Teaching a large group of students is very different from teaching small groups. When you stand in front of a large lecture theatre, 100 to 400 pairs of eyes watch your every movement and 100 to 400 pairs of ears listen to every word that you utter. The size of the lecture theatre makes you feel very small. The class dynamics also makes it difficult for you to encourage active participation from students. Many of us often have to teach, and teach effectively, against such odds. So we would like to share with you some tips gleaned from years of teaching large classes and materials that we have read about teaching large classes effectively.

Lecturing Tips

1. Overcome your fear. The secret is to be prepared. Rehearse part of the lecture aloud. Go over your notes. If this is the first lecture, reach the lecture theatre before class starts to get a feel of the place. Imagine what it is like to have those eyes looking at you.
   
2. Use humour. Studies have shown that humour in the workplace can lead to higher creativity. Employing humour in the classroom will at least make your class less boring and stressful. But the jokes should relate to the subject matter that you are teaching.
   
3. Project your voice. Shouting is not necessary, but you have to be heard by students seated at the back of the lecture theatre. Do a test: ask those who are seated at the very last rows if they can hear you. If not, raise your voice accordingly. Also, remember not to speak too quickly during a large class lest you lose your students.
   
4. Use your whole body to lecture. To bring our lessons across to students effectively, we should exploit both verbal and non-verbal means of communication. So besides speaking, use facial expressions, eye contact, hand gestures, and body language to help make students understand you.
   
5. Move around. Do not be anchored to a particular position. The only piece of immovable furniture in the lecture theatre should be the lectern and not you! But avoid excessive body movements that could distract students.
   
6. Vary the tone of your voice. Occasionally move from high to low pitch and vice versa to prevent yourself from speaking in monotone and boring your students to death. If possible, tape your lectures and judge if you speak monotonously.
   
7. Use stories and illustrations. Scour newspapers, journals and magazines for the latest stories that will give up-to-date illustrations of your subject matter. Sharing such stories with students will help convince them that what you are teaching has practical relevance to their future work and therefore increase their motivation to learn.
   
8. Use good stimulating questions. If you can get students to participate by responding to your question, half the battle of delivering an effective lesson in a large lecture would have been won! Carefully word and pitch your questions at an appropriate level so as not to confuse the students. Perhaps allocate some time for students to discuss these questions during the lecture. Studies by Eric Mazur (of Harvard University) have shown that students learn more from peer discussions.
   
9. Use breaks. Give students two-minute long restroom or ‘stretch’ breaks especially during long lectures. Students cannot concentrate if they are thinking of the restroom or are falling asleep.
   
10. Ensure your overhead projections/font sizes are large enough. Try out your transparencies or PowerPoint files before lecturing. With experience you will be able to tell which font size and colour contrast will be the most legible.

Coordinating Tips

1. Treat all tutorial groups equally. If a large class is broken down into smaller groups for tutorials and laboratory/practical sessions, handle all the various groups fairly. Students are very smart and can sense when you have favoured some groups at the expense of others.
   
2. Be approachable to all your students. Be ready for all sorts of course-related queries from your students. Nowadays, we should expect to get more emails from our students. Answer each diligently.
   
3. Brief your tutors/TAs thoroughly. Before each tutorial/practical session, brief tutors/teaching assistants about what to expect from students and what are the session’s major learning points.
   
4. Make all important announcements at the class level. The effort will reduce perceived inequity of the way you handle the class.
   
5. Give special attention to students and tutors/TAs who need help. Weaker students and newer tutors/teaching assistants, in particular, need all the support you can offer.