Abstract
Over the past ten years, universities and other tertiary level institutions have seen a considerable increase in student enrolment. This has led to larger class sizes both in the lecture hall and tutorial classroom. Research has indicated that larger classes at the tertiary level have not only burdened teaching staff, but have also led to student disengagement in the lecture hall. Students, new to university life, have been found to be particularly unprepared for this type of learning environment. This project explores the shared understanding of how to create a sense of community in large class sizes within a School of Education. Three academics formed a partnership in an effort to share techniques that actively created a sense of community in lecture halls of over 200 students. This research is relevant not only in highlighting this problem, but in the sharing of recommendations and suggestions for large group teaching.
Highlights
This paper responds to key research in the Australian higher education context in arguing that in spite of the challenges of large classes, it was possible to create a sense of community in teaching three different teaching areas
The academics valued the sense of community greatly and wanted to instill this into their large lectures to ensure student attrition and positive student engagement (Matthews, Andrews, & Adams, 2011)
How does one ensure that there is a sense of belonging and community in such large classes with so many students? One way to provide a sense of belonging is the ability of the lecturers to strategically move throughout the lecture theater as no more than 200 students were present
Summary
This paper responds to key research in the Australian higher education context in arguing that in spite of the challenges of large classes, it was possible to create a sense of community in teaching three different teaching areas. This large increase of student numbers in classes makes it difficult to develop community (Bradley Review of Australian Higher Education, 2008; James, Krause, & Jennings, 2010). At the university where this study was set, there is an emphasis on face-to-face teaching and attendance so the ability to engage students in the sense of community is increased, and the university is being proactive in developing the sense early on in the bachelor degree. The Bradley Review of Higher Education report (2008) reflects this perception by reporting that “a very significant number [of students] reported negatively on aspects of the student experience, including many who complained that in their university class sizes were too large” Research suggests that performance may be dependent on discipline with research in fields such as political demonstrating no adverse effects on student performance (Towner, 2016)
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