Engaging Students in Large Classes - The Center for Faculty Excellence

CFE Large Course Redesign

The CFE Large Course Redesign initiative features a variety of services designed to support faculty members teaching large course sections or courses with multiple sections that represent large enrollments.

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 large course they have been teaching for some time.

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

Get Started with a Personal Consultation
CFE staff are available to meet individually with faculty members to discuss options for addressing course goals and challenges. Implementing just one new technique in a large class is often a great way to get started.
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Large Classes Resources Collection
Find out how UNC faculty members have approached redesigning their courses and what they have learned. The collection includes teaching tips, video interviews with faculty members, project reports, and a selected bibliography.
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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 dedicated handsets known as “clickers”, while others, such as Poll Everywhere, allow students to use their cell phones or laptops to respond. UNC instructors can sign up for free Poll Everywhere accounts as well as consultations on best practices for using class response systems.
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Assessing Your Course Redesign
The CFE is available help faculty members assess the effectiveness of changes they have made to a large class. Assessment is a hallmark of the Center’s large course redesign support. Support for this kind of assessment is now available through new CFE programming for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Learn more about instruments and assessment resources that faculty members can adopt on their own to supplement the University’s standard course evaluation.