Teaching large classes

Teaching large classes can possess special challenges in designing and implementing the teaching to support the active learning of the students.

The general principles of teaching at the Faculty of Engineering's engineering programs are described in "DSMI".

During the first 4 semesters of the programs, "teaching blocks" of 4 hours are mainly used. These lessons contain a whole set of exercises and theory lectures. The figure below shows the process before, during and after teaching.

The development project "Teaching Large Classes" has formulated 4 principles for "Teaching Large Classes" that meet the special challenges that can be faced when teaching large classes.

The 4 principles in danish and in english can be accessed via these two links

The four principles are:

Activating teaching - Activating elements are factored into classroom teaching.

Active students - The teaching is organized in such a way that it encourages the students to prepare themselves before classroom teaching.

Feedback on learning - Students receive feedback on their learning and have the opportunity to gain clarification on the subject matter.

Collaboration, communication and relationships - The teaching makes it possible for students to work together, communicate about the subject matter and form relationships with each other.

Every principle is described with an intention, the specific challenge posed by teaching large classes, proposed solutions, a toolbox with links to tools, techniques and methods and references to concrete
examples of teaching practice at TEK.

Although the teaching examples are categorised, as far as is possible, into teaching models, the idea is that teachers at TEK should use the tools that give meaning to the specific course and create a teaching model reflecting the learning objectives of the course.

In the descriptions, a distinction is made between teaching and classroom teaching. ‘Teaching’ refers to the overall organisation and implementation of the teaching, which supports the students’ active learning in and away from the teaching premises. Classroom teaching refers to the teaching that takes place at the teaching premises and which supports the students’ active learning at the teaching premises themselves.