Enhancing Student Engagement in a Large Lecture Lower-Division GE Course

POLS 1000 is a lower-division GE course that fulfills the CSU's American Institutions requirement. Every undergraduate student is required to complete this requirement, and most will take this particular course offered by the Department of Political Science. Class size ranges from about 40 students to as many as 200 students. My course redesign is mean for a large lecture course of between 125 and 200 students. Typically, large-lecture courses revolve around the "sage-on-a-stage" format; attendance can be low, and student engagement both in class and outside of class is often minimal or sporadic.  My course redesign will be based on two major elements: (1) integration of course material with Moodle primarily through greater use of online assessments and ungraded online assignments (essays, forum discussions, and practice tests); and (2) an in-class polling program (REEF Polling).