Making a large lecture-style class feel like a small community
Bjorndahl, C.
I teach a large (100+ students) lecture style class. These classes can often feel impersonal both for the students and the instructor—particularly when the course functions as a distribution requirement—due to the heterogeneous student body. In this talk I share specific yet easily adaptable strategies that I use to make a large class feel like a small community. Strategies are geared towards creating shared experiences within the class while allowing room for diverse perspectives. I discuss the importance of being appropriately personal, while keeping in mind the power imbalance that exists in the student-instructor relationship. Finally, I share the benefits of this approach, both pedagogical and personal: students are engaged, lectures are fun (for all of us), and the community extends beyond the classroom to the CMU campus.
Christina Bjorndahl, Philosophy DC
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