During his Astronomy 3 class, Professor Jean Turner notices
nearly every student, from the ones looking confused to the ones
taking notes, and even the ones in the back reading newspapers.
In his music classes, Professor Peter Yates also notices what
his students are doing, as each class usually only has one
student.
Despite the vast differences in enrollment numbers of their
courses, both professors are equally tuned into their
students’ learning.
With 121 different disciplines available to students at UCLA,
there is clearly a wide array of classes to choose from, as well as
formats ““ and as both professors and students say, not one is
better than the other.
In the larger classes, many students never get to know their
classmates, let alone their professor, although that is not always
seen as a negative.
“I love the environment of a large class size,” said
Ronnie Seese, a second-year neuroscience student. “It feels
less competitive because you don’t really know who the people
in your class are and how smart they really are.”
For these larger classes, discussion sections are a
student’s opportunity to raise questions and obtain help from
the teaching assistant.
“In large classes … the professor works through the
teaching assistants, in essence teaching them to teach and helping
them to teach,” said Patrick Geary, a history professor,
“The discussion sections are the places where the real
education takes place.”
It still is up to students to actually attend and participate in
the discussion, which many take advantage of.
“Smaller classes gave and will give me the opportunity to
express my interest and thoughts about the ways and means of
certain subjects,” said Karine Brown, a second-year
undeclared student, “It gives students a voice and a
personality rather than just listening to one perspective on the
issue.”
For those enrolled in the larger classes, office hours are also
a way to get better acquainted with both the professor and the
class materials.
“During office hours students can ask questions about
things they don’t understand, or pursue more advanced topics,
or just talk,” Turner said, “For me, office hours are
one of the best parts of teaching.”
Office hours are also a good means of evaluating a class and its
structure through one-on-one student input.
Most professors realize that students all learn differently, and
try to provide as many resources as possible, while still teaching
to “the average student,” Turner said.
Student evaluations, which some students dismiss as unimportant,
play a large role in how professors develop their teaching
methods.
“If I get equal numbers of “˜too slow’ and
“˜too fast’ responses then the course is paced about
right,” Turner said, “After awhile, you learn what the
average pace should be.”
In Albion Urdank’s history lectures, he hands out outlines
of his lectures, or posts them beforehand online.
“I am able therefore to keep a reasonably continuous
eye-contact as I lecture, which gives the lecture more immediacy to
the students,” Urdank said, “the students can follow
what I say from the hand out.”
Professors also realize that lectures can become too tedious,
and therefore incorporate supplemental material to create a
balance.
“I try to stretch students’ understanding beyond the
assigned texts and fill in some of the important blanks not covered
in the reading,” said Ruth Bloch, a history professor,
“It’s fine that students vary in what they get out of
lectures … as long as they are thinking about the actual subject
matter. There is nothing I hate more than reading cookie-cutter,
memorized lectures when I grade essay questions on final
exams.”
While a relationship between teacher and student is what larger
classes struggle to create, it is what smaller classes are founded
upon.
In a typical studio art class, James Welling, has an average of
20 students, yet he still finds that 10 weeks is not enough time to
get know each student individually.
“By teaching to 20 students, they are able to see what I
am really thinking about, and I can get more involved in their
ideas,” Welling said, “I show them what interests me at
the moment and also respond to their concerns.”
Studio classes, which include design and art, among others, tend
to meet two to four hours a week, twice a week.
Students find that this creates a very interactive and dynamic
environment, said Daniel Kopich, a third-year design and media arts
student.
“There is an exchange of ideas between you and the other
students. … We critique each others’ works,” Kopich
said, “It is not something we could do in a lecture
class.”
In her classes, Patty Wickman, Vice chairwoman of the UCLA
department of art, “encourages the exchange of ideas and
dialogue among peers … (through) group meetings.”
Professors of studio classes play a large role in the learning
of each student, as they are the main link to the material being
taught.
“I feel like I can always approach the professor for the
most part,” Kopich said.
The individual attention is not only beneficial to the student,
but the professor as well.
“It is my privilege to get to know students in this
special manner, and of course I learn a great deal from them during
the process,” said Peter Yates, a professor in the music
department.
The personal attention from professors cannot always be enough
for some students in studio classes, because of the motivation
often necessary to continue to try to perfect their own skills in
the subject.
“Their eagerness to learn must be consuming,” said
Lou Anne Neill, a professor in the music department, “As our
teachers gave us their expertise, we then pass on their wisdom
combined with our own musical experience to our
students.”
Music classes span longer than a quarter, often a
student’s entire career at UCLA, which allows grades to focus
on the progress a student has made.
“I often work with a person one-on-one, meeting once a
week for four years or more,” Yates said, “This makes
study a kind of collaborative process. … It becomes, in a sense,
one long class, uninterrupted by the usual quarterly segmentations
of other studies.”
Kopich’s grades for his design classes are based upon
projects, which are cumulations of the entire quarter.
This type of grading scale can appear foreign to students in the
UCLA College (formerly called the College of Letters and Science),
the largest college at UCLA. Such students are accustomed to the
midterm, paper and final routines, which studio classes are
completely without.
In some large classes, students’ grades are based not only
on their test scores, but their classmates’ as well, which
constitutes the curve grading system.
But whether students’ grades are attributed to their
ability to perform through music and art, or note-taking and tests,
there is always the main underlying relationship between the
student and the material.
“Working independently, outside of class, is an essential
skill for students to develop, as is the ability to work through
ideas,” Wickman said.
Professors agree that the main effort must come from the
student, and that lectures, office hours and one-on-one interaction
is all supplemental.
“Students never had to take this initiative in high
school,” Seese said, “That is why it is so difficult
for students to adjust to the college lecture setting.”
Despite what degree a student is working toward, they may not
always be eager to practice their instruments, or listen to a
lecture, but it is the effort of showing up that matters most, many
professors say.
But professor Turner realizes that all students will not be
fascinated with all their classes.
“You may read your newspaper,” Turner compromised,
“as long as you do not rustle it loudly.”