880 Eyeballs: Mastering Active Learning in Large Classes with Justin Shaffer

13 snips

Sep 25, 2025

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Can you truly engage students in active learning when facing hundreds of faces in a lecture hall? We explore this challenge with Justin Shaffer, Founder of Recombinant Education, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, and Teaching Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering and Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines.

Dr. Shaffer shares insights on managing the intensity of teaching to "880 eyeballs" and reveals how highly structured course design transforms large classroom experiences. Together, we examine backwards design principles, effective assessment techniques, and practical classroom activities that enable educators to foster deeper student learning, even at scale.

Learn more about Dr. Shaffer’s work in his publication - High Structure Course Design.

Other materials referenced in this episode include:

S. Freeman, S.L. Eddy, M. McDonough, M.K. Smith, N. Okoroafor, H. Jordt, & M.P. Wenderoth, Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 111 (23) 8410-8415, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1319030111 (2014).
E.J. Theobald, M.J. Hill, E. Tran, S. Agrawal, E.N. Arroyo, S. Behling, N. Chambwe, D.L. Cintrón, J.D. Cooper, G. Dunster, J.A. Grummer, K. Hennessey, J. Hsiao, N. Iranon, L. Jones, H. Jordt, M. Keller, M.E. Lacey, C.E. Littlefield, A. Lowe, S. Newman, V. Okolo, S. Olroyd, B.R. Peecook, S.B. Pickett, D.L. Slager, I.W. Caviedes-Solis, K.E. Stanchak, V. Sundaravardan, C. Valdebenito, C.R. Williams, K. Zinsli, & S. Freeman, Active learning narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 (12) 6476-6483, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1916903117 (2020).
M.T. Owens, S.B. Seidel, M. Wong, T.E. Bejines, S. Lietz, J.R. Perez, S. Sit, Z. Subedar, G.N. Acker, S.F. Akana, B. Balukjian, H.P. Benton, J.R. Blair, S.M. Boaz, K.E. Boyer, J.B. Bram, L.W. Burrus, D.T. Byrd, N. Caporale, E.J. Carpenter, Y.M. Chan, L. Chen, A. Chovnick, D.S. Chu, B.K. Clarkson, S.E. Cooper, C. Creech, K.D. Crow, J.R. de la Torre, W.F. Denetclaw, K.E. Duncan, A.S. Edwards, K.L. Erickson, M. Fuse, J.J. Gorga, B. Govindan, L.J. Green, P.Z. Hankamp, H.E. Harris, Z. He, S. Ingalls, P.D. Ingmire, J.R. Jacobs, M. Kamakea, R.R. Kimpo, J.D. Knight, S.K. Krause, L.E. Krueger, T.L. Light, L. Lund, L.M. Márquez-Magaña, B.K. McCarthy, L.J. McPheron, V.C. Miller-Sims, C.A. Moffatt, P.C. Muick, P.H. Nagami, G.L. Nusse, K.M. Okimura, S.G. Pasion, R. Patterson, P.S. Pennings, B. Riggs, J. Romeo, S.W. Roy, T. Russo-Tait, L.M. Schultheis, L. Sengupta, R. Small, G.S. Spicer, J.H. Stillman, A. Swei, J.M. Wade, S.B. Waters, S.L. Weinstein, J.K. Willsie, D.W. Wright, C.D. Harrison, L.A. Kelley, G. Trujillo, C.R. Domingo, J.N. Schinske, & K.D. Tanner, Classroom sound can be used to classify teaching practices in college science courses, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 114 (12) 3085-3090, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1618693114 (2017).
A.M. Hermundstad, D.S. Bassett, K.S. Brown, E.M. Aminoff, D. Clewett, S. Freeman, A. Frithsen, A. Johnson, C.M. Tipper, M.B. Miller, S.T. Grafton, & J.M. Carlson, Structural foundations of resting-state and task-based functional connectivity in the human brain, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110 (15) 6169-6174, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1219562110 (2013).