Student engagement in very large classes: the teachers’ perspective

Abstract

The rapid growth in the student population observed in higher education over the past 10–15 years in some countries has coincided with an increased recognition of student engagement and its value in developing knowledge. Active learning approaches have the potential to promote student engagement with lectures, but this becomes more challenging as class sizes increase. This study investigates student engagement from the teachers’ perspective, to identify current practices in teaching, learning and assessment designed to promote student engagement in courses with more than 1000 students enrolled at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. The study is based on semi‐structured interviews with six course coordinators. The results demonstrate that teaching techniques commonly associated with small‐class teaching can be used to engage students in very large classes. The effectiveness of these approaches from the students’ perspectives warrants further investigation.

Keywords:

• student engagement
• undergraduate
• teaching styles
• first‐year students
• learner‐centred environment