Scaling Up: Effective Pedagogy for Large Enrollment Courses

About

Scaling Up: Effective Pedagogy for Large Enrollment Courses

Dr. Molly Metz, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto

Description

It can be hard to step outside the lecture-as-usual box when teaching large-enrollment courses (e.g., 200-400 students). Fortunately, it is possible to integrate evidence-based teaching in classes with hundreds of students, and to do so without sacrificing your own wellbeing. This talk will answer questions like (1) how do I assign homework/writing in big classes and keep up with the feedback? or (2) how can I use active learning strategies with so many students? Additionally, Dr. Metz will discuss the challenge of teaching courses (e.g., introduction to statistics) to students who are anxious, apathetic, or disengaged and provide concrete recommendations for pedagogical strategies to help motivate them.

About the Speaker

Dr. Molly Metz is a social psychologist and Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto, as well as the Vice President for Diversity & International Relations of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. Her professional and scholarly work has focused on inclusive pedagogy, autonomous motivation and need support, teaching statistics and research methods, and teaching large courses. In her home department, she is the primary faculty instructor for Statistics I, Statistics II, and Intro to Research Methods, each with a typical cap of 200 students, as well as upper-level lecture and seminar courses on relationships, emotion, and sexual and gender diversity. A student forged in a liberal arts school herself, Molly has spent her whole career trying to figure out how to impart some of the same benefits of small liberal arts courses to her students at large research-intensive institutions, and thinks she has been at least moderately successful.

All are welcome! Please register on Zoom