Strategies for teaching and managing large classes in university
Date
2014-11Author
Adu, Emmanual O.
Bayaga, Anass
Telia, Adeyinka
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Abstract
Following extensive debate on management of large classes and its effectiveness, the current study sought to address (1) strategies used by lecturers to manage large classes; (2) required skills needed to effectively teach large classes by lecturers; and lastly (3) effective assessment practices used by lecturers in large classes. A structured questionnaire, which reached a reliability co-efficient of r=+0.87, was administered adopting a descriptive survey research design. One hundred and ten lecturers (N= 110) were randomly selected out of2205 lecturers in the four South African universities in Eastern Cape. The results showed that 'engaging students and developing a sense of belonging' is the best indicator with (Mean 8.6, SD = 12.264). This was followed by ‘automate assessment tasks where possible ’ (e.g. online quizzes) with Mean 3.0, SD = .899 (effective assessment practices); and ‘evaluating student understanding regularly through mini quizzes, short tests, class work or True/False responses ’ with (Mean 2.8, SD =
. 752 (managing and teaching large classes).