CFE 100+ Initiative: Engaging Students in Large Classes

Because the number of large lecture classes that students are obliged to take appears likely to grow, this Academic Plan seeks to convert this challenge into an opportunity to re-engineer large classes, including advances in technology, to create increasingly student-centered and more intellectually stimulating learning.

Reach Carolina (p. 7)

 

The CFE 100+ initiative features a variety of services designed to support faculty members teaching large course sections. 100+ refers to sections with enrollments of one hundred or more students.

The Center for Faculty Excellence recognizes that instructors interested in improving their large class experiences will approach the challenge from different perspectives. For example, some may be teaching a large class for the first time, while others may be ready to undertake a complete redesign of a course they have been teaching for some time.

Descriptions and contact information for each of the services associated with the CFE 100+ initiative can be found below. We look forward to hearing from you!

Learning Community on Teaching Large Classes
During the 2012 calendar year, the CFE sponsored a learning community for a group of nine experienced UNC instructors of large enrollment courses who were interested in meeting monthly to share ideas and help each other improve their teaching skills. Some of the group's collective expertise has been published as a series of blog posts in the CFE 100+ teaching tips blog.

Large Course Redesign Grants
This program is for faculty members/academic units who want to make significant changes to one or more large course sections. In the spring of 2012, fourteen faculty members teaching ten large-enrollment course sections were awarded grants. The 2013 grant recipients were recently announced.
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Teaching Tips Exchange
Instructors can sign up to receive a weekly email tip on teaching large classes and then share their own experiences on the CFE 100+ blog, where the tips will be posted. The series begins in November 2011 and will run through the Spring 2012 semester. Sign up today!
SIGN UP TO RECEIVE TEACHING TIPS
VISIT CFE 100+ TEACHING TIPS BLOG

CFE Workshop Series on Large Classes
The CFE is offering a special series of workshops devoted to different aspects of teaching large classes. Workshops for January 2013 are now scheduled.
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Classroom Response Systems
Classroom response systems are being used effectively by many Carolina instructors to break up lectures and to solicit the active participation of students during class. Some systems use third-party devices known as "clickers", while others, such as Poll Everywhere, allow students to use their cell phones or laptops. The CFE is offering free accounts for the instructional use of Poll Everywhere and consultations on best practices for using class response systems.
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Presentation Capture/Mini-Lecture Recording
Some faculty members are recording presentations or mini-lectures and making them available to students for review outside of class, freeing up classroom time to engage students in higher-level learning activities. Several no- to low-cost solutions for creating web-based mini-lectures are available to UNC faculty members.
To LEARN MORE, contact Suzanne Cadwell (scadwell@email.unc.edu).

Large Classes Resources Collection
The Center has put together an annotated list of resources related to teaching large classes.
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Personal Consultations
CFE staff are available to meet individually with faculty members to help them determine what resources are most appropriate for their instructional goals.
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"Class Notes" Video Series
Several Carolina faculty members recognized for their skill at teaching large classes have generously shared their expertise in a series of video interviews, produced and curated by the CFE. This large and growing library of video clips features Carolina faculty from various departments discussing their general approach to teaching large enrollment courses and the specific instructional techniques they use. You can view these videos on CFE’s YouTube Channel, where they are organized into playlists by instructor and by instructional technique.