Quality Improvement in First Year Large Enrolment Courses · Introduction. Many first-year courses in the Faculties of Arts and Science involve lecture presentations to large groups

Quality Improvement in First Year Large Enrolment Courses

by

John Hoddinott, Biological Sciences; Connie Varnhagen, Psychology;

Stanley Varnhagen, ATL; Katy Campbell, ATL.*

A report submitted in fulfillment of the University Teaching Research Grant #02-1

* The assistance of Brad Arkison, an intern with ATL from the Department of Psychology, is gratefully acknowledged.

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Table of Contents.

Executive Summary. 3

Introduction. 5

Methodology. 8

Results. 9

Discussion. 15

Conclusions. 30

References 31

Tables 32

Figures 43

Appendices:

1. Ethical Approval Application. 48

2. Ethical Consent Letter. 50

3. Survey Instrument. 52

4. Focus Group Transcript: Biology 107. 55

5. Focus Group Transcript: Biology 380. 65

6. Focus Group Highlights: Psychology Students. 74

7. Focus Group Highlights: Instructors. 77

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Executive Summary.

Much of the instruction of first year university courses takes place in large enrolment classes

(more that 100 and frequently more that 400 students). This study examined the thoughts

and expectations of students in large enrolment courses in Science (Biological Science) and

Arts (Psychology) courses. Senior course students were also asked to reflect back on the

first year experience and instructors of the courses were also asked about their thoughts on

large enrolment classes.

Students completed a survey instrument that probed their thoughts about the purpose of

first year courses and their attitudes toward them. Small groups of first year students,

senior students and instructors took part in separate semi-structured focus groups to reflect

on the courses.

If the major goal of introductory courses is to disseminate facts and knowledge, then our

first year courses are appropriately taught and assessed. If we take a more ‘evidence based

practice’ set of values on what constitutes effective learning we need to drastically rethink

our class sizes, instructional style, delivery and supports, and assessment methods.

Despite many similarities, Biology and Psychology course experiences and needs differed,

indicating that there is no one ideal first year experience. Different solutions to enhancing

the first year experience need to be developed based on student and course need. Classes

would be improved by making the material covered more relevant to the lives of the

learners with classroom activities that allow the students to become more actively engaged

with the course material. Students also seem legitimately concerned that they be given

appropriate learning objectives and they want to see some linkage between the learning

activities they engage in and the assessment practices used to verify that learning.

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Professional development activities need to be directed toward assisting instructors achieve

those goals. Our past practice of occasional workshops for teaching staff has clearly not

enhanced student opinion on the quality of first year instruction. Students want to see

effective teachers in first year classes and they also want to see instructors who have a

great deal of experience in the institution and discipline. The use of casual and junior staff

for first year instruction should be weighed against those desires.

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Introduction.

Many first-year courses in the Faculties of Arts and Science involve lecture presentations to

large groups of students. These presentations may be supplemented by a range of other

practices including laboratories and tutorials, usually with the assistance of Graduate

Teaching Assistants (TAs) and Laboratory/ Course Coordinators.

John Gardner has written extensively on the First Year Experience (FYE) of students in

universities (Gardner, J.N. (1986). The freshman year experience: College and University.

61: 261-274). He makes the central assumption of the “importance of faculty/student

interaction, both in and out of the classroom” and notes, “the primary goal of freshman

(sic) programming should be quality teaching and learning. Retention of students (our

italics) is a by-product of effective programming, not a primary goal”. To improve the FYE,

Gardner recommends the sponsoring of “ongoing professional development activities

designed to improve the quality of classroom teaching” and that institutions “take

deliberate, intentional steps both to evaluate and to improve the first-year college

experience”.

Gardner describes first year instruction as typically including the following characteristics:

• Lecturing as the predominant means of instruction.

• Large classes taught by the least experienced instructors.

• Infrequent testing and little personal feedback to students.

• Infrequent writing.

• Little connection of in-class learning to out-of-class learning experiences.

Chickring and Gamson (1987) have articulated “Seven Principles for Good Practice in

Undergraduate Education”. They provide an appropriate set of criteria for evaluating

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curriculum design across a range of subjects (see:

http://www.aahe.org/bulletin/sevenprinciples1987.htm). The list includes:

• Encouraging contact between students and faculty.

• Developing reciprocity and cooperation amongst students.

• Using active learning techniques.

• Providing prompt feedback.

• Respecting diverse talents.

Similar principles on what constitutes good teaching have been articulated at the University

of Alberta (GFC Policy Manual (111.1).

The objectives for this study were to:

1. Survey faculty and students in large introductory courses in Biological

Sciences (BIOL 107/108) and Psychology (PSYCO 104/105) for their opinions

on the quality of the learning experience in their respective courses.

2. Survey faculty and students for their views on how the quality of the FYE in

their courses can be enhanced in line with the “Seven Principles”.

3. Identify the professional development needs of faculty to support innovative

ways of delivering large enrolment introductory courses in line with the

“Seven Principles”.

4. Design an evaluation program to analyse the success of innovative delivery

practices that improve on those that Gardner characterizes as typical of first

year instruction.

5. Communicate the findings of the study to peers on- and off-campus.

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The study is seen as significant because it will allow Departments to identify options for

enhancing large enrolment first-year courses in a pedagogically sound manner and it will

allow the selection of suitable models to be used in seeking additional funding in the area.

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Methodology.

A survey instrument was designed to solicit information from faculty and students

(Appendix 3). Semi-structured focus groups were conducted with faculty instructing in and,

separately, with students enrolled in first year and upper year courses. Ethics approval was

granted through the joint Faculties of Arts and Science Ethics Review Committee (Appendix

1) and written informed consent was obtained from participants in the study (Appendix 2).

Quantitative data was analysed using the SPSS software package and qualitative data, in

the form of transcripts of focus group discussions, was entered into ATLAS-ti software to

allow the identification of themes in the responses.

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Results.

Data from the Survey Instrument.

Table 1 provides the frequency data from all 797 responses to the survey. For this initial

examination, responses were collapsed across course and year of study and five-point Likert

scale measures were collapsed into three-point scales.

Table 2 presents the frequency data separated for Biology and Psychology students and for

first year and senior year respondents. Again, on Lickert Scale responses, five point scales

have been collapsed to three points. The data was analyzed using a least squares analysis

of variance with course (Biology versus Psychology) and year of study (first year versus

senior year) as independent variables.

Almost half the students in all categories thought that teaching in large enrolment classes

was somewhat effective (43%), and half found it was not easy to get help in such classes

(51%). Given a choice, however, most students (71%) would prefer to take the same first

year course in a small (<50 students) than a large (>200 students) section.

When commenting on methods used in large enrolment classes, students thought that they

were effective for presenting facts and knowledge (68%), and concepts (57%), but

ineffective for teaching critical thinking (50%), accurately assessing students (58%), and

encouraging discussion (79%). Over half of all students thought that student knowledge

was somewhat or very effectively tested in large classes (58%).

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When asked what practices they thought would enhance student learning in large enrolment

classes, most (72%) thought that a course pack with lecture notes and illustrations would

help. While a majority of students (78%) thought a course web site with lecture notes and

illustrations would help, an interaction to this option was found between course and year of

study, with first year Biology students valuing this supplement slightly more highly than

other students (Fig 1).

A majority of students (75%) saw no value in online small group discussions but this

supplement was seen as slightly positive by more Psychology than Biology students,

particularly first year Psychology course students. Most students (74%) did not see a value

in small group project work. When asked about TA led, face-to-face tutorials, a little over

one-half of the students favoured them (57%) but the response was much more positive for

Biology course (64%) than Psychology course (51%) students. A great majority of all

students rejected the use of TA mediated online tutorials (82%) (Fig 1).

A minority of students (3.8%) suggested other practices that would assist their learning.

Amongst their suggestions were: a. increased Resource Room hours (Biology first year), b.

online threaded discussions, c. make classes useful for student’s interests, d. practice

exams with answers, e. teachers that speak English, f. help sessions led by graduate

students (Psychology first year), g. improved professor-student interaction and h. provide

more than multiple choice tests.

When asked what they thought were the functions of large enrolment courses, over two

thirds of students (70%) saw them as prerequisites to higher level courses, with more

Biology course students (75%) citing their courses as serving a prerequisite role than

Psychology course students (65%). Most students (73%) saw the courses as providing a

general subject overview but a majority (74%) did not see them as developing skills for use

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in future learning, although more first year students (28%) than senior year students (18%)

viewed their introductory courses as useful for skill development. While over one-half of

students (57%) did not see that large enrolment courses developed their understanding of

University standards (Fig 2), Biology course students were more likely (50%) than

Psychology course students (36%) to think so. Many students reported that the first year

class satisfied a Faculty or Departmental requirement (59%) and again, Biology students

were more likely (67%) than Psychology students (52%) to think so.

Other functions were seen by 9% of respondents. Amongst their suggestions were: a.

cheaper for the University, b. lack of space and instructors, c. provide a similar basis for all

students, d. generate revenue for the University (many responses in this vein), e. to allow

the profs to do more individual research, f. to frustrate students and turn them away from

learning and g. to thin out those who can’t hack it (many other similar responses).

Survey respondents had a range of opinions on what constituted effective practices to

reveal their learning. While two-thirds of students thought multiple-choice tests were

effective, first year students were more likely (72%) than senior year students (47%) to

think so. Short answer exams (10 or more responses written in 1 hour) were seen as an

effective assessment practice by half the respondents (49%), but they were more effective

for Biology (60%) and senior year (67%) students. Most students (77%) did not think that

short essay exams (4 or more responses written in 1 hour) were effective although more

senior year students (32%) were more likely than first year students (21%) to see them

positively and first year Psychology course students were less likely to be favourable toward

short essay exams. Long essay exams were not seen as effective by most students (93%)

(Fig 3).

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A majority of students (81%) did not think an independent research project with a final

paper was effective assessment practice but that was less true for senior year (75%) than

first year (83%) students while a group research project was seen as being even less

effective (90%) by all students. A majority saw assessment of tutorial or discussion work as

being ineffective (79%) (Fig 3) but that was truer for Psychology course (82%) than Biology

course (75%) respondents.

Only 3% of students had other suggestions for effective assessment. They included: a.

more small assignments through the year, b. combination of multiple choice, short answer

and problem solving (many other similar combinations suggested), c. more quizzes

throughout the term which can be returned to the student, helps point out what you know

and what you still need to learn and d. the appropriateness of the assessment method is

contingent on the kind of material taught, not on class size.

When asked about a range of skills that they could develop in large enrolment courses, half

the respondents thought that critical thinking was an important one (48%) with a small

interaction for Psychology and Senior Year students. Group work was not seen as important

(89%), especially by senior year students (Fig 4).

In the area of communication skills, written presentation skill development was not seen as

important by 86% of all respondents but it was less true for senior year students (81%)

than for first year students (88%) and there was a strong interaction between course and

year of study. Oral presentation skill development was even less valued than writing skills

(94%) by all students (Fig 4).

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A majority of all students did not value the development of information technology skills

(73%) but a majority did value the development of self-reliance skills (80%) (Fig 4) and

that was truer for Biology (85%) than Psychology (75%) students.

The development of other skills was suggested by 4% of respondents. They included: a.

staying awake, b. memorization, c. motivation, d. study skills and e. time management

Respondents were evenly divided over how much time they devoted to work in large

enrolment classes with a third suggesting they worked more, the same as, or less than they

did in small enrolment ones (Fig 5).

When asked where students went to get help in large enrolment courses, a minority (37%)

said they went to the instructor of the course (Fig 7). Biology course students were less

likely (29%) to consult the instructor than Psychology course students (45%), and first year

students (34%) were less likely than senior year students (50%) to do the same. A smaller

minority of all respondents sought help from their teaching assistant (28%) while

Psychology course students were much less likely (16%) than Biology course students

(42%) to consult their TA, and the same was true for first year students (25%) compared

with senior year students (36%).

While 55% of all students would seek help from their peers, Biology course students (64%)

were more likely to do so than Psychology course students (48%).

Only 10% of respondents reported other sources of help. They included: a. Resource Room

(Biology First Year), b. friends, c. text, Internet and extra course references and d. self-

reliance.

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Overall, 65% of respondents were females and 35% were male (Fig 8) and 55% were in the

first year of their program (Fig 6).

Students were invited to respond to the question: “If you were designing the ideal

introductory course for your learning needs, what would it look like?” Of the 797

respondents, 735 offered suggestions. The most common theme was a reduction in class

size with clusters of opinion around class sizes of 100, 50 or less than 50. A factor in

deciding on class size was the ability of the instructor to know the names of the people in

the class. Some respondents did not mind large classes but they wanted considerable

support from course packs and web sites while others suggested a main lecture with small

group seminars.

There was a common demand for effective instructors with good English language skills

(profs and TAs). Frequent assessment by multiple methods (multiple choice, short answer

and essay questions) was often required. Small group work of various sorts was a frequent

factor.

A final question invited students to make any other comments about large enrolment

classes. Again, 735 of 797 respondents offered suggestions. Sample comments are:

“If 30 students is unacceptable between Kindergarden and Grade 12, why is 400+ students

acceptable beyond that?”

“I hate bell curves.”

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“In large classes I feel like an unimportant number. In high school I graduated second in my

class and worked extremely hard. People cared how I performed. Now no one even knows

my name or wants ME to succeed.”

“Poor assessment. The teaching is OK as long as TAs are knowledgeable and available.

However, examination procedures are all multiple choice because of large enrolment and

therefore do not fairly assess nor accurately assess knowledge/capabilities.”

“PowerPoint is effective, but only as a supplemental tool. Only reading a presentation that is

available online makes coming to class useless as no information is gained that can’t be

done at home or in separate seminars.”

“They suck.”

Student Comments from Focus Groups.

Three focus groups were conducted, two with students from large enrolment first year

courses (Biology and Psychology) the third was with more senior students from an large

enrolment upper division course (Biology 380). The upper division students were asked to

respond to questions in the context of first year courses to reflect their thinking as they look

back on their own first year experiences.

All groups were first asked to give their thoughts on large enrolment first year classes. The

Bio 380 students quickly made comments like: “I think they were intimidating,” “Yes, they

were very overwhelming,” “Coming directly from my school, especially,” and “Very

impersonal, you just felt very lost and you're just a number. You're student #457 and you

sat on the stairs.” The Bio 107 students started to discuss the nature of the learning

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activities in the classroom with an emphasis on interaction with the material under

consideration as in: “interactive is good,” another said “when the professor actually involves

the student, I find it makes it a little bit better.”

It was only when the Bio 380 students were asked about the problems they experienced

that they stated to discuss active involvement with the material they were learning. “Just

the total lack of discussion, no one asked any questions because they were afraid to

interrupt everyone else.” While those students wanted to interact with their peers in class

they found it easier to do so in lab sections: “The ones that had lab components, that was

helpful for meeting people, but when it's such a huge lecture. A good part of learning is

conversing with other people and bouncing ideas back and forth and there wasn't really the

opportunity to do that.”

Students did not speak positively about didactic classroom presentations. A Bio 107 student

said: “Some others, I've found that it's more or less they're just simply giving out a big

mass of information and not really involving the class.” A psychology student said “I’ve been

in three large classes, you learn things but not how to apply them.”

Participants were asked ‘What were the characteristics of a good professor in large

introductory classes? What do they do’? A typical comment was: “Whether they really want

to be there and actually be teaching.” While another said: “All the professors just don't

seem interested and it's kind of like well, if you're not interested in it, it's hard for me to

stay interested in it, too (Bio 107).” “I guess the profs that stand out in my mind are the

ones who had a really good personality when they were teaching and made you feel like you

could approach them (Bio 380).” This was also reflected in a Psychology student’s comment

that: “The personality of the professor has a lot to do with having a good large class.”

Another said: “It's personality, it helps (Bio 380).” A fourth: “When they have enthusiasm

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and they engage the audience, the students (Bio 380).” A Bio 107 student added: “A

professor who's very interested in the area he's teaching, will interest me, delivering very

enthusiastically helps the student a lot, just gets the student wanting to learn more about it,

as opposed to just doing a lecture and go.” Psychology students added: “Someone who can

get your attention, and make you understand the material,” “Someone who is open and

approachable,” and “Someone who relates the material to real life experiences.”

A lack of interest by instructors was attributed, by one student, to their greater interest in

their research: “I haven't specifically had a professor, you know, directly say, ‘I'm more

interested in my research.’ But, I do have friends that have had that situation (Bio 107).”

Other Bio 107 students held a widespread perception that faculty gave more attention to

research activity than teaching. “I know last term when they were trying to get their grants

and everything, they said, ‘Well look, I'm really grumpy right now. I don't have time. I'm

busy. I need money.’ You kind of got the feeling: okay, well, I'm not really important. I just

have to pass and that's all that matters."

With the students’ positive suggestions about the importance of being actively involved with

the material being covered in class, they were asked about the use of group work to

promote learning in large enrolment courses. “It depends on what the aim of the course is,

though too, because with biology courses, they're not really designed to be interactive (Bio

107).” Another said: “I haven't experienced it, but I think it would help, at least, that group

at that time, and it would be much more likely, I think, to bring a response. Then, there's

only four other people to respond, not 500 (Bio 380).” Overall, all focus groups supported

small group classroom discussions. A Psychology student added that in large classes: “It

seems more impersonal, and it’s harder to talk to other students,” emphasizing how class

discussions could connect students. Another noted: “It would be better having group work.”

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Active learning was not always seen as related to class size: “.. little more interactive when

they're smaller, but not always. It really depends on the teacher and how they, what their

teaching style is. Some of them don't want questions (Bio 107).”

When asked about the possibility of similar discussions being held online, one student

replied: “To go from a high school where we had one internet computer, to being expected

to download notes to bring to class. It was very overwhelming and I'm still bitter about it.

So, the idea of an online discussion group, I don't think I would have participated in first

year, just because of the background I came from (Bio 380),” a second said: “Now, I'm in,

I've had several courses with online WebCT discussions and they've been helpful, but they

were Arts classes (Bio 380).” A Bio 107 participant thought online discussion might be more

appropriate: “.. if half of the lab component that we have, half of that became discussion on

the internet.” A psychology student spoke of how: “It felt like I got a better understanding

from using technology than a regular lecture.” A second said: “The computer component

augmented the class, because you could go get input from classmates if you had a

question.”

Problems with online small group discussion centered on the problem of writing technical

terms: “I dread the thought of trying to type in the names of some of those enzymes (Bio

380)” and the poor ability to use visuals: “You can't say, ‘Well, what about this piece? How

come there's an arrow going this way.’ That sort of visual presentation of information is so

important in the sciences (Bio 380).”

The student groups started to discuss items relating to the assessment of their work without

being prompted. Group members did not like assessment by multiple choice exams.

“Definitely not multiple choice, for me (Bio 107)." While a Bio 380 student thought: “I don't

think multiple choice is a good way to do it, because it felt like they asked some questions

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that everyone should know, which was fine, and then the rest of them were just silly little

things that they mentioned once and never said you needed to know and, of course, being

first year, never would of thought I needed to know that.”

A Bio 107 response aligned assessment to learning activities: “Yes, it's all up to the

instructor and how they taught it because, as I said, if they're spitting it up out of the

textbook themselves and that's how they're teaching it, it's not fair to ask for a short

answer exam because that's not how they've been teaching it. They haven't been asking

you to think, they've been asking you to just remember what these facts are. If you have a

professor who wants to encourage, is asking questions and making it more of an interactive

environment, then I think a short answer is probably a better way to go. Then you can

show you're thinking about this and maybe …”

The Bio 380 students were positive about open book exams. Their best option for

assessment seemed to be linked to more extended answer responses: “I think having the

short answer questions and some long answer questions, it still requires you to study, but

it's still an opportunity to tie things together. Even in those questions, a professor could

give you the information you need to guarantee that he's testing you on your ideas and

your thinking, not your regurgitation.” This was also reflected in comments from the Bio 107

group: “Certainly, if the professor gets me to think about the course, about what we're

learning, I'm more interested and motivated to learn even more about the subject as well.”

Bio 380 students discussed the assessment of group work and one student said: “I've never

had a positive experience, even through high school, with group work.” And added “I think

group work is a very fair way of assessing it, but to have my mark depend on someone

else's attitude and work ethic, I'm not comfortable with that at all.”

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The Bio 107 students entered into a discussion of the assessment of lab work. “You can

study all your notes in your lab manual, but it wasn't really on what was in the lab manual,

it was on what you were supposed to have learned.”

Many of these comments appear rooted in an uncertainty about what the students are

expected to learn and reinforces the importance of clearly stated learning objectives and the

alignment of the student learning experiences with the assessment practices. “It's nice to

know what the expectations are (Bio 107).”

Groups were asked to imagine a situation where they could tell the University President,

Rod Fraser, what they would like first year instruction to look like. A rapid response from a

Bio 107 student was: “Hire teachers.” A Psychology course student said “Make classes

smaller.” One Bio 380 student wanted to reduce class size but where that was not possible:

“… use profs who have very good teaching evaluations,” another added: “I think if the

university invests in professors who enjoy teaching and have a really good teaching record,

that, right there, is going to make a big difference in those big classes, especially if you can

combine it with other changes to facilitate student learning. A professor who is enthusiastic

about what he's doing is so much more effective than one who doesn't really want to be

there.” Again, a Bio 107 student saw problems in the teaching/research dilemma: “One

thing I've really always wondered, is a lot of the problems with some of the larger classes is

that you get a professor that's interested in research and is not really interested in teaching

the class.”

Bio 380 participants were concerned about good first year instruction because it formed the

foundation for future study: “I think just putting out, having a better communication to first

year students about what to expect and how you have to study your courses in order to get

the most out of them. Not only to do well on the exams, but to develop those good study

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habits and be able to retain some of that information, because they will expect you to know

it in second year. That kind of studying. I find I didn't really understand what the

expectations were until much later in my university career.” The importance of aligned

teaching is again apparent in such a comment.

In response to an earlier question on how the large classes could be improved, Bio 380

participants started discussing working in small groups and how such work could be

assessed. “Yes, even if it's just a small percentage of our final grade, it just forces you to do

that review and keep up on your lectures. In first year, when so many of our courses are

kind of overviews from high school, I found myself tending to go, ‘Well, this is familiar to

me. I don't need to study it.’ And then, get to study for a midterm or something and realize

it had gone more in depth or I'd forgotten more than I thought. That really catches you and

it's not a good study habit to be developing at all, because it really catches you when

there's so much more volume of material in third and fourth year. You can't survive that

way. You have to get into the habit of reviewing regularly. First year courses, right now,

don't really require you to do that. You can get by without it. Painfully so, but …”

Groups originated long discussions on the evaluation of teaching. While they did not make

explicit reference to the formative and summative evaluation of teaching, they made implicit

reference to it. They was strong support in the groups for the expansion of formative

teaching evaluation.

A Bio 380 student said: “If we did some kind of evaluation part way through, that might be

helpful. Doing it at the end, there's nothing left that the professor can change.” When

prompted if that might include a second follow up or summative evaluation the reply was:

“Yes, and then a second evaluation to see how well the changes worked.” When asked if

they would like to see the USRI summative instrument applied to formative evaluation the

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idea was not seen positively, in part because: “Even now, there are some questions I look

at and go, ‘I still don't really know what this means.’” That student went on to add: “I really

like it when I can see a professor has requested a specific question be added (to the USRI).

I usually find those two questions that he puts at the bottom are the most useful and

informative.”

The Bio 107 group had been invited to participate in an online formative evaluation using a

modified DET instrument and students commented on the role of formative (like the DET)

versus summative evaluation (like the USRI). “I don't think the evaluations do anything

because they have them at the end of the term. Mid-semester one was a good idea, but I

haven't seen any changes in the classes where I did a mid-semester one and from then ‘til

now I haven't seen a change in how they teach, so I don't even know if they're reading

them.”

Bio 107 students seemed cynical about summative evaluations even after one full semester

at the institution: “It all seems to come back down to the professor and his real interest in

whether he wants to teach the class or not. Right now, we do the evaluations because it's

mandatory. Some of the professors, like, ‘Well, I'm just doing this because it's mandatory

and it doesn't really...’ But, if the professor really wants to teach the class, they would do

some of those mini or quick evaluations. My English professor tried to do something like

that. He asks, every month or so, in the last five minutes or so, he'd say, ‘How are you

finding the class? What do you think of the course?’ simple little things like that.

Unfortunately, I haven't really noticed much of a change.”

Some Bio 380 opinion was summed up by: “Open comments are probably what would help

the most, but I have a feeling that less than 10% of the class ever writes anything on the

back of their (USRI) sheets.”

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Discussion here was well summed up by one Bio 107 student: “If I was the President of the

University, the first two things I would do is either cut the classes in half, so make them 100

instead of 200, or I would give, actually, I would probably do both, or the second one is, I

would assign the most experienced professors for the first years, as opposed to someone

who's not experienced, someone who can really manage a big class, someone who is very

focused on what he's teaching and very enthusiastic. A lot of the first year, when you go to

a class, that first year has a big impact, I believe, on a student's life, on exactly what he

chooses. If the student likes, for instance, Biology, and he gets a professor who's very

uninterested in Biology and just comes there to deliver the material because he has to be

there, you don't get a lot of positive things happening in that student's life. That's what I

would do, is to give the most experienced professors the first year.”

Despite reservations about the preference of instructors for research over teaching,

research was spoken of in a positive way when it was brought into the classroom and was

seen as relevant to the lives of the students: “My Biology prof from last term did that. He

was really centered on his research but he tries to, ‘Oh, this is what I'm researching now

and this is kind of how what you're learning now will tie into it. Oh, last week in the news,

this is what's happening,’ and he'd bring in newspaper articles and photocopy them and

pass them around. It was really interesting - instead of reading from the textbook.” The

importance of the application of the course content was also shown by: “Give them some

application for what it is they're learning. I might see something on the news and be

interested and want to learn more but then I go to class and if I can't see how it relates, I

won't go.” (Bio 107 students)

Other issues identified included some around classroom management, which was seen as an

essential instructor skill. “I think a lot of it has to do with how the professor manages their

24

big class. When a class gets bigger, I think, the professor has more responsibility of

keeping, controlling the class, as opposed to letting it just, you know, at the back you have

a group that talks and sort of segments the entire class.” Instructors were expected to: “try

and involve them, actually get them involved in the class. If they don't seem to be

interested in the class, a lot of students are like, ‘I just want to be here, get the notes and

that's it.’ But, if you actually make the student interested and involved in the class, it would

certainly be a better. I think the best, actually, plan for that.” Another said: “I think it's also

how well the professor can read what the students are thinking, just from watching them,

because if you can't change your teaching style and adapt it to what your classroom is like,

it doesn't matter if you're a really good teacher for one group, the next class might not

learn from it. Teachers need to be able to adapt to things and a lot of them can't, just

because they're not hired because they're good teachers, they're hired because they do

research (Bio 107).”

On being asked to distinguish between large and small classes, Bio 380 students said: “I

guess, if you have really bad teaching, it's hard either way.” Again, class size was linked to

opportunities to engage in active learning: “So, I would say having the large lecture

component isn't always bad, but if it isn't accompanied by the opportunity to participate in

other things...(Bio 380)” Similar comments were made by Bio 107 students. One criterion

for a small class was “If the teacher knows everyone's names, it's a small class.” Another, in

relating perceived class size to active learning, said: “If you have a large class and you're

trying to interact, that gives you a sense of a smaller class, because the professor is trying

to get everybody involved where he's teaching at that same time, get students to be more

interested in that topic he's talking about.” One Psychology student said: “Smaller class

sizes are better than large ones.” A second said that was because “.. if you had more people

the professor would be less approachable.” A Psychology student emphasized that: “Smaller

groups make the class seem more hospitable.”

25

Bio 107 students discussed the availability of course notes on web sites or as course packs.

This was seen positively as long as the notes were available well before a class. Notes were

seen negatively if they were so extensive it obviated the need to attend class. A Bio 380

student remarked: “I think if you're going to take the time and effort to put it on the web,

you can bind it and sell it as a course pack.” Another Bio 380 student’s comments centred

on the ability of students to take good notes: “I've found it really hard to find a balance

between keeping up with what they're saying, copying down the information, and plus, just

the cost of printing off, you know, pages and pages of PowerPoint.” Another individual was

concerned that notes be provided only when people had learned the skill of note taking: “I

think that's something that should be used after you already know how to take notes. I

would say first year courses, not so much, because you're still learning to take notes.”

Course management was an issue for Bio 107 students, particularly the linkage between

lectures and labs. Students wanted: “A better correlation, certainly, for this science course,

between the lab and the lecture, because….”, “I don't know if there's a coordination

between the professor and the TA?” and “It helps the professors know what's going on in

the labs, too, so they can maybe say, ‘We learned this in the lecture, and when you do your

lab, you'll see this.’” Labs were seen as important: “I learn more from the labs than I do

from the lectures because I like being able to see things and touch them.”

Instructor Comments from their Focus Group.

The instructors were mostly from Psychology and one was the instructor of a first year

Biology course.

Instructors described large enrolment classes as being: “.. the death of the University

26

system,” because: “They are increasingly problematic,” with their problems: “.. slopping

over from introductory classes to senior classes.” A view was expressed that: “Large classes

are basically used for information transfer.” It was observed that: “If there were more face-

to-face experiences it would help.”

Instructors identified problems caused by the lack of student skill development: “By the

time they get to forth year, they can’t write, don’t have critical thinking skills, and can’t

reference.”

Assessment of student work was identified as an area where practice was not ideal: “Exams

used to be completely written”. One instructor reported: “I have had to gradually reduce

things to half multiple choice,” and another had: “.. put papers in second year courses, but

there are problems with having multiple markers.”

A classroom management issue was that: “Attendance is another issue in large classes;

some students don’t show up.” It was not clear if that would be improved by the suggestion

that: “Tutorials in large classes would be a good idea.” Other factors may contribute to

declining attendance: “Having the notes on the web also seems to reduce attendance.”

“In Bio Sci, most classes have labs, so they get more individual attention that way.” That

does give the students an opportunity to physically be in smaller groups.

Other aspects of classroom management were: “There is a lot of noise etc. in large classes.”

One instructor said: “I frequently ask questions in class, and I try to get the students

involved.”

Information technology was not always a solution to problems: “I find e-mail really

27

annoying in large classes. Most of the e-mail is garbage, and some of it is disrespectful.” “If

there was a record of whom it came from, then it might be more respectful.” “This year, I

am going to specify that they have to use their GPU account.”

There were negative ideas about the role of IT in enhancing instructor/student contact: ”My

opinion on most of the e-mails is that students are too lazy to look up the information.” That

was reflected in a concern over the evaluation of teaching: “If we don’t answer the e-mails,

they can say that on our end-of-year evaluations.”

Instructors recognized a major issue with students: “One problem that gets magnified in

large classes is that students don’t know what to expect, and what they are doing here.”

And that “You have to tell them what is expected of them.” “It is such a big transition from

high school to University, and they don’t realize it until after the first test.”

28

Discussion. Students were remarkably similar in their responses, regardless of their course or year of

study. Although, overall, students felt teaching in large classes is not very effective, they

did report that large introductory classes are effective for presenting facts and knowledge

and some concepts as an overview for a subject area and a prerequisite for upper level

courses. Instructors validated this function of introductory courses in their focus group

discussions.

Students felt that lecture notes presented in course packs or on the Web would enhance

their learning in introductory courses. Lecture notes often help in clarifying facts and

concepts and therefore students may desire these supplements to aid in their acquisition of

facts and concepts from large introductory courses.

Students felt that multiple choice exams were most effective in revealing their learning from

these large introductory courses, although senior year students, reflecting on their first year

experience, were less likely to believe that multiple choice exams were effective. A number

of Biology class students also believed that short answer exams were effective in testing

their learning in Bio 107. These exam formats, multiple choice and short answer, are

commonly used to assess factual knowledge and thus the students have validated common

goals and practices in large introductory classes (cf. Gardner, 1986). On the other hand,

students were uniform in reporting that their learning was not being well assessed in their

large introductory classes.

Students felt additional skills that need to be developed in large introductory classes are

critical thinking and self-reliance skills.

29

One method for enhancing the first year experience endorsed by the university is small

group tutorials led by graduate teaching assistants. Although less than two-thirds of

students surveyed indicated that small group tutorials would enhance their learning in large

introductory classes, students in Biology classes were more favourably disposed toward this

method than were students in Psychology courses. Biology labs are led by graduate

teaching assistants so these students may be responding more favourably based on prior

experience with this type of course supplement. Students in Biology courses are also more

familiar with their graduate teaching assistant and are more likely to go to him or her than

are students in Psychology courses.

Students also seemed ready to adopt small group work within a large classroom setting.

There is a considerable body of evidence that learning is enhanced when lecture

presentations are interspersed with classroom assessment or small group discussion

activities (Bligh, 2000; Angelo & Cross, 1993).

30

Conclusions.

If the major goal of introductory courses is to disseminate facts and knowledge, then our

first year courses—in Biology and Psychology—are appropriately taught and assessed. If,

however, we are to adopt aspects of the “Seven Principles of Good Practice in

Undergraduate Education,” we need to drastically rethink our class sizes, instructional style,

delivery and supports, and assessment methods.

Research examining different approaches to enhancing the first year experience is badly

needed. Even though there were many similarities, Biology and Psychology course

experiences and needs differed, indicating that there is no one ideal first year experience.

Different solutions to enhancing the first year experience need to be developed based on

student and course need.

First year classes would be improved by making the material being covered more explicitly

relevant to the lives of the learners. Classroom activities that allowed the students to

become more actively engaged with the material under consideration would also enhance

their learning. Students also seem legitimately concerned that they be given appropriate

learning objectives and they want to see some linkage between the learning activities they

engage in and the assessment practices used to verify that learning.

Professional development activities need to be directed toward assisting instructors achieve

those goals. Our past practice of occasional workshops for teaching staff has clearly not

enhanced student opinion on the quality of first year instruction. Students want to see

effective teachers in first year classes and they also want to see instructors who have a

great deal of experience in the institution and discipline. The use of casual and junior staff

for first year instruction should be weighed against those desires.

31

References.

Angelo, T.A. & Cross, K.P. 1993. Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for

College Teachers. Second Edition. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

Bligh, D.A. 2000. What’s the Use of Lectures? Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

Chickring, A.W. and Gamson, Z.F. 1987. Seven Principles for Good Practice in

Undergraduate Education. AAHE Bulletin, March (see also:

http://www.aahe.org/bulletin/sevenprinciples1987.htm (accessed 20020910)

Gardner, J.N. 1986. The freshman year experience. College and University, 61:261-274.

GFC Policy Manual. University of Alberta. http://www.ualberta.ca/~unisecr/gfcPM.htm

(accessed 20020910)

32

Table 1.

Valid percent responses to survey items for all particpants. Total Number of Responses = 797 (For responses on a five point scale, the two upper and two lower categories have been collapsed for a three point scale.)

Valid Percent Totals

Qu 1. How effective do you think teaching is in large enrolment classes (>200)? Not Somewhat Very

24.4 42.7 32.9 Qu 2. How easy do you think it is to get assistance in large enrolment classes (>200)? Not Somewhat Very

51.3 29.9 18.8 Qu 3. If you had a choice of taking a large section (>200) or a small section (<50 students) for the same course (assuming a comparable time and instructor), which would you likely take? Small Neutral Large

71.2 15.8 13.1 Qu 4. In your opinion, how effective are the methods used in large enrollment classes for the following:. Qu 4a. Presenting facts and knowledge. Not Somewhat Very

5.2 27.3 67.6 Qu 4b. Presenting concepts. Not Somewhat Very

10 32.7 57.3 Qu 4c. Teaching critical thinking. Not Somewhat Very

50.4 32 17.6 Qu 4d. Testing student knowledge. Not Somewhat Very

41.9 29.8 28.3 Qu 4e. Accurately assessing students. Not Somewhat Very

57.7 27.8 14.5

33

Table 1 (Continued).

Qu 4f. Encouraging discussion. Not Somewhat Very

78.8 13.3 8 Qu 5. Which of the following would enhance your learning in large enrolment introductory courses? Qu 5a. Course pack with lecture notes and illustrations.

Yes No 72.1 27.9

Qu 5b. Course web site with lecture notes and illustrations.

Yes No 77.9 22.1

Qu 5c. Online small group discussion.

Yes No 24.6 75.4

Qu 5d. Small group project work based on lab or lecture topics.

Yes No 25.6 74.4

Qu 5e. Face-to-face small group tutorials led by graduate teaching assistants.

Yes No 56.5 43.5

Qu 5f. Online small group tutorials moderated by graduate teaching assistants.

Yes No 18.4 81.6

Qu 5g. Other (please give details).

Yes No 3.8 96.2

Qu 6. What do you see as the function(s) of large enrolment courses? Qu 6a. To serve as a prerequisite for higher level courses.

Yes No 69.5 30.5

Qu 6b. To provide a general overview of a subject.

Yes No 73.1 26.9

34


Qu 6c. To develop skills that will assist your future learning. Yes No 25.6 74.4

Qu 6d. To develop your understanding of the standards expected for University level work and study.

Yes No 42.7 57.3

Qu 6e. To satisfy a Faculty or Departmental requirement.

Yes No 58.7 41.3

Qu 6e. Other (please give details).

Yes No 8.9 91.1

Qu 7. Which of the following assessment practices do you think are best for revealing what you have learned in a large enrolment course? Qu 7a. Multiple choice exams.

Yes No 66.2 33.8

Qu 7b. Short essay exams (4 or more responses written in 1 hour).

Yes No 23.3 76.7

Qu 7c. Long essay exams (1 or 2 responses written in 1 hour).

Yes No 6.9 93.1

Qu 7d. Short answer exams (10 or more responses written in 1 hour).

Yes No 48.8 51.2

Qu 7e. Independent research project with a final paper.

Yes No 18.7 81.3

Qu 7f. Group research project with a final paper.

Yes No 9.7 90.3

35


Qu 7g. Tutorial or discussion group work. Yes No 21.3 78.7

Qu 7h. Other (please give details).

Yes No 2.5 97.5

Qu 8. Which of the following skills are important for you to develop in large enrolment courses? Qu 8a. Critical thinking.

Yes No 48.2 51.8

Qu 8b. Group work.

Yes No 11.3 88.7

Qu 8c. Written presentation.

Yes No 13.7 86.3

Qu 8d. Oral presentation.

Yes No 6.5 93.5

Qu 8e. Information technology.

Yes No 26.9 73.1

Qu 8f. Self reliance.

Yes No 79.9 20.1

Qu 8g. Other (please give details).

Yes No 3.5 96.5

Qu 10. In terms of workload, how much total time (including classes) would you estimate you spend working in larger enrolment courses compared to smaller enrolment courses?

Less Same More 31.8 37.8 30.4

36


Qu 11. What year of your program are you in currently? Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 GS 55.2 16.8 13 14.2 0.9 Qu 12. Where do you typically go for help related to the course? Qu 12a. The instructor.

Yes No 37.3 62.7

Qu 12b. TA(s).

Yes No 27.7 72.3

Qu 12c. Other students.

Yes No 55 45

Qu 12d. Others (please specify).

Yes No 10.2 89.8

Qu 13. What is your gender?

Female Male 65.3 34.7

Table 2.

Valid percent responses to survey items for participants by Department and Year. Total Number of Responses = 797 (For responses on a five point scale, the two upper and two lower categories have been collapsed for a three point scale.)

Bio

log

y %

(N

= 3

64

)

Psy

ch %

(N

= 4

33

)

1' Y

ear

% (

N =

62

4)

>1

' Y

ear

% (

N =

17

3)

AN

OV

A F

acu

lty

AN

OV

A Y

ear

AN

OV

A I

nte

ract

ion

Qu. Signif. = * 5% ** 1% *** .1% 1 How effective do you think teaching is in large enrolment classes (>200)? Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very 25.5 45.1 29.4 23.3 40.4 35.6 23.4 41.3 34.8 27.7 46.8 25.4 NS NS NS 2 How easy do you think it is to get assistance in large enrolment classes (>200)? Very Somewhat Not Very Somewhat Not Very Somewhat Not Very Somewhat Not 52.2 31.9 15.9 50.1 27.9 21 47.8 31.6 20 63 23.1 13.9 NS NS NS 3 If you had a choice of taking a large section (>200) or a small section (<50 students) for the same course (assuming a comparable time and instructor), which would you likely take? Small Neutral Large Small Neutral Large Small Neutral Large Small Neutral Large 74.7 14 10.2 66.5 16.9 15.2 68.6 15.9 14.1 76.3 14.5 8.7 NS NS NS 4 In your opinion, how effective are the methods used in large enrollment classes for the following:. 4a. Presenting facts and knowledge. Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very 3.8 30.8 65.4 6.2 24 68.6 5.3 27.6 66.3 4.6 25.4 69.9 NS NS NS 4b. Presenting concepts. Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very 8.8 36.8 54.1 6.2 24 68.6 9.3 30.8 59 12.1 38.7 49.1 NS NS NS 4c. Teaching critical thinking. Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very 53.8 33 13.2 46.9 30.7 21 45.8 33.2 20 65.3 26.6 8.1 NS NS NS

38


4d. Testing student knowledge. Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very 45.6 31.6 22.8 38.3 27.9 32.6 42.8 28.2 28.2 37.6 34.7 27.7 NS NS NS 4e. Accurately assessing students. Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very 62.9 24.2 12.9 52.7 30.5 15.7 56.9 27.7 14.6 59 27.2 13.9 NS NS NS 4f. Encouraging discussion. Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very Not Somewhat Very 79.9 13.5 6.6 76.9 12.9 9 74.5 14.9 9.8 91.9 6.9 1.2 NS NS NS 5 Which of the following would enhance your learning in large enrolment introductory courses? 5a. Course pack with lecture notes and illustrations. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 81.9 18.1 64 36 73.1 26.9 68.8 31.2 NS NS NS 5b. Course web site with lecture notes and illustrations. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 79.7 20.3 76.4 23.6 79.2 20.8 73.4 26.6 NS NS .015 * 5c. Online small group discussion. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 23.4 76.6 25.6 74.4 26 74 19.7 80.3 .033 * NS .003 ** 5d. Small group project work based on lab or lecture topics. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 25.5 74.5 25.6 74.4 25.6 74.4 25.4 74.6 NS NS NS 5e. Face-to-face small group tutorials led by graduate teaching assistants. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 63.5 36.5 50.6 49.4 54.6 45.4 63 37 .001 *** NS NS 5f. Online small group tutorials moderated by graduate teaching assistants. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 20.6 79.4 16.6 83.4 19.1 80.9 16.2 83.8 NS NS NS

39


5g. Other (please give details). Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 3.6 96.4 3.9 96.1 3.2 96.8 5.8 94.2 NS NS NS 6 What do you see as the function(s) of large enrolment courses? 6a. To serve as a prerequisite for higher level courses. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 74.7 25.3 64.9 34.9 69.7 30.1 68.2 31.8 .001 *** NS NS 6b. To provide a general overview of a subject. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 72.3 27.2 73.9 26.1 72.1 27.9 76.9 23.1 NS NS NS 6c. To develop skills that will assist your future learning. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 27.7 72.3 23.8 76 27.7 72.1 17.9 82.1 NS .006 ** NS 6d. To develop your understanding of the standards expected for University level work and study. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 50.3 49.7 36.3 63.7 42.8 57.2 42.2 57.8 .001 *** NS NS 6e. To satisfy a Faculty or Departmental requirement. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 67 33 51.7 48.3 58.2 41.8 60.7 39.3 .000 *** NS NS 6f. Other (please give details). Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 7.4 92.6 10.2 89.8 7.7 92.3 13.3 86.7 NS NS NS 7 Which of the following assessment practices do you think are best for revealing what you have learned in a large enrolment course? 7a. Multiple choice exams. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 63.2 36.8 68.6 31.2 71.5 28.4 46.8 53.2 NS .000 *** NS 7b. Short essay exams (4 or more responses written in 1 hour). Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 26.1 73.9 21 79 21 79 31.8 68.2 NS .003 ** .002 **

40


7c. Long essay exams (1 or 2 responses written in 1 hour). Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 7.4 92.6 6.5 93.5 6.1 93.9 9.8 90.2 NS NS NS 7d. Short answer exams (10 or more responses written in 1 hour). Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 59.6 40.4 39.7 60.3 43.9 56.1 66.5 33.5 .000 *** .000 *** NS 7e. Independent research project with a final paper. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 19.8 80.2 17.8 82.2 17 83 24.9 75.1 NS .020 * NS 7f. Group research project with a final paper. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 10.4 89.6 9 91 9.3 90.7 11 89 NS NS NS 7g. Tutorial or discussion group work. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 25.5 74.5 17.8 82.2 21.5 78.5 20.8 79.2 .005 ** NS NS 7h. Other (please give details). Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 3.3 96.7 1.8 98.2 1.9 98.1 4.6 95.4 NS NS NS 8 Which of the following skills are important for you to develop in large enrolment courses? 8a. Critical thinking. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 49.5 50.5 47.1 52.9 48.2 51.8 48 52 NS NS .023 * 8b. Group work. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 12.6 87.4 10.2 89.8 12.8 87.2 5.8 94.2 NS .008 ** NS 8c. Written presentation. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 14 86 13.4 86.6 12.2 87.8 19.1 80.9 NS .012 * .005 **

41


8d. Oral presentation. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 6.6 93.4 6.5 93.5 6.4 93.6 6.9 93.1 NS NS NS 8e. Information technology. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 24.5 75.5 28.9 71.1 26.1 73.9 29.5 70.5 NS NS NS 8f. Self reliance. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 85.4 14.6 75.3 24.7 79.5 20.5 81.5 18.5 .000 *** NS NS 8g. Other (please give details). Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 3.3 96.7 3.7 95.8 3 96.6 5.2 94.8 NS NS NS 10 In terms of workload, how much total time (including classes) would you estimate you spend working in larger enrolment courses compared to smaller enrolment courses? Less Same More Less Same More Less Same More Less Same More 28.3 35.2 34.3 32.3 37.2 24.7 27.7 35.6 31.9 40.5 38.7 19.1 NS NS NS 11 What year of your program are you in currently? Bio Psych Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 GS Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 GS 59.1 11.8 19 7.7 0.8 48.5 19.9 7.2 18.7 0.9 1' Yr Classes Non 1' Yr Classes Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 GS Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 GS 68.1 19.4 5.1 3.2 0.3 4.6 39.3 51.4 2.9 12 Where do you typically go for help related to the course? 12a. The instructor. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 28.6 71.4 44.6 55.4 33.8 66.2 49.7 50.3 .000 *** .000 *** NS

42


12b. TA(s). Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 41.8 58.2 15.9 84.1 25.3 74.7 36.4 63.6 .000 *** .044 * NS 12c. Other students. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 63.7 36.3 47.6 52.4 54.8 45.2 55.5 44.5 .004 ** NS NS 12d. Others (please specify). Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 8.8 91.2 11.3 88.7 11.2 88.8 6.4 93.6 NS NS NS 13 What is your gender? Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male 65.1 33 61.2 33.9 60.7 35.6 71.1 26

43

Figure 1.

Course pack withlecture notes

Course web sitewith notes

Onlinediscussion group

Group projectwork

One-on-onetutorials

Small grouptutorials

Other0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Perc

ent

Response

Qu.5: Which component would enhance your learning in a large intro. class. (n=735)

Figure 2.

Prerequisite (n=734) Overview (n=735) Future skills(n=734)

Knowing expectedUniversity

standards (n=735)

Satisfies arequirement (n=735)

Other (n=735)0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Perc

ent

Response

Qu. 3: What do you see as the Functions of Large Classes

44

Figure 3.

Mul

tiple

cho

ice

exam

s(n

=734

)

Shor

t ess

ay e

xam

s (n

=735

)

Long

ess

ay e

xam

s (n

=735

)

Shor

t ans

wer

exa

ms

(n=7

35)

Inde

pend

ent r

esea

rch

proj

ect w

ith fi

nal p

aper

(n=7

35)

Gro

up re

sear

ch p

roje

ct w

ithfin

al p

aper

(n=7

35)

Tuto

rial o

r dis

cuss

ion

grou

pw

ork

(n=7

35)

Oth

er (n

=735

)0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Perc

ent

Response

Qu. 7: Which are the Best Practices forAssessing What you Have Learned

45

Figure 4.

Critical thinking(n=735)

Group work(n=735)

Writtenpresentation

(n=735)

Oral presentation(n=735)

InformationTechnology

(n=735)

Self reliance(n=735)

Other (n=733)0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Perc

ent

Response

Qu.8: What are Important Skills to Develop in Large Classes

Figure 5.

1 Considerably less time 2 3 About the same time 4 5 Considerably more time0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Perc

ent

Response

Qu.10: How much time do you spend working on large compared to small classes. (n=704)

46

Figure 6.

��

��

��

Qu.11: What year are you in. (n=709)

4 Year 415%

1 Year 155.1%

2 Year 215.8%

5 Graduate1%

3 Year 313.0%

Figure 7.

The Instructor The TA Other Students Other0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Perc

ent

Response

Qu.12: Where do you go for help? (n=735)

47

Figure 8.

��

��

Qu.13: What is your Gender (n=708)

1 Female65.5%

2 Male34.5%

48

Appendices.

A1. Ethical Approval Application.

FACULTY OF SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA Grants, Fellowships and Contracts Ethics Statement

TITLE OF APPLICATION: Quality Improvement in First Year Large Enrollment Courses.

NAME OF APPLICANT: John Hoddinott

FACULTY AFFILIATION: Professor, Biological Sciences.

NAME & AFFILIATION OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IF DIFFERENT THAN APPLICANT:

INSTRUCTIONS: Please complete each section. Write "nil" or "n/a" (not applicable) rather than leaving a blank space. You may respond by citing page and paragraph numbers in the proposal if the material is clearly distinguishable and constitutes a full answer. Use additional sheets as necessary. 1. Describe in detail the source of participants/data for the proposed research and significant participant

characteristics (e.g., age, institutionalization, physical/mental health, etc.). Describe the manner in which participation will be solicited (attach copies of printed advertisements, transcripts or oral solicitations, etc.) and the nature of any inducements/promises offered for participation.

Students from large introductory courses in the Faculties of Arts and Science (specifically Biology 107/108 and Psychology 104/105) will be invited to participate in the study. WebCT e-mail and classroom announcements will be used to invite participation. No inducements will be offered for participation but refreshments will be provided during focus group discussions. Letters will be sent to teaching assistants, course coordinators and instructors of the courses inviting their participation. Again, no inducements will be offered. 2. How will you deal with the issues of informed consent and continuing voluntariness of participation in the

proposed research? Prior to students completing the survey instrument or participating in a focus group, they will be asked to sign consent forms to indicate their willingness to be a part of the study. No penalty is attached to non-participation. Students, teaching assistants, course coordinators and instructors will also be asked to sign consent forms to indicate their willingness to be a part of the study. Participants will be instructed that they are free to opt in or out of the study at any point. 3. If concealment and/or deception is to be employed, provide explicit justification. Indicate how and when

participants will be informed of the concealment and/or deception. Concealment and/or deception will be actively avoided in this study. 4. Describe the nature of any risks to the physical or psychological well-being or integrity of participants that

might arise from your procedures, and discuss your justifications, safeguards, and resolutions for these risks where appropriate.

There is no physical or psychological risk associated with the study. The integrity of the study will be maintained by having the students complete survey instruments anonymously and participate in focus groups without identifying themselves. Tapes of focus group discussions will be erased following their transcription and survey instruments will be shredded after aggregate data is compiled. 5. Describe how you will grant anonymity to participants and how responses will be kept confidential. If names

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or other identifying information are coded with data, describe how access to data is limited and safeguarded. Indicate who will have access. If appropriate, describe how consent is obtained from participants for exceptions to anonymity/confidentiality. If data are to be taken from existing sources, discuss the implications of pre-existing (implicit or explicit) guarantees of confidentiality/anonymity.

Survey instruments will be completed anonymously and the data generated from them will be treated in aggregate fashion for further analysis. Any comments added by students on the survey instrument will be transcribed verbatim without attribution. The survey instruments will be shredded after aggregate data is collected and the comments are transcribed. Taped conversations from student and staff focus groups will be transcribed without attribution of the comments. Tapes will be erased after transcription. The consent forms signed by focus group participants will stress that participants should regard the substance of the discussions as confidential and further note that the investigators cannot guarantee such confidentiality. This information will also be given verbally prior to the start of the focus groups. 6. Indicate when participants will be debriefed, and describe the extent of debriefing. N/A 7. Describe any apparatus, element of the physical environment, substance or other materials that could cause

harm to a participant if a malfunction, misuse, accident, allergic reaction, or side-effect were to occur. If the participant comes into contact with a potentially hazardous apparatus or material, who will be responsible for checking for defects/malfunctions, and on what schedule will inspections be made? If participants taste, ingest, or have applied to them, or come into contact with some substance that could cause harm, please document your safeguards.

The setting for the administration of the survey instrument and the conduct of the focus groups will be as comfortable as the institution’s teaching space allows. 8. Describe qualifications of research personnel if special conditions exist within the research that could cause

physical or psychological harm or if participants require special attention because of physical or psychological characteristics, or if made advisable by other exigencies.

N/A 9. Please attach copies of any questionnaire, interview schedule, test, stimulus materials, and other such items

necessary for competent review of your application.

DATE: January 30, 2002 SIGNATURE: SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR: (If different from applicant)

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A2. Ethical Consent Letter.

PARTICIPANT INFORMED CONSENT FORM U of A Psychology, Biological Sciences & Extension

Investigators: Katy Campbell 492-3655 [email protected] John Hoddinott 492 4587 [email protected] Connie Varnhagen 492-3537 [email protected] Stanley Varnhagen 492-3641 [email protected] Purpose of the Study: The investigators are interested in gathering information on how students and instructors perceive the teaching and learning environment in introductory large enrollment courses. The results will inform the university community when it considers changes to those courses. Methodology: a. Formative Evaluation Survey Instrument: Students in large enrollment courses in the Faculties of Arts (Psychology) and Science (Biological Sciences & Psychology) will be invited to answer a series of questions relating to teaching and learning in first year courses. More senior students in those departments will also be asked to complete the same instrument while reflecting on their first year experience. Instructors of those courses will also be invited to complete an, appropriately worded, parallel instrument. b. Focus Groups: Participating students and faculty will be asked to attend focus groups for their respective constituencies. The purpose of the focus group will be to solicit further information on the opportunities for enhancing learning in first year large enrollment courses. Refreshments will be served at the focus groups. Confidentiality: Faculty members delivering a course will not be present during the administration of the survey instrument in their course. All information collected will be coded to protect the participants' anonymity. Prior to releasing aggregated data, any identifying indicators will be removed. Participation in the survey or focus group is totally voluntary. Focus groups will consist of either faculty or students. While the researchers cannot guarantee the confidentiality of comments made by the focus group participants, we strongly urge all participants to keep all comments confidential. In addition, audio recording devices will be used for information retrieval purposes only and any transcripts will not contain any identifying information. Data collected may also be used for research purposes and publications may result from this project. No comments or responses from individual participants will be attributed to any specific individual. No names will be used at any time in any publication. Time Commitment: The student survey instrument should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. The time required to complete a Focus Group would be approximately one hour. Any Questions? Please contact: Any of the four investigators listed at the head of this document. Withdrawal from the Study: You are free to withdraw from this research study at any time without any adverse consequences. There are no known risks or personal benefits from participating in this study. Participant Informed Consent: I acknowledge that the research procedures have been explained to me, and that any questions I have asked have been answered to my satisfaction. In addition, I know that I may contact the persons designated on this form if I have further questions either now or in the future. I have been assured that the personal records relating to this study will be kept anonymous. I understand that I may refuse to answer questions I am asked if I so choose. I understand that I am free to withdraw from the study at any time and I will not be asked to provide a reason. I consent to participate in the completion of the Formative Evaluation survey instrument and/or a focus group on the results from the administration of the survey instrument. (Date) ________________________

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(Name of Participant) ________________________ (Signature of Participant) ________________________ (Name of Investigator) ________________________ (Signature of Investigator) ________________________ I consent to be considered for participation in a focus group and I may be contacted through this e-mail address: ____________________________________________

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A3. Student Survey Instrument.

Large-Class Instruction Survey The information collected will be used to make improvements to large-classroom instruction in the future. Completion of this survey is voluntary and there will be no adverse consequences should you choose not to participate or complete portions of the survey. Do not write your name anywhere on this survey. The survey should only take a few minutes to complete. Please circle the best answers.

1. How effective do you think teaching is in large enrollment classes (> 200)? 1 2 3 4 5 Not at all Somewhat Very effective effective effective

2. How easily do you think it is to get assistance in large enrollment classes (>200)? 1 2 3 4 5 Not at all Somewhat Very easily easily easily

3. If you had a choice of taking a large section (> 200) or a small section (< 50 students) for the same course (assuming a comparable time and instructor), which would you likely take?

1 2 3 4 5 Much more likely to Would not Much more likely to take small section matter take large section

4. In your opinion, how effective are the methods used in large enrollment classes for the following: Not at all Somewhat Very

effective effective effective a. Presenting facts and knowledge 1 2 3 4 5 b. Presenting concepts 1 2 3 4 5 c. Teaching critical thinking 1 2 3 4 5

d. Testing student knowledge 1 2 3 4 5 e. Accurately assessing students 1 2 3 4 5 f. Encouraging discussion 1 2 3 4 5

5. Which of the following would enhance your learning in large enrollment introductory

courses? (please circle all that apply) a. Course pack with lecture notes and illustrations. b. Course Web site with lecture notes and illustrations. c. Online small group discussion. d. Small group project work based on lab or lecture topics. e. Face-to-face small group tutorials lead by graduate teaching assistants. f. Online small group tutorials moderated by graduate teaching assistants. g. Other (please give details).

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6. What do you see as the function(s) of large enrollment courses? (please circle all that apply)

a. To serve as a prerequisite for higher level courses. b. To provide a general overview of a subject. c. To develop skills that will assist your future learning. d. To develop your understanding of the standards expected for University level

work and study. e. To satisfy a Faculty or department requirement. f. Other (please give details).

7. Which of the following assessment practices do you think are best for revealing what

you have learned in a large enrollment course? a. Multiple choice exams. b. Short essay exams (4 or more responses written in 1 hour). c. Long essay exams (1 or 2 responses written in 1 hour). d. Short answer exams (10 or more responses written in 1 hour) e. Independent research project with final paper. f. Group research project with final paper. g. Tutorial or discussion group work. h. Other (please give details).

8. Which of the following skills are important for you to develop in large enrollment

courses? (please circle all that apply)

a. Critical thinking. b. Group work. c. Written presentation. d. Oral presentation. e. Information technology. f. Self-reliance. g. Other (please give details).

9. If you were designing the ideal introductory course for your learning needs, what would it look like?

10. In terms of workload, how much time total (including classes) would you estimate you spend working in larger enrollment courses compared to smaller enrollment courses?

1 2 3 4 5 Considerably less About the Considerably more time same time time

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11. What year of your program are you in currently?

a. Year 1 b. Year 2 c. Year 3 d. Year 4 e. Graduate

12. Where do you typically go for help related to the course? a. The Instructor b. TA(s) c. Other students d. Other (please specify):

13. What is your gender? 1…Female 2…Male

14. What is your major or what will it likely be?_____________________

15. Please write any comments that you have about large enrollment classes?

Thanks for your participation.

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Appendix A4. Focus Group Transcript: Biology 107. John As you know, we are looking at large enrolment classes and what you think about the quality of the educational experience you get in those large classes. What are your thoughts about large enrolment classes? ?? I don’t really have a problem with them. I kind of like some of them. It depends on the teacher, though – interactive is good, but when they stand up there and talk and put calculations up and don’t talk to you. They’re doing their thing and not asking questions. ?? I think it’s very simple. It really kind of depends on the professor because some can be very good at teaching large classrooms. Some others, I’ve found that it’s more or less they’re just simply giving out a big mass of information and not really involving the class, I don’t find. I find that that really helps, because when you have a huge, large classroom, the student can just feel like they’re not really being.., they’re just there, they’re just another student, but when the professor actually involves the student, I find it makes it a little bit better. ?? I think some of the big classes are all requirements, so half the students aren’t interested in them. If you have an instructor that doesn’t seem interested too, you just kind of think, “Well, why should I even come if he doesn’t want to teach it?” ?? Yes, you don’t have that motivation to come to the class. I have similar concerns as well, where, for a big class, a professor comes in, just throws in an overhead, and leaves. It’s sort of like ???????. What my point is, is that, I actually talked to other students and this came up in the discussion, that one professor said, “I’m not here to teach, I’m just here to do my research ?. So, it was just sort of a side thing to him. ?? I noticed I had a teacher who came in, and said, “I’m not into teaching you anything, just come in and listen”. ?? Last semester I had a professor who I went (to) and said that I have this problem. Instead of saying anything else, he said, ”Maybe you need help. Maybe you guys should go to academic help room. A lot of us were very, very frustrated with the fact that he said that. ?? I feel a little bit more fortunate in the fact that I haven’t specifically had a professor, you know, directly say, “I’m more interested in my research.” But, I do have friends that have had that situation. John One of the comments that was made, was “…depends on the professor, and some are good.” What’s good about a good professor? What do they do? ?? I think it’s kind of a professor, like, whether they really want to be there and actually be teaching, or whether, really, the professor is more interested in, you know, if he’s not really interested ??, but you know, like the professor doing the lecture because it’s required of him. John You talked about some of the problems that you saw – low motivation of students because it’s a required course or lack of interactivity with the professor and the students. What are other problems that you’ve encountered? ?? I think also that the way the professor teaches or delivers the material. If, for instance, if it’s just an overhead and he’s just reading the same lines and going through it, I don’t find that helpful. A professor who’s very interested in the area he’s teaching, will interest me, delivering very enthusiastically helps the student a lot, just gets the student wanting to learn more about it, as opposed to just doing a lecture and go. ?? The other thing I find is good is having the lecture notes available before the class so you can print them off. In some of my classes, they’ve got their powerpoint slides and have tons of information every slide and they’re only available to print after that lecture. So, there’s no point in even printing them, you just go to the class and try and write down as much as you can, but ????????. ?? Yes, that certainly helps. I’ve had, last semester, one of my classes, it was like that, where they go through, and then it’s available on the web. It’s like I never really used it. It was just, I found it really kind of a little bit….except for the points where I had actually missed classes, it was somewhat useful. But even then, I thought I don’t get their ? notes until….and sometimes they’re even very slow with putting them up. I’ve seen two or three more lectures before I can see what I’ve missed. ?? And the notes aren’t complete, they’re all point form. They’re there for you to add your own text onto them. You can’t get them til afterwards. I really had a problem with that.

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John So, in terms of improving large classes, you’d recommend dealing with all those things you just mentioned. ?? Yes. ?? One thing I also found this semester, one of my professors had a course pack out. He uses powerpoint slides and he had his entire set of powerpoint slides all in the course pack. ?? Was that chemistry? ?? Yes. ?? I had that too. That was really nice, because, on your textbook, he said basically textbook is extra, everything you need to know is in here, buy the coursepack, bring it to class, take your extra notes. The textbook was kind of additional, it wasn’t your main source. That’s always nice, too, if you can get the textbook for extra instead of everything. ?? So, you don’t have to go around and print those notes up just before the class. They were just available there and it was just very convenient. John It’s okay if there’s no copyright problem. Do you have any small classes in first year? ?? I have my English class, that’s it. ?? I did English correspondence ????? to university and high school, so it was small, but….my smallest one is math, and I think that’s got like 100 or something. It’s small now because everyone’s not coming. It wasn’t small. John In your experience with large and small classes, what differences do you notice in the way the class is run? ?? They’re a little more interactive when they’re smaller, but not always. It really depends on the teacher and how they, what their teaching style is. Some of them don’t want questions. They have their plan and that’s what it is and if you want to ask questions, come and see them afterwards. They don’t really answer it in the class. You ask it and they say, “Come see me after”. ?? You have more of a chance to talk to them one on one, so…. ?? With my one small English class, he asks questions of the class and sometimes he even picks a specific person. It is a little more involving than some of the larger classes. But, larger classes, I’ve found, they can be just as involving. I know some of my large classes, they ask questions as well. It also depends, like, I generally sit closer to the front of my larger classrooms. It feels to me like I’m a little bit closer to the professor. I feel a little more involved in the class. I don’t have the experience of someone sitting way back in the class. I wouldn’t figure, even when the professor is trying to involve them sometimes, maybe if you’re sitting way at the back, you might not, it might not be the same. ?? So, in a large class, you’re sort of getting, wanting to be a small class, sitting in the first couple of rows. Brad What’s the cutoff for you? Where’s the point where you would say, “This is different from a large class”? How few people do you have to have in a class to notice the difference? ?? If the teacher knows everyone’s names, it’s a small class. Brad So, if you have a class with 100 people, it’s not much different than a class with a lot more? ?? I don’t want to say ‘not really’, because some of the ones I’ve gone to, like my friend’s classes, are really good, even with large numbers. The teacher will say, “Okay, I want to have group projects,” and there will be presentations and stuff, so…..I don’t know what I’m trying to say. It’s really up to the teacher, how they want to make it, I think. ?? If the professor certainly wants to make it more and more like a small class, and he can get groups going and things like that, I think it certainly more qualifies as a smaller classroom, but when you have this large group of people and the professor is just kind of teaching to everybody in general, he doesn’t really know that specific person… ?? and everyone’s coming from a different faculty, so they’re not interested ????, they just want to get through it.

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?? The other thing that defines a class as large or small is also based on the professor. If you have a large class and you’re trying to interact, that gives you a sense of a smaller class, because the professor is trying to get everybody involved where he’s teaching at that same time, get students to be more interested in that topic he’s talking about. If you have a small class, meaning 50 – 100 students, if you just stand there and don’t have any interaction, that is large class as well. I have a professor this semester who’s the most concerned professor that I have known and since the beginning til now, helps a lot. If you keep on asking, that….really concerned about the way you’re teaching, it makes a big difference. John You mentioned group work as a way of making the classes feel smaller. How do you think group work could work in large classes? ?? I don’t even know if it can. It depends how large the group. ?? It’s kind of more or less like, if the professor even just gets people, kind of like grouping the classroom into a little bit smaller groups at certain…. I don’t know, I haven’t really thought…it’s still is kind of a large class, but if you group everyone in a large class into a little bit smaller groups, it can feel a little bit smaller because you have a specific little group of people which you generally know and talk to. If the professor kind of…… ?? It depends on what the aim of the course is, though too, because with biology courses, they’re not really designed to be interactive, I don’t think. You have to know this stuff and then….. ?? But you can ask questions. ?? Yes, you can ask questions, but it’s not the same as something like an English class where you’re all learning and discussing the literature. Biology feels kind of different. John Is that because they don’t ask you to discuss? ?? Yes, it could be. ?? If you put questions on overhead, all the people will be thinking about it and in a large class, like you were talking about, the groups, the professor, it’s possible that he would run upstairs, run downstairs, go to the other side and randomly ask questions of this or that group. Sort of everyday we’d have something different. It’s not easy to bring everybody together in all the groups and get all the group’s opinions on a question. It’s the same lecture, but it could be throughout the ?????, could just sort of randomly pick and get those people who are also not interested at the back. ?? I had one professor who used to walk around the room and if someone was sleeping he’d come and stand beside them. ?? Small things like that help. ?? It kind of keeps you interested if you’re falling asleep and all of a sudden your professor is right there. John Group work, as you know, doesn’t have to always be in the classroom. Technology facilitates groups working. Would it be possible in your way of thinking to do some group work online and spend less time actually in the classroom? ?? I think so, if people are willing to use it. I know for the lab groups, the discussion, study groups for the labs, it’s a really good idea, but I don’t think very many people use it. You get a bunch of people saying, “Okay, is this working?” and then that was it. That could have worked if it, I don’t know what you could do to make it work. ?? You’d have to want to use it. General agreement. ?? My friend has this psychology class, and her class is actually fairly small, surprisingly, but they only meet, it’s a Tuesday, Thursday class and they only meet every Tuesday. On the Thursday, they have this mandatory posting part. I don’t know too much about it because I haven’t actually seen it. It’s a little bit more facilitate…..I haven’t seen it specifically, so I can’t really say how well it works. It still comes down to whether the students really want to do it. My English class has a little posting webboard, but I actually don’t specifically use it. I view that, even though there is a mark behind it, and I know that, sometimes it’s not that big of a motivation because, unless it’s a significant part of your mark, it’s like, you know, like with our one discussion, worth one mark, it really ? facilitate some people to discuss it. One mark is not going to make that big of a difference for some people. But I figure, whatever.

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?? I would find it more valuable if half of the lab component that we have, half of that became discussion on the internet. ?? That would be really nice. ?? Because you go to the labs and most half, I don’t know if you agree with me, but half the class is wasted. This is the subject of biology as opposed to chemistry, for example, ?????????. ?? Not so much with this biology class, but I took 108 last term and I found that the lab, a lot of times, didn’t have anything to do with what we were talking about in the lecture. It was completely different. We’d be talking about cats (?) in the lab and then we’d go to lecture and talk about how fungi reproduced. ????????????????. They didn’t seem to tie together directly right away. ?? Yes, I’m taking that course now, this semester. You go to a lecture and you’re expecting a practical of ? knowledge in the lab and you go there and ?????????????, you’re lost, yes. That’s also how a professor manages the… ?? A better correlation, certainly, for this science course, between the lab and the lecture, because….. ?? You have to. The labs are interesting, but they just don’t seem to go with the lectures at all. At this point, better, but…… John Certainly if part of the lab went over into discussion, you’d really want that to be rolled up with the lectures. ?? With the labs, with some of the chemistry labs, you have to do the whole lab and then do a lab report after every single one. But, with the biology labs, you have two big huge massive lab reports, that’s it. The other labs come up for lab exam and a quiz and I found that, at the beginning as you start the labs, everyone seems to be fairly, you know, “Let’s do it.” But, as you continue, as your professors go along, if it isn’t a mandatory lab report, people are like, “Well, it’s not, I haven’t…..”. They lose interest in it. It’s like, “I’ll just get the information about what this lab is and study from that.” They’re not really participating in the interests of it. With my last 108 lab, we were doing a dissection and looking at the parts of all sorts of vertebrae animals. There was just these few people that were just sitting there and just talking about their past weekend. They just took the information that the TA had and just simply wrote it down and weren’t really doing the lab part. They were just sitting there talking about their weekend. They had the information and that was it. ?? When I did that lab, and we did the squid dissection, my whole bench, they were all making drawings with the ink. We were doing lots of drawings and drawing what we dissected, but it was with squid ink. That was probably not the best use of laboratory time. ?? I don’t know if there’s a coordination between the professor and the TA. ?? It would certainly help in terms of bringing the material at the same time. ?? It helps the professors know what’s going on in the labs, too, so they can maybe say, “We learned this in the lecture, and when you do your lab, you’ll see this.” ?? I think it’s mainly professor preparation at the beginning, the lab notes and the coordination. We’re sort of also talking outside (?) the overhead material. ?? Yes, overheads are boring. ?? Yes. ?? ???????????? overheads, haven’t learned anything yet. ?? But, it’s definitely possible. John Does the size of the class always matter? ?? Not really. I don’t know, it sometimes does, just in, I don’t know how to….. Brad How about, when it doesn’t matter, why doesn’t it? If you think of a class where class size didn’t matter.

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?? I had a chemistry class that I really liked last term and it was a huge class, but I didn’t really notice the size because the professor was interesting and animated. When he talked he didn’t just whisper and look at the floor, kind of write on his overhead and that was it. He moved around, talked, he had models that he brought in. It kind of made it a little bit more interesting to learn. I don’t like chemistry at all, but I liked going to that class because he was fun to listen to. I had another chemistry class same term that I didn’t want to go to because I think I was just bored. ?? I think a lot of it has to do with how the professor manages their big class. When a class gets bigger, I think, the professor has more responsibility of keeping, controlling the class, as opposed to letting it just, you know, at the back you have a group that talks and sort of segments the entire class. So, this is the quietest and then you have the quieter and then you have the quiet group and then you have noisy. Just to sort of have the same environment for everyone to learn. When it gets really noisy, that means that the class is getting, yes. ?? I have a chemistry class this semester and the professor, like, there are always, in any big classroom, there’s usually a bunch of people at the very back that are fairly noisy. I think, certainly, how the professor deals with that, like, that just generally doesn’t change for any single big classroom, I’ve noticed. Most of them, you have some little group in the back who’s going to be chatting. Certainly, how the professor deals with it is, I think, an important thing. This professor, he just simply kind of yells at them, “Don’t talk. If you keep on talking, I’m going to throw you out.” I really don’t think that’s the proper way to do it. I’d like to see it where, if there are people, not just ignore them, not just like kind of…., because just responding to them in a negative way, but try and involve them, actually get them involved in the class. If they don’t seem to be interested in the class, a lot of students are like, “I just want to be here, get the notes and that’s it.” But, if you actually make the student interested and involved in the class, it would certainly be a better…I think the best, actually, plan for that. John So, you’re now arguing that involvement is good, both to work through the material, and also to manage the classroom. ?? Yes. ?? A big classroom. ?? I don’t know if we’re going to diverse and talk about this thing, but two out of my professors this year, they were sort of, I’m not sure if they were young to be teaching or what the problem was, but when students asked them a question, the professor would get sort of back up (?) and he would get scared. That sort of, instead of the professor taking over the entire big class, the big class took over the professor. It got worse day by day. That’s also one of the things about that big class. ?? Certainly, the confidence of the professor certainly is a thing. Some professors are extremely worried that they teach this class. I had a statistics class last semester. The professor was fairly new and he was very concerned for the class but he was extremely nervous. He was very, very nervous about teaching the class and I felt kind of sorry for him because he was like….. A lot of this has to do with the professor. It’s how the professor really…….. ?? Class membership should be identified to the professor’s ability to control it. One could say that. ?? Because some professors can be very able to teach a very huge classroom. Other professors don’t really have the skills to teach that because it is kind of a developed skill as a professor, whether they can keep the whole class involved. With inexperienced professors, I don’t think they can, I think they’re really more worried about, you know, how well they’re teaching the class. They’re very nervous, so they’re usually more worried about, “Am I teaching these students well enough? Am I such and such?” It kind of, and it’s rather than they shouldn’t, it should be more focussed with, are the students, really, it’s how well the professor can interest the students. ?? Yes, I think it’s also how well the professor can read what the students are thinking, just from watching them, because if you can’t change your teaching style and adapt it to what your classroom is like, it doesn’t matter if you’re a really good teacher for one group, the next class might not learn from it. Teachers need to be able to adapt to things and a lot of them can’t, just because they’re not hired because they’re good teachers, they’re hired because they do research. That’s kind of the impression I got from a lot of the professors as well. “I’m here to do my research and have a class.” I know last term when they were trying to get their grants and everything, they said, “Well look, I’m really grumpy right now. I don’t have time. I’m busy. I need money.” You kind of got the feeling, “Okay, well, I’m not really important. I just have to pass and that’s all that matters.” ?? The other thing I noticed about large classes is, when a professor has a large class, basically he stands up at the overhead and is writing from the first minute to the last minute, as opposed to if he had something on the overhead from before, you put it on, or a powerpoint slide, you put it on, you can walk around, talk about it and not just say everything about it and the students are just trying to copy everything. There’s sort of no, exactly, you know, that feeling of learning is just sort of ?, you’re improving your writing, basically.

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?? I don’t like it when they put everything up in their notes because then there’s not a point in going, if they just read their notes and that’s it and they don’t talk about anything else. But, it you put up maybe one point that people go, “Oh, I’m kind of interested in that.” Then, they don’t put anything else on the notes so you have to listen if you want to learn it. It kind of makes it a little bit more interesting if you just put up a main point and then say, “Okay, now we’re going to talk about it. Do you have any questions?” Take some breaks instead of writing it all, running through it. John If you had the power to grab hold of the university president, and tell him just what he should be doing with first year classes, what advice would you give him? ?? Hire teachers. ?? Certainly, listen to the teaching evaluations very much because I found with some of the first year classes where I’m getting this professor who’s totally interested in research. One thing I’ve really always wondered, is a lot of the problems with some of the larger classes is that you get a professor that’s interested in research and is not really interested in teaching the class. If you can get professors that are interested in teaching the classes, certainly, it would be a little bit more of a benefit. Then, by reading some of the evaluations, you can see that some professors might be better at teaching larger classes than others. ?? I don’t think the evaluations do anything because they have them at the end of the term. Mid-semester one was a good idea, but I haven’t seen any changes in the classes where I did a mid-semester one and from then til now I haven’t seen a change in how they teach, so I don’t even know if they’re reading them. ?? That’s why I say, to see, well, if the professor is constantly getting the exact same evaluation that’s not the greatest, maybe they shouldn’t be teaching that class. But, if you get a professor that everyone seems to like and enjoy, they certainly should have that professor teaching. ?? If I was the president of the university, the first two things I would do is either cut the classes in half, so make them 100 instead of 200, or I would give, actually, I would probably do both, or the second one is, I would assign the most experienced professors for the first years, as opposed to someone who’s not experienced, someone who can really manage a big class, someone who is very focussed on what he’s teaching and very enthusiastic. A lot of the first year, when you go to a class, that first year has a big impact, I believe, on a student’s life, on exactly what he chooses. If the student likes, for instance, biology, and he gets a professor who’s very uninterested in biology and just comes there to deliver the material because he has to be there, you don’t get a lot of positive things happening in that student’s life. That’s what I would do, is to give the most experienced professors the first year. ?? Or even the most interesting. ?? …the most interested, exactly. ?? The science professors that I’ve had, I don’t even want to go to the classes. But, then I go to some of my friends who are taking Arts classes, and the teachers are having fun teaching and it’s like, “Oh, maybe I should go take those classes.” John ???????????? Brad Come to the dark side. ?? I like biology and I want to do it but a lot of it has to do with, well, the professor doesn’t seem interested in it, then why should I be interested in it? ?? I have friends in all sorts of different faculties and my friends in Fine Arts, all I hear them talk about is they have so much interesting and fun in their classes. ?? Yes, you don’t get a lot of jollies talking about cell membranes. I don’t know if we can say or mention the importance of that first year. The first year you come out of high school, you go to a class and you want to be able to say, “Wow! I’m interested. I’m enthusiastic. I’m willing to take more courses in this, because this person is interesting and so the material is interesting.” ?? Everyone I’ve talked to, and I’ve got some friends in third year and (they say), “Everyone hates first year, but it gets better.” “Oh, does it? I sure hope so.” Yes, it’s a big thing. Try and make it seem interesting, even if it isn’t. ?? Yes.

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?? Certainly I think with some of the class materials, where it’s just this blob of information, really, even just making that information some current event or some current idea that we’ve just recently discovered, something like… ?? My biology prof from last term did that. He was really centred on his research but he tries to, “Oh, this is what I’m researching now and this is kind of how what you’re learning now will tie into it. Oh, last week in the news, this is what’s happening”, and he’d bring in newspaper articles and photocopy them and pass them around. It was really interesting - instead of reading from the textbook. ?? You’d think that all professors would be like that because it’s a research (?) university, so updated materials, right on the news on that week or month. That’s one thing that can really give the students in large classes, it wouldn’t matter….. ?? Give them some application for what it is they’re learning. I might see something on the news and be interested and want to learn more but then I go to class and if I can’t see how it relates, I won’t go. ?? Yes, you always see something, some little article or something and it’s really interesting, but you don’t really learn too much more about it unless you really do it yourself. The lab reports, they specifically ask you and they assign a little mark, saying, “Look at future research,” and whatnot, but I don’t think that’s a really effective method of doing it, because usually it’s like, you know, I don’t really know how to say this. It’s like you’re just ? this big huge long report that’s like, well, some application, you’re supposed to make some future application to it. I find the lab reports, it’s the actual, whatever you’re studying. I’d find it a lot easier to do that section, that little part if it was certainly more emphasized in the lecture. If you ask those questions, show us future, current research and things like that. I don’t find it that hard specifically because, as I, like, I can just write and write and write. ?? Going back to the evaluations – I think we did two evaluations this year. I don’t know the outcome of it myself, but one of the professors in this semester, actually, what he did was ask how he was teaching from the beginning. I think if you have too many evaluations at the first, so, you teach a couple of classes, you have an evaluation and those evaluations are (going) directly to the professor, so he can read what the concern of that big class is, as opposed to going to the department. After doing that, then the professor can improve on the teaching. If the students like it, that’s the only way you can get everyone else’s response, is by that mini-evaluation at the beginning. After the first couple of classes. ?? The one at the end, they might read it and say, “Okay, I can change this in the next class, ?????????? class. ?? You can have part B of the first evaluation to ask how did it make a difference, did it make any difference and give it to the professor. The professor will read the comments. ?? I certainly like that. It all seems to come back down to the professor and his real interest in whether he wants to teach the class or not. Right now, we do the evaluations because it’s mandatory. Some of the professors, like, “Well, I’m just doing this because it’s mandatory and it doesn’t really…”. But, if the professor really wants to teach the class, they would do some of those mini or quick evaluations. My English professor tried to do something like that. He asks, every month or so, in the last five minutes or so, he’d say, “How are you finding the class? What do you think of the course?”, simple little things like that. Unfortunately, I haven’t really noticed much of a change.. ?? But at least he’s trying, though. ?? He’s certainly trying by getting our opinion. That’s quite nice, the fact that he actually wants our, at least makes it seem he cares enough about out opinion. And then, that the professor can actually take that and realize…… I think, unfortunately, my professor really hasn’t changed because I found sometimes he isn’t very clear on what he wants us to do and I specifically said that in every single one of my little things. Like, “I’m never, ever clear about what you’re specifically asking” and I think it would…if the professor takes his own initiative to be figuring out what the class’s interest, where the class lies, where they feel he is through the entire course, not just the beginning, the middle, the end, the entire course, it comes back to the adaptability of the professor. Not even just like, not just these little mini-evaluations, but the professor can kind of figure out, Oh, the students aren’t really interested, maybe change a little, change his teaching way a little bit to make it, you know, and see what happens, and continually going on that. A professor reading kind of, you were saying, reading the students and trying to make it more interesting. ?? Obviously, it won’t help, it won’t make a big difference the first time you do an evaluation, because the professor might not be teaching in the style that each student learns, but actually, if that is there, and the

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professor is asking so the student knows and so he comes forward in response to that. But, if there was ????????????????. ?? Not all professors ?????? as well. I had one that basically told us, “This is how I teach. This is what I’m going to do.” He told us what he was going to do for the whole semester and said, “If you don’t like what I’m doing, come tell me. Otherwise, it’s up to you to learn. This is what I expect you to do, and if you don’t do it, you’re not going to pass.” I was kind of like, “Okay.” So, I know what I have to do. A lot of them just get to class and you don’t know what you’re there to accomplish, really, they just kind of start talking. It helps to know what you’re supposed to do so you can work on your own. ?? Yes, if the professor’s actually explaining to the class, “This is really what I want,” and asks you for feedback and improving on that certainly helps, because asking a specific question, like, in a large classroom, if you say, “This is the way I teach. Would you like….if you all don’t like this method, then maybe I shouldn’t be doing it this way.” It certainly asks for feedback and it makes the specific student maybe a little more ? ?? It’s nice to know what the expectations are. I had one that was really sad for math. We walked in and sat down and the first thing he said, “Most of you are going to fail”. (We thought), “Oh, that’s good.” He said, “Oh, yes. I had half of my class fail last time.” And I’m going, “Oh, okay”. But, it made you work harder. I don’t want to fail. That’s not necessarily good, but it is nice to have some kind of clear, set out guidelines of what it is you’re going to do. The course outlines really good if they say these are the chapters we’re going to cover, these are the pages, and then you kind of have some idea, as opposed to going to a class where the instructor just seems to talk off the top of their head. It’s interesting when they talk off the top of their heads, but you need some kind of balance in between, like you know what you’re doing but there’s room to get off on little sidetracks as well. ?? You mentioned before, the students ??????? this is a first year student… ?? Yes. ?? A lot of the students, a lot of us that we come, we want to learn and so it’s really easy to shut that group down and it’s really easy to stimulate, you know, just like that. Professor being interesting, everyone is happy. If the professor is… ?? …is very interesting and interested, the students are going to be interested too. ?? Yes, and you have a totally different outcome. ?? That’s my main problem. All the professors just don’t seem interested and it’s kind of like well, if you’re not interested in it, it’s hard for me to stay interested in it, too. ?? The fact that the professor actually, one thing I noticed is that reminds you that you’re paying this much money for the course, (they are taking advantage of it) or (they could evaluate it). That ??????????????. John One thing we haven’t talked about is assessment in first year courses. What do you think is the best way of assessing what you’ve learned in those larger classes? ?? Definitely, not multiple choice, for me. ?? No. ?? It depends, kind of, on how the professor really taught the course. If they’ve taught you to be, like, if they, if it was just a big huge ?, here’s a blob of information, now.. ?? ..memorize and come back. ?? It depends on the professor’s teaching style. If they’re just taking notes directly from the book and throwing them up on the board and everything’s supposed to be, like, you learn it and regurgitate for the test, then multiple choice is good. But, if it was more interactive, where… Tape flips John So, multiple choice is okay for ? stuff.. ?? Yes, it’s all up to the instructor and how they taught it because, as I said, if they’re spitting it up out of the textbook themselves and that’s how they’re teaching it, it’s not fair to ask for a short answer exam because that’s not how they’ve been teaching it. They haven’t been asking you to think, they’ve been asking you to just

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remember what these facts are. If you have a professor who wants to encourage, is asking questions and making it more of an interactive environment, then I think a short answer is probably a better way to go. Then you can show you’re thinking about this and maybe…. ?? Yes, short answer, research-based is definitely, obviously the students will also expect that from professors as well, is to have lectures on their research, new research, and also design the exam, research-based, just to test that knowledge as well, as opposed to just ??????????????????? what I see is that you go to classes and you get these classes and you just memorize them for the exam and that’s it.. ?? And you forget it after. ?? And you forget it after. ?? Professor comes in, teaches the class, writes down the whole course, you write the exam, and I just find, like, “Okay, there, I’ve done that. That course is done, over,” and I don’t really think much of it. Certainly, if the professor gets me to think about the course, about what we’re learning, I’m more interested and motivated to learn even more about the subject as well. ?? They maybe ask a question, get you motivated, I think you want to learn the theory and can understand what the research was, maybe or what the question they were asking…. ?? There’s always a question on the evaluation sheet when we get it, ‘Did it enhance your knowledge in the subject area?’ The answer is obviously ‘no’ unless the professor is really talking about the research and he’s coming up ? and not just giving you the notes, but… ?? Most of the stuff, I know from biology last year, most of the stuff I remember from this course didn’t have anything to do with the material. It was all stuff he brought in, current research from the news, stuff that scientists in Hong Kong have been doing or whatever, and that’s the stuff I remember. I don’t remember the course material at all. I couldn’t tell you anything about that course. I did learn some things, but they weren’t really course-related. So, if you can somehow bring in the same kind of information, it doesn’t even have to be current studies or research, but maybe something that has to do a little bit more with your life and what you see, as opposed to laboratory conditions. ?? I think that’s like, where currently, the idea behind the laboratory component, but unfortunately, a lot of the laboratory component now is just, more or less, people trying to get more marks, to keep in there and get so much more mark, so high of a mark that they require to pass the course. With the organic chemistry labs, a lot of the problem with them is they’re very time-constrained. It’s very, you’re pushing the whole three hours, you just barely come in, and it becomes, you’re trying to do the lab for the time slot, not really trying to do the lab because it’s interesting. You’re just doing the procedure as you go and it doesn’t really emphasize, you think, really, it’s like well, this is what I’m doing. I sit there and think after some of my labs, it’s like, “What the heck did I do in that lab? I didn’t learn anything in that lab.” I was just quickly rushing around pouring chemicals together and getting, looking at these observations, like, “It turned purple.” I have no idea why or why it does that, but that was the observation I knew.. John We’re pretty well pushing the time I asked you to volunteer for, so I don’t want to press you too hard. Are there any issues that we haven’t talked about that you still want to toss into the mix? ?? One thing I wanted to say was about the lab report, is to make that three hours of lab, half of it, make that updated knowledge application, sort of related… ?? Or, even if you could have, I don’t know if you’d be able to do it, but say, for the first half of the semester, maybe you’re learning the techniques and theory and stuff behind it, and the second half is, “Okay, what’s something you want to explore?’ and maybe kind of design your own experiments and have a little leeway and say, “This is what we have to know for the course,” and maybe give you an opportunity to use what you’ve learned in the beginning for something else. So, you’re still using the same techniques and knowledge, but it’s something you’re interested in, almost. ?? Yes, kind of like proposing, or proposition, like, well, because living with first year student, the thing with being in a first year class, is that you don’t really get the specifics, this general course and sometimes it’s like, “Hey, I’m quite interested in ?, maybe I’d like to learn a little bit more in that in the practical side of it”. Of course, there’s always the opportunity to do so on an individual, personal basis. Sometimes that’s not, like timing, time is not always available. Even just with the current labs we have, a clear, like, “We’re doing this,” a specific reason of why we’re doing this procedure, this certain specific procedure of how the lab is going. For our 107 lab, for our lab final, we’re told to, one of the things we were told we have to know, is, in one of our labs we were doing all these bunch of solutions together and we have to know exactly why that, you know, what that specific solution does, why you use it, why is it in that procedure. And I sit there and think, “I don’t remember a lot of that being taught in

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the lab.” It was just like, “Okay, this is what you’re doing next, this is what you’re doing next. Here’s what you start with, here’s what you should end with. You should do this procedure.” Yet, you’re expected to know that, yet they don’t really teach it. ?? For 108, the practical lab exam, I did really poorly on it. I wasn’t prepared for my first. Going to the labs, ?? time, so you’re not really thinking about the lab and all of a sudden you get to the practical exam and you’re expected to know what it was you were doing when you were thinking about how much time you had. You can study all your notes in your lab manual, but it wasn’t really on what was in the lab manual, it was on what you were supposed to have learned. I wasn’t ready for it. So, now, like this lab, I’m trying to be thinking as I’m going along, but then you start running out of time. That was kind of a problem I had with the labs, but that’s all just because I wasn’t prepared for it, I think. Hopefully this time…. ?? You could be using the same time, the three hours that you’re wasting every morning or afternoon, with 1 ½ hours of lab (?) class and do a lecture, or about ½ hour or 45 minutes on the lecture, and talk about the latest developments in that area. ?? I learn more from the labs than I do from the lectures because I like being able to see things and touch them. ?? But then again, usually it’s like you, generally you learn more from the labs, but you never really, like with my organic labs, the only lab I really actually learned something was from the last one where we were making soap and aspirin. It’s not that big of a lab and it was a very, I found I could go very slowly through the lab, it wasn’t as time-constraining. ?? That was after the exam. ?? Yes, after the practical lab exam, and I could go through as slowly as I, I found it more interesting because I had the time available to actually sit there and say.. ?? and ask questions ?? You’re doing it for the sake of learning it, not.. ?? Yes, I was doing it for the sake of actually learning it and it was interesting, because you’re making soap and aspirin, something very commonly done. But, with the other labs, it’s like you’re making, I don’t know, some ? chemical and you wonder, “What the heck, where is this?” There’s totally no strong link. ?? And they all look the same – all white powders. Soap and aspirin was interesting because you use soap every day, so kind of like, “Oh, this is how you make soap”, and that was neat to see and aspirin, I think we use it everyday. I like having things that I can see, go out to the store and say, “Oh, I made that.” John I appreciate your time. I know it’s a busy time of year and to take an hour out is ?, so we really do appreciate the time.

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Appendix A5. Focus Group Transcript: Biology 380.

John So, when you’re talking about specific classes, it’s best to not identify people. There’s no necessity to identify yourselves. It’s strictly anonymous and if you’re getting bored, and you want to take off, just get up and leave. Don’t feel obliged or pressured to be here. When you think back to that first year with those large classes, what are your general thoughts about those large classes? ?? I think they were intimidating. ?? Yes, they were very overwhelming. ?? Coming directly from my school, especially. ?? And very impersonable, you just felt very lost and you’re just a number. You’re student #457 and you sat on the stairs. John That’s the way you felt about them, but what were the major problems you experienced, just trying to learn in those large classes? ?? Lack of discussion, because basically I ? my first year at a small college and then I came here and did a second year course and filled one of the physics ones, one of the huge ones. Just the total lack of discussion, no one asked any questions because they were afraid to interrupt everyone else. You didn’t learn nearly as much. ?? And just the general hubbub of being at the very top of P126, as opposed to being in a small lecture theatre, where you can make eye contact with your professor to interrupt him. You feel confident about asking a question. I remember lectures where there was a slide that was missed, or some major mistake, and nobody would point it out. ????? you missed something, so nobody asks. The prof said later, “Well, why didn’t you tell me?” ?? It was hard coming here, fresh and new, not knowing anyone to make connections when you’re in a class that size. The ones that had lab components, that was helpful for meeting people, but when it’s such a huge lecture… A good part of learning is conversing with other people and bouncing ideas back and forth and there wasn’t really the opportunity to do that. ?? I was going to say, getting outside help. The professors always gave us their office number and when they would be there, but I’m sure if he had 400 students coming to his office every week, it would have been a problem. I think TA’s are very helpful. In the higher level course, I found them very helpful. Actually, small assignments that force you to actually review what you’ve learned, and learn what you’ve learned, to apply the concepts. It prepares you for exams and stuff. John How do you think those large classes could be improved? So, small assignments are obviously one strategy, but you were talking about that in the context of the labs, more than the lectures. ?? No, in the lectures. ?? Yes. ?? With higher level classes or assignments, lectures, vs, and we also had seminars with separate assignments. They help, even if it’s just one or two a semester. Sounds like lunch arrives. ?? Could you repeat the question? John We were talking about ways of improving first year classes and small assignments. ??????? what’s going on in the class is one thing. Those, presumably, would be taken and worked on independently and then what? Hand them in for marking, or..? ?? Yes, even if it’s just a small percentage of our final grade, it just forces you to do that review and keep up on your lectures. In first year, when so many of our courses are kind of overviews from high school, I found myself tending to go, “Well, this is familiar to me. I don’t need to study it.” And then, get to study for a midterm or something and realize it had gone more in depth or I’d forgotten more than I thought. That really catches you and it’s not a good study habit to be developing at all, because it really catches you when there’s so much more volume of material in third and fourth year. You can’t survive that way. You have to get into the habit of reviewing regularly. First year course, right now, don’t really require you to do that. You can get by without it. Painfully so, but……

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?? I think it would be helpful if there were times when you could meet together with other people, even just for a question and answer period or a discussion of some kind. I don’t know how formal it would have to be, but some TA’s would sort of organize that on their own initiative and it was really helpful. Other TA’s would say the first day, “You can come and talk to me.” After that, you’re wondering if they said that because they had to, or am I actually allowed to go and bug these people with my questions? John Were there situations in any of your large courses where those sorts of discussions/conversations were organized for you? ?? Not for me. ?? Not really. There was one course where we had a help room. Once I discovered it was there, it was useful. Often there were other students around, and even if the help person was busy with something else, or just not there, you could sit down with other students and meet them. I find now, that’s one of the biggest ways I learn, is by studying with my friends and discussing assignments and lectures and stuff. I wish I’d learned to do that in first and second year. It would have helped me out a lot more. ?? It took me until second semester, first year, to find out there was a help room for chemistry labs. “Oh, wow! I can get help!” So, that helps. So, yes, even if things are in place to make them aware, make students aware of them. John So, having had the experience of first year large classes and then smaller classes subsequently, what do you see as the difference in the learning experience? ?? It’s more interactive and when something hits you and you go, “Wow, that’s really cool!”, ????? you can ask that question and go off on a tangent. ?? The lectures that stand out in my mind are the lectures where something intrigued us all and we just kept asking the prof questions and we learned more from asking the questions and going away from his prepared lecture notes than just regurgitating, you know, Campbell text, figure 37, you know, it doesn’t help. ?? Yes, it’s important. ?? I think in smaller classes, the material tends to be presented more in a way where you feel like you’re working through the problem with the professor. In introductory courses, it is basically, this is the figure and I’ll point out a few things on it and you go and memorize that information and recall it for me later. But, it’s more helpful to see the process of the information. ?? It feels like there’s more time in a small class, because you can discuss these things instead of feeling like you’re interrupting everyone else’s learning by asking a question that you think everyone else knows. John We’ve been focusing on the size of the class. Does the size of the class always matter? ?? I guess, if you have really bad teaching, it’s hard either way. For instance, we had a course where it was a very small course, there was about 40 students. It wasn’t taught very well. What was different about it, like, first year, we would have all been totally screwed over, but what saved us in this course, I think, is that we had friends to talk about it with. With had people that we knew in that course, got to know the people in the room. Even if the prof didn’t make it make sense, you could sit together and figure it out for yourselves. But, in a big class, you might not see the person you sat next to the first day for the rest of the semester. If you’re not confident to make those connections, I think it would be impossible to learn on your own. Just having that support from other classmates makes a big difference in a smaller classroom. ?? I think logistically, just the parts where it is mostly presenting information, that it doesn’t really matter if it’s such a huge course. But, if that is the only experience that you have in that course, is just the large lecture, then I think you are missing out on something. So, I would say having the large lecture component isn’t always bad, but if it isn’t accompanied by the opportunity to participate in other things……. John Is the lab sufficient small group opportunity, or are you thinking of something else? ?? I don’t think it is. When you’re in the lab, you focus on the lab, not…… ?? You have a lot to do in that two or three hour period and there’s enough things that go wrong in those labs, you have to…..you know, the TA is busy helping us get through the assignment that you have to do for that lab. They don’t always have time to just discuss lecture materials and sometimes, especially since labs and

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lectures are tested differently, the TA’s aren’t usually in our lectures. So, they say, “I’m not sure. Go ask your prof.” John In a large class, what makes the prof good, in your mind? ?? I guess the profs that stand out in my mind are the ones who had a really good personality when they were teaching and made you feel like you could approach them. The professors who seemed to just come in, teach, and hurriedly go back to their lab, you didn’t feel like you wanted to interrupt them, or you didn’t feel that they would have welcomed your questions at all. I think the prof has to be good at setting up that sort of repertoire with his students. I imagine that’s hard to do when you’re in a lecture theatre of 200 or 400, but I think the more they work on that, the better. ?? It’s personality, it helps. I have a teacher right now who, when she gives examples, she’ll involve people that she can see, so I guess it only includes a couple front rows, but it does help. Also, when someone is talking to you, you just kind of wake up a bit and it’s not just listening to them drone on. ?? When they have enthusiasm and they engage the audience, the students. Especially in first year, when you’re still trying to figure out what you want to do, when someone just goes up and basically goes through the textbook, and then you go home and go through the textbook, you don’t get a sense that this is an exciting thing that you might want to study further. When you can tell that they’re just passionate about organic chemistry, it throws a different light on it, and even if you’re struggling with the material, to see someone who’s enthusiastic about it, makes it easier to carry on. ?? And though it is useful when they ask questions and they hope someone will answer, in a large class, people don’t answer. ?? You just don’t answer. ?? It’s a painful silence. So, they need to think of a different way to try and interact. John That raises an interesting question. Obviously, asking questions, the prof doesn’t get a response, nobody wants to be the victim. But, you could also ask questions of small groups within a big class. Is that a useful strategy? Have you experienced that? ?? I haven’t experienced it, but I think it would help, at least, that group at that time, and it would be much more likely, I think, to bring a response. Then, there’s only four other people to respond, not 500. ?? Last year, I was in a first year computing course, and it ended up with myself and one other girl that always answered the professor’s questions. There was at least 100 people in that class and it was always us two. So, I didn’t mind because I sort of got over the whole first year, “Oh, I don’t want to talk”. It was kind of like, “Is anyone else getting anything from this?” John One thing that small groups do in a large lecture theatre, is give you that conversation with your peers and at least models what you can do outside the classroom. The other alternative is to take that experience and put it online. Have you any experience with that? What do you think of that alternative? ?? I sort of have one course that does that. It’s just more, if we ask a question of the professor by email, he might post the question and answer on the website, but we’ve never had sort of a live, online…. ?? I don’t know. I’m not very computer literate. I have a beef against having to rely so much on computers when I have no background in that. To go from a high school where we had one internet computer, to being expected to download notes to bring to class. It was very overwhelming and I’m still bitter about it. So, the idea of an online discussion group, I don’t think I would have participated in first year, just because of the background I came from. I’m not into, maybe if you were into, like ICQ’ing (?), and stuff, you’d be comfortable doing that, but I don’t think I would have been. ?? I think it’s different in first year. You’re kind of busy enough with everything you have to run around and do during the day. You don’t want to have to sit down at a computer and read all these questions. Now, I’m in, I’ve had several courses with online WebCT discussions and they’ve been helpful, but they were Arts classes. And, another Science, but I don’t think, in a first year course, I don’t know, I dread the thought of trying to type in the names of some of those enzymes. ?? ????? diagrams. We don’t do a lot with ideas, sometimes. Sometimes it’s more mechanisms and trying to figure out how this system works. You can’t talk about that online. You can’t say, “Well, what about this piece? How come there’s an arrow going this way”. That sort of visual presentation of information is so important in the sciences. You have to learn to deal with that. I don’t think online would do that justice at all.

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John There actually is an option to WebCT that allows you to do that, but it’s not well-used. ?? ??? complicated. Scan this in the…… John No, no. ???????????. You get absolute power. You’re in a position to go to Rod Fraser, the University president, and tell him what he’s got to do to improve first year instruction, the learning environment. What do you tell him? ?? Cut the (to?) small classes. Instead of having three sections of 200 or 500 students, make it smaller. ?? For cases where lectures are, (where) you can’t get rid of those big classes, use profs who have very good teaching evaluations. ?? Yes. ?? If possible, for your seminars, make them smaller. A group of ten students, or something like that, one person to answer the questions, you just learn so much from being able to talk to each other and know everyone and be able to take what someone else is going to ask and… ?? I think just putting out, having a better communication to first year students about what to expect and how you have to study your courses in order to get the most out of them. Not only to do well on the exams, but to develop those good study habits and be able to retain some of that information, because they will expect you to know it in second year. That kind of studying. I find I didn’t really understand what the expectations were until much later in my university career. John Are the profs in the smaller courses any better at explaining that to you? ?? I think, what I found in smaller courses, is it’s just been more proactive in learning. They give you papers and you’re expected to do the readings and have those brought to class. It’s just more, …and they rely on you having done that, whereas, I don’t find in the bigger classes, they really relied on 500 students having read a paper or section in the textbook, because it’s not going to happen. They’d have to, …so they just pretend you haven’t read it and didn’t know it and so there’s really no incentive to actually do that reading, or to do the weekly or bi-weekly reviewing to get the assignment in. John Any other things you’d like to see the president mandate? ?? If we did some kind of evaluation part way through, that might be helpful. Doing at the end, there’s nothing left that the professor can change. ?? Yes. And then a second evaluation to see how well the changes worked. John A second evaluation two-thirds of the way through, or right at the end? ?? I think where I want it would depend on what the teacher was like. It depends how willing they were to make the changes. If they wanted to change again, two-thirds would be great. But, if there’s any improvement at all, even at the end is still…. John You’re really advocating more continuous feedback on how things are going. ?? Yes. ?? Yes. John This is something of an aside, but I’m interested. The USRI form that you fill out at the end of a session currently, do you think that’s a useful instrument to do that sort of mid-term evaluation? Is that getting at what’s important to you during the teaching and learning process? ?? Maybe with better questions. Even now, there are some questions I look at and go, “I still don’t really know what this means”, but I guess as long as I answer consistently throughout all my courses, maybe it will be helpful. And, other times where I feel there were obvious questions that were left out. I really like it when I can see a professor has requested a specific question be added. I usually find those two questions that he puts at the bottom are the most useful and informative. ?? Yes.

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?? That says something if there’s only two informative questions. ?? Open comments are probably what would help the most, but I have a feeling that less than 10% of the class ever writes anything on the back of their sheets. ?? I think, especially for a mid-term evaluation, if you did want to make suggestions, then I don’t think the current format would be appropriate. If the professors find out you don’t think they speak clearly, or whatever, that doesn’t tell them why you’re thinking that, or provide any insights or thoughts that you have on how they might be able to improve it. But, having more interactive questions, I think, would be more helpful for the mid-term. ?? Something I find is lacking, is an evaluation of how effective the exams were. We were chuckling when we read your questionnaire, because you had those ideas sort of separated, the testing and how effective it was at assessing your knowledge. Quite oftentimes, we write an exam, a mid-term especially, and go, “That didn’t assess what I know. That was a pointless exam.” If they follow that same format on the final, you just feel sort of cheated, having done that work and not being able to communicate that to the professor. We don’t really have room to say to a prof, “I don’t like how you did that exam.” John Can we go pick up that idea of assessment and go back to evaluation? What is the best way to assess your learning in large classes? ?? I don’t think multiple choice is a good way to do it, because it felt like they asked some questions that everyone should know, which was fine, and then the rest of them were just silly little things that they mentioned once and never said you needed to know and, of course, being first year, never would of thought I needed to know that. ?? Especially in Science, you can’t effectively assess students learning with multiple choice, because if you go through an entire calculation and get to the end, and you made one little mistake and got the wrong answer, that doesn’t show that you don’t know how to do this question. That shows that math is not fun. But, your professor can’t tell the difference between the student that doesn’t know how to do this question and the student who made a calculation error. I love part marks. ?? Yes, exactly. ?? The other trap that gets fallen into with multiple choice exams is that they’ll pick up on little details that aren’t as important and weight that. You know, “Do you remember that one name of an enzyme”. Well, okay, you can go through and memorize that, but do you understand how that whole biochemical cycle fits into a cell and how it’s regulated? I think that’s more important and that’s what you’re going to carry on. You can always look up enzyme names, but to understand the principles of science and cellular life and stuff, that’s far more important. ?? As long as you’re going to think about it and work it out, you might as well write it out and get the marks for it. ?? Yes. ?? I think there’s so many different kinds of thinking that aren’t really easy to test using multiple choice. Like, evaluating things and synthesizing parts of the course together is a lot easier, given as questions. …give you this part and this part and you have to figure out how they correlate. They don’t really do that on multiple choice. You miss out on testing the fun parts of peoples’ understanding. ?? The most enjoyable thing I found about my third year is that there was a complete switch from regurgitation, “You should remember everything in chapters one through five”, to my prof standing up the first day, saying, “I don’t like regurgitation. I’m not going to ask you to remember”. It doesn’t matter whether it’s open book or not, but, they focused on thinking and using that critical thinking and tying ideas together. They acknowledged more reality, you’re not going to sit down and memorize twenty amino acids ?, but you might think about how they interact, you know. Being tested that way was much more satisfying than being asked to do 100 multiple choice questions. John You mentioned open-book as one alternative. Do you think that’s better than closed-book? ?? I think it opens up a new range of possibilities for questions. You don’t have to rely on, you don’t have to stay up till one in the morning memorizing little names. You can go, “Okay, I know where that is in my book. I can look it up”. Then, you can spend half an hour thinking about how these ideas tie together and what he might ask and what are the next possibilities for somebody else who’s experimenting? That’s so much more valuable than being forced to remember. I’m not good at memory and I don’t think it particularly matters. Once I’m a scientist, it’s not going to make a difference.

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?? I think a fear with open book exams is that students, is that they’re giving away the answers. You can’t walk into an open book exam without studying and do well. You can pass, maybe, like any other exam, probably, but you still need to do that, to put that work in to be able to get the mark. But, I can see how it might be a problem with first years, because they don’t realize that. They don’t realize that, “Oh, it’s an open book exam, but I still have to study”. They go, “Oh, it’s an open book exam,” period. That could be a problem. ?? It’s very tempting not to study. ?? Exactly, especially when there’s so many other things we need to do. ?? I think having the short answer questions and some long answer questions, it still requires you to study, but it’s still an opportunity to tie things together. Even in those questions, a professor could give you the information you need to guarantee that he’s testing you on your ideas and your thinking, not your regurgitation. That possibility is always there for that. John When you talked about assessment, you talked mostly about sit down, timed exams, and yet when we were discussing learning in the classroom, group work was one of the options. Is it appropriate in large classes to have some of the assessment based on group work? ?? I don’t know. I’ve never had a positive experience, even through high school, with group work. You’re in a first year class with students. They might be taking it as a requirement. They might be in university because their parents told them to. They might be hung over or they might be really passionate about what they’re learning. For those students who are excited and willing to put in the work, I think group work is a very fair way of assessing it, but to have my mark depend on someone else’s attitude and work ethic, I’m not comfortable with that at all. ?? Especially not in first year when half of them still believe it’s just extending, continuation of high school and they’re just here to play. ?? Senior level courses, I think, is a different story. Somebody in third or fourth year, generally, they know how to put in the work and you probably know them and it’s better. ?? I think in first year it’s kind of hard to figure out how to manage your own time let alone factoring four other people. ?? So, if there’s a little bit of opportunity for group work, discussions, without much of your mark depending on it, then there’s an opportunity to get to know people and find out which ones are as enthusiastic as you are. John So, self-selected groups, more than anything else? ?? Maybe. But, you probably still don’t know anyone, so you can’t really select your own group. ?? You need more than one group project. ?? Something else that was on your questionnaire is assessment by a large independent research project. That, in first year, is very ambitious. You don’t, I don’t think it would be very appropriate for somebody who’s just entering university to have to rely on that, either. It would be very overwhelming and probably not all that successful. John Is the problem there a large research project, or the research project. Is it a matter of scale? ?? Yes, I think it’s probably a matter of scale. Having an assignment in a lab, where you have to go and do a bit of research is probably one thing, but in the knowledge that, if you need to go and look up a paper, you’re going to see students standing in the photocopy room, passing the book around. “Oh, are you in 107? Do you mind if I look at that?” So, there’s going to be a large proportion of assistance there. So, having it worth a large portion of your mark is probably difficult to do. ?? I think small projects help, in connection with a lab, because that would prepare you for future years, where you have to do a big research project, which will come up, but, not a big one. ?? Especially for science students, in the first few years, we have so many labs that a lot of our long-term time management stuff is related more back to learning the material and staying caught up with everything. I don’t think that many first year students would be able to do a good job on their weekly projects and stay caught up with the material and indulge in an independent research project at the same time. That’s too many time

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management things to learn in your first year when you’re also trying to do your own laundry and you’re away from home and…. John We’ve covered a whole range of things. Are there areas that we haven’t talked about that you’ve been thinking about as we’ve gone along that you’d like to toss into the mix? ?? I guess the idea of course content and people thinking carefully about what the knowledge is of students coming into that course and what they’re expected to have when they leave. Then, in higher level courses, whether or not that’s relied upon. I’ve taken a course as a prerequisite for another, and then had to sit though a week of review of basic cellular things, or whatever the topic is. It’s kind of frustrating to do and I think if you’re expected to learn it in one course, ……. ?? I don’t know how many times I’ve been taught the structure of DNA. Much laughter and talking at once. ?? I don’t know how many more times I’m going to be taught the structure of DNA. Okay, I know there’s more ?, alright? I know their names. I could draw them for you. Don’t talk to me about it anymore! General agreement. ?? Especially when you’re not entirely sure yourself. ?? I mean, it’s nice to sit there for that free class and write down some notes, but… ?? It’s a waste of an hour or more, that we could be learning something else. I just paid for that hour and I already know that hour. Why should I get it again? John You made a comment right at the start about repetition from high school. How serious a problem is that? ?? That’s a difficult one because people can come from such a wide range of backgrounds. I came from a school where, for biology, I find a lot of repetition. I had a very good biology program at my school. For chemistry and physics, chemistry’s a different story. What I learned in high school wasn’t sufficient. I needed that bit of review. ?? I think the danger comes in the students’ thinking that it’s review and it’s not review. ?? Yes. ?? Review is fine, especially for first year, to go into university and have some review is comforting and it helps you ease into the mode of university, but, the danger comes when you’re in the review mode and then you switch but you don’t really know it and fall behind. ?? I know this. I don’t really have to listen. John How can we deal with that? You’re coming out of high school, go into first year, get some review, that’s good in easing your transition. But, does that really communicate how the expectations have changed? What needs to be done to make sure you understand the new environment? ?? I think that’s where small assignments might come in. ?? Yes. This year we had a very effective assignment. Right at the start of the year, in an upper level genetics course, our prof gave us a little assignment. At first glance, it was like, “This is dumb. Why are you giving it to us? We just took a whole course on that.” Then, we started to work on it and went, “Hm, I’ve forgotten some stuff.” It just set up what he expected us to know in order to handle the material he was going to teach us. We felt kind of foolish because we had to go right back to basic stuff, but it was very good at opening our eyes as to what he was going to expect us to know. And, it was worth just one or two percent, not a big deal. Just the fact that we had to deliberately look back at out old stuff and go, “Okay, this is my knowledge base and this is where the gaps are and these are his expectations”. That was important and very effective. ?? I think the overconfidence tends to come from the familiarity of the material. I’ve heard these words, I think I’ve seen a picture sort of like that before, I probably understand it. You go to the lecture and hear it and then you might go home and read your notes and it still makes sense to you. But, to have to apply it will really show you whether or not you have understood it. If the first time you have to apply it is on the test, then…..

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?? When professors assign problems sets from textbooks but don’t take them in, don’t have them for marks, I didn’t do one problem set in my first semester of the school year. That really messed me up. I kept shoving them in my notebook and thinking I’d find time for this later, and I didn’t. Taking them in for marks makes a big difference because it makes the student have to do that. ?? Yes. It’s really been kind of useful afterwards to have your small groups with a TA to maybe discuss them. General agreement. John Any other areas we haven’t touched? ?? ???????? Much laughter. ?? I have been in courses where they have been used effectively, but courses where they haven’t been used effectively. I guess part of it depends on your learning style. Students all learn so many different ways and I’ve discovered the hard way, that for me, I have to write things down. I have to be listening to what he said, sort of take it all in. I can’t just, if I just have those, that complete lecture outline, exactly what he’s got on power point, I might listen to what he’s saying, but I don’t write anything down. I tend to not really pay attention and it’s not effective for me. So, I don’t bring the lecture notes and then I try and copy notes. But, he’s going a mile a minute and ???? to what he’s saying, and ignored the information. So, I look back over my lecture notes that night and go, “We talked about this?” I was just writing down words, so I’ve found it really hard to find a balance between keeping up with what they’re saying, copying down the information, and plus, just the cost of printing off, you know, pages and pages of powerpoint. ?? I think if you’re going to take the time and effort to put it on the web, you can bind it and sell it as a course pack. I don’t know how much time or effort that takes, but it’s well worth it. John It’s more copyright clearance. ?? I suppose, yes, when they’re lifting diagrams from all over the place. ?? I like the web notes. I like having something in front of me and then being able to add all the fun, interesting stuff to it afterward. I think that’s something that should be used after you already know how to take notes. I would say first year courses, not so much, because you’re still learning to take notes. ?? Yes, that’s a good point. You have to learn how to take notes and powerpoint doesn’t teach you how to do that at all. Having it all printed out for you. ?? And it doesn’t encourage you to come to class, either. That can be a pitfall you fall into in any course, but especially in a big class and especially if the teaching gets boring. Why should I go to class for an hour when I can just print off his ? notes, but you miss the explanatory part. ?? I found, coming into university, I think my biggest fear was, I’m not going to be able to take all the notes. I was absolutely petrified that these professors were going to fly through the notes and I’d never be able to copy them down. But, that didn’t happen, so that was a good thing. The professors always gave us time to copy down the notes. If it was a powerpoint presentation, they’d sit there and wait for us. Or, if they write it out at the same time, because then, for sure, you’re able to keep up most of the time. ?? Some professors write very fast and messily, it doesn’t help. I think note taking wasn’t a big deal in first year. ?? I think in first year, you don’t feel as responsible for your own education. Now, you can say, “I’m not going to learn that way. I’m not going to print off the notes.” It’s effective in higher level courses because I know I need to go to lectures and so I go. John You started out in a small school with a different experience and you’re listening to the comments here. What’s going through your head as you listen to that? ?? I’m just actually very happy that I started at a smaller college because my first year classes, there were maybe 30 of us. I got to know my professors. For my second year classes, I wasn’t in a very big program, so in one class, there were six of us. I think my biggest one that year, there were 12 of us. It’s just such a totally different environment. Then I came here and there’s, I don’t even know how many fit in P whatever it is, and it’s just like…..even now, the classes are starting to get smaller again, but I still don’t really know my professors, talk

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to them, understand what they’re trying to tell me. It’s just how they go about teaching me. It’s easier to learn if you know how they try and say it. The multiple choice seemed much more effective when there wasn’t as many of us for some reason. John Any last thoughts? ?? May I ask what the professors think of first year courses and how it’s done? Is it mostly the students who are concerned, or…. John We’re going to be running groups, just like this, with professors and asking exactly the same questions. If you want to look at the commonalities, if you’re going to create change here, then we’d rather do it in a win win way. ?? I think if the university invests in professors who enjoy teaching and have a really good teaching record, that, right there, is going to make a big difference in those big classes, especially if you can combine it with other changes to facilitate student learning. A professor who is enthusiastic about what he’s doing is so much more effective than one who doesn’t really want to be there. John I can see we’re going to use your quote on “investing”. It’s going to be a good one. Better not to prejudge the stats. If nothing else, we really appreciate you’re doing this on very short notice, very ad hoc and we do value the input. I hope we all benefit from it. Thank you again.

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Appendix A6. Focus Group Highlights: Psychology Students.

UTRF Large Classes Project Qualitative Data First-Year Psychology Focus Group

Passage 1 of 46 In some scenarios they are good. Passage 2 of 46 I’ve been in three large classes, you learn things but not how to apply them. Passage 3 of 46 Smaller class sizes are better than large ones. Passage 4 of 46 Probably not, if you had more people the professor would be less approachable. Passage 5 of 46 In my 2 Chemistry lectures there are no TA’s, these classes would be better if they were smaller. Passage 6 of 46 Large classes are anything over about 150 students. Passage 7 of 46 In smaller classes (80-100) it is easier to get hold of the professor. Passage 8 of 46 Impersonal go over theory but not application. Passage 9 of 46 It would be okay if you were focused in that area, but if the course is required, or just a pre-requisite you don’t learn to apply the information later on. Passage 10 of 46 More people to offer assistance. Passage 11 of 46 Make it more personal. Passage 12 of 46 More ways to interact with the professor. Passage 13 of 46 Being able to get hold of the professor is the major problem. Passage 14 of 46 I e-mail professors quite often, some of them respond, and some don’t. Passage 15 of 46 Getting hold of the professor is the only thing that springs to mind. Passage 16 of 46 I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with larger classes. Passage 17 of 46 It felt like I got a better understanding from using technology than a regular lecture. Passage 18 of 46 The computer component augmented the class, because you could go get input from classmates if you had a question. Passage 19 of 46 There is always information form students that won’t be valuable, but with a lot of people you will eventually get good information.

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Passage 20 of 46 A course where you cover a lot of material. Passage 21 of 46 But, if you don’t get a personal feel for the material, you may not continue on in the subject area. Passage 22 of 46 Theoretically if there is an adequate number of TA’s it shouldn’t make a difference. Passage 23 of 46 It seems more impersonal, and it’s harder to talk to other students. Passage 24 of 46 It really depends on whom you’re working with. Passage 25 of 46 On average it would be better than without it. Passage 26 of 46 It would be better having group work. Passage 27 of 46 Someone who can get your attention, and make you understand the material. Passage 28 of 46 Someone who is open and approachable. Passage 29 of 46 Someone who relates the material to real life experiences. Passage 30 of 46 The smallest one is about 80 people. Passage 31 of 46 Smaller groups make the class seem more hospitable. Passage 32 of 46 Make classes smaller. Passage 33 of 46 Finds ways to break people into smaller groups. Passage 34 of 46 Make it less daunting to approach the professor. Passage 35 of 46 This would get rid of the stigma of large classes. Passage 36 of 46 It didn’t take too much adjusting. Passage 37 of 46 An 80-person class isn’t that different. Passage 38 of 46 200 is an adjustment. Passage 39 of 46 Probably go see the professor less in a large class. Passage 40 of 46 This is a combination of the professor and I. Passage 41 of 46 I usually go to the professor first, and then the TA.

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Passage 42 of 46 I prefer to go to the professor. Passage 43 of 46 It doesn’t really make a difference. Passage 44 of 46 The personality of the professor has a lot to do with having a good large class. Passage 45 of 46 Prefer smaller classes. Passage 46 of 46 Or larger classes broken down into small groups.

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Appendix A7. Focus Group Highlights: Instructors.

UTRF Large Classes Project Qualitative Data Instructor Focus Group

Passage 1 of 71 It is the death of the University system. Passage 2 of 71 They are increasingly problematic. Passage 3 of 71 It’s slopping over from introductory classes to senior classes. Passage 4 of 71 By the time they get to forth year, they can’t write, don’t have critical thinking skills, and can’t reference. Passage 5 of 71 It’s very problematic. Passage 6 of 71 Exams used to be completely written. Passage 7 of 71 I have had to gradually reduce things to half multiple choice. Passage 8 of 71 I put papers in second year courses, but there are problems with having multiple markers. Passage 9 of 71 They could have much more teaching assistant help. Passage 10 of 71 Tutorials in large classes would be a good idea. Passage 11 of 71 I like the rhythm of a large class. Passage 12 of 71 What you miss is making sure everyone is with you during the lecture. Passage 13 of 71 Attendance is another issue in large classes; some students don’t show up. Passage 14 of 71 Classes with 90-150 students, they tend to show-up. Passage 15 of 71 Having the notes on the web also seems to reduce attendance. Passage 16 of 71 In BioSci, most classes have labs, so they get more individual attention that way. Passage 17 of 71 Large classes are basically used for information transfer. Passage 18 of 71 Poor attendance is a real problem in large classes; about 60% of people show up. Passage 19 of 71 There is a lot of noise etc. in large classes. Passage 20 of 71 I have similar complaints with a lack of participation in large classes.

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Passage 21 of 71 I frequently ask questions in class, and I try to get the students involved. Passage 22 of 71 The people in the middle of the room are the anonymous ones. Passage 23 of 71 Classroom design is important. TL11 is good because of the funnel shape of the room and the large “stage” area at the front. Passage 24 of 71 I also move around the class a lot, which keeps them interested. Passage 25 of 71 In large classes, a lot of students have good comments, but arte too nervous to participate. Passage 26 of 71 I tried having a question box for students in the pre-email days. Passage 27 of 71 I find email really annoying in large classes; most of the email is garbage, and some of it is disrespectful. Passage 28 of 71 It’s a good point about email; I got infected by a hotmail/yahoo account. Passage 29 of 71 If there was a record of whom it came from, then it might be more respectful. Passage 30 of 71 This year, I am going to specify that they have to use their GPU account. Passage 31 of 71 One problem that gets magnified in large classes is that students don’t know what to expect, and what they are doing here. Passage 32 of 71 You have to tell them what is expected of them. Passage 33 of 71 They often show no improvement over time, with writing etc. Passage 34 of 71 The education system is moving to an external locus of control. Passage 35 of 71 The students aren’t taking responsibility for their education. Passage 36 of 71 I’m used to having labs in classes, but in psychology you don’t have them. In labs you get weekly feedback. Passage 37 of 71 It’s amazing what they think will pass for written work. Passage 38 of 71 Some students really don’t care about their papers. Passage 39 of 71 Also I find myself having to defend a mark of 80% on a paper. Passage 40 of 71 Getting a perfect mark is almost impossible with written work. Passage 41 of 71 In the calendar a 6 is average and above that is better than average.

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Passage 42 of 71 Yeah, they are basically just vessels in large classes. Passage 43 of 71 It is such a big transition from high school to University, and they don’t realize it until after the first test. Passage 44 of 71 Students really need to know how to read texts and tests. Passage 45 of 71 What would set tem on the right path? Passage 46 of 71 They need a pre-course on how to write and think critically. Passage 47 of 71 The only students who take courses in this area are the ones who probably don’t need it. Passage 48 of 71 We had orientations at my University that laid-out expectations etc. Passage 49 of 71 They would be less problematic. Passage 50 of 71 Right now, I can’t discuss things out of the textbook, because people don’t read it. Passage 51 of 71 The anonymity is the problem. They know they won’t be asked questions on the material, so they don’t read it. Passage 52 of 71 In the 8:00 classes, the people who attend really want to be there, so the interaction is better. Passage 53 of 71 If there were more face-to-face experience it would help. Passage 54 of 71 I’m going to try virtual office hours. Passage 55 of 71 Students don’t even call during office hours. Passage 56 of 71 I think they are intimidated, that’s why they send e-mail. Passage 57 of 71 I see students all the time in large classes, but it’s at the end of the lecture. Passage 58 of 71 Another key feature in small classes is the ability to show students what is expected to get certain marks. Passage 59 of 71 In smaller classes they hear what marks other students are getting, and can gauge the quality of their work better. Passage 60 of 71 Coming from high school, students have trouble realizing that every idea is a good one, because you can learn from it. Passage 61 of 71 My opinion on most of the emails is that students are too lazy to look up the information. Passage 62 of 71 If we don’t answer the emails, they can say that on our end-of-year evaluations. Passage 63 of 71 The people in the middle of the pack are the ones you have to teach to.

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Passage 64 of 71 In large classes you don’t have the time to help the stragglers. Passage 65 of 71 In smaller classes, you are able to work with the students who need more help. Passage 66 of 71 They must be made aware of places they can go if they need help. Passage 67 of 71 If they make the realization early that University will be more work than they expected, they have a chance. Passage 68 of 71 Students don’t use resources like TA’s. Passage 69 of 71 TA’s are often anonymous, but if they come to class, students are more likely to approach them for help. Passage 70 of 71 Another way of dealing with it, is to send student to the TA to hand in assignments etc. Ten they are familiar with the TA and may approach them for help. Passage 71 of 71 The assignments I grade have a lower average grade than the ones the TA grades.

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Quality Improvement in First Year Large Enrolment Courses · Introduction. Many first-year courses in the Faculties of Arts and Science involve lecture presentations to large groups