Large groups present unique challenges for teachers who want the students to engage in active learning. There is a big difference between “covering” the material and having the students learn it. If students are actively engaged during a presentation, they will usually understand the material better and remember it longer. The following techniques can be used to involve students during large group sessions (lectures).
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Start the session with a question or problem and ask for answers to the question or solutions to the problem. Write the students’ comments on the board. Use what you have written to guide the next part of the session.
Divide the room into quadrants, or smaller subdivisions, and ask groups of students to work together to answer a question or solve a problem. Have a spokesperson from each group present the answer.
If you can, put name cards on the desks or tables in the front of the students so you can call on them by name. This is even more useful if it will be a class you teach more than once. If you learn the students’ names and they learn each other’s names, they will be more likely to talk.
Ask questions throughout the lectures so that they become more “conversational”. The best questions are open-ended, counterintuitive, and don’t have one right answer.
Pause and ask students to write for a few minutes in response to a question, then ask them for answers. By writing something down every student has a chance to think about the response ahead of time and feel more comfortable commenting during a discussion.
Stop during a lecture after you have made a major point and put up a multiple choice question (overhead projectors work well for this). Ask the students to vote on the right or best answer. Then ask them to discuss the answer with the person seated next to them and vote again.
Use teaching cases and conduct the class as a case discussion rather than as a lecture.
When one of the students asks a question, rather than answering it yourself, ask for answers from other members of the class. Always repeat the question and/or paraphrase it; this ensures that everyone heard the question and also gives them more time to think of an answer.
When using slides, pictures, or other visuals, ask the students what they see before you tell them what you see.
Give students a “60-second paper”. Hand out a small piece of paper and ask them to write down the one “most important” thing for them about what was discussed. This has to be a single question that can be answered in a few words. Depending on the question, the statements can be designed for the students’ own reflection, can be shared with the group (not anonymous), or by you and read out to the class (anonymous).
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Create an atmosphere that encourages students to participate.
Don’t criticize their questions or comments in front of the class; they are taking a big risk when they talk.
Invite them to challenge what you say, invite questions, and allow yourself to be interrupted by their challenges or questions.
Encourage participation with your “body language” -- walk around, sit on a desk or table rather than speaking from behind a podium.
Rearrange the room if possible. Nothing says “passive” like a room arranged for a lecture with a “stage for the sage” and rows of chairs. If you can’t rearrange the room, walk to the back or up and down the aisles.
