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Really good at big

As the end of the lecture hour approaches, ISU associate botany professor Jim Colbert tells his mostly second-year students: "Talk with someone next to you about the most confusing thing I’ve said today."

Later, he reminds his class they can send him questions via an Internet site that allows instructor and students (all of them) to "visit" about class topics.

"There’s no excuse for having questions go unasked," Colbert said. "And I respond to all of them."

Across campus, journalism faculty member Barbara Mack leads her second-semester freshmen through the industrial revolution, printing presses and wood pulp paper, and the demise of something she clearly treasures: cotton paper.

"Have you ever felt that stuff?" she inquires of her class. "It’s thicker than the walls in my first apartment."

Mack, Colbert and three colleagues – Wolfgang Kliemann in math, Ron Peters in psychology and Steve Kawaler in physics and astronomy – were honored spring semester by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) as "master teachers" for their ability to teach large classes effectively. Some know how to close the distance in auditorium-sized classrooms. Some use the newest technologies to create that interactive environment that comes more easily to small groups. Others rely on old-fashioned rapport – including interest in their students and a little humor – to succeed as teachers in spite of large class sizes. What they share is enthusiasm for teaching.

"These people have worked very hard for us this year," said Peter Orazem, associate LAS dean who came up with the idea of tapping successful teachers to help others succeed. "I always have wanted to just sit in on classes, to see what sorts of things others do that might be useful to me," he explained.

With organizational assistance from the Center for Teaching Excellence, the five master teachers traded their wares frequently this spring. In addition to opening their classes to visitors, each led a 90-minute faculty workshop on some aspect of teaching to large student groups, and participated in a faculty forum on the topic.

Reality of university classes
The dilemma of large classes is one shared by universities across the country, although the perception of "large" may vary by academic discipline or school.

"In LAS, we have a number of disciplines – philosophy, chemistry or biology, for example – for which large classes are going to be with us for some time," said LAS dean Peter Rabideau, who defines "large" at Iowa State as sections with 100 or more students. "It would be incredibly expensive if we taught all our courses in sections of 20 to 25 students."

"Our feeling, though, has been that if we need to teach such large classes, we want to do it well," he said.

The master teachers have found strategies that work in large or small classes.

Mack said regardless of her class size or the dictates of her syllabus, she seeks the "teachable moment."

"I’m not terribly rigid about stick-ing to a schedule because I’ve learned that very quickly you’ll see rigidity reflected in your students," she said.

Peters said the worst mistake he made with a large class was to apologize for its size. "I realized I was creating a self-fulfilling prophecy – you know, the one that this would be so much better if it were smaller," he said.

Peters teaches introductory psychology classes to more than 3,000 freshmen each year and uses PowerPoint computer software extensively to put text and graphics on a large screen during class discussions.

"In introductory courses, you have a wide range of things you can cover. You can hook ’em or lose ’em, so I try to present topics that will turn them on to (psychology)," he said.

Colbert said his 15 years or so of teaching have taught him to pay attention to the questions students ask. It’s one of the reasons he uses the Internet site to collect them. The interactive computer site "offers a very non-threatening setting in which students can ask questions and see what questions other students are asking," he said. "And those questions have a big impact on the topics I teach, how I teach." Colbert said he typically opens a lecture with questions submitted by students since the last class meeting.

Orazem said reaction to the five master teachers has been so good college leaders are thinking about selecting another five next year.

"Large lectures are a difficult nut to crack," he said, "but at the same time, they affect the most students."

– Anne Krapfl
University Relations