Many lecturers at BU teach classes with 60-120+ students. These are large cohorts! In the last workshop on this topic, it was clear that the specificity of discipline/field and teaching context are critical. The workshop in January draws on case studies and will make space for audience experience and group thinking.
As I said in my last post on teaching large cohorts (3rd November 2021) – designing courses and learning activities for large cohorts from induction to graduation needs intensive commitment from the programme team and it takes time. In the last workshop recording here I focused on the lone lecturer and flagged up more than I could possibly cover adequately (too much telling). You can find a recording of the workshop and the key resources in FLIEFlix here.
- There has been some feedback that people found Ian Turner’ Top Tips useful to grab attention especially when these are adapted and combined with guidance in the Digital Pedagogies Framework.
- There is some anecdotal evidence that people at BU are trying blended learning flipped summaries, jigsaw groups, rotation and fishbowl. You can find an extended tool kit for student engagement here – #52etc -a tool kit for student engagement by Ian Turner, Stuart Norton, and Jess Moody is here.
It turns out that the ideas are simple enough:
- INTERACTION – more students talking and being challenged and energised,
- STRUCTURED COLLABORATION – more configuring large groups into smaller groups of students with clear schedule and tasks,
- ACTIVITY – using flipped approaches for knowledge/information transmission so interaction is richer,
- FEEDBACK DIALOGUE more focus on the quality of the questioning.
Simple but difficult in practice. Exercising judgement, confidence, and imaginative presence in the learning process goes beyond being an expert in your field. We would like to share, showcase and celebrate your practice in teaching large cohorts. Do get in touch.
