Too much class time
I enjoyed the suggestions when there is too much class time and not enough work. Our classes are 4 hours long and sometimes as small as 1 or 2 students. Which means covering the content for the week usually takes about half the time as it would in a larger class.
Dr. Randy,
This is a great use of time. The key (it would seem) would hinge on having the details of a predetermined and coordinated field trip arranged. More often, a class ends early or more time is needed and a decision whether to go on or break it up until another class session. Back-up plans can help, or if finished early, having students summarize the daily lesson is a good, productive activity for the remaining time.
Barry Westling
I've had this trouble. Field trips are great in this case because a smaller group is easier to manage and involve in the trip and it will help use up any extra time.
Melissa,
Yes, we have to have "adaptive skills" to modify our planning for the time needed given class size, learning ability, Q&A, and discussion.
Barry Westling
I completely understand. Our class times are 3 hours and when you have a class size of 30 vs a class size of 5, their is a vast difference in time management. Usually with larger classes you have more class envolvement, question etc. On the flip side, you can engage with a smaller class easier than a larger one.
In this case (too much class time and not enough work) smaller classes allow intructors/students more time to cover materials, answer questions as well as discussing in detail critical thinking situations. The instructor also could help students to create new study tools, or work on a project as a class instead on individually.
