Lead Project Team
-The University of Queensland
Denise Chalmers:
The Teaching and Educational Development Institute
Ron Weber: School of Commerce
Doune MacDonald: School of Human Movement
Studies
Debra Herbert: The Teaching and
Educational Development Institute
Nan Bahr: School of Education
Deborah Terry: School of Psychology
Ottmar Lipp: School of Psychology
John McLean: School of Psychology
Rachel Hannam: (Project Co-ordinator)
The Teaching and Educational Development Institute
Other Universities: Other project participant groups are situated at 24
universities around Australia
Background
Australian
academics are increasingly faced with challenges involved in teaching large
classes. Large classes are a common experience for many students, particularly
those in Science, Business and Arts disciplines, as well as in first-year
courses. Moreover, traditional lectures remain a widely used teaching approach
throughout the university sector.
In
many instances, attempts to deal with these challenges have failed to move
beyond the techniques traditionally used in classes with small to moderate
enrolments, or have been implemented at the individual, rather than at the
institutional level. Therefore, for various reasons, it seems that research
findings on the topic and understandings of what constitutes good practice
in large class teaching are not being taken up by many of the academics who
have responsibility for teaching large classes.
There
is a significant body of literature from both Australia and overseas which
deals with teaching large classes, and includes related issues such as:
- the
quality of student learning;
-
dealing
with student diversity;
-
limitations
in resources;
-
formative
assessment in large classes; and
-
the
connection between discussion groups/tutorials and large classes.
The teaching large classes project
involved two main phases,
- review; and
- strategy development, evaluation and dissemination
of the findings.
Review Phase
A multi-method and multi-level approach was used to
obtain a comprehensive body of information on:
- current practices adopted in the teaching of large
classes;
- the issues that emerge in the teaching of such classes;
- the strategies that are used to deal with the demands
of teaching large classes; and
- the institutional responses to the challenges involved
in the teaching of large classes.
The results of this research are shown in two ways;
a literature review and the results of a survey of academics working with large
class groups.
1. The literature review documents and discusses
the research findings and practices that relate to the teaching of large classes
- across disciplines both nationally and internationally
It identifies the range of ways in which large classes are organised, taught
and managed. It is broken down into sections.These are:
- introduction - what's different about large classes?;
- student performance in large classes;
- teaching and assessment in large classes;
- administration and management of large classes;
- large classes across disciplines;
- policies and trends in higher education; and
- list of references.
2. A survey of lecturers of large classes and
academic developers participating in the project was conducted to obtain in-depth
information on:
- the issues faced by teachers and the strategies
that they have implemented in the teaching;
- structure;
- organisation;
- assessment of large classes; and
- any institutional support in place for large class
teaching.
This created a collection of case studies and up-to-date information on best
practice in large class teaching around Australia.
Dissemination Phase
The model of dissemination for this project was based
around the concept of identifying highly accomplished teachers (HATs) and academic
developers based in each university, with these groups being the primary contact
for dissemination. Two to three teachers from each participating Australian
university, in a number of disciplines who have responsibility for large classes,
and one member from the university's academic development unit were invited
to participate in the project.There were 81 participants from 24 universities
involved in the project.
The 1st National Teaching Large Classes Workshop was
convened in July 2001, to create a core network of large class teachers around
Australia, and to share best practice in teaching large classes. Participants
discussed five major issues identified through the literature review and surveys:
- student issues;
- teaching management and curriculum issues;
- administration;
- resources and institutional support issues; and
- teaching and learning strategies and assessment.
They also discussed the issues most relevant in their
own discipline areas, and shared both the least successful and most successful
strategies they have tried in teaching large classes.
Dissemination initiatives were brainstormed and developed
in institutional groups and regionally related university groups (e.g. Qld,
Sydney-based, NSW regional, Victoria, WA).
The 2nd National Workshop was convened in November 2001,
to further disseminate project findings and resources, to obtain feedback on
project activities and individual university initiatives, and to inspire participants
to be 'agents of change' within their own institutions.
The project was also presented at the National Teaching
Forum, held in Canberra in December 2001. The abstract is available from the
Resources section of
this site.
Final AUTC project report, 2003
The final report sent to the AUTC summarises
the project's major activities, time-line and impact across the higher education
sector. Appendices include a summary of the literature, presentations given,
surveys results and details of the national workshops held in 2001.
