In recent years, greater understanding about how people learn has led to the development of more effective approaches to teaching large classes, often making use of new technologies. In this webinar, we will give a brief introduction to effective teaching in large STEM classes, based on the book of the same title. The webinar is aimed at higher education teachers from across the STEM subjects, at all stages of their careers, who want to provide the most effective teaching and learning experiences for their students.

Anna Wood is an education researcher at the University of Edinburgh. Based in the School of Mathematics. She has a a PhD in physics (2000, University of Durham) and an MSc in e-learning (2013, University of Edinburgh). Her research interests include understanding teaching and learning in large STEM classes, and the use of dialogue in large class teaching. She has researched, written, and run workshops about peer instruction, the use of electronic voting devices, lecture capture, and the interactions in large classes, and has developed the FILL (Framework for Interactive Learning in Lectures) tool for accurately characterising activities in lectures. She has published widely on these topics and is the editor of Effective Teaching in Large STEM Classes.

Ross Galloway is a senior lecturer in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh. He teaches on the undergraduate programmes in physics and astronomy and conducts pedagogic research as the leader of the Edinburgh Physics Education Research group (EdPER). His research interests include the development of student problem solving skills, diagnostic testing, active learning and flipped classroom pedagogies.

Alison Voice is head of the Physics Education Research Group in the School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Leeds, a group that she founded in 2016.  She is a national teaching fellow and SFHEA, and has interests in the teaching and learning of STEM disciplines, and in supporting the development and success of students more generally in both the transition to university and in preparing students for their onward journey into employment or further study.

Sally Jordan is professor of physics education at the UK Open University (OU). She has extensive experience of teaching large OU classes in physics, interdisciplinary science and mathematics. She was the first person at the OU to use interactive online computer-marked assessment in her teaching. Her research interests include demographic outcome gaps in physics, authentic remote experimentation, the use of concept inventories and the impact of assessment on students.

About this ebook

Effective Teaching in Large STEM Classes. This book provides an accessible and research-informed introduction to teaching large classes, aimed at teachers from across the STEM subjects, at all stages of their careers, who want to provide the most effective teaching and learning experiences for their students.

 Editor Anna K Wood