An Experience of Applying Active Learning to Large Classes

We share our experience of applying some of the active learning techniques typically used in small classes, to a large class across 2 semesters (174 and 165 students respectively) in a traditional lecture hall setting. While some of the techniques require institution-level support thus limited in what an individual lecturer can instrument in large classes, there are ones that can be readily applied and still be effective without considerable cost in running them. In particular, increased use of questions and answers throughout the lectures for sustained engagement and weekly reflection journal keeping by students as an additional, individualised feedback channel worked well despite the size of the classes. Pedagogical techniques well-advocated in the active learning community that are also cost-effective in large classes in enhancing engagement and learning will be a useful venue for further investigation especially if they do not require major restructuring of the institute’s pedagogy infrastructure.