Converting a Large Lecture Class to an Active Blended Learning Class: Why, How, and What we Learned

Faced with diminished faculty resources and increased student enrollment from 2010 to 2017, we sought to use blended learning to achieve active learning in a large ~400-student introductory geography class. Working iteratively over seven years and eight classes and using smart classrooms, better timetabling, experimentation with peer review and learning management system (LMS) technologies, as well as the expertise of Queen’s University Continuing and Distance Studies instructional design team to improve integration between course elements, we closely approached the quality of learning achieved in a much smaller enrollment class. It is possible to teach large classes of ~400 students in an active and engaged manner. The greatest obstacle to the development and maintenance of this model is institutional culture.