One of the most enervating experiences for a student at a large university like Pitt is walking into the lecture hall and sitting in a room of 300 other students. As a result of such anonymity, a student can coast through the semester never being noticed, never being called on to answer a question, and never even talking to the professor.
To counteract this tendency, George Bandik, Chemistry, tries every semester to create a comfortable and personal experience so students aren’t just filling the seats in his classes. Teaching Organic Chemistry I and II, Bandik really enjoys these large lecture classes of approximately 200 students. Notes Bandik,“A major goal for me is to make large classes feel small.”
Bandik makes students feel comfortable about participating and learning in the large lecture environment by asking questions and using students’ names when talking to them. “I begin every class with questions based on previous lectures. I do this for two reasons: to get students comfortable with participating and to reinforce major topics,” says Bandik. “After the first two weeks, it’s surprising to see that more than 100 out of the 200 students participate daily.”
Despite the large number of students every semester, Bandik attempts to learn all their names. “I try to arrive 10-15 minutes early during the first few weeks of the class. Walking around the room, I introduce myself to students and, as a result, learn their names,” explains Bandik. “Once I learn some students’ names and start addressing them in class, others whom I haven’t yet met, will come up to me after class and introduce themselves.”
As an undergraduate at Penn State, Bandik himself was enrolled in many large lecture classes. “In my undergraduate experience, I realized how impersonal large lectures truly were,” says Bandik. “On the other hand, with large lecture classes students are forced to learn the tools to survive on their own, the way they would need to in the real world.”
Bandik doesn’t limit student involvement to in-class activities. He and his students are involved in various outreach programs with area high school students. Although volunteering is not mandatory, there rarely is a shortage of volunteers. As Bandik observes, “Students reach out because they care—Pitt students really do great things!”
Bandik’s personal approach fosters this student involvement outside the classroom and his subsequent recognition through teaching and outreach awards such as the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award (1993), the Chancellor’s Distinguished Public Service Award (2006), and the Bellet Teaching Award (2001). However what he enjoys the most is just getting to know the students. “It’s very exciting to me that students who come into Organic Chemistry are usually afraid, but when they walk out they feel really comfortable,” concludes Bandik.
By Lindsay Wayman, Teaching Times Intern
Lindsay Wayman is a junior double majoring in Communications and Rhetoric and English Writing specializing in Journalism. A future goal is to work in Broadcast Media and eventually become an on-air News Anchor.
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