Teaching and Learning in Large Classes at Universities during the Covid19 Pandemic: A view of Vietnamese Students

Large class size is a challenge in many countries, affecting student performanceand concerning educators, parents, and society. In Vietnam, during the Covid-19pandemic, all teaching and learning activities in large classes at universities havechanged into blended learning or online learning. The article focuses on theproblems being faced by teachers and students in online teaching and learning withlarge class sizes. The purpose of this research clarified the level that lecturers andstudents taught and learnt in large class and the effectiveness of lecturing andlearning in large class under the students’ perspective. This quantitative researchused a self-developed online questionnaire. Participants of this study were 655 firstto final-year (i.e. fourth-year) students who enroled in the Bachelor of Educationdegree in Vietnam’s universities and joined in large classes through online,blended learning, offline classes. The results pointed out that large classes haveboth positive and negative influences on the activities of lecturers and students.The interaction between lecturers and students in large classes is limited. There aremany difficulties in teaching and learning in large classes that are related toclassroom management, policies of universities, and the activities of lecturers andstudents. The problem cannot be completely resolved immediately. However, it isnecessary to balance enrolment argets with available facilities and teaching staff.Universities also need to consider sending more teaching assistants to supportlecturers and students in the teaching and learning process