Blogging from The Tenth Southern Hemisphere Conference on the Teaching and Learning of Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics

Prof Ansie Harding – University of Pretoria (http://www.up.ac.za/en/mathematics-and-applied-mathematics/article/1941897/prof-af-ansie-harding)

Live blogging: Note that these are notes I’ve taken live, but will edit this today into a more readable format. I want to put this up straight away though to see if I have any obvious misunderstanding. Equations will also be put into more readable format ASAP.

Both a privilege and a formidable task to teach hundreds of students.

Specifically, at University of Pretoria, classes of 200-500.

Questionnaire on practices, advice, engagement, humour, motivation, etc.

12 respondents, all experienced lecturers.

Why? Guidelines to someone starting out on large group lecturing.

Tried to make sense of responses to the questionnaire.

Try and find 6 skills of large group teaching, and organise them hierarchically.

1. Control and respect of the group:
   1. a large group should be controlled through authority. Disciplinary measures should be laid down at the onset. Confidence was important.
      1. “Be big, bold, definitely not apologetic”
      2. “Set the rules about arriving late, texting, etc.”
      3. “Show them respect and they will respect you back”
   2. Practices
      1. “Looking them in the eyes and spelling out the rules”
      2. “Counteracting noise by picking out one culprit”
      3. “Rewarding those who are early by quick revision from the previous day”
2. Presentation clarity
   1. Large group teaching, in particular poses the danger of physical hindrances such as not being able to hear or see. For this purpose using technology is advocated
   2. Use of blackboard for really large groups is not an option, preferably use a tablet PC and a microphone
   3. Can’t always do all the necessary problems: Use clicker
   4. Practice:
      1. Use a microphone
      2. Converting class notes into PDF
      3. posting notes online
3. Preparation
   1. Thorough preparation is advised, more so than for smaller groups and ass well as a decreased presentation pace
      1. “Be prepared – really prepared. If you are lost, the students will start talking”
      2. “Have to talk more slowly”
   2. Practices
      1. Knowing the work, carefully planning how you will select examples
      2. Because of the decreased page, time is wasted if mistakes made by the lecturer need to be rectified.
4. Individualisation and involvement
   1. “Show them you care by just knowing the few students names. Try to remember their sitting behaviour”
   2. “Create an atmosphere that students are comfortable in…”
   3. Practices:
      1. Reading out names of top performers in test
      2. Giving students opportunity to try an example in the lecture
      3. try and remember faces and names
      4. Using clickers is ideal for involvement.
5. Creating interest and motivation
   1. Role of the lecturers as performer and motivator is emphasised.
      1. “You can’t present just the subject content – you have to put up a bit of a show”
      2. “A large class needs more motivation”
      3. “I use as much humour as I can”
   2. Practices:
      1. Sketch the bigger picture
      2. Show that they are doing this for their future
      3. Varying the pace: Interspersing with comments and anecdotes
      4. Using a mathematical joke
      5. Pointing out the beauty of mathematics
6. Group dynamics
   1. Awareness that a large group has a character in itself, that there is an energy that can be tapped to the advantage of both student and lecturer. Embrace the largeness of the group rather than trying to counter it, tapping the energy rather than controlling it
   2. Let the individual feel recognise as part of a coherent group rather than attempting to individualise a few people in the class, creating a whole bigger than the sum of its parts.
   3. Practices
      1. Using class representatives
      2. Setting a reward for cooperation and hard work of the group as a whole by using the last ten minutes of the week for telling a well-prepared mathematical related story
      3. Being aware of and exploring large group dynamics and behaviour.

Conclusion:

Why are we still using the old technology into a new setting?

Questions about what constitutes a large group: Comment from Stuart Torr regarding Dunbar’s Number.