Infusing Diversity into an Entry Level Psychology Course

Life Span Development is a required course for majors in psychology and a general education elective for students at large at our university. This article follows the journey of a redesign project that focused on infusing diversity into both small and large lecture classes, with emphases on both course content and pedagogy.

One Small Step in the Lecture Hall, One Big Step for Student Motivation: Short Bursts of In-Class Small Group Work

Great teachers are continually introducing strategies to engage students, especially those who teach large-lecture classes, whose format can limit active learning and student motivation to engage in learning. Implementation of active teaching strategies must be assessed for effectiveness. Using the simple MUSIC model postcourse assessment survey, student motivation to engage in learning was statistically quantified. A simple short intervention of in-class group work led to significant areas of improvement, which included the students’ perception of the class’ Usefulness towards their future career ( p < .01), their perceived ability for Success in the class ( p < .01), their Interest in the material ( p < .01), and their perception of the instructor Caring about their success ( p < .05). No change was seen in e Mpowerment. In addition, students rated the ease of the class ( p < .01) and the overall satisfaction with the course ( p < .01) significantly higher than the previous semester, prior to the in-class group work implementation. The implementation of this short simple intervention of in-class group work was highly successful in increasing student motivation in a large-lecture, in-major required exercise and health class and can be easily adapted to other large-lecture classes.

THE IMPACT OF A FLIPPED CLASSROOM MODEL OF LEARNING ON A LARGE UNDERGRADUATE STATISTICS CLASS

We examine the impact of a flipped classroom model of learning on student performance and satisfaction in a large undergraduate introductory statistics class. Two professors each taught a lecture-section and a flipped-class section. Using MANCOVA, a linear combination of final exam scores, average quiz scores, and course ratings was compared for the two groups after controlling for the effects of students’ previous achievement, gender, teacher, degree of learner autonomy, and attitudes about math and statistics. The results show significant improvement in the students’ performance and course satisfaction with the flipped classroom. Overall, the results showed that the flipped classroom model can be used in large lecture classes with the help of undergraduate teaching assistants and the use of additional labs. First published May 2018 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives

Universal Design for Learning in Teaching Large Lecture Classes

To augment traditional lecture with instructional tools that provide options for content representation, learner engagement, and learning expression, we followed the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to design and implement a learning environment for teaching and learning in large lecture classes. To this end, we incorporated four carefully selected instructional tools (PowerPoint, lecture notes, clickers, and MindTap) in the proposed UDL environment for an introductory marketing class of over 600 students. Self-reported and objective measures were collected to assess the effectiveness of the UDL environment by evaluating its impact on perceived learning, satisfaction with the instructional tools, and actual learning. Our study aims to provide educators with suggestions on how to meet the needs of a diverse group of students in large lecture classes without compromising the quality of teaching and learning.

Learning assistant program

Following the model of the University of Colorado at Boulder Learning Assistant (LA) program, the College of Science (COS) at Mason began its own LA program in 2012. The program is a key segment of the STEM Accelerator program, and is a keystone for retaining students in COS and enabling them to graduate in a timely manner. COS STEM Accelerator has now supported over 300 undergraduate LA’s since it's inception through both internal and external funding. The LA program is very successful in increasing grades, engaging students in large lecture classes, enabling faculty to better utilize the ALT classroom, increasing retention in sciences and also increasing confidence and GPA’s for the undergraduate LA’s. The cornerstones of the LA program are student mentoring by the faculty sponsor, a required seminar in pedagogical techniques, and face-to-face time with students in the classroom. This interactive presentation will include information about the program in COS. Faculty and students will demonstrate examples of how LA’s are integrated into different learning environments and across disciplines. Examples will include LA’s in the ALT classroom, in large and small lectures, in lab, in orals, and on-line. Disciplines include Biology, Chemistry, Forensic Science, Geography, Geology, Math and Physics. Attendees will understand the program and it’s key concepts, discuss how an LA could work in their classroom and discipline, and understand how COS is working to enable your students to conquer their MATH and Mason Core Science classes.