Being a teacher or a student in a class with a large enrollment can be intimidating. Often, teachers view comforts that are common to small classes as unattainable in a larger class, including knowing students' names, using active learning, employing group work, and creating group discussion. Students in large classes may find that the class size…

The inverted classroom model (ICM) has started to attract attention as a pedagogical approach in political science teaching. While there are many publications describing the application of the model in single courses and analyzing students' performance in inverted classes, the existing literature provides little guidance for first-time users of…

The large introductory classes at many universities present a particular challenge for instructors wishing to guarantee participation opportunities for their students. Yet, large courses can actually afford advantages for instructors looking to replicate many features of the U.S. Congress. We describe two separate Congressional simulations in an…

Active learning environments are ideal settings to help students develop process skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving. However, implementing active learning pedagogies where students have the opportunity to develop these skills can be challenging in large enrollment courses. With the assistance of undergraduate teaching…

Introductory physics labs often focus on a series of common experiments intending to teach the student the measurement side of physics. While these experiments have the potential to be quite instructive, we observed that our students often consider them to be boring and monotonous, which often leads to them being uninstructive. To combat this, we…

Nolan and Temple Lang's "Computing in the Statistics Curricula" (2010) advocated for a shift in statistical education to broadly include computing. In the time since, individuals with training in both computing and statistics have become increasingly employable in the burgeoning data science field. In response, universities have…

Team projects and in-class interactions are the hallmark of a freshmen introductory course in biomedical engineering (BME). Our challenge was to continue team activities, mentoring, and the semester-long design project in a virtual environment after in-person classes ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper highlights some of the adaptations…

Several active-learning pedagogies involve groups of students working together to construct their own understanding of course content. In these classrooms, the instructor serves as a facilitator of learning, by interacting with every group, engaging students in discussions, answering questions, and providing formative feedback. This type of…

Undergraduate physics programs are increasingly facing pressure from university and college administration, industry, and funding agencies to improve training of our undergraduates. Increasingly, tertiary institutions have redefined their graduate profiles and mission statements to encompass more than just content knowledge, including skills that…

Creative K-12 health teachers can engage students in large classes by utilizing active learning strategies. Active learning involves engaging students in higher-order tasks, such as analysis and synthesis, which is a crucial element of the movement toward what is commonly called "learner-centered" teaching. Health education teachers who…

Due to the large number of students, instructors teaching high enrollment courses often rely on traditional assignments such as scantron exams and research papers. While these types of assignments are functional and satisfy a purpose, they are typically not meaningful or pleasurable for students. In an introductory information technology course,…

Faced with diminished faculty resources and increased student enrolment from 2010 to 2017, we sought to use blended learning to achieve active learning in a large c.400-student introductory geography class. Working iteratively over seven years and eight classes and using smart classrooms, better timetabling, experimentation with peer review and…

In this article, the author introduces the usage of case studies to be an excellent method for engaging students through stories. The author notes she developed a series of mini-case studies that can be implemented, with a little advance preparation, within a 10- to 15-minute window during lecture. What makes them "mini" case studies?…

A number of researchers and educators have proposed educational methods over the years designed to improve our focus on students, their quality of learning, and experiences through academic and personal development. With a concern for moving forward, some of the more classical methods have been abandoned for the sake of progress, technology, and…

Many first-year university courses are large and content-driven, which can contribute to low student engagement and difficulty involving students in the dynamic, cross-disciplinary nature of inquiry. Learning communities can address these goals, but their implementation often poses logistical challenges, especially in large courses. Here, we apply…