Jay A. Young1 Auburn Universitv Auburn, Alobama 36830 ond H. Langford
c.
Carleton University Ottowa, Ontario
I I I
Recognition of individual Students in Large Classes The problem and one solution
Large classes arc commonly criticized for both general and specific reasons related to the lack of individual contact bctwccn &dent and professor. Whether such critcisms are valid or false is a moot point, since our experience in teaching both large and small classes at correspondingly sized institutions demonstrates (as t,hc experience of many others demonstrates) that approximately the same proportion of studcnts do well, or poorly, no matter what the size of the class might bc. Nevertheless, many chemistry professors, and certainly students' parents, and indeed some of the more articulate studcnts themselves, do assert the need for individual contacts between student and professor as a necessary part of the total instructional milieu. All of us have had unique conversations with one or a small number of students during which the students achieved an insightful illuminat,ion on a topic that was ot,herwise difficult for him to understand. All of us have more than once been pleased with the human aspects of our interactions with students outside of the formal class structure, and it is intuitively evident that these interactions are also part of our responsibility, as professors, to our studcnts. For these reasons it is appropriate to describe one way to occasionally excite illumination and understanding and to participate more directly in studentprofessor interactions, given the difficultiesof achieving these ends in a class witah large numbers of students. Briefly, wc provide an available professor for the students outside normal class hours while requesting a reciprocal voluntary time commitment from the students who wish to participate. We call it a Resource Room; other names include Independent Study Center.2 At our respective institut,ions, such a facility has been in use for two years and it is appropriate to ask for comments and suggestions from colleagues, as well as to describe our details so that others can make their own improvement^.^ Four features seem to us to be essential: The availability of interested faculty members, pleasant decor, the availability of a variety of teaching aids,
and active use of the facility by the students on a voluntary basis. We p r i t that little learning takes place in the classroom, and that although the function of a lecture is indeed to stimulate and clarify, as well as to attempt to explain, it is through individually assiduous study by the student that academic objectives are achievcd. The four features are our answer to the problem of encouraging such achievement. I n our experience, the Resource Room ought to he large enough to accommodate from 5 to 10% of the class (first-year chemistry, all sections) at any one time. It should be open in 3 or 4 hr time periods for a total of 30 or more hours per week, manned a t all times by a faculty member, never by a relatively inexperienced graduate student. (We have had no difficulty in obtaining volunteers.) Given our emphasis upon st,udent involvement, the faculty assigned need have only a modicum of information about the strategy employed by those who teach the classes (and some arguments favoring the discussion of a tricky point from a different aspect can be cited to suggest t,hat no effort need be made to inform Resource Room faculty about such details). The Resource Room should be equipped with a variety of textbooks which parallel the text used by the students, and with a few advanced texts, some books on the sciencesociety int,erface, some on the history of science, on philosophical aspects, and very importantly, several different "How to Study" books (see Fig. 1). Current and recent issues of journals, such as THIS JOURNAL, Scientific American, American Scientist, Chemistry, Science, etc., arc also recommended. Copies of old quizzes and ideally correct answers are useful. Lecture outlines and transparencies from recent lectures (if an overhead projector is used in class) have been popular items. Humphreys4 has described the use of audio-visual tutorial modules in a . .
' To whom requests for reprints should he addressed.
G A R D NMARJORIII, ~, J. CHBM. EDUC..47. 821 11970). Wur resuits are qualitative; the w e bf &ntroi gro;ps was not deemed necessary to prove the obvious: increased professor involvement in a quasi-tutorial milieu is helpful to the fraction of students who are, or can become, earnestly and reslist,ieally ambitious. ' HUMFHRI.:YS, D. A,, J. CHBM. EDUC.,48,77 (1971).
Figure 1. The Resource Room provider books, rnogoziner, journals. ond boric reference works for student uae.
Volume 48, Number 12, December 1971
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795
Resource Room context; we have found these advantageous. In our experience a computer terminal for CAI instruction is an additionally useful adjunct. Provision for occasional quickie simple wet-lab experimental work is attractive (a hit on paper chromatography is an example); instruments not easily demonstrated in the class nor appropriate for beginning laboratory (such as a polarimeter) can be displayed, and used casually. We recommend careful attention to decor with explicit avoidance of Buildings and Grounds beige; each wall, perhaps, a different color, with a periodic table near a corner and artistically esthetic prints, well framed, in view as well. We do concede to one classroom item, a large blackboard for use in discussions with one or a few students. About one-half of the floor area should have lounge-like furniture, with a few desk-high tables (see Fig. 2). The other half is more severely furnished with individual, movable, study arm-chair desks. Coffee or soft drinks, on a pay as you go basis, is an attractive feature. To encourage student participation, some of us have traded one less classroom hour and the elimination of quiz hour sessions for 1 hr voluntarily spent in the Resource Room. (Roll is never taken in the Room, however.) Examination papers are returned via the Resource Room, and homework assignments are turned in, and received back, at the same location. Correct answers are only available in the Resource Room. Flexibility of pace is an important feature of the Resource Room. We have emphasized the help provided for the inexperienced student. But the very apt student also finds the facility useful. There are selected advanced texts available; he can consult with the professor; and often spends some of his time helping the less apt students, thus enhancing his own understanding while simultaneously building an espritde-corps within the class itself. Although the remedial need is more obvious, the assistance given to the bctter students may in the long run prove to be more impor-
Figure 2.
The Rerource Room is furni5hed with lounge-like tobler and choirs or well as individual study om-choir derkr in order to keep the otmorphere ar comfortable ond informal or por3ible.
tant; their motivation and morale also necds an occasional boost. To summarize, to learn well students must be selfmotivated and it is our responsibility to help them generate that motivation. To guide students into the habitual practice of sclf-motivation, it seems to us that personal contact with an experienced professor, but at times which are determined by student-felt need, should be routinely available. I n the Resource Room, surrounded by academic accessories and a pleasant decor, we can attempt to provide this service. The optimum has not yet been achieved. Only about one-third of the class members make rcgular use of the Resource Room and another third visits it occasionally. Thus, we still need to contact a fairsized fraction and pcrsuadc thcm to make their commitment. We welcome comments from others to this end. At the moment, fcwer faculty hours arc rcquired than were formrrly used in the now extinct quiz hour sessions, and the results are (qualitatively) better. This economy, if nothing else, suggests that the technique is worthwhile; if student demand increases, additional faculty response would he appropriate.
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Journal of Chemical Education
