Teach large classes techniques

Before this week I had the idea that teaching in large classes is a problem with no solution. After going through the sites available and the suggested ones, I found that the teacher can overcome these troubles and reach the top of his class working. For me, I don't teach large classes. Anyhow, through reading and discussion, I knew the challenges and the ways to exceed them. In my article now, I am going to speak about the challenges with the technology ot the techniques that can be used with them.


The large number of the class may make the teacher embarrassed. So, individual and face to face instruction may be useless in this case. The teacher has to minimize the number of his audience. Instead of speaking to 60 students, he can speak to 6 groups of 10 students. He speaks to them as a one unit. In the group, there should be a group name, logo and roles. Students who learn in collaborative settings both learn and retain 1.5 times as much as students who learn individually. The teacher may have the problem of not knowing the names of the students. This can be solved easily. He can ask each on in the group to write his name and put it in front of him in the group or on the wall beside him.


There are many techniques that should be used to benefit from the group work. The size of the group is an important factor in this process. The increase in group size leads to an increase in complexity. This is because larger groups have more non-participants than smaller groups, group size affects levels of cooperation and Group members tend to be less satisfied with groups of ten
or more. To achieve that, the teacher should assign students to groups rather than allowing them to self-select. He/should teach students how to work in groups. For more details, you can access this link http://tep.uoregon.edu/technology/blackboard/docs/groups.pdf .There are many activities that can be used with the small groups: think-pair-share, think-pair-square, conceptest, quick-thinks re-order the steps, paraphrase the idea and support a statement .



Collaborative learning of small groups that work together is a fruitful way. In such a way, each group member's success is dependent on the group's success. Students who engage in cooperative learning learn more, and develop better critical-thinking skills than students in traditional lecture classes. By the passing of the time the students may get bored. But they enjoy cooperative learning more than traditional lecture classes. The Collaborative learning can be used either in small exercise or even a big project according to the students' levels or grades and in online classes.


The number of the student is a great challenge in the field of classroom management. I remember a saying which I can say that it's the best solution to any classroom management problems in small or large classes: "keep them always busy." The teacher should lecture the class. By the passing of the time the students may get bored and other students feel afraid to participate. Techniques like lecturing won't be fruitful if it isn't enhanced. The use of technology such as computer projections, PowerPoint presentations laptops and projections are a great enhancement to the teachers' lecture.


Therefore, now I am going to speak about PowerPoint presentations and how they can be used interactively. I read many articles about making interactive PowerPoint. Most of them are listed here: http://tep.uoregon.edu/technology/powerpoint/powerpoint.html I also viewed Roberts's presentation. I learned much from them. I learned that many techniques can be used to make interactive such as the following: the blank slide, the think-pair-share techniques and the think-pair-square technique. The presentation should be varied in materials to match all the types of the students. They should contain pictures, videos, flash items and hyperlinks. The text font, the text size, the colour , the background. To engage the class, the lecturer should provide printed handouts for those who don't write notes while lecturing. The teacher should comment and do not just read the presentation. There should good use of time. Giving the class a rest through the blank slide, using many types of media, and hiding the pointer are helpful techniques to make the presentation more interactive.

Mustafa