Teaching Large Computer Science Classes

Growing enrollment numbers in Computer Science programs in schools across the country are a reflection of the rapidly growing computer industry over the last few decades. Many schools have met the challenge of higher enrollment numbers by adding classes to address new course content and increasing the sizes of these classes. While the size of the more specialized classes may still be kept at a manageable and reasonable level, the core classes that most university students have to take present special challenges for the administration. Over the last ten years, we have, at different times, tried different approaches and used a variety of different class sizes to accommodate the higher enrollment numbers for such core classes. Importantly, each approach has had its own advantages and challenges. In this paper, we present some of the techniques we have used that have helped us improve student learning in large class settings. We discuss challenges associated with large classes inside and outside of the class. We present this research as a case study of a particular large computer science graduate course with information that may be replicable to other large classes across computer science and engineering education. For our case study we selected a graduate level algorithms design class to demonstrate the effectiveness of different approaches to addressing the ever-increasing enrollment numbers for these classes. We share our experience with both pedagogical and logistical challenges in such class settings as these and present solutions for such challenges through a combination of technology and approach to teaching.