Calling on Students Using Notecards: Engagement and Countering Communication Anxiety in Large Lecture

Engaging students, checking for understanding, and encouraging oral participation are ongoing pedagogical challenges in large lecture courses. In this study, the instructor used notecardfacilitated cold-calling as a means of encouraging attendance and participation in a large-lecture biology class. The instructor asked students to share information about themselves on notecards at the beginning of the semester and then used these notecards to systematically call on each student to respond to or ask a question about the course content several times throughout the semester. The goal of this study is to assess student perceptions of this method. Overall, students had a positive attitude toward the use of notecardfacilitated cold-calling. Students liked that the notecards encouraged them to pay attention, attend class, and discuss ideas and listen to other students answer questions at a higher level than would otherwise likely have been the case. However, many students experienced communication anxiety and did not enjoy feeling “put on the spot” when they were called on, and some students did not like having to come to class on days that exams were not being given.