Put Down the Pointer: Strategies for Learning without Lecturing.

Students are clamoring for engaging in-class exercises, while faculty are struggling with larger class sizes and more diverse student populations.  The result is that learning gets caught in the middle.  Strategies for engaging students in a large-format entry-level plant science class (enrollment: 325) will be discussed. 

Lectures are safe, slides are expected, students are already conditioned to sit and listen.  Case studies require students to apply recently taught material in small group formats, and result in a high return on a few minutes of class time.   Tweet summaries of popular press or peer reviewed articles require students to think critically about a subject and generate a simple assessment product.  An in-class scouting activity where pieces of candy stand in for insects illustrates the importance of field scouting and thoughtful pest management practices. A drive-through laboratory takes less time than reading a book chapter but gives students a "high-tech, high touch" approach to plant and soil systems, without requiring a formal laboratory section.