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Effective Learning and Teaching Strategies in Small and Large Classrooms

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Moderators:

Christine King, PhD, UC Irvine

Laura Christian, PhD, Georgia Tech

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Objectives

In this session, we will discuss…

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  1. Challenges with incorporating more equitable grading techniques

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  1. Favorite active learning techniques

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  1. Challenges in larger class sizes when promoting inclusion and engagement

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  1. Use of learning assistants and graders

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  1. Incorporating new technologies and learning management systems

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Survey Responses: Demographics

Total Responses: 135

Institution Size (all students)

Number of Responses

Number of Responses

Program Size (all students)

Degrees Offered By Your Program

Institution Type

Number of Responses

1000-3000

3000-10,000

> 10,000

115

107

110

Undergraduate

Masters

Doctorate

< 100

100- 200

200- 300

300- 500

> 500

Carnegie R1

(80%)

Carnegie R2

(90%)

P.U.I. (10%)

Carnegie D/PU (1%)

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What types of active learning are most commonly used in your courses?

What Class Size Do You Typically Teach?

< 30

30-60

60-100

> 100

Count

What proportion of faculty in your department use active learning techniques in class?

All Faculty (7%)

>50% of Faculty (32%)

<50% of Faculty (61%)

Do You Use Specifications Grading or Similar?

No (51%)

Not Sure (34%)

Yes (15%)

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Briefly explain how you use such grading techniques in technical courses.

Grading scale adopted by university

We require 16 credits of design. All those courses require design to specs.

curving, extra credits, and syllabus specification

Have tried but it has been difficult....

In Capstone class, we make sure that their product meets the specs

Depends on instructor. Some use it, some don't. Almost all students are confused by it. (and therefore dislike it)

used in engineering design at specific check points: high pass, pass, no pass (with a required re-do).

Students need to make engineering sense of their answers

I use specs grading in biostats and physiology. Students must earn a 90% or higher on all assignments to get an A, and are allowed to complete revision work to improve scores

design grades have milestones and check points. So instead of applying an A-D grade on items like "technical specifications/requirements" or FMEA - we have tried to move away from this and implement meeting the requirements by a spec grade. This has alleviated a lot of busy paperwork duties by faculty and reduced grade anxiety for our students.

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Breakout Session

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Resources