Pedagogy for Higher Education Large Classes (PHELC)

PHELC aims to enhance T&L at scale across disciplines, supporting teachers and those who support T&L to develop the knowledge, insights, and skills required for effective and inclusive practices in large classes (LCs) to enhance student experience and engagement. Instigated in response to the challenges experienced in my own professional practice in teaching LCs in DCU, the focus on pedagogy at scale and the inter- and transdisciplinary approach taken enables the promotion, learning from and extension of the reach of excellent practices in LCs. ‘Large’ is quantified as 100+ students for the purposes of PHELC.

To date PHELC has facilitated one inter-institutional seminar and six symposia, attracting international presenters and attendees. Presenters are required to submit a paper which is published open access = www.phelc.ie

SATLE priority area: Educational for Sustainable Development

Context:

The trend towards massification in higher education has resulted in the proliferation of LCs. While the term ‘large class’ remains contested and often in the eye of the beholder (Kerr, 2011), the literature has somewhat settled on the quantification of 100+ student cohorts (Exeter et al., 2010), which PHELC also uses as its point of reference. Generally, the discourse around LCs focuses on the challenges and limitations of these contexts, perceived as a less valuable, poor relation to ‘smaller’ classes, resulting in self-fulfilling prophesies e.g. talk-at-them approach, absenteeism, minimal in-class student engagement and a narrow range of assessment types. Having taught LCs for many years, initiating innovative pedagogical approaches and engaging in scholarly activity around that work, my colleague and I decided that the possibilities and potential of LC cohorts needed to be highlighted and that those teaching those LC groupings needed a voice to share practice and counteract the negative discourse around LCs. Following presentation at the Higher Education Advances (HEAd) Conference, Valencia (2018), one of the organisers contacted me to suggest that my colleague and I run a four-hour, pre-conference symposium on LC pedagogical practice, and so, PHELC was established, with the ultimate aim of enhancing pedagogical practice to, in turn, enhance the learning experience and engagement of students in the LC context.

Specifically, the goals and activities of PHELC are to …

• … provide fora for those teaching LCs in HEIs to come together as a community of practice (CoP). Two types of fora have been developed to date. Firstly, PHELC has facilitated six symposia, attracting an international audience and range of presenters. Additionally, we have begun to develop more focused seminars, concentrating on one or two HEIs to specifically enable colleagues within specific HEIs to share practice.
• … add to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) specifically in relation to large class pedagogical practice. All symposia presentations are accompanied by a peer reviewed paper. Seminars require an extended abstract, also peer reviewed. Proceedings are collated into one document.
• … maximise open access to events and resultant outputs. All papers are provided open access on Zenodo. In addition, most symposia and seminar presentations have been recorded. Links to papers and recordings are available on www.phelc.ie

This DCU-TEU webpage provides written and video summary of the aims, objectives and work of PHELC

PHELC adopts the definition of pedagogy as incorporating the elements of “teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment […], relationships and values […] fundamentally concerned with what people perceive to be meaningful, important and relevant as they engage in teaching-related activity and develop competence and expertise in a practice” (Nind et al., 2016). Since its establishment (2019), each pedagogical element has been addressed in the context of LCs, across the totality of events.

Key stakeholders have primarily been those teaching LCs and those who support T&L in HEIs internationally. PHELC has been multi-disciplinary from the outset, with participants from very different contexts coming together with a shared desire to enact good practice in LCs for the sake of their students. Students are also stakeholders; two of the seven events to date have explicitly included students as presenters. Further, PHELC has attracted eminent academics as keynote speakers (see later section).

My colleague and I have experienced three challenges over the years. Firstly, we have carried most of the associated workload. As PHELC has grown, this workload has been quite demanding so we recruited support from DCU colleagues from our own faculty and from the TEU in terms of managing the events on the day and editing the recorded presentations. Secondly, we really wanted to maximise access to our international symposia which was enabled by the funding we received from SATLE so that participation could be provided without charge. Thirdly, recent changes in our own university in relation to sharing websites and documents have resulted in complications in reaching out to a national and international community. To ensure our website is accessible, we have handed over ownership to those responsible for online security in the university.

A fourth, more imminent challenge has been that my colleague, Dr Anna Logan, is now in the new role of Acting Dean of the faculty, a significant role, attracting an extremely heavy and diverse workload. While she will continue to remain associated with PHELC, it will not be possible for her to commit in the same way. This comes at a time when we were in the process of reviewing PHELC anyway, particularly in the context of legacy planning. She fully supports my individual application for the SATLE Award 2025 to enable me to sustain and grow PHELC into the future.

Strategic alignment with national policies and relevant SATLE priority area

PHELC contributes to the Education for Sustainable Development SATLE priority area. As participation rates in HEIs continue to increase, so too do LC cohorts. The focus of PHELC is on the sustainability of this educational development while also enabling quality of teaching, leading to high quality learning experiences. Favouring the online format rather than organising face-to-face symposia is, in itself, a sustainable approach to the organisation of an international event as is PHELC’s open access philosophy.

In terms of the national policy, ESD to 2030 (Gov of Ireland, ND), PHELC specifically contributes the priority action areas of Transforming Learning Environments and Building Capacities of Educators, with particular focus on the following key principles:

Key principles (p.7):

• Focus on values […] and inclusion as a means of empowering the individual and community: PHELC provides a platform for those working with LC cohorts to share practice in an enabling, encouraging environment. The overriding characteristic of each PHELC event has been the positivity of presenters and keynote speakers in addressing challenges and harnessing the opportunities large classes provide. It places the student learning experience at the centre of pedagogical practice, valuing the importance of moving beyond the challenges presented in this complex learning environment to a solution focused mindset, thereby empowering individuals to provide quality education leading to empowerment of the communities working on a large programme and those working in HEI communities generally.
• Locally relevant while also linking the local to the national and global: The dual focus of PHELC acknowledges the local, national and global importance of educational sustainability of high quality teaching in the LC context. Approximately 50% of presenters and attendees at every PHELC come from Irish HEIs.
• Be interdisciplinary and recognise interdependence and interconnectivities across other sectors: The inter-disciplinarity characteristic of PHELC events explicitly evidences the interconnectedness and interdependence of pedagogical practice and highlights the pedagogical commonalities across disciplinary boundaries in relation to the shared phenomenon of LC cohorts.
• Promote and use a variety of pedagogical techniques that support active and participatory learning, critical thinking and the development of key dispositions and skills: Combined, the scholarly outputs of the PHELC events evidence a range of pedagogical techniques which enhance student engagement and promote deep learning. In addition, PHELC aims to develop the disposition and skills of those teaching large classes.

While PHELC contributes primarily to ESD, it also contributes significantly to Digital Transformation and Academic Integrity. Many PHELC presentations focus on leveraging technology to support the development of institutional policies for digital and open teaching and learning, including online, blended and face to face modes of learning, aligning with national policy (NFTL, 2021). Enacting and sustaining meaningful assessment design in the complexity of LC settings is a recurring PHELC theme, contributing to the discussion around academic integrity.

Innovation in specified SATLE priority area

The teacher’s ability to recognise the benefits of a LC is in itself an enabler for the recognition of opportunities for teamwork, interaction and active learning (Mantai & Huber, 2021), leading to innovation. PHELC events consistently highlight these benefits at a systemic level, with national and international reach. PHELC attracts presenters who view LCs as a pedagogical challenge to be addressed and solved rather than an automatic, default limiter of good practice; and it attracts participants who are anxious to hear from solution-focused practitioners. All PHELC presentations focus on innovative, novel pedagogical approaches sustained in the complex context of a LC.

The innovative, solution-focused philosophies and practice evidenced by practitioners who present at PHELC symposia, is mirrored by the keynote addresses. For example, Prof Broadbent (2024) focused on managing quality assessment design, moderation and feedback with 1,500 students to support deep student learning and academic integrity. The keynote speakers do not just highlight innovative practices, they do so with excitement and enthusiasm, as exemplified by Prof Arvanitakis’ (2021) paper entitled “That was fun! The joy and importance of large classes”. As a LC teacher myself, I understand the inherent energy therein (De Rogatis et al., 2014), which can transform the learning and teaching experience for students and teachers.

My work with PHELC has encouraged me to develop my own practice further, particularly in relation to collaboration with colleagues within and across modules to co-teach, and design assessment. I am currently exploring the effective management of large theatre space with a group of colleagues, a new departure in my own work in the LC context. I have invited them to co-present a practice paper on this work at our forthcoming PHELC-TEU seminar organised specifically for the DCU community. I suspect the willingness and confidence to collaborate on this work has been influenced by colleagues’ perception of me as a leader in the LC space.

In 2020, I received DCU Covid research funding to examine the move of LCs to the online environment, due I believe, to my work with PHELC, resulting in multiple scholarly and practice outputs. I have also been invited to take part in the DCU TEU Edge of Discovery Podcast series to speak about online assessment with LCs and I have contributed to the TEU’s Case Studies in Innovative Teaching, focusing on academic integrity in the LC context. I have contributed to multiple staff events organised by the TEU in DCU, focusing on LCs thereby influencing institutional change.

In two of the seven PHELC events to date (one symposium and one seminar) students have been enabled to present as scholarly partners. One was a student from my large BEd class in DCU whom I included as an equal partner on the research project mentioned above, and supported to be lead author and presenter for a paper for one of the PHELC symposia. This scholarly partnership with students is an element of PHELC to be enhanced into the future, aligning with national policy (e.g. NStep).

Outcomes

Impact

Replicability and wider institutional/sectoral impact.

PHELC began as an intended one-off event at the HEAd Conference in 2019. Its replicability has already been evidenced in its formal establishment as a scholarly CoP in its own right. It has been managed to a very high standard with minimal funding and limited personnel, establishing institutional, national and international reach in six years. The PHELC model is replicable to support other T&L imperatives in the HE context in a sustainable manner.

PHELC’s impact is evidenced in feedback from participants which has been very positive year on year. This is exemplified by feedback from the keynote speakers, for example:

Convening groups such as this is so important. So grateful for your leadership in this space. Thank you! (Prof Hornsby, 2020)

I totally loved the event… thanks so much for the honour of the opening keynote… I so enjoyed the discussions (Prof Arvanitakis, 2021)

In 2021, one attendee, impressed by the quality of the PHELC symposium that year, made contact to propose the organisation of an inter-university seminar on large classes to provide an opportunity for staff in the University of Minho and DCU to share practice. That seminar took place online in December 2021, jointly hosted by PHELC and IDEA, the T&L unit in the University of MINHO.

Improvements to teaching and learning.

Anecdotal feedback from symposium participants indicates that PHELC motivates and inspires changes to pedagogical practice, with some people participating for a number of years. It has impacted my own practice; inspired me to trial new innovations in my own LC setting (400+), particularly in relation to meaningful assessment design. The following comment illustrates the impact on T&L at an international level:

Personally, I have applied several of the strategies she and her collaborators have presented in my own teaching, and now my students are benefiting from them (participant)

One participant made contact to say that he credited his engagement with two of the PHELC symposia (presenter and author of a paper) as leading directly winning the T&L award in his university.

I just thought you might be pleased to hear that, significantly based on my large-class teaching […] I was awarded our president’s prize for teaching excellence […] I have little doubt that the fact that I was able to cite published conference papers on my research into large-class teaching, which is based on my practice, was very significant in the final decision. I’d like to thank you for your encouragement and support over the years in these research pursuits.

Strategic partnerships

From the outset, PHELC has explicitly aligned its T&L focus with SoTL which is so important for those in academia.

The following internationally renowned, highly respected academics agreed to be keynote speakers at the PHELC symposia from 2020 onwards:

• Professor David Carless, University of Hong Kong (2020)
• Professor David Hornsby, Carleton University, Canada (2020 & 2021)
• Professor James Arvanitakis, Forrest Research Foundation, Australia (2021)
• Professor Jacqueline De Matos Ala, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (2022)
• Professor Frederic Fovet, Thompson Rivers University, Canada & ImplementUDL (2022)
• Professor Elaine Huber, University of Sydney, Australia (2023)
• Professor Jaclyn Broadbent, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia (2024)

These speakers provided their time and expertise gratis, indicating the import they place in the support of teachers and students in the complex LC contexts.

As a result of our work with PHELC, my colleague and I have been invited to speak at events nationally and internationally. In 2023, we were invited to present the opening keynote address at the HEAd23 Conference, Valencia. In 2024, we were interviewed in a podcast as part of the prestigious Tea for Teaching podcast series based in the US. In 2025, we were invited as keynote speakers for the Mary Immaculate College LEAD staff development day to speak on assessment in the LC context.

The overall impact of PHELC is probably best summarised by a person who was there at its inception in 2019:

Dr. Farrell’s scholarly leadership is exemplified by her role in establishing the PHELC symposium. What began as a collocated initiative in 2019 has evolved into a recognized platform for international dialogue and academic exchange, with formal recognition in its own right. The PHELC initiative has resulted in the development and dissemination of new scholarly work and has fostered a community of practice that spans institutions and disciplines. I am proud that PHELC originated alongside HEAd and has since developed a distinct and well-established reputation of its own. (Prof Josep Domenech, Chair HEAd Conference Committee, 2025).

Plans for embedding the project/ initiative learnings into future

1. Extension of range of PHELC events, professional development of website and legacy planning including broadening management of PHELC.
2. Development of aligned project which focuses on embedding UDL and Authentic Assessment in LC context, leading to scholarship for undergraduate students

Team

To date, my colleague, Dr Anna Logan and I have run PHELC. We have done so with the support of colleagues in our faculty and DCU’s Teaching Enhancement Unit, particularly in relation to running PHELC events.