Report: Faculty of Education “Large Classes” Workshop: 2 June 2023
Workshop Topic
Large Class Pedagogies
Presenters
Drs Hanelie Adendorff and Anthea Jacobs, Ms Johara Khan and Charmaine van der Merwe, and Mr Sim Ntwasa
While the Faculty of Education has received numerous complaints and concerns about the sudden rise in the size of some of its class numbers, Professor Deresh Ramjugernath (Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Learning and Teaching), in recent conversation with the Faculty Executive, referred to the need to prepare for the massification of education. In response to the various challenges presented by the teaching, learning and assessment (TLA) of large classes, Professor Michael le Cordeur, Vice-Dean (Teaching and Learning), requested that colleagues from the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) present a workshop to Faculty staff on strategies that can be of good use in dealing with the TLA of large classes. This workshop took place on the 2nd of June. The Dean of the Faculty of Education, Professor Mbulungeni Madiba, welcomed workshop participants with a reminder about the importance of embracing an ever-changing higher education landscape, including increases in student numbers. The write-up below briefly summarises the event.
Responses to a pre-workshop survey showed that staff were not only interested in learning about strategies for dealing with the TLA of large classes, but also the enhancement of assessment and peer-to-peer feedback, and the use of tutors (peer-to-peer facilitators), amongst others. Dr Jacobs reminded staff that the Division for Learning and Teaching Enhancement has a number of helpful TLA resources which speak to these topics. Examples are listed below, in hyperlinked format for ease of access:
When is it a large class?
Taking a scholarly approach to the challenge of dealing with large classes, workshop attendees engaged with articles by Jawitz (2013)1 and McDonagh and Radaković (2022)2. Jawitz suggests that large classes provide unique chances for providing high-quality learning experiences. Taking advantage of these opportunities, however, needs extensive planning, support, and experience. The learning experience of a large class of students can be enhanced through the utilization of technologies such as multimedia presentations, podcasts and videos, and the effective use of a team of support staff and learning management systems, such as SUNLearn. McDonagh and Radaković suggest that the most important factor in addressing the matter of student engagement is to ensure that students are involved throughout the learning process: from design input and knowledge transfer to assessment feedback and course evaluation. McDonagh and Radaković go on to highlight the need for academic renewal through the revision of teaching tools and strategies and recommend various active learning tools to improve comprehension and engagement.
The DeLTA Cycle
Academic renewal often seems like an overwhelming undertaking, but the CTL suggests the Designing Learning, Teaching and Assessment (DeLTA) process to support lecturers with their TLA. This DeLTA cycle, rooted in scholarship, is divided into five iterative, cyclical processes of designing interactive learning activities, innovative teaching approaches and wide-ranging assessment opportunities. In the next part of the workshop, peer-to-peer facilitation of learning as a useful TLA tool was linked to the DeLTA cycle.
Peer-to-Peer Facilitation of Learning
When utilizing peer-to-peer facilitation as a learning opportunity, lecturers should be deliberate in considering how peer facilitators will build on what was presented in a lecture by facilitating learning rather than merely giving answers. Peer facilitators are ideally situated to give feedback to lecturers on subject matter that need consolidation. As such, peer-to-peer facilitation is a useful teaching strategy for large classes, and dealing with threshold and bottleneck concepts. The CTL offers a 16-hour, fully-online SUNLearn short course on peer-to-peer facilitation, after which students receive recognition on their academic transcripts as SU-accredited peer-to-peer facilitators. Lecturers are encouraged to have potential peer-to-peer facilitators enroll for the short course.
Assessing large classes
The last section of the workshop focused on assessment, which is quite a relevant topic in the light of it being one of the institution’s game changers. There is, unfortunately, no silver bullet which will solve all assessment challenges. While formative assessments often require extensive amounts of marking time, one workshop attendee shared how this challenge can be addressed by first giving general feedback to the class group and then individual marks and feedback at a later stage.
Feedback is only worthy of the name if it can be used by the student for the purpose of improvement. One of the main messages of the revised SU Assessment Policy is that assessment and feedback be integrated into TLA; it is not something done to students, but rather with students to enhance their learning. Another attendee related addressing this integration through group presentations marked simultaneously by the lecturer and peers, after which consensus is reached on the group's final mark. Self and peer assessments can be a way of generating yet more marks. However, when used effectively, these types of assessment can be useful in helping students to learn the skill of judging their own work, which is vital for life beyond graduation.
The workshop was attended by 18 Faculty of Education staff members and two representatives of the Education Student Committee, and there was meaningful engagement throughout the morning. In the words of one of the attendees, the workshop offered “a valuable opportunity to learn from our students and other colleagues and, in doing so, improve our own practice.”
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1 Jawitz, J. 2013. The challenge of teaching large classes in higher education in South Africa: a battle to be waged outside the classroom. Book chapter. Cape Town: University of Cape Town.
2 McDonagh, Kenneth, & Radaković, Jelena. (2022, August 1). Most effective tools and strategies for large class engagement: first year students experiences and their recommendations. Pedagogy for Higher Education Large Classes (PHELC22) (PHELC), Hybrid: Dublin City University, St. Patrick's Campus and online
