Large Class Engagement

What It Is

Large class engagement refers to strategies to actively involve and interact with a large group of learners. Large class is a relative term, but consider the strategies below anytime you feel like whole group instruction or discussion won’t work because of the size of the class. Large classes can occur in a variety of contexts, such as large lecture halls, online courses, or workshops. Large class engagement aims to ensure learners participate and connect with the course content, the instructor, and their peers.

Why It Matters

Teaching effectively in large classes can be challenging due to the logistics of engaging more learners than you are able to have a personal connection with. When minimal interaction occurs between the instructor and learners, learners can feel anonymous and isolated, leading to lower motivation, decreased attendance, and less engagement. Learners who don’t feel connected to their instructor or the content are more likely to be distracted (Chen et al.,  2015). 

Large classes have unique synergies, where learners from diverse backgrounds collectively create a body of knowledge that often exceeds individual contributions. With effective management, this dynamic can foster positive attitudes toward learning. Increasing engagement, through clear learning goals and multiple opportunities for learner interaction, supports learning retention and connection in large classes (Knight & Wood, 2017). 

Apply It 

1. Build rapport. To make large classes feel smaller, foster community.
   • – Use strategies like Community Agreements and divide  the class into smaller groups. These smaller learning communities foster connection and support. These groups can be convened for one-time activities or can recur throughout the semester.
   • – Ask learners to discuss a question with a nearby peer for a few minutes (Think-Engage-Explain). When organizing pair or small group activities, encourage learners to engage with those who might be sitting alone and remind them to introduce themselves.
2. Plan for a variety of engagement strategies. Create opportunities for learners to engage with their peers, the instructor, and the content. 
   • – Peer engagement: Encourage learners to exchange contact information with those  they sit near in class, provide opportunities for peer feedback, or use peer instruction. 
   • – Content engagement: Use varied modalities in your course. This can include videos, podcasts, discussions, and role-play. Try Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) to engage students in pre-class activities that uncover prior knowledge, allowing class sessions to be tailored to student needs’. 
   • – Instructor engagement: Consider hosting weekly live office hours via Zoom, where learners can submit questions beforehand and attend in small groups, enabling more focused interaction.
3. Provide meaningful feedback. 
   • – Use tools like PollEV to encourage questions, or Zoom’s non-verbal reactions to assess understanding. This is helpful in a large class context because it allows instructors to gauge learner comprehension and address confusion in real time, even with a large group.
   • – Record video explanations for challenging problems/content to save class time and provide evergreen resources. 
   • – Encourage self-reflection through self-assessments, questions, and rubrics. By having learners evaluate their own work first, instructors can save time spent  providing feedback .

Resources

• Engage: Academy Course Design Series: Planning Class Sessions 
• Engage: College Teaching Essentials: Level 2
• Watch: Change One Thing: Transforming Classroom Engagement With Index Cards
• Watch: Creating Spaces of Empathy in a Large Classroom
• Listen: Are Large Classes Better?

References

ABLConnect. (n.d.). Just in time teaching. Harvard University. https://ablconnect.harvard.edu/just-time-teaching-research

Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning. (n.d.). Considerations for large lecture classes. UC Berkeley. https://teaching.berkeley.edu/considerations-large-lecture-classes

Chen, K.-Z., Lowenthal, P. R., & Bauer, C. (2015). Effectiveness and student perceptions of high-enrolment health studies online courses. Health Education Journal, 75(3), 343–357.

Chike, J. (2022). Strategies for making a big class feel small. Notre Dame Learning. https://learning.nd.edu/news/strategies-for-making-a-big-class-feel-small/

Dixson, M. (2015). Measuring student engagement in the online course: The online student engagement scale (OSE). Online Learning, 19(4). https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v19i4.561 

Knight, J. K., & Wood, W. B. (2017). Teaching more by lecturing less. Cell Biology Education, 4(WINTER), 298–310. https://doi.org/10.1187/05-06-0082 

Lloyd-Strovas, J. (2015, August). Tips for teaching large classes. University of Texas, Center for Teaching and Learning. https://ctl.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/TipsForTeachingLargeClasses.pdf 

Relihan, D. (2019). 5 tips for providing feedback in large online courses. University of California Irvine, Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation. https://dtei.uci.edu/2019/03/14/5-tips-for-providing-feedback-in-large-online-courses/ 

Cite This Resource

Studio for Teaching & Learning Innovation. (2025, September). Large class engagement [Teaching resource]. https://stli.wm.edu/academicresources/largeclassengagement

Updated 09/25