Distributing handouts or materials during class time is not recommended for large class situations. Handouts and other materials needed for a specific class may be placed in some convenient location or made available to students as they enter the classroom. Many professors prepare a comprehensive course syllabus or collection of all materials needed for the entire class and rely on a copying service to duplicate the materials for students to purchase at the beginning of the course. Some professors place course materials on a computer network from which students can access or download materials as needed. Providing a testing situation where opportunities for cheating are minimized is a concern to most professors of large classes.
Many professors hold exams for their large classes at night in large lecture halls.
Several forms of an exam are produced and, with support from graduate teaching assistants, the forms are distributed to alternate rows of students. Exams are machine graded and usually returned during lab periods. Other professors recommend having several exams, not just a midterm and final, and conduct examinations only in discussion groups or during breakout sessions. Nearly all professors employ some type of machine scoreable, multiple choice, answer sheet. Several professors supply the students with two answer sheets and place an answer key outside the exam room, after the exam has been distributed.