How can I make a big class interactive?
- You may either be hoping for an interactive lecture where students freely ask questions and where students happily answer questions that you pose. Or maybe you want to have a discussion. In the first case, you need to help the class feel comfortable with asking you questions and answering your questions. To do this, do not criticize sincere questions from students and be certain that you understand them correctly and have answered their questions completely when you are done. This will insure that students will continue to ask questions in the future. Also be sure to make sure your questions are good ones. In particular, ask specific questions which generate critical thinking and sometimes even controversy or disagreement. If a question has one correct obvious answer (e.g. "... and 2 + 2 is?"), no one is likely to bother answering it. If it's a lively discussion your after, and your class is large, consider splitting the class into smaller groups of 5, 10, or 15 students. In these smaller groups, more students may feel comfortable participating. To keep the ball rolling, try giving them a list of questions to answer in their groups. If the discussion seems to have gotten off track, try to bring it back to the original question or point. Do not, however, avoid disagreement or emotion entirely. These will keep the discussion interesting and dynamic.
Address questions or comments about TEP or this site to:
Georgeanne Cooper, Program Director, 64 PLC
Phone: 541-346-2177 Fax: 541-346-2184
Teaching Effectiveness Program, Teaching and Learning Center, University of Oregon.
Last Modified:
07/07/09