1. Annual Departmental Savings: $37,762
Large Class Size: Affect, Effect and Maintaining Student and Professor Engagement
Scott Despain, Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, NC State University
Annual Departmental Savings: $37,762
Results
Space issues resolved, using Withers 232a, MWF
Added four additional, supported graduate students
Close articulation for majority of FLS101 sections
Annual departmental savings: $73,537 vs $111,300
Attrition rates approximate professor’s small section averages
Students prefer traditional section model
81% like or love Wolfpack model
Overview
In the fall of 2007 the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures created two large-enrollment sections of FLS101, Beginning Spanish I, by combining all 20 of the traditional sections of students each. The model that developed from this significant change in delivery of instruction became known as “The Wolfpack Model.”
Completion Rate Averages
From Harrelson … To Withers
Student Model Preference
Ideas For Successful Engagement
Clear syllabus
Syllabus quiz on second day of class
Review syllabus periodically
Provide expectation sheets for tests
Bulk of class time is paired-activity work
Students expected to prepare prior to class
Occasional “birdwalks” (film clips, jokes, stories)
Weekly pop quizzes
Four hourly exams and comprehensive final
Update grades weekly (total of ~140 grades)
Reinforce questions with Smarties® candy
Outside-of-class activities
The Wolfpack Model
1 Professor instructs two sections of 220 students each
4 graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in the classroom
Each GTA is assigned ¼ of the class (50-55 students)
Full-technology classroom is divided into four quarters
Same number of hourly tests, quizzes, outside projects
Same number of paired activities for each class period
Students prepare outside of class for in-class activities
Based on Sociocultural Learning Theory
Experts provide scaffolding (learning assistance) for learners
Zone of proximal development
Many false beginners (semi experts) in the FLS101 class
The professor provides scaffolding for students and GTAs
GTA’s provide scaffolding for students
Students scaffold for each other
Textbook also provides scaffolding for students
Wolfpack Model Satisfaction
Keys to Success
Switch seats/rows after each hourly test (limit honor code issues)
Separate instructor for fall and spring
Talented and dedicated graduate teaching assistants
Daily resource pages full of multimedia to use as needed
Dynamic instructors with a sense of humor, and high expectations
5-7 activities in groups of two each day
Groups-of-two “pop discussions” of difficult lecture points
Weekly training sessions with the graduate teaching assistants
TA ownership
Limit effects of affective filter (feelings of learner anxiety)
Facilitating Honor Code Compliance
Discuss the honor code often
Case scenarios shared with students
Code reminders during each quiz and test
Seat swapping after each test
Must sit in the same GTA section
Must sit in a different row
Must sit next to different students
Recording testing components
Increased eyes
Tracking grades - No surprises
Model Questions
How will student attrition be affected?
Will students prefer the large or small model?
How will honor code enforcement occur?
How will student engagement be maintained?
How will professor burnout be prevented?
What will be the actual cost savings?
Will student achievement be maintained?
Acknowledgements
Wolf images from
Classroom images from