<p>Did anyone stop to think that there may be a reason for using large lectures to teach introductory science, not just at Harvard, but at most other colleges, too? </p>
<p>Did folks stop to think that learning introductory science is fundamentally different from learning something like introductory literature, or introductory sociology (or introductory sociology of science?)</p>
<p>The fact is that introductory science is greatly about learning new terms, paradigms, theories and such - material that lends itself well to large lecture formats. Frankly, there is not a lot of room for (or need for) discussion of the nuances of the definition of a ribosome or the organization of the periodic table or the beauty of thermodynamics. Not before one understands the fundamental language and principles. </p>
<p>So the reason Harvard uses large lectures is because it works for some disciplines. That some students complain about it does not tell me much about any problem. I think it says more about the student.</p>