Marden posts class information, such as answers to the homework and announcements, to FirstClass. He also sends messages to the teaching assistants about what he did in class that day so they are better prepared to answer students' questions. Students can also hand in their homework assignments through FirstClass. Marden's students are broken up into nine lab groups of about 11 or 12 people in each group. The students have their own conferences within each lab.
Teaching assistants ask questions that students are required to answer.
Martinsek, who teaches a Discovery section of 20 students, said he uses FirstClass mostly to initiate discussion among the students. He sets up a FirstClass conference with a question or situation and then requires his students to read the message and post to the conference. FirstClass is helpful when the students have questions during non-office hours, the professors said. Marden said he thinks FirstClass helps students who may not be willing to speak up in class. I can't tell if the other people are too shy or they don't know what's going on.