Audience response systems (ARS) or clickers, as they are commonly called, offer a management tool for engaging students in the large classroom. Basic elements of the technology are discussed. These systems have been used in a variety of fields and at all levels of education. Typical goals of ARS questions are discussed, as well as methods of…

Four newsletter issues on college instruction cover large class instruction, working with teaching assistants (TAs), preparing a course syllabus, and practical approaches to dealing with cheating on exams. Specific topics include: deciding on content for large class lectures, selecting texts and readings, physical characteristics of the lecture…

AN INITIAL ATTEMPT TO EVALUATE PROGRAMED INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL IN ALGEBRA CLASSES LED TO FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION WITH A VARIETY OF PROCEDURES. IN 1964-65, NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND IN THE PERCENT OF STUDENTS SUCCEEDING IN PROGRAMED AND CONVENTIONAL CLASSES, THOUGH STUDENTS IN PROGRAMED SECTIONS DID NOT SEEM MOTIVATED TO WORK AT THEIR…

The first section of this final report is an introduction that is on video tape and available only through the author. The second section, which is written, concerns large group instruction. It contains infcrmation on the lecture and on an instructional management strategy for individualized learning. Small group instruction is explored in section…

The effects of instruction in polysemantic words at the sixth-grade level are investigated. The most efficient means of teaching these words, the factors which affect such teaching, and the effectiveness of large group instruction versus small group instruction are studied. Four hundred and twenty-seven sixth-grade students from lower-, middle-,…

A method to effectively organize new courses of instruction or reorganize existing courses of instruction is readily adaptable to most subject areas and can be developed with limited funding. The four modes of the multi-mode course are large group assemblies, small group discussion sessions, self-instructional learning laboratories, and individual…

Following a "Statement on Teaching Experience as Part of Ph.D. Programs," two orientation programs for teaching assistants are described. Five recent experiments in teaching mathematics to large numbers of undergraduates are also described, one using television and the remainder using modules. (MM)

An Introductory Sociology class enrolling up to 1,000 students per semester was the group used in this experiment to discover empirically validated means of teaching the mass class with both emotional satisfaction to students and pedagogical efficiency. The course was conducted in lecture-discussion style with two lectures and one discussion…

This speech discusses the concepts of the large group presentation, or the motivational experience; the small group discussion, or reaction discussions; and independent study, or continuous progress self directed learning. The discussion of these concepts is taken from the perspective of three years' participation by the author's school in a Model…

Small group teaching, with four stages of student participation, individual work, work in pairs, work in small groups of 4-6 members, and reporting back to the whole group, is adapted to the lecture situation allowing the lecturer to intervene at each stage to direct progress toward previously-determined objectives. (JMD)

Six keys to successful instruction in large classes are identified: don't be intimidated, prepare carefully, be natural, be personal, prevent students from feeling insignificant and anonymous, and stay in touch with teaching assistants. (MLW)

Lists postulates on which the author bases his approach to large class instruction. Suggestions are given for such administrative, operational, and academic procedures as organizing handouts and class information; avoiding "busy work"; finding out about the students (personal and academic); making an assignment due every class; and providing quick…

This paper focuses on some of the key issues involved in implementing a collaborative design project in the setting of the large undergraduate lecture course at a major research university, offering a preliminary analysis of the assignment mainly as a function of how students managed and interpreted it. The collaborative design project was…

The political attitude of schools was considered and the conflict of democracy and autocracy in the classroom was evaluated. (RK)

Compared student performance on test of subject-matter after a 7 day unit on evolution taught by either individual study, group discussion, large-group instruction, or by a combination of these three methods. Found no significant difference among groups when pretest score used as dovariate. (AL)