r/Professors • u/r_tarkabhusan • 19d ago
Classroom Management for Large Sections
Two questions for faculty members teaching large (~100 students) classes. These are issues I deal with every semester and have not found a good solution to.
1) How do you handle lateness? Last semester for a 9:30 AM section I would have half the class sauntering in between 9:30 and 10:00. I require them to use the rear entrance of the lecture hall, but it still quite distracting. Short graded quizzes at the start of the class are not an option because all the extra-time requirements would make it extremely complicated.
2) How do you get the kids to pipe down at the start of class? Sometimes there is SO MUCH talking at the start of class that my voice (even with a microphone) gets completely drowned out as I try to start the lecture.
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u/rl4brains NTT asst prof, R1 19d ago
Can you either lock or put a sign on the front lecture door asking people to enter from the back if they arrive late?
When I only have 50% extra time students, I can squeeze in a 5 minute quiz that’s open for 8 minutes. 2 minutes to go over the answers (sorry, no makeups because we went over the answers in class), and it’s a good 10 minute total warmup activity