Frequently Asked Questions

What is SCALE-UP?

The name really says it all. SCALE-UP stands for “Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs.” (The name originally ended as “University Physics” but since then many different institutions are teaching a variety of courses this way.) The basic idea is that you give students something interesting to investigate. While they work in teams, the instructor is free to roam around the classroom--asking questions, sending one team to help another, or asking why someone else got a different answer. There is no separate lab class and most of the "lectures" are actually class-wide discussions. We carefully structure the groups and give them many opportunities to interact. Three teams (named a, b, and c) sit at a round table and have white boards nearby. Each team has a laptop in case they need web access. At NC State (the original site) classes usually have 11 tables of nine students, but many schools have smaller classes while a few have even larger ones.

Probably the best place for a quick introduction to the approach is to read the Chronicle of Higher Education webchat that Bob Beichner participated in. The Raleigh, NC News & Observer has a short description of the project. A brief introduction was published by AAAS. An early article describing the project is available in the Proceedings of the Sigma Xi Forum on Reforming Undergraduate Education. There is also a chapter in Oblinger's Learning Spaces book, published by EduCause.

What goes on during a typical class?

Most of the class time is spent on "tangibles" and "ponderables". Essentially these are hands-on activities, simulations, or interesting questions and problems. There are also some hypothesis-driven labs where students have to write detailed reports. (This example is more sophisticated than most, but shows what the best students are capable of doing.) There is some lecturing, but that is mostly to provide motivation and a view of the "big picture," which is difficult for students to see when they are not familiar with the entire course content. If you are lecturing for more than 15 minutes, you are probably talking too much. Most students have hard time maintaining mental focus for extended periods of time.

What makes it work?

The social interactions between students and with their teachers appears to be the "active ingredient." As more and more instruction is handled virtually via the web, taking advantage of the relationship-building capability of the real people in brick and mortar universities becomes even more important. The most quoted study in all of educational research indicates that we probably have it right..."What Matters in College" are the relationships students build with each other and with their teachers.

How do you know it works?

Rigorous evaluations of learning have been conducted in parallel with the curriculum development and classroom design efforts. Besides hundreds of hours of classroom video and audio recordings, different schools have conducted numerous interviews and focus groups, conducted many conceptual learning assessments (using nationally-recognized instruments in a pretest/posttest protocol), and collected portfolios of student work. NC State has data comparing nearly 16,000 traditional and SCALE-UP students taking physics. Their findings can be summarized as the following:

• students' ability to solve problems is improved
• their conceptual understanding is increased
• their attitudes are better
• failure rates (especially for women and minorities) are drastically reduced
• "at risk" students do better in later courses.

These results and the research behind them are described in a peer-reviewed chapter available online. A paper describing the findings of the very successful pilot project was published in the first issue of the Physics Education Research supplement to Am. J. of Physics.

Who is doing it?

At last count, there were more than 50 institutions adopting or adapting the SCALE-UP approach. Information from these schools is available in the adopter's pages. We suspect there are many more (based on the fact that people keep contacting us two or three years into their implementations), so if you find someone (or are someone) teaching this way but not represented on the site, contact Bob Beichner!

What is being taught this way?

Physics, chemistry, math, biology, astronomy, engineering, business management, nursing, computer science, and even literature courses use this approach. We've been told to expect a political science class soon. The teacher would pick some current event, say the Attorney General’s Congressional testimony. The “a group” at each table would see how CNN covered the event. The “b groups” would read the Washington Post coverage, while the “c groups” could find the Fox News website. Then they would compare and see what aspects were covered by all three and which things are missing is some. They might then be sent on a search to find the least biased presentation (perhaps by the BBC?). Whether the topic is current events or chemistry, the basic idea is the same. Students work while teachers coach. Note that this requires extensive preparation by the students. We make sure the chapter has been read and simple homework finished before students come to class to ask questions and work on interesting activities.

What content has to be dropped?

It is not necessary to change the amount of material being covered. Even though activities take more time than straight lectures, students have increased responsibility to come to class well prepared. Instructors don't need to spend time going over the basics. Instead, class time is devoted to having students work with the more difficult aspects of the material.

Does it only work for large classes?

This approach actually works even better for smaller classes.

How do I get help in setting up a SCALE-UP classroom?

You can contact Bob Beichner at NC State, or better yet, get in touch with someone teaching in a SCALE-UP classroom near you.

Why are you so picky about the room layout?

We've spent years of research on room design. During this testing, we actually had prototype tables of different sizes and shapes in the room. We let students work at a particular table for a few weeks, then moved them to another table geometry. We conducted interviews, held focus groups, analyzed videotapes, and had observers track student interactions. We would typically test three tables per semester.

We were trying to promote interactions between students, even though class enrollment was large (i.e. We wanted a "small class feeling" in a room with lots of students). We also wanted to facilitate student teams helping each other, since there is no way an instructor and a TA could get to 100 students to provide assistance. Previous research indicated that student teams of three work well. Since we wanted teams to help each other, that meant at least two groups (ie. six students) per table. But only six per table required too many tables and a very large room. Three teams of three students led to testing of tables with 6' and 7' diameters. (The 6' tables were pretty cramped.) When we tried with four teams of three students, we had to evaluate 9' and 10' tables. Those proved to be too large, with wasted space in the center and across-table discussions that were too loud. So the final design was for 9 students at 7' tables. We know of three schools that are using non-round (rectangles, D, or X-shape) tables, but almost everyone else has gone with the round shape. At NC State, we think the round tables are the most important technology in the room.

How do I get access to the website?

You can view any of the adopter's pages. If you want more detailed information (which must be kept from students because there are sample quizzes, exams, and problem solutions), contact Bob Beichner at NC State to become a registered member of the site. Then you will be able to view an extensive set of wiki articles produced by adopters from around the world. You will be able to see some sample room layouts for 72 and 99 students, find details about making whiteboards, and access information on how we set up our student groups.

Can I visit a classroom?

See the answer to "How do I get help..."