Large University Classes Research Articles

A Blended Teaching Sequence for Introducing Eigentheory in a Large University Class

We present the design and implementation of a teaching sequence on eigentheory that aims at encouraging at facilitating students’ active participation in a class attended by a high number of students. We describe how the use of the online noticing board Padlet facilitates the implementation of activities in small groups during lectures. These activities are designed based on the results of a pilot study aimed at assessing students’ understanding of eigentheory notions. We analyze various types of data collected during and after the implementation, showing a positive response from both the course teacher and the students to this teaching and learning methodology.

Quality teaching and learning in a fully online large university class: a mixed methods study on students’ behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement

Quality teaching and learning in a fully online large university class: a mixed methods study on students’ behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement

Preparing the Future Nutrition Professional: Dynamic Approaches in Nutrition Higher Education

ObjectivesWe examined the feasibility and effectiveness of a project-based nutrition curriculum during an academic year to enhance undergraduate professional skill development and application of nutrition content. MethodsCurrent approaches in nutrition higher education are traditionally rich in disciplinary content. However, complex social problems including food insecurity, diet-related diseases, and obesity require student-centered pedological approaches utilizing critical thinking and problem solving to connect course content with food, culture, and health. Often nutrition undergraduate students are not exposed to interdisciplinary teams and student-led projects that span an academic year to address wicked problems. As a result, students may enter the workforce unprepared for the challenges associated with interdisciplinary teamwork and real-world problems. To address gaps in higher education curricula, we developed sequential food and nutrition management courses with transferable skills explicitly embedded. During an academic year, 32 nutrition undergraduate students were introduced to complex social problems related food, culture, and health. Through scaffolding, instructor facilitation, and professional advisors, students developed and managed food and nutrition solutions to address complex social problems. Using reflective practice and friend-in-dialogue, we were able to assess student acquisition of professional skills. Students prepared self-assessments and peer evaluations which were then compared with observational notes to guide sequential activities to support meaningful and relevant experiences. ResultsUsing thematic analysis, the themes that were identified include skill development in communication, teamwork, dealing with uncertainty, and appreciation for personalized education that is often unexpected in a large university class. However, students struggled with time management, scheduling conflicts, and asking for help in uncertain situations. ConclusionsOverall students were satisfied with their experience in an academic year project-based course. The course met pedological expectations for engaged student learning; however, students struggled with internal and external conflicts and expectations toward grades versus life-long learning. Funding SourcesNone.

Evaluation of four digital tools and their perceived impact on active learning, repetition and feedback in a large university class

Large university classes often face challenges in enhancing active learning, repetition and feedback in the classroom which are essential for promoting student learning. In this study, we evaluated the implementation of digital tools (lecture recordings, question tool, classroom response system and virtual reality) regarding their perceived impact on active learning, repetition, and feedback in a large university class. The study applied a mixed methods design and collected data from a survey (95 students) and focus groups (11 students). The results show that students enjoyed using the tools because they enriched the lecture. However, students perceived differences regarding the impacts on active learning, repetition, and feedback. The perceived impacts of the classroom response system and the lecture recordings were rated high whereas the perceived impacts of the question tool and the VR modules were rated lower. Recommendations on how to use these digital tools in large classroom settings are provided.

Evaluating a Persuasive Intervention for Engagement in a Large University Class

Persuasive Technologies (PT) are computational methods, strategies, and design techniques, grounded in social psychology to change user attitudes/behaviours. PTs have been applied in diverse areas, such as eCommerce, health, workplace, vehicles, urban and ambient environments. A kind of PT that has become popular in eLearning is known under the name “Gamification” – introducing game mechanics (such as points, levels, badges, leaderboards) into non-game environments. We implemented three persuasive strategies in an online learning environment supporting a University class to encourage more active engagement of students in their online learning activities. The paper presents a controlled study that shows a positive effect of the persuasive intervention on student engagement, measured by the increase in their online activities. The study results also show that personalizing the persuasive strategies to the receptiveness of individual students amplifies their effect on engagement.

A Comparison of Achievement in Large University Classes Using Mentored Groups versus Lectures

A Comparison of Achievement in Large University Classes Using Mentored Groups versus Lectures

Structural relationships among self-regulation, transactional distance, and learning engagement in a large university class using flipped learning

ABSTRACT Flipped learning has received growing attention as an important instructional approach leading to students’ learning performance and higher order thinking abilities. This study applied flipped learning to a large university class to improve its major weakness, students’ low engagement, and investigated the effects of self-regulation and transactional distance on learning engagement. The participants of this study were 390 undergraduate students who were enrolled in a general education course Philosophy of Consideration at a large university in South Korea. Analyses of an online survey completed in the Fall semester of 2018 indicate that self-regulation affected learning engagement and transactional interaction. Transactional interaction also affected learning engagement. In addition, transactional distance was found to mediate the relationship between self-regulation and learning engagement. That is, self-regulation affected learning engagement both directly and indirectly. However, students’ past flipped learning experience did not moderate the relationships among self-regulation, transactional interaction, and learning engagement. The research findings of this study confirmed the importance of self-regulation and transactional distance for improving learning engagement in a large university class. Finally, this study directly addresses prevailing concerns about how to effectively teach a large university class.

Analysing the Situation of ESL Teaching and Learning in Large University Classes in Pakistan

The present study is based on a chapter of the PhD project conducted by the main researcher. It aims to explore the ESL teaching and learning practices in a Pakistani university by focusing on difficulties perceived and confronted by learners and teachers, and solutions suggested by them. One of the most significant issues at the university is large classes-exceeding to 100 and more students on average. The main researcher, being an ESL teacher at the target university, faced the same problem of large size and found it difficult to teach these classes. He embarked on analysing the situation so that he might come across some solutions through the suggestions and experiences of the ESL teachers and students of the same university. The design of the study is descriptive and the results of the present study come from the quantitative data collected through student and teacher questionnaires. The Student-participants were 300 undergraduate students from various major subjects attending English language support classes and 22 ESL teachers teaching these English language support classes at different institutes of the university. The data were analysed descriptively and presented with help of the boxplots. The views, commonly held by teachers are supported by the study’s findings i.e., large classes are likely to endorse teacher-centred approaches of teaching; very little significant student-student and teacher-student interaction is practised because of the inadequate physical environment; majority of learners remain off-task and appear to be unruly and they are given little, if any, feedback on their in-class and home tasks. Conversely, many teachers and learners reported that the adoption of group/pair work is likely to be an effective technique to use in these classes. Albeit a few teachers revealed having adopted group work infrequently, none used it all the time.

Using Mobile Devices in Teaching Large University Classes: How Does It Affect Exam Success?

The aim of this study was to examine the role of mobile-based student response systems in teaching to improve university students’ academic outcomes. Mobile devices can be useful tools for conveying content to large classes, with a potential impact on academic outcomes. This study involved a total of 294 undergraduates taking a psychology course. The course involved lessons in the classroom, which included answering quizzes (quiz activities) and activities such as preparing reports and laboratory experiences (out-of-class activities). Quizzes were administered using a mobile technology system. Data were collected on the motivational beliefs (theory of intelligence) and self-regulated learning strategies of students who voluntarily completed the online questionnaires. The results of the linear models showed that using the quizzes positively affected the performance in the final exams (involving closed and open questions). The same was true for the out-of-class activities. The motivation and strategy scores correlated moderately with out-of-class activities, but not with quiz activities. These results offer insight on the use of technology during lessons and other course-related activities to promote academic achievement.

The effects of self‐efficacy,self‐regulationand social presence on learning engagement in a large university class using flipped Learning

AbstractFlipped learning recently gained attention as an effective instructional approach to enhance learning engagement, causing many universities to implement it. To enhance student engagement in large university classes, this study examined the effects of self‐efficacy, self‐regulation and social presence on learning engagement in a large university class using a flipped learning approach. A total of 390 undergraduates who were enrolled in a large general education class using flipped learning at a university in Korea participated in this study. The learners completed an online survey measuring the variables of this study. The research findings indicated that self‐regulation affected social presence as well as learning engagement. Self‐efficacy affected social presence and indirectly affected learning engagement through social presence. Finally, social presence affected learning engagement. Social presence also mediated the relationship between self‐efficacy and learning engagement as well as between self‐regulation and learning engagement. This study confirmed the significant effects of self‐regulation and social presence on students' learning engagement in large university classes.

Online collaboration in a large university class supports quality teaching

Quality teaching in large classes is generally challenging to achieve. In large classes, there are fewer possibilities for students to interact with the teacher and with each other; the motivation to study decreases as does the possibility for receiving feedback during the learning process. This can result, among other things, in reduced understanding of the learning material and therefore in lower academic performance. The aim of this study is to investigate whether computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) can have a positive impact on aspects of quality teaching such as interaction, motivation and understanding. Two online collaborative activities were designed and implemented in a regularly scheduled course with approximately 200 undergraduate students. This study adopted a mixed method of both qualitative and quantitative analysis: data were collected from surveys, in-depth interviews, forum logs, and exam scores. The results show that CSCL facilitates motivation, interaction and achievement of deep understanding. More particularly, one CSCL activity was found to be a significant contributor to students’ academic performance and this confirmed that traditional lecturing blended with CSCL improves the quality of the teaching compared to traditional lecturing only, at least as far as understanding is concerned. Moreover, the study indicates that different types of collaborative activities have different effects on learning and that the design of collaborative activities is therefore critical to outcomes. In this respect, it also reveals that social loafing, which is usually considered to have only negative effects on collaboration, can instead have a positive impact on learning if the task is appropriately designed.

An Analysis of the Perceptions and Resources of Large University Classes.

Large class learning is a reality that is not exclusive to the first-year experience at midsized, comprehensive universities; upper-year courses have similarly high enrollment, with many class sizes greater than 200 students. Research into the efficacy and deficiencies of large undergraduate classes has been ongoing for more than 100 years, with most research associating large classes with weak student engagement, decreased depth of learning, and ineffective interactions. This study used a multidimensional research approach to survey student and instructor perceptions of large biology classes and to characterize the courses offered by a department according to resources and course structure using a categorical principal components analysis. Both student and instructor survey results indicated that a large class begins around 240 students. Large classes were identified as impersonal and classified using extrinsic qualifiers; however, students did identify techniques that made the classes feel smaller. In addition to the qualitative survey, we also attempted to quantify courses by collecting data from course outlines and analyzed the data using categorical principal component analysis. The analysis maps institutional change in resource allocation and teaching structure from 2010 through 2014 and validates the use of categorical principal components analysis in educational research. We examine what perceptions and factors are involved in a large class that is perceived to feel small. Our analysis suggests that it is not the addition of resources or difference in the lecturing method, but it is the instructor that determines whether a large class can feel small.

Considerations for using personal Wi-Fi enabled devices as “clickers” in a large university class

Interactive student response systems, commonly referred to as clickers, have increased in popularity in higher education classrooms as a means to improve engagement and enhance learning. Clicker systems come with handheld devices as well as a radio frequency receiver. A Wi-Fi connection to the receiver is possible, enabling students to use their personal smartphones, tablets, or laptops instead of the handheld device. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of students using their personal Wi-Fi enabled devices as clickers in a large university class. In addition, we sought to elicit student perceptions of clicker use in general. Overall, the majority of students preferred using their personal devices, thus saving several minutes of class time in distribution and collection. Students gave very positive feedback on the use of clickers; however, they did not like that clickers could be used to track attendance and participation.

Embedding engaged learning in high enrollment lecture-based classes

Engaged learning opportunities have become powerful foundations upon which students build lifelong skills and organizational capacities. Research has empirically validated the long-term positive learning impacts of active and experiential learning opportunities for students. As such, institutional administrators and external stakeholders have encouraged and, in some cases, required that faculty use engaged teaching methods. At the same time, difficult economic circumstances continue to batter higher education, with class sizes increasing to improve efficiencies and reduce instructional costs. The confluence of those two trends has resulted in calls to integrate engaged learning opportunities in large higher education classes, engendering special challenges for educators. It is within this particular gap—practical guidance for transforming passive course designs to active ones—that our article contributes to the international higher education literature. We share our experiences implementing engaged learning practices into large university classes over a 4-year period, guided by an experiential learning theoretical framework. By analyzing text from our individual teaching journals and collaborative post-mortems, we are able to introduce an integrative model highlighting important contextual and logistical issues that must be considered: pre-class planning, in-class facilitation, assessments and feedback, training and renorming student expectations, and institutional context. We end the article with caveats and ethical considerations when introducing engaged learning into large classes.

A New Tool for Measuring Student Behavioral Engagement in Large University Classes

A New Tool for Measuring Student Behavioral Engagement in Large University Classes

Unregulated use of laptops over time in large lecture classes

Students often have their own individual laptop computers in university classes, and researchers debate the potential benefits and drawbacks of laptop use. In the presented research, we used a combination of surveys and in-class observations to study how students use their laptops in an unmonitored and unrestricted class setting—a large lecture-based university class with nearly 3000 enrolled students. By analyzing computer use over the duration of long (165 min) classes, we demonstrate how computer use changes over time. The observations and student-reports provided similar descriptions of laptop activities. Note taking was the most common use for the computers, followed by the use of social media web sites. Overall, the data show that students engaged in off-task computer activities for nearly two-thirds of the time. An analysis of the frequency of the various laptop activities over time showed that engagement in individual activities varied significantly over the duration of the class.

Frequent Internet Users May Prefer More Health Care Information and Participation in Decision-Making

Objective – To determine whether there is a significant relationship between patients’ frequency of Internet use and their health care information and decision-making preferences.
 
 Design – Cross-sectional questionnaire survey.
 
 Settings – Undergraduate classes at a large state university and senior-oriented computer classes at public libraries and senior centers.
 
 Subjects – 438 respondents, including 226 undergraduates (mean age 20) and 212 community-dwelling older adults (mean age 72). 
 
 Methods – Respondents were administered the Health Information Wants Questionnaire (HIWQ), a 21-item instrument designed to measure preferences for 7 types of health information and decision-making, in group settings. 
 
 Main Results – The younger age group spent significantly more time online compared to the older age group. Frequent Internet users in both populations expressed an overall preference for more information regarding diagnosis, but less information for psychosocial and health care provider concerns. Internet use was positively correlated to the overall preference rating, leading the researchers to suggest that, as a whole, regular Internet users prefer more information and independence in decision-making.
 
 Conclusions – The study concludes that Internet use frequency is associated with an overall preference for obtaining health information and participating in decision making. Internet use as related to different types of preferences is inconsistent. Age was not found to be associated with the overall preference rating, and time spent online is proposed to be a stronger indicator of respondents’ health information preferences. The authors suggest that future studies utilizing the HIWQ take a longitudinal approach in order to better track how patient preferences for information may evolve over time.

Daily Online Testing in Large Classes: Boosting College Performance while Reducing Achievement Gaps

An in-class computer-based system, that included daily online testing, was introduced to two large university classes. We examined subsequent improvements in academic performance and reductions in the achievement gaps between lower- and upper-middle class students in academic performance. Students (N = 901) brought laptop computers to classes and took daily quizzes that provided immediate and personalized feedback. Student performance was compared with the same data for traditional classes taught previously by the same instructors (N = 935). Exam performance was approximately half a letter grade above previous semesters, based on comparisons of identical questions asked from earlier years. Students in the experimental classes performed better in other classes, both in the semester they took the course and in subsequent semester classes. The new system resulted in a 50% reduction in the achievement gap as measured by grades among students of different social classes. These findings suggest that frequent consequential quizzing should be used routinely in large lecture courses to improve performance in class and in other concurrent and subsequent courses.

Right from the Start: A Rationale for Embedding Academic Literacy Skills in University Courses

This paper summarizes relevant research concepts, and then describes a case where online tutorials were used to integrate one generic academic skill - information literacy - into first year business courses. Tutorials covering the skills and information required to complete course assignments were designed so the content can be easily modified for different subjects and assessment tasks. Feedback from trials suggests that significant gains can be made using this embedded approach. Theoretical grounding of design concepts, integration into course activities and collaboration between course lecturers and academic support staff are all key success factors. The authors propose that this integrated approach is the most effective way to promote academic literacy skills development in large university classes, and that the learning design principles used in this case for Information Literacy could work equally well in other academic skill areas. Further research will be conducted to test this assumption.

Right from the Start: A Rationale for Embedding Academic Literacy Skills in University Courses

This paper summarizes relevant research concepts, and then describes a case where online tutorials were used to integrate one generic academic skill information literacy into first year business courses. Tutorials covering the skills and information required to complete course assignments were designed so the content can be easily modified for different subjects and assessment tasks. Feedback from trials suggests that significant gains can be made using this embedded approach. Theoretical grounding of design concepts, integration into course activities and collaboration between course lecturers and academic support staff are all key success factors. The authors propose that this integrated approach is the most effective way to promote academic literacy skills development in large university classes, and that the learning design principles used in this case for Information Literacy could work equally well in other academic skill areas. Further research will be conducted to test this assumption.