There is not much more I can add to Beth's response to your request. One thing I did to get students more involved with the class was to use one of those web based mail programs that allow threaded email discussions. I required students to post questions and respond to a percentage of the other questions that were posted. They also had to respond to the students who responded to their questions. Sometimes I would post a question to the class that they would discuss on-line. I was always impressed with the level of discussion that took place.
I also liked using short video clips to emphasize lecture topics. As Beth pointed out, variety keeps the students attention. I wouldn't rule out in class demonstrations. If the class room has a projector connected to a computer there are many interactive exercises you can still use. Gary J. Klatsky, Ph. D. Department of Psychology [EMAIL PROTECTED] Oswego State University (SUNY) http://www.oswego.edu/~klatsky 7060 State Hwy 104W Voice: (315) 312-3474 Oswego, NY 13126 Fax: (315) 312-6330 -----Original Message----- From: Jessey Bernstein [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 10:11 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: New teacher Hi Tipsters! I am a 4th year grad student getting ready to teach my first large, in-session class. It will be an Intro Psych class, with about 120 students. I have taught twice before, each time the second half of a summer course (also Intro). But in those classes, there were 10 or less students. I have a feeling this experience is going to be quite different, that I will be in for a number of surprises, teaching a large class, that I wasn't faced with in teaching such small classes. So, I wonder if some of you could post a few examples of issues that you have faced when teaching small vs large classes. How have your teaching techniques changed, if at all? (Less in-class discussion? More group activities?...) Have there been different administrative problems to face in a large vs small class? Do you have any suggestions for how I can prepare for these things? (I am thinking that I should create some spreadsheets for grade calculation, as doing it by hand is no longer going to be an option...!). Teaching is fun and meaningful to me, and I want to be able to convey the subject as well as possible to the students. At the same time, I do not want to waste (in my mind) a lot of time on administration -- thus, for example, I want to begin the class being as clear as possible about the consequences for late submissions, missed exams etc. (I've learned a lot about this on TIPS!). It seems that a bit of forethought can save lots of time later. In any case, I am open to ANY suggestions, warnings, tips or hints from you all. Thanks so much, Jessey Bernstein, M.A. Dept of Clinical Psychology University of Rochester Rochester, NY --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
