate audiences of professional and graduate

students. Despite the emptiness of his lecture, fifty-five psychiatrists, psychologists, educators,

graduate students, and other professionals produced evaluations of Dr. Fox that were overwhelmingly

positive. ... The disturbing feature of the Dr. Fox study, as the experimenters noted, is that Fox’s

nonverbal behaviors so completely masked a meaningless, jargon-filled, and confused presentation.”(Wikipedia)



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Student perspective 1• 59% of students find their lectures boring half the time

and 30% find most or all of their lectures to be boring. (Mann & Robinson, 2009)

• ‘And how many times have we students heard “unfortunately this is quite a boring part of the course, but it really is important”’

• What makes a good lecturer? Enthusiasm, approachable, understand the learning perspective of students, give their time after lectures, open-minded, motivated, engage in a process of sharing, passion. (Rieutort-Louis, 2009)



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Student Perspective 2• For new students: contrast with school / college• More self-reliance is required, e.g. What to do,

note taking, information overload• Depersonalised / anonymous• Peer factors

– ‘fear factor’ of speaking / asking questions in a large group

– behaviour



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Starting• Talk to students before you start, establish

rapport• Grab their attention. Signal the start• Announce the objectives.



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During• Voice: vary tone, conversational style.• Language: simple, concrete, use anecdotes• Well Organised Material (but don’t overdo

the prep!)• Enthusiasm• Clear visual aids• Vary activity...



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Finishing• Finish forcefully – don’t let it fizzle out

– “Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening.” Dorothy Sarnoff

• Summarise / conclude• Be prepared to talk to students afterwards

(if you have time).



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Activity• Quizzes / Questions (show of hands, team, paper

based...)• Short writing activity• Short reading activity (e.g. read an article)• Debate / student presentations (prepared in advance

for a particular session) See Davis, SEDA Special 13

• Write own exam question based on material presented earlier in lecture.

• Pair discussion, Buzz groups, Snowballing, syndicate groups. (Gibbs & Habeshaw1989)



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Resources for the lecture• Demonstrations• Models• Video• Images• Case studies• Worksheets• Journal Articles• Videos on large group teaching at Nottingham

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pesl/resources/largegroup/





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Planning & structuring the lecture• Think: What learning are you trying to

stimulate? How does this lecture link to others? What added value is there in your presence?

• Do: Break the lecture up into sections, provide opportunity for student –lecturer & student – student interaction, be explicit.

• Remember: what are you doing? What are students doing?



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Theory• Underpinning is based on constructivism,

e.g. Piaget, Bruner, Biggs – learning is an active process in which learners

construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge.

• Reflective practice



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Pushing the boundaries• Wesch - vision of students today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o&feature=PlayList&p=3D942C2F6CBAE121&index=0&playnext=1

• Student response systems for Q&A, quizzes.• Use of Twitter / SMS / email etc. for getting student Qs

or feedback during the session.• Think outside of the walls: use the campus as a

learning space & Simulations e.g. Anthropology 101 class: http://www.youtube.com/user/mwesch?blend=7&ob=4#play/uploads/4/JgbfMY-6giY

• Replacing lectures using technology, e.g. podcasts and have seminars instead.




http://www.youtube.com/user/mwesch?blend=7&ob=4


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Summary• Teaching a large group is NOT just about

delivering non-stop for 50 minutes with the students being passive.

• Students need to engage through:– the way we deliver, – the resources we use– the activities we integrate.

• Teaching is as much an art form as science, it is very close to acting - so enjoy it!!



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Bibliography• Davis (nd), Practical Ideas for Enhancing Lectures, SEDA

Special 13• Gibbs & Habeshaw (1989) Preparing to Teach, Technical and Educational

Services Ltd, Bristol• Mann & Robinson (2009) Boredom in the lecture theatre: an investigation

into the contributors, moderators and outcomes of boredom amongst university students, British Educational Research Journal, 35(2) pp. 243 – 258

• Rieutort-Louis (2009) What Makes a Good Lecturer? Academy Exchange Issue 8

• Smith (nd), Lecturing to Large Groups, SEDA Special 1• Young, Robinson & Alberts (2009) Students pay Attention! Combating the

vigilance decrement to improve learning during lectures, Active Learning in Higher Education, 10(1) pp. 41–55


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Large Group Teaching