To promote student learning and bolster student success, higher education institutions are increasingly creating large active learning classrooms to replace traditional lecture halls. Although there have been many efforts to examine the effects of those classrooms on learning outcomes, there is paucity of research that can inform the design and…

This paper presents a model for teaching large classes that facilitates a "small class feel" to counteract the distance, anonymity, and formality that often characterize large lecture-style courses in higher education. One author (E. P.) has been teaching a 300-student general education critical thinking course for ten years, and the…

This chapter describes the history of case study teaching, types of cases, and experimental data supporting their effectiveness. It also describes a model for comparing the efficacy of the various case study methods. (Contains 1 figure.)

We report the results of a study designed to investigate the effectiveness of peer-led, small-group discussions in a large (N greater than 400) general chemistry course usually taught in a traditional lecture format. The administrative structure, the training of the peer facilitators, and the achievement of students exposed to this environment…

This study compares the effects of two instructional techniques--traditional lecture-demonstration and small group self-study--using the Ford power train unit as an instructional aid. (JOW)

Describes and evaluates a technique used in two science lecture courses (biochemistry and introductory meteorology), in which lectures were interspersed with frequent, brief discussions within spontaneously formed small groups. Some differences were found in the ways the two professors managed the technique, but both felt in-class participation…

This paper considers how active learning events in the form of problem solving/discussion events can be combined with the traditional lecture to better support good teaching and student learning in information systems (IS) education. A single case study is used to illustrate and evaluate the effectiveness of small group problem solving and…

A review of the journal literature on three instructional strategies (lecture, the small group, and the discussion method) reveals that research concerning teacher training in these strategies is extremely limited. (Journals were chosen as offering the most accessible research in this area). Although there is much anecdotal information on how to…

The purpose of this report was to evaluate the more common small group methods in terms of their effectiveness in teaching adults. A rationale for small group instruction was presented, followed by descriptions of the principal methods, and an assessment based on existing research findings. It was concluded that small group methods can be…

This volume offers practical suggestions to teachers on how to improve teaching methods at the higher education level. Suggestions span various types of teaching tasks and settings. Chapter 1 is on teaching in large groups and includes lecture preparation, what to do when things go wrong, evaluating a lecture, and related topics. Chapter 2…

Innovations which were incorporated into large, introductory, educational psychology lecture classes are described and compared to smaller classes that did not make use of the innovations. Four innovative pedagogical techniques are used: (1) a mastery approach, (2) formative evaluation, (3) a modified pyramid-like structure using small group…

Cases are stories that are meant to educate. Teachers can deliver cases by lecture, through Socratic questioning, through discussion leading, and in small group learning. Some cases are fact driven and deductive, whereas others are context driven. Science appears to demand closed-ended cases with correct answers; however, in frontier science,…

Forms and characteristics of small group physics instruction in the Russian university are examined and in some cases, compared to those used in Britain. Topics discussed include the lecture method, classroom communication during lectures, postlecture discussion, specialized small-audience lectures, problem solving, individual research projects,…

College physics teachers describe their experience using a computer-based classroom communication system that facilitates presentation of questions for small-group work, collection of student answers, and display of histograms showing how the class answered, all feeding into classwide discussions. The technique engages students in active learning…

IN A STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF CERTAIN VARIABLES ON THE OUTCOMES OF A COURSE IN INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY, PRETESTS AND POSTTESTS WERE ADMINISTERED TO 180 STUDENTS IN FOUR PSYCHOLOGY CLASSES AND TO 50 OTHERS. VARIABLES WERE CLASS SIZE, INSTRUCTOR, AND LECTURE VS. DISCUSSION METHOD, AND THE TESTS WERE MEASURES OF CHANGES IN STUDENTS' SELF-CONCEPT,…