If you found yourself unable to concentrate due to the stressors, fears, and upset of COVID-19, then you were not alone. I found my ability to focus on small tasks almost impossible at moments. I also had the hardest time retaining information. With frequent check-ins with my students, it was clear they too were struggling as well. We brainstormed at… Read more →
Category: Large Lecture Class
Reimagining Participation Points in the Classroom, Oh My!
After years of experimentation (with successes and failures), I’ve finally settled on a great way to reimagine participation in the classroom. I am fully aware that this won’t work for many people, or even most classes, but it has worked wonders for my art history classes under 30 students. Once I found the winning recipe, I realized I’d never be… Read more →
PowerUp, or optional activities for deeper student engagement in art history
#TriageTreaching2020 Many of us have now finished this semester and are still trying to handle all the adjustments, shifts, emotions, trauma, and more that took place since March 2020. I had intended to post more during this time, but like many of us, I have not had time or, frankly, a desire to do much of anything. A couple weeks… Read more →
Is Achilles a Hero? Debates in the Large-Lecture Classroom
One of the best decisions I’ve made more recently is introducing debates into my large lecture (200+ students) class that focuses on the ancient and medieval Mediterranean world. They energized the class, helped students review material each week, and helped them to think more critically. They also helped to make a 3-hour class more bearable. If you are interested in… Read more →
Developing a Research Project about Using Virtual Reality in the Large-Lecture Humanities Classroom
This summer (2019) I am working with a wonderful undergraduate student (let’s call her L because I’ve not asked her if she wants to be named) on a collaborative research project. We applied for a summer undergraduate research project for funding, and we are working together for several months on the possible applications of virtual reality in the classroom. Neither… Read more →
Gamification, part 2: Jeopardy (over multiple class periods)
I’ve been using jeopardy as a method for exam review for many years. If you can believe it, I remember making a poster board in one of the first classes that I ever taught that students could use. (It involved a lot of tape and papers flaps, and glitter pens). It always is a fun way to review with students… Read more →
Skills vs. Content: How best to teach a “Humanities” Class
In my current position, I teach a large-lecture humanities class every semester. I’ve blogged about it before, so it is no surprise (if you’ve been following the blog) to hear that I have continuously tinkered with this class. Recently, I received a grant (exciting!) to overhaul the class (exciting?). I’ve decided that I am going to redo the entire class… Read more →
Ditch the Textbook: Now what? An Experiment with StoryMap JS
In a recent post I mentioned that I was planning to ditch my textbook for my large-lecture humanities class. Instead, I am going to make podcasts and videos, and assign primary sources for students to use before or during class. It dawned on me recently that another great option would be to use StoryMap JS to introduce some material as… Read more →
To Smarthistory in the Large-Lecture Humanities Class
I’ve posted about how I see my work with Smarthistory as an act of doing public art history, and how the process of working collaboratively for smarthistory has encouraged me to rethink how I teach and how I research (and publish). Well, I am always looking for ways to transform my large-lecture humanities class of more than 200 students. The… Read more →
Transforming Reacting to the Past Games for Large-Lecture Courses
I’ve been hearing about Reacting to the Past (RTTP) games for a few years now. I’m curious to learn more. Normally, I would have attended a conference to play one of these games, like Art and Modernism in Paris in 1889, but I now normally teach large classes of more than 200 students. With so many students, I’m never sure… Read more →
The Balancing Act of the Large Lecture Class
For any of us who have taught large lecture classes (let’s say 100+ students), we are all too familiar with the huge demands on our time and energy. I regularly teach of class of 200+ students, which for me breaks down (on average) to: 6-7 hours of office hours/appointments with students/week 6-10 hours of class prep/week (usually more, but I’m… Read more →
Student-Centered or Teacher-Centered Syllabus?
I have a confession to make: I love making syllabi. There is something exciting about planning a course from the ground up, with all its assignments, readings, and lectures to plan. What do you include or omit? What types of assignment fit well with the class? Why will Project A work better than Project B? The aspect of going on… Read more →
