Large Courses: Actionable Steps

Large courses

Whether you are looking to redesign a large course or make targeted improvements, this collection of guiding questions and action steps can help you think through your goals and strategies. These prompts are designed to support deeper reflection on student success, course design, equity, and the use of technology and campus resources. Use them to identify where changes are possible, what support you may need, and how your instructional choices can better meet the needs of today’s learners.

  • Which student success factors are you trying to address? (e.g., inclusivity, sense of belonging, self-efficacy skills, connection to concepts/discipline, other?)
  • What are you hoping to achieve by addressing these specific student success factors?
  • Where do you see your opportunities with the resources (GTAs, LAs, Faculty, physical classrooms, etc.) and support you currently have?
  • Are there aspects of the course that you can change easily such as time/dates/ ways in which students enroll, advising, etc? Are there aspects you wish to change that may be more difficult such as format of course, length of course, number of sessions offered, number of recitations, etc.?
  • What types of active learning strategies are being utilized for active student engagement and are there more opportunities or changes that need to be made in how these are implemented?
  • What types of inclusive learning practices are currently being used and what need to be employed to build a learning community and sense of belonging?
  • What types of assessments and ways of demonstrating student learning are being used and are there changes that need to be made to be more equitable and/or help students feel more connected to concepts?
  • How do you approach course design and course materials- are you using principles of UDL, accessibility, and checking to see multiple voices are represented?
  • What have you learned about students (needs) during the pandemic that still exists now? How have learners changed and how have our instructional philosophies, strategies, materials, etc. adapted?
  • What worked well (i.e., instructional methods, etc.) for you during the pandemic that you plan to continue to employ?
  • What types of additional training/workshops would you be interested in to help improve your large courses and student success?
  • Would you be interested in observations conducted by CTL a few times a semester in the Fall or Spring prior to your changes being implemented?
  • What else do you need to know/find out to help inform your decisions for the changes you would like to implement?
  • What does your timeline look like for implementing changes and collecting data?
  • How do you define student success?
  • What has happened in previous years that have resulted in the concerns that exist today? As well, what has been successful that you can continue to use?
  • Describe the impact of COVID specific to your courses/instruction, and field in general?
  • How are students feeling about their future prospects given the political, economic, global climate concerns?
  • What happens when a course relies too much on a resource that it does not control (e.g., tutoring services, etc.)?
  • What resources can you continue to use to sustain a culture of learning?
  • Differentiate between organizational and pedagogical needs.
  • What academic and social support do students need to persist and succeed in large foundational courses?
  • How does your initiative align with existing initiatives in your department?
  • What kinds of improvements need to be made for the coordination of resources among units within your department/college?
  • How do you connect learning to success and disconnect learning from grades?
  • In what ways do your courses empower learners (building or real-world skills, problem-solving, etc.)?
  • What kinds of programs already exist to help students develop successful study habits?
  • What instructional strategies can engage students for deeper learning in large courses?
  • How can course design strategies support more effective instruction in large courses?
  • Are there any specific campus resources that could be more broadly applied?
  • What do you need to change in terms of infrastructure to help support your efforts for student success?
  • How can assistants (GTAs/LAs) be used to provide meaningful feedback to both the instructor and the student at key points in the course?
  • What are your perspectives on the use of technology? a) too much, b) not enough, or c) a bad fit?
  • Use of Canvas- how can Canvas analytics help you collect data that would be useful for your initiative?
  • How might you use Course Alert programs to help you as an instructor?
  • Are there specific items within Canvas that derail your efforts in a large course?
  • What additional resources or templates might you need?
  • How can we build a classroom environment where all students feel they matter and can thrive in a large enrollment course?
  • What kinds of training or resources would help you support a sense of belonging, self-confidence, and student success?
  • What tools or support do you need to make course materials more accessible to all students?
  • How can course texts, research projects, or assignments be updated to reflect a broader range of backgrounds and lived experiences?