I must admit I was a skeptic when confronted with reading My Freshman Year. The premise of a fifty year old tenured faculty member living the life of a freshman seemed ridiculous at best. I was pleasantly surprised by several aspects of the book.
First, I actually learned something about my students, something I had not expected. As a recent graduate I thought that I was closely connected enough to undergraduate life that I could relate to my students. That said, my own freshman year was over eight years ago as I took time off from school. Clearly, I’ve forgotten much of the anxieties of being freshman, something I should be familiar with as my classroom is largely composed of them.
In my class these freshmen are adapting to college life, as discussed in the book. I found myself looking back on my freshman year and relating to much of what Nathan says. I remember orientation, and dealing with the long lectures on alcohol, the dangers of unprotected sex, and concerns about assault. I did not live in the dorms however, so the chapter on dorm life was an interesting read for me.
Clearly I have been in dorm rooms before, but never imagined living in the dorms. It was recommended by the university that all freshmen live in the dorms but since I lived in town, and preferred to remain in the comforts of home, I was allowed to not live in the dorms. I was very glad as I am one who likes my peace and quiet.
I found the idea of dorm dwelling students seeking peace and quiet in designated common areas very interesting. I remember as an undergraduate studying in common areas around campus and it drove me crazy. I could not imagine that as an escape. Perhaps one of the reasons freshmen don’t accomplish much is that they are constantly inundated with their friends and social activities. Even in the master’s student office, I sometimes have trouble getting work done. I can’t imagine my home life being that social. In spite of all that, if I had it all to do over, I probably would live in the dorms. I think I may have been more connected with the campus, and perhaps performed better during my freshman year (frankly it would have been near impossible to have done much worse).
Performance was interestingly brought up by Nathan. On one hand Nathan is able to excuse students’ lack of reading because she now realizes that she only has two classes to prepare for while her students have as many as five or six. I think this is a good point however, for what classes are students reading? Is there a specific field where instructors have high rates of student preparation for class? I’m doubtful, and feel that Nathan is too quick to justify ill-prepared students. I do think however, we need not be completely harsh towards our students.
Nathan speaks about being compassionate as instructors. I think that this would be the piece of advice that I would be most comfortable passing along after reading this work. I think that all too often, as instructors, we get wrapped up in our own worlds. Often we forget that students are constantly juggling other obligations and classes, and may have valid reasons for not being prepared for our courses. Just the other day I found out one of my students has three jobs in addition to being a full time student. I don’t give her special treatment on account of this, but it is far easier to be compassionate when readings are not complete, or when she becomes slightly needy. As important as compassion is, I think another aspect that should be shared with future teachers is the fundamental differences between us and the typical undergraduate student.
Often in the course of mentor meetings and sessions of comm. 690, I have heard the common phrase “These students aren’t you and me. They aren’t like us.” Normally I hear this phrase when I’m overly concerned about students and their performance. The culture among freshmen that Nathan discusses largely explains this difference. I would argue that most of us as graduate students place a high value on academic achievement. Nathan speaks to the notion of college as job training and nothing more for many students. As long as the work is good enough to get the degree and survive in the work world, most of these students are happy.
Looking back on the early portion of my undergraduate career, when the thought of just getting my bachelor’s in teaching seemed exhausting and impossible, I can relate to this feeling. My goals early on were to simply get a degree so I could get on with my life. Even when I returned to school, initially my goal was to get the degree to get the job. I am glad that during my second semester back I took a challenging course and excelled. I then realized that academia is something I am good at, and am indeed smart enough to follow my dreams. Frankly it still seems surreal to me that I am working on a my master’s and teaching two classes. Although I am very happy right now, Nathan did present some startling statistics.
Nathan did not really leave me feeling all that hopeful about the state of higher education. As an individual anticipating a career in academia, the cuts in funding and change in the amount of tenure track positions is disconcerting. Also, the fact that the lower paying positions generally don’t allow instructors as much agency in their courses (something that I struggle with right now) is another aspect of higher education that made me uncomfortable. As schools are changing, so are instructors and students.
This book has changed how I view undergraduate students in many ways. First, I was glad that a sociologist was completing this ethnography. Nathan’s perspectives on undergraduate students move us from simply observing them to better understanding them. Nathan does a very good job of moving from just artifacts, texts, and conversation, to providing a meaning behind them.
I found particular brilliance in Nathan’s remarks on the decorating of different dorm room doors. She nicely explained each decoration and then moved into explaining the overarching themes. Nathan also used these artifacts to explain their meaning in freshman culture. I think this glimpse into their world as revolving around a culture that stresses sociability, humor, and fun (Nathan, 2005) can be highly useful for us as new teachers. Towards the end of the book, Nathan touched upon the presentation that was communicating using this culture when presenting the more formalized culture of the academic institution. I believe that it is our responsibility to try to reach our students, even if it means we have to adapt to their culture.
As skeptical as I was entering this reading assignment, I feel that My Freshman Year has significant pedagogical value. The book provides us a glimpse into undergraduate culture that is impressively accurate. Further, the book moves beyond a simple glimpse into the culture, but also explains the meanings behind the artifacts, rules, and arguably different language of undergraduate culture. Although I don’t agree with some of the arguments Nathan makes defending undergraduate students, I feel that this work is a fantastic way to get a better understanding of our students.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Ethics and Learning
This week's readings focused on several aspects of teaching. From teaching students how to learn, to ethics, to teachers as learners, I feel that we covered a wide variety of aspects of life as a teacher.
One aspect of teaching that I hadn't really considered was the notion of, as the McKeachie book puts it, "teaching students to think like a ______" (p. 322). I guess I'd always know to cover course content, and realized the value of Bloom's taxonomy, but this idea really resonated with me. When I ask my students to analyze the definition of small group communication, how can I expect them to answer when they don't have the background to think like a social scientist. Teaching students to think like members of the field is useful for getting at higher order learning in Bloom's taxonomy.
Higher order learning is fantastic however, the text alludes to the fact that, in introductory courses, it may be advantageous to stick to primarily lower-levels in the taxonomy. I think that this is largely one of the frustrations I face with my class. I want to engage students and have all of these fantastic discussions where we are evaluating and analyzing course material. In reality, I should just be happy if they can remember, understand, and maybe apply the information. I think that with this knowledge of what an introductory course should look like, I may adjust how I teach class. I don't want to necessarily "dumb it down" however, I will change the approach I take in asking discussion questions. My questions will probably be more based on application than anything else. (I am an eternal optimist!) Realizing my students don't know "how to think like a social scientist" does indeed change how I will approach levels of Bloom's taxonomy, especially in discussion.
Another aspect of the reading that will directly impact my teaching is the notion of ethics presented in McKeachie. As a communication major I have had whole classes on, read, and partaken in more discussions on ethics than I'd care to mention. This information however, seemed far more applicable and called into question some aspects of ethics in the classroom that I had not considered.
I like to think that my colleagues and I are ethical individuals. I like to think of academia as this realm where we make the right decisions and do good at all times. Chapter 25 on ethics seriously challenged my taken for granted ideal of the ethical academic institution.
For example, I always considered it good practice to prepare a lesson plan and be prepared for class. I hadn't really thought of it as an ethical violation until I read the chapter. Some examples of less obvious ethical violations I found interesting are the notion of just how we communicate in the classroom. We can teach values (if we intend to or not) just by what we say, and how we engage in classroom discussions.
I feel it is obvious that we are all role models as instructors. When it comes to determining how to act in the academic institutions students follow our lead. McKeachie carries this further into the organizational world and after school. I had never really thought of the potential impact I have as an educator until I read this chapter of the book.
Ethics, and modeling behavior are a large part of being a teacher, but I also feel are particularly important in a field such as communication. During class discussions, especially in upper-level communication courses, the openness of the instructor plays a key factors. I think it is all to easy to listen only to the arguments we agree with. I like the excerpt McKeachie borrows from Hanson, (1996) "'Teachers who can nimbly convey the strenghts of a position they in fact oppose, who can clearly display the weaknesses in a position they in fact embrace, who are modeling a critical engagement from which students may learn their most important lessons' (p. 35)." (p. 332). I hope to achieve the ability to engage in this type of modeling to help my students get to a point where they are able to critically evaluate the information presented in my classroom. I believe that this is something that takes a fair amount of time to develop as a teacher.
I look forward to a career as a teacher. The closing chapter of the McKeachie book reinforced that enthusiasm. The notion of always learning, encountering new situations, and the constant rewards of teaching seems exciting to me. Life as a teacher, and all that goes with it seems to be something that I get only more excited about as the semester progresses.
Helpful Links:
Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy: This link will take you to a far more in-depth look at the revisions that Anderson, Krathwohl, et. al (2001) made to Bloom's original 1956 taxonomy.
Ethical Violations: This link will take you to a PDF file that better explains the seven intolerable categories of teaching behavior. I liked this because it gives some examples to simplify some of the concepts.
STLHE Ethical Guidelines: This link will take you to a list of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education's (STLHE) document titled Ethical Principles in University Teaching. This document was referenced on p. 328 of McKeachie.
One aspect of teaching that I hadn't really considered was the notion of, as the McKeachie book puts it, "teaching students to think like a ______" (p. 322). I guess I'd always know to cover course content, and realized the value of Bloom's taxonomy, but this idea really resonated with me. When I ask my students to analyze the definition of small group communication, how can I expect them to answer when they don't have the background to think like a social scientist. Teaching students to think like members of the field is useful for getting at higher order learning in Bloom's taxonomy.
Higher order learning is fantastic however, the text alludes to the fact that, in introductory courses, it may be advantageous to stick to primarily lower-levels in the taxonomy. I think that this is largely one of the frustrations I face with my class. I want to engage students and have all of these fantastic discussions where we are evaluating and analyzing course material. In reality, I should just be happy if they can remember, understand, and maybe apply the information. I think that with this knowledge of what an introductory course should look like, I may adjust how I teach class. I don't want to necessarily "dumb it down" however, I will change the approach I take in asking discussion questions. My questions will probably be more based on application than anything else. (I am an eternal optimist!) Realizing my students don't know "how to think like a social scientist" does indeed change how I will approach levels of Bloom's taxonomy, especially in discussion.
Another aspect of the reading that will directly impact my teaching is the notion of ethics presented in McKeachie. As a communication major I have had whole classes on, read, and partaken in more discussions on ethics than I'd care to mention. This information however, seemed far more applicable and called into question some aspects of ethics in the classroom that I had not considered.
I like to think that my colleagues and I are ethical individuals. I like to think of academia as this realm where we make the right decisions and do good at all times. Chapter 25 on ethics seriously challenged my taken for granted ideal of the ethical academic institution.
For example, I always considered it good practice to prepare a lesson plan and be prepared for class. I hadn't really thought of it as an ethical violation until I read the chapter. Some examples of less obvious ethical violations I found interesting are the notion of just how we communicate in the classroom. We can teach values (if we intend to or not) just by what we say, and how we engage in classroom discussions.
I feel it is obvious that we are all role models as instructors. When it comes to determining how to act in the academic institutions students follow our lead. McKeachie carries this further into the organizational world and after school. I had never really thought of the potential impact I have as an educator until I read this chapter of the book.
Ethics, and modeling behavior are a large part of being a teacher, but I also feel are particularly important in a field such as communication. During class discussions, especially in upper-level communication courses, the openness of the instructor plays a key factors. I think it is all to easy to listen only to the arguments we agree with. I like the excerpt McKeachie borrows from Hanson, (1996) "'Teachers who can nimbly convey the strenghts of a position they in fact oppose, who can clearly display the weaknesses in a position they in fact embrace, who are modeling a critical engagement from which students may learn their most important lessons' (p. 35)." (p. 332). I hope to achieve the ability to engage in this type of modeling to help my students get to a point where they are able to critically evaluate the information presented in my classroom. I believe that this is something that takes a fair amount of time to develop as a teacher.
I look forward to a career as a teacher. The closing chapter of the McKeachie book reinforced that enthusiasm. The notion of always learning, encountering new situations, and the constant rewards of teaching seems exciting to me. Life as a teacher, and all that goes with it seems to be something that I get only more excited about as the semester progresses.
Helpful Links:
Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy: This link will take you to a far more in-depth look at the revisions that Anderson, Krathwohl, et. al (2001) made to Bloom's original 1956 taxonomy.
Ethical Violations: This link will take you to a PDF file that better explains the seven intolerable categories of teaching behavior. I liked this because it gives some examples to simplify some of the concepts.
STLHE Ethical Guidelines: This link will take you to a list of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education's (STLHE) document titled Ethical Principles in University Teaching. This document was referenced on p. 328 of McKeachie.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Navigating the murky waters of being a teaching assistant...
This semester I've faced many new challenges as a new teaching assistant. I've worried about preparing engaging lectures, getting student involvement, fair grading and the list goes on. This week touched on a new concern I face as a new teaching assistant, course evaluations.
In the last week I've heard talk of these dreaded course evaluations. Not only can they be heartbreaking to read, but to an extent they determine our continued employment as teaching assistants. I don't think I have much to worry about, but concern always lingers in the back of my mind.
About four weeks ago I did my own course evaluations, as recommended in First Day to Final Grade. I wish I had read the chapter before reading my evaluations. Most of the evaluations were good, but some were cutting. The one I remember most was "Try not to make your lectures so corny". I really was not nor am I still sure what my student meant by this. Further, other students said, "I really like how you incorporate humor into your lecture". I guess that one cutting remark about my lecture held more value than all of the reinforcement. In addition to my lectures students suggested many changes I can not make.
Many students wanted me to change things that I have no control over. Essentially, as McKeachie defines it we are teaching Comm 110 as a multi-section course. I really don't have the power to move the second test from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and eliminate the review day. If I could, I would because I have other ideas of how I'd rather spend that day too. Basically it comes to a question of authority and power in the classroom.
I can also see elements of McKeachie in how Comm 110 is run from the perspective of a teaching assistant. We follow the suggestions as presented by Mckeachie. We have our weekly meetings, most of us have collected feedback from our students, and have had an observation of our classes. As far as these good recommendations go, there are still issues we face as a group of new teaching assistants. I'd like to re-visit the notion of power and authority in the classroom.
Often times I feel an amount of tension between the amount of control I have over the course content, and the amount of freedom I have as a teaching assistant. I feel that we are often told to make a decision, then are often chastised for the decisions we make. I wish I had a more clearly defined role. I think as the semester rolls on we are all getting an idea of the types of decisions we can make however, I still am uneasy about making an executive decision.
Further, some decisions need to be made somewhat quickly. I don't always have the luxury of getting back to a student. I also don't want to say, "Oh, let me talk with my supervisor to see if I can do that." I think that if I display uncertainty in my job it will undermine my authority in the classroom. I have discovered the phrase "let me think about it and get back to you" can buy me time, but there are some times when I feel a "real teacher" would have an answer and give it immediately. Imposter syndrome anyone?
Basically, I feel like our mentor groups, the 690 course, and the structure of the course can feed into the notion of imposter syndrome that we had in the reading a few weeks ago. I feel that I'm almost the teacher, but not really. I think that having the constants of a watchful eye checking my decision making and limiting my power in the classroom undermines my feeling like a true instructor.
That said, I don't feel that it should all go away. I'm not saying that I know what I'm doing so just let me work. I think there is a large value in having these resources as a new teacher. I just think that it should be more of an atmosphere of collaboration rather than being told what we are to do as McKeachie suggests. I think that if we discussed more issues we would all feel less imposter, and more like we are real teachers who know what they are doing.
I want to move away from the idea that I am purely criticizing our department. During our orientation I got a lot of valuable information. This became very clear at the panel we had to attend for all new teaching assistants. Many of the other departments represented asked questions that we already knew the answers to. Some were so ill prepared they were asking where they could find their syllabus, or if one existed for the course they were teaching. Although this is an extreme example, we went in with knowledge of what was expected, and what to expect.
Our group is generally well prepared, however some things remain ill-defined for us. Smaller issues that we encounter on a day to day basis are bumps in the road, not roadblocks for us. If I, as a better prepared teaching assistant am facing stress, I can only imagine how the student who asked where her syllabus was, is doing about now.
We are real teachers, in the real world. Often we face many tensions, and much stress as new teachers. From course evaluations, to power in the classroom, we have a lot going on. Add that to adjusting to graduate study and it should come as no surprise that many of us are having some trouble adapting. The readings for this week go a long way to ease some of these tensions, along with the resources we have in our mentor groups, Comm 690, and this class.
Helpful links:
Sample Course Evaluation: This link will take you to a course evaluation that another instructor has made. I think it give a good example of questions we should ask our students on a less formal course evaluation. I plan on using this as a guideline for my next round of in-formal course evaluations.
Declassifying student evaluations: This is an interesting article about Cornell University's decision to declassify student evaluations of instructors. I think the article makes some interesting points about the decision, and may be worthy of discussion.
Instructor attractiveness and course evaluations: This article in The Chronicle of Higher Education touches on findings of instructor attractiveness and course evaluations. The article is brief and makes some interesting points.
RateMyProfessors.com: This site is mentioned in the above two links. The site is a way students can evaluate their instructors for other students' use. I checked for myself on this site, luckily I'm not on it...yet.
In the last week I've heard talk of these dreaded course evaluations. Not only can they be heartbreaking to read, but to an extent they determine our continued employment as teaching assistants. I don't think I have much to worry about, but concern always lingers in the back of my mind.
About four weeks ago I did my own course evaluations, as recommended in First Day to Final Grade. I wish I had read the chapter before reading my evaluations. Most of the evaluations were good, but some were cutting. The one I remember most was "Try not to make your lectures so corny". I really was not nor am I still sure what my student meant by this. Further, other students said, "I really like how you incorporate humor into your lecture". I guess that one cutting remark about my lecture held more value than all of the reinforcement. In addition to my lectures students suggested many changes I can not make.
Many students wanted me to change things that I have no control over. Essentially, as McKeachie defines it we are teaching Comm 110 as a multi-section course. I really don't have the power to move the second test from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and eliminate the review day. If I could, I would because I have other ideas of how I'd rather spend that day too. Basically it comes to a question of authority and power in the classroom.
I can also see elements of McKeachie in how Comm 110 is run from the perspective of a teaching assistant. We follow the suggestions as presented by Mckeachie. We have our weekly meetings, most of us have collected feedback from our students, and have had an observation of our classes. As far as these good recommendations go, there are still issues we face as a group of new teaching assistants. I'd like to re-visit the notion of power and authority in the classroom.
Often times I feel an amount of tension between the amount of control I have over the course content, and the amount of freedom I have as a teaching assistant. I feel that we are often told to make a decision, then are often chastised for the decisions we make. I wish I had a more clearly defined role. I think as the semester rolls on we are all getting an idea of the types of decisions we can make however, I still am uneasy about making an executive decision.
Further, some decisions need to be made somewhat quickly. I don't always have the luxury of getting back to a student. I also don't want to say, "Oh, let me talk with my supervisor to see if I can do that." I think that if I display uncertainty in my job it will undermine my authority in the classroom. I have discovered the phrase "let me think about it and get back to you" can buy me time, but there are some times when I feel a "real teacher" would have an answer and give it immediately. Imposter syndrome anyone?
Basically, I feel like our mentor groups, the 690 course, and the structure of the course can feed into the notion of imposter syndrome that we had in the reading a few weeks ago. I feel that I'm almost the teacher, but not really. I think that having the constants of a watchful eye checking my decision making and limiting my power in the classroom undermines my feeling like a true instructor.
That said, I don't feel that it should all go away. I'm not saying that I know what I'm doing so just let me work. I think there is a large value in having these resources as a new teacher. I just think that it should be more of an atmosphere of collaboration rather than being told what we are to do as McKeachie suggests. I think that if we discussed more issues we would all feel less imposter, and more like we are real teachers who know what they are doing.
I want to move away from the idea that I am purely criticizing our department. During our orientation I got a lot of valuable information. This became very clear at the panel we had to attend for all new teaching assistants. Many of the other departments represented asked questions that we already knew the answers to. Some were so ill prepared they were asking where they could find their syllabus, or if one existed for the course they were teaching. Although this is an extreme example, we went in with knowledge of what was expected, and what to expect.
Our group is generally well prepared, however some things remain ill-defined for us. Smaller issues that we encounter on a day to day basis are bumps in the road, not roadblocks for us. If I, as a better prepared teaching assistant am facing stress, I can only imagine how the student who asked where her syllabus was, is doing about now.
We are real teachers, in the real world. Often we face many tensions, and much stress as new teachers. From course evaluations, to power in the classroom, we have a lot going on. Add that to adjusting to graduate study and it should come as no surprise that many of us are having some trouble adapting. The readings for this week go a long way to ease some of these tensions, along with the resources we have in our mentor groups, Comm 690, and this class.
Helpful links:
Sample Course Evaluation: This link will take you to a course evaluation that another instructor has made. I think it give a good example of questions we should ask our students on a less formal course evaluation. I plan on using this as a guideline for my next round of in-formal course evaluations.
Declassifying student evaluations: This is an interesting article about Cornell University's decision to declassify student evaluations of instructors. I think the article makes some interesting points about the decision, and may be worthy of discussion.
Instructor attractiveness and course evaluations: This article in The Chronicle of Higher Education touches on findings of instructor attractiveness and course evaluations. The article is brief and makes some interesting points.
RateMyProfessors.com: This site is mentioned in the above two links. The site is a way students can evaluate their instructors for other students' use. I checked for myself on this site, luckily I'm not on it...yet.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Writing, technology, and activities...Oh my!
This week's readings seemed in some ways to be a reiteration of older material. For example, using low-stakes writing to encourage discussion, and as a non-graded assessment. I was glad that the material went more in-depth because it got me to thinking about how I could use high-stakes and low-stakes writing assignments in the course that I am designing.
I believe that for my org. comm. class that I am creating, low-stakes writing will be a large part of the course. First, I really liked the McKeachie book's idea of having students keep a journal. I did this for my Org. Comm. II class, and found it to be a very good way to synthesize course materials. I would let students know that grading will be only based on content and ideas, and have it be a very minimal part of their grade (probably 5%). I would encourage students to write on their own, but also provide a weekly prompt. I would keep this journal on a private level because I want students to feel free to voice questions or confusion they are facing, and not worry so much about grammar and syntax.
Additionally in my class, I think that one-minute papers would be highly beneficial for students. As we have discussed several times, this is a good way to facilitate discussion. Further, many of the theories in Org. Comm. I are dense and hard to synthesize without taking a moment and writing out full thoughts. I also feel that when moving up Bloom's taxonomy to application, it is best to allow students some amount of time to gather their thoughts and really work through their ideas. A one-minute paper I would have students write for example would be to reflect on a time when they were new in an organization, and apply the theoretical constructs of assimilation to that experience.
These smaller scale assignments will be a helpful starting point for my high-stakes writing assignment. My high-stakes writing assignment will entail a paper written in three distinct sections. First, students will provide a brief background of one of the organizational theories in the class. Second, students will find a real life case where this theory could be helpful; students will then describe the case. The third and final section will be having students apply the theory in section one to the case in section two. This section should show how the theory is helpful, and places where the theory isn't as useful.
Having a larger writing assignment such as this, broken into three parts will help students not feel overwhelmed. Also, through peer reviews, and my feedback students can get valuable information, and hopefully a better grade. I feel it is far better to correct misguided students in section one, so that section two will actually be applicable. I can also look for issues with the student's choice of case and that should in turn keep section three what I had in mind. If I were to just assign this as one big lump assignment, any error along the way could make the rest of the assignment garbage, and a waste of time.
The bulk of class will be using case studies to better understand organizational communication. I believe that this problem-based approach is best for this type of course. I can lecture all day about ideas like organizational culture but until students get an actual picture of organizational culture the lecture would likely be too abstract to be of any value. I think case studies are a great way to ground abstract ideas to reality. I believe that a great way to effectively use problem based learning is to assign reading of the text (give students a theory or concept to think about) and then assign a case (a way to see this theory or concept at work). Case studies are also a way to engage students in active learning.
I believe that putting students into groups and using more of a syndicate-based approach to learning would be great when working with some of these case studies. Assigning each group a different case study and concept and having them present it to the class would be a great way to incorporate this into my teaching. I think that having discussions in small groups gives students a comfort level they may not ordinarily have, and presenting the material causes greater comprehension as the McKeachie book states. All of this leads me to best practices in activities and problem based learning.
One important aspect of doing an activity is telling students what they should get out of it. Often, as a new instructor I want to wait until the end to explain why it was such a fantastic activity and hope to see the "light bulb" turn on over student's heads. I experimented with telling students what they should get out of the activity, and it seems to be far more effective that way. Additionally, watching the teaching presentations as a learner; I like knowing where the activity is going. At the end of an activity it is a good idea to debrief the activity. Ask the students what they have learned. Often this tells me whether the activity was helpful. I also ask if students liked the activity. I then ask them why they did or (as often is the case) did not like the activity.
Another practice that should be done during an activity is providing clear direction. Not only should the instructions be on the board or a powerpoint slide, explain them. Also, I've found it helpful to show my activities to an "outsider" to see what confusion they have about the activity. Questions like, "So, what exactly do you want your students to do in their groups" has been helpful. Sometimes I get, "what is the point of this?" I'd far rather get this feedback from an outsider than 21 confused students.
Finally, walking around during activities and group work has been very rewarding. This has first, made me feel like an actual teacher. Also, as students have questions and I can guide them. This also allows me to clarify common misconceptions about the assignment. If a group asks a particularly good question I can then provide further explanation to the rest of the class. I also find this is a good way to keep groups on task. If they know I'm coming around they tend to stick more to task than relational conversation.
This week's reading reiterated many points we've already discussed but went into greater detail. I am taking many great things out of this reading including some assignments for my class, and better ways to engage my students in the learning process.
Helpful links:
Powerpoint best practices: This page from about.com provides useful basic information about creating a powerpoint presentation, and provides useful links to other resources on powerpoint.
Case Studies: This page contains several case studies that I think would be great for my Org. Comm. I. class. Also, I think that some of these are generic enough to be applicable in many different aspects of communication.
Low-Stakes writing: This comes from Texas A&M University and talks about low-stakes writing and approaches that we can use. I found this as a helpful and condensed version of low-stakes writing as presented in the McKeachie book.
I believe that for my org. comm. class that I am creating, low-stakes writing will be a large part of the course. First, I really liked the McKeachie book's idea of having students keep a journal. I did this for my Org. Comm. II class, and found it to be a very good way to synthesize course materials. I would let students know that grading will be only based on content and ideas, and have it be a very minimal part of their grade (probably 5%). I would encourage students to write on their own, but also provide a weekly prompt. I would keep this journal on a private level because I want students to feel free to voice questions or confusion they are facing, and not worry so much about grammar and syntax.
Additionally in my class, I think that one-minute papers would be highly beneficial for students. As we have discussed several times, this is a good way to facilitate discussion. Further, many of the theories in Org. Comm. I are dense and hard to synthesize without taking a moment and writing out full thoughts. I also feel that when moving up Bloom's taxonomy to application, it is best to allow students some amount of time to gather their thoughts and really work through their ideas. A one-minute paper I would have students write for example would be to reflect on a time when they were new in an organization, and apply the theoretical constructs of assimilation to that experience.
These smaller scale assignments will be a helpful starting point for my high-stakes writing assignment. My high-stakes writing assignment will entail a paper written in three distinct sections. First, students will provide a brief background of one of the organizational theories in the class. Second, students will find a real life case where this theory could be helpful; students will then describe the case. The third and final section will be having students apply the theory in section one to the case in section two. This section should show how the theory is helpful, and places where the theory isn't as useful.
Having a larger writing assignment such as this, broken into three parts will help students not feel overwhelmed. Also, through peer reviews, and my feedback students can get valuable information, and hopefully a better grade. I feel it is far better to correct misguided students in section one, so that section two will actually be applicable. I can also look for issues with the student's choice of case and that should in turn keep section three what I had in mind. If I were to just assign this as one big lump assignment, any error along the way could make the rest of the assignment garbage, and a waste of time.
The bulk of class will be using case studies to better understand organizational communication. I believe that this problem-based approach is best for this type of course. I can lecture all day about ideas like organizational culture but until students get an actual picture of organizational culture the lecture would likely be too abstract to be of any value. I think case studies are a great way to ground abstract ideas to reality. I believe that a great way to effectively use problem based learning is to assign reading of the text (give students a theory or concept to think about) and then assign a case (a way to see this theory or concept at work). Case studies are also a way to engage students in active learning.
I believe that putting students into groups and using more of a syndicate-based approach to learning would be great when working with some of these case studies. Assigning each group a different case study and concept and having them present it to the class would be a great way to incorporate this into my teaching. I think that having discussions in small groups gives students a comfort level they may not ordinarily have, and presenting the material causes greater comprehension as the McKeachie book states. All of this leads me to best practices in activities and problem based learning.
One important aspect of doing an activity is telling students what they should get out of it. Often, as a new instructor I want to wait until the end to explain why it was such a fantastic activity and hope to see the "light bulb" turn on over student's heads. I experimented with telling students what they should get out of the activity, and it seems to be far more effective that way. Additionally, watching the teaching presentations as a learner; I like knowing where the activity is going. At the end of an activity it is a good idea to debrief the activity. Ask the students what they have learned. Often this tells me whether the activity was helpful. I also ask if students liked the activity. I then ask them why they did or (as often is the case) did not like the activity.
Another practice that should be done during an activity is providing clear direction. Not only should the instructions be on the board or a powerpoint slide, explain them. Also, I've found it helpful to show my activities to an "outsider" to see what confusion they have about the activity. Questions like, "So, what exactly do you want your students to do in their groups" has been helpful. Sometimes I get, "what is the point of this?" I'd far rather get this feedback from an outsider than 21 confused students.
Finally, walking around during activities and group work has been very rewarding. This has first, made me feel like an actual teacher. Also, as students have questions and I can guide them. This also allows me to clarify common misconceptions about the assignment. If a group asks a particularly good question I can then provide further explanation to the rest of the class. I also find this is a good way to keep groups on task. If they know I'm coming around they tend to stick more to task than relational conversation.
This week's reading reiterated many points we've already discussed but went into greater detail. I am taking many great things out of this reading including some assignments for my class, and better ways to engage my students in the learning process.
Helpful links:
Powerpoint best practices: This page from about.com provides useful basic information about creating a powerpoint presentation, and provides useful links to other resources on powerpoint.
Case Studies: This page contains several case studies that I think would be great for my Org. Comm. I. class. Also, I think that some of these are generic enough to be applicable in many different aspects of communication.
Low-Stakes writing: This comes from Texas A&M University and talks about low-stakes writing and approaches that we can use. I found this as a helpful and condensed version of low-stakes writing as presented in the McKeachie book.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Diversity and so much more.
Diversity seemed to be a prevalent theme in this week's reading. Not only did we have a chapter on teaching culturally diverse students, we also had a diverse sampling of readings. Each reading had good points, some with which I agree, others I found challenged some of my basic assumptions about teaching. In this post I will discuss the pros and cons of each of the three readings, and how I think I can incorporate them into my classroom.
Much of what I found in the readings was useful information. I was surprised at the useful information I found in the Learner Centered Teaching excerpt. I liked that idea that giving students this feeling of power and control over the course gives them a sense of ownership. I believe that is largely absent in the classroom today. I believe this also provides a good explanation as to why students sometimes are withdrawn from the classroom. Giving students agency forces them to engage the material. Also, I think the notion of having students choose what we will talk about from a section forces them to read the material. It is very difficult to choose what will be discussed with no prior knowledge of the material.
I also liked the idea of having students choose actual items that will go on the course schedule. This makes students feel as though they are getting relevant material. Additionally, the text recommends making items that don't make the cut for the schedule an assignment for the student to complete individually. I thought this was a fantastic idea as the student will want the information, and thus be more able to see the value in the assignment. As good as this sounds I did find some issues with this reading.
First, continuing with this notion of students choosing the schedule. During the first week of class, do students really know what the course entails, and what is most important? I highly doubt this. For my students in hard sciences, I believe it would be very challenging for them to decide what is most important. Further, my course is structured around readings relevant to and assignment, then that assignment. At times I don't think students would comprehend putting information surrounding for example, structuring a speech, before the informative speech. I think this could potentially lead to a back-heavy course work. Students would most likely want to cover all of the material, then do all of the assignments.
Additionally, I think bringing in a syllabus with "Draft" on the top compromises the credibility of the instructor. Further, the section that dealt with formulating the syllabus consumed about three class periods. Too much time goes into discussion about the course, and challenges the amount of material that can be covered.
Finally, I think that many of the recommendations provided would cause a great deal of stress for myself as an instructor. Sorting through what students want, and making sure my core objectives of the class are met seems extremely difficult. The rewards of this style of teaching seem great, but I believe the costs associated with this style of teaching cause difficulty to the point that total commitment to this approach becomes an issue. That said, there are aspects of this style of teaching I plan on incorporating into my classroom.
I really like the idea of having students address what is most important in the material. I would like to find a way to have my students do this. I believe that if I am honest with them, and tell them I'd like to try a new approach that involves them more, they would be receptive to the idea. My fear is that students will come in with blank stares and still expect me to tell them what is important. I just figured out that these blogs are how you get us to address what is most important in the lecture.
I had this experience when I had my exam review I told them that I had a "Jeopardy" game prepared and encouraged them to bring in their questions on the course material. I informed my students I wanted their input on what they wanted reviewed, and after we addressed their questions we could move on to my game if time remained. Nobody brought in questions. I'm trying this approach again this week. Friday they are to bring in issues they found on their speeches, and we will take time to address them, and I will give them tips to overcome these issues. I told them that I want them to be successful, and want to address concerns they have. Friday will tell if this approach is something I should continue to pursue or not.
Finally, the article talked about teachers wanting control in their classroom. I will admit this is a concern I face every time I ask students to direct me, and let me know what they want to know. I get concerned my authority, and the perception of me as an expert will be challenged when I get questions that I am not prepared for. I like the control I have in the classroom, and am not willing to give that up easily. Further I don't believe my students are motivated enough to take on part of my role as the instructor.
Motivation as presented in McKeachie's book was a fascinating chapter to read. First, I could see aspects of myself as a student in the presentation of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. I could also see former classmates, and current students in these types of motivation.
Sadly, my classroom is largely composed of extrinsically motivated students. Questions such as "how many points is this worth" and "is this graded" tell the tale. Early on in students' academic careers, the stress of doing well causes this motivation. This also goes back to our discussion of assessment. Are we evaluating what students learn (intrinsic) or giving points based on what we as teachers want to see (extrinsic). I believe that much of what the text says about our approach and grading style lends the classroom to one of these fundamental motivating forces. I often frame course material around the "real world" and explain why it is important to grasp the concept. During my test review I told students that the exam would focus on material that is useful beyond the classroom, thus hoping to boost a sense of intrinsic rewards.
I also enjoyed reading about attribution theory. I am familiar with the theory and have seen examples from the classroom (i.e. the example of why a student did poor on a test) but never really thought about applying attributions when giving feedback or discussing grades. I like the idea of framing the conversation in terms of controllable, internal, attributions could be helpful. I think that applying these attributions can be seen in the next section of the McKeachie reading on dealing with culturally diverse students.
Some of what McKeachie recommends in the chapter served as happy reminders of my intercultural communication course. Others, seemed very far-fetched, and involved having discussions with students that I just wouldn't have.
Discussions I would not have would be talking about students' families when discussing their performance. Although I understand the reasons behind the recommendation, I don't find it appropriate. Further, bringing parents and siblings into the equation would imply I know something about these people. From my interactions with students thus far, I have no clue who is in their family, and certainly wouldn't want to go making assumptions about individuals my students may value as a motivation for achievement.
On a final negative note in this section, the story of the instructor going over to James' home and discussing his academic achievement with his family just seemed to cross a line with me. Yes, it is nice to get a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about how wonderful it turned out, but is this appropriate? As I was reading this story, I didn't think it was appropriate at all. Making the recommendation of "Help James Time" to James, and allowing him to present it to his family, fine. But, crossing the invisible line in the student-teacher relationship seems a bad idea. Further, I couldn't help but wonder if the action taken was in some way a violation of FERPA. Generally, I got an uneasy feeling as I read this section of the chapter. As I like to say, "This isn't 'Boy Meets World' and I am not Mr. Feeny."
Complaints aside, the chapter contained some good general guides for dealing with culturally diverse students. In particular framing of questions in discussion. I thought this was not only applicable to culturally diverse students, but the whole classroom. I think phrasing, "Any questions" as "I've taught this so many times sometimes I may forget to mention key points..." really goes a long way to encourage student participation. At the same time this gives the teacher more credibility, a concern that many of us as new teachers face.
Last, I wanted to touch on the notion of imposter syndrome. I think that this is something that students face, but new teachers also face. Frankly, when I think of myself as "teacher" it makes me giggle. I'm not a teacher, I'm just a graduate student, and this is something I do as a member of the graduate program. I often feel somewhat like a really big crazy undergraduate who is conning all of my students into believing I'm the teacher. Along with that, I'll say something in class and think "wow, that sounded very teacher" thus illustrating my disconnect, and feelings as an imposter. This feeling has subsided as the semester has worn on, but I believe it to be something of importance, and worth a note. Although this feeling is subsiding, I still have the "alright, yeah, you are in charge" or "how teacher of you" moments.
Clearly this week's reading encompassed many different readings. Looking back on them, I can now see a clear connection between them. Each reading had good and bad points, and things I would like to incorporate into my classroom. With every week I ask myself "what else could there be?" and every week I read something new and enlightening.
Helpful Links:
All about imposter syndrome: This link will take you to a website that addresses imposter syndrome, and contains several other valuable links to resources regarding imposter syndrome. The site examines what imposter syndrome is, how to tell if you have it, and tips for coping with imposter syndrome.
Learner Centered Teaching: This website provides more information specific to learner centered teaching. Links take you to different sources and recommendations for incorporating a learner-centered approach.
Tips to Encourage Intrinsic Learning: This website is from Illinois State and talks about specific ways we can encourage students to be more intrinsic learners.
Much of what I found in the readings was useful information. I was surprised at the useful information I found in the Learner Centered Teaching excerpt. I liked that idea that giving students this feeling of power and control over the course gives them a sense of ownership. I believe that is largely absent in the classroom today. I believe this also provides a good explanation as to why students sometimes are withdrawn from the classroom. Giving students agency forces them to engage the material. Also, I think the notion of having students choose what we will talk about from a section forces them to read the material. It is very difficult to choose what will be discussed with no prior knowledge of the material.
I also liked the idea of having students choose actual items that will go on the course schedule. This makes students feel as though they are getting relevant material. Additionally, the text recommends making items that don't make the cut for the schedule an assignment for the student to complete individually. I thought this was a fantastic idea as the student will want the information, and thus be more able to see the value in the assignment. As good as this sounds I did find some issues with this reading.
First, continuing with this notion of students choosing the schedule. During the first week of class, do students really know what the course entails, and what is most important? I highly doubt this. For my students in hard sciences, I believe it would be very challenging for them to decide what is most important. Further, my course is structured around readings relevant to and assignment, then that assignment. At times I don't think students would comprehend putting information surrounding for example, structuring a speech, before the informative speech. I think this could potentially lead to a back-heavy course work. Students would most likely want to cover all of the material, then do all of the assignments.
Additionally, I think bringing in a syllabus with "Draft" on the top compromises the credibility of the instructor. Further, the section that dealt with formulating the syllabus consumed about three class periods. Too much time goes into discussion about the course, and challenges the amount of material that can be covered.
Finally, I think that many of the recommendations provided would cause a great deal of stress for myself as an instructor. Sorting through what students want, and making sure my core objectives of the class are met seems extremely difficult. The rewards of this style of teaching seem great, but I believe the costs associated with this style of teaching cause difficulty to the point that total commitment to this approach becomes an issue. That said, there are aspects of this style of teaching I plan on incorporating into my classroom.
I really like the idea of having students address what is most important in the material. I would like to find a way to have my students do this. I believe that if I am honest with them, and tell them I'd like to try a new approach that involves them more, they would be receptive to the idea. My fear is that students will come in with blank stares and still expect me to tell them what is important. I just figured out that these blogs are how you get us to address what is most important in the lecture.
I had this experience when I had my exam review I told them that I had a "Jeopardy" game prepared and encouraged them to bring in their questions on the course material. I informed my students I wanted their input on what they wanted reviewed, and after we addressed their questions we could move on to my game if time remained. Nobody brought in questions. I'm trying this approach again this week. Friday they are to bring in issues they found on their speeches, and we will take time to address them, and I will give them tips to overcome these issues. I told them that I want them to be successful, and want to address concerns they have. Friday will tell if this approach is something I should continue to pursue or not.
Finally, the article talked about teachers wanting control in their classroom. I will admit this is a concern I face every time I ask students to direct me, and let me know what they want to know. I get concerned my authority, and the perception of me as an expert will be challenged when I get questions that I am not prepared for. I like the control I have in the classroom, and am not willing to give that up easily. Further I don't believe my students are motivated enough to take on part of my role as the instructor.
Motivation as presented in McKeachie's book was a fascinating chapter to read. First, I could see aspects of myself as a student in the presentation of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. I could also see former classmates, and current students in these types of motivation.
Sadly, my classroom is largely composed of extrinsically motivated students. Questions such as "how many points is this worth" and "is this graded" tell the tale. Early on in students' academic careers, the stress of doing well causes this motivation. This also goes back to our discussion of assessment. Are we evaluating what students learn (intrinsic) or giving points based on what we as teachers want to see (extrinsic). I believe that much of what the text says about our approach and grading style lends the classroom to one of these fundamental motivating forces. I often frame course material around the "real world" and explain why it is important to grasp the concept. During my test review I told students that the exam would focus on material that is useful beyond the classroom, thus hoping to boost a sense of intrinsic rewards.
I also enjoyed reading about attribution theory. I am familiar with the theory and have seen examples from the classroom (i.e. the example of why a student did poor on a test) but never really thought about applying attributions when giving feedback or discussing grades. I like the idea of framing the conversation in terms of controllable, internal, attributions could be helpful. I think that applying these attributions can be seen in the next section of the McKeachie reading on dealing with culturally diverse students.
Some of what McKeachie recommends in the chapter served as happy reminders of my intercultural communication course. Others, seemed very far-fetched, and involved having discussions with students that I just wouldn't have.
Discussions I would not have would be talking about students' families when discussing their performance. Although I understand the reasons behind the recommendation, I don't find it appropriate. Further, bringing parents and siblings into the equation would imply I know something about these people. From my interactions with students thus far, I have no clue who is in their family, and certainly wouldn't want to go making assumptions about individuals my students may value as a motivation for achievement.
On a final negative note in this section, the story of the instructor going over to James' home and discussing his academic achievement with his family just seemed to cross a line with me. Yes, it is nice to get a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about how wonderful it turned out, but is this appropriate? As I was reading this story, I didn't think it was appropriate at all. Making the recommendation of "Help James Time" to James, and allowing him to present it to his family, fine. But, crossing the invisible line in the student-teacher relationship seems a bad idea. Further, I couldn't help but wonder if the action taken was in some way a violation of FERPA. Generally, I got an uneasy feeling as I read this section of the chapter. As I like to say, "This isn't 'Boy Meets World' and I am not Mr. Feeny."
Complaints aside, the chapter contained some good general guides for dealing with culturally diverse students. In particular framing of questions in discussion. I thought this was not only applicable to culturally diverse students, but the whole classroom. I think phrasing, "Any questions" as "I've taught this so many times sometimes I may forget to mention key points..." really goes a long way to encourage student participation. At the same time this gives the teacher more credibility, a concern that many of us as new teachers face.
Last, I wanted to touch on the notion of imposter syndrome. I think that this is something that students face, but new teachers also face. Frankly, when I think of myself as "teacher" it makes me giggle. I'm not a teacher, I'm just a graduate student, and this is something I do as a member of the graduate program. I often feel somewhat like a really big crazy undergraduate who is conning all of my students into believing I'm the teacher. Along with that, I'll say something in class and think "wow, that sounded very teacher" thus illustrating my disconnect, and feelings as an imposter. This feeling has subsided as the semester has worn on, but I believe it to be something of importance, and worth a note. Although this feeling is subsiding, I still have the "alright, yeah, you are in charge" or "how teacher of you" moments.
Clearly this week's reading encompassed many different readings. Looking back on them, I can now see a clear connection between them. Each reading had good and bad points, and things I would like to incorporate into my classroom. With every week I ask myself "what else could there be?" and every week I read something new and enlightening.
Helpful Links:
All about imposter syndrome: This link will take you to a website that addresses imposter syndrome, and contains several other valuable links to resources regarding imposter syndrome. The site examines what imposter syndrome is, how to tell if you have it, and tips for coping with imposter syndrome.
Learner Centered Teaching: This website provides more information specific to learner centered teaching. Links take you to different sources and recommendations for incorporating a learner-centered approach.
Tips to Encourage Intrinsic Learning: This website is from Illinois State and talks about specific ways we can encourage students to be more intrinsic learners.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Problems Problems Problems!
This week's reading was highly relevant to the problems I have with some of my problem students. At the same time, as a former problem student myself, I can relate on several levels to the reading. Moreover, I feel as though the readings have given me some fantastic tools to address the issues I face with some of my students.
It all started about a week before the beginning of the semester. I was sitting in my living room watching the ten o'clock news when the story regarding the ELCA and their acceptance of homosexual pastors came on. I watched the story, and the interviews WDAY did with members of an ELCA church's congregation. One member who embraced it was a faculty member I met at orientation, the member who opposed it had a familiar name. Why was this name familiar? Then it hit me like a cement truck, it was a name I had uttered while practicing student names on the roster for my 8:00 class. As a comfortably "out" gay man, I was concerned of the potential conflict should the topic arise in class. Not that I planned on going into class and saying, "I'm your fabulous gay fundamentals of public speaking teacher" however, I don't plan on denying my identity should the question arise.
Much to my happiness the issue has never come up, but to my chagrin the individual is a problem student in ways I had never imagined. When I read the section in First Day to Final Grade on antagonistic students it seemed to ring true of this one student. He seems to always have something to say that runs counter to what I have to say. During my first meeting with the class he challenged the syllabus. Every class period since, he has had some objection to one aspect or another of the material I present. I try my hardest to explore what he has to say, make it relevant, and move on. I feel I now have tools with which to address him and hopefully not see the look of horror on my students' faces when he raises his hand.
The first time he really challenged me was during my first lecture on actual material from the text. I was honest with him and said I said I wasn't sure about his assertion, but would get back to the class on it. I managed to find a nice article that supported both our points of view and presented my findings to the class, making us both right. I even asked for his input in the matter and approached it as if I wanted his confirmation. After reading McKeachie's section on students who want the truth versus students who believe that everything is relative, I think I now realize part of the problem. I think this student views things in terms of being right or wrong. His belligerent rebuttal during his informative speech on the matter, and why he is ultimately right, tells me that he must think in this dualistic view.
As an instructor, I was appalled at the notion of a student not letting go. The class was equally disturbed as they kept looking back at me during his speech for fear that I may be offended. I didn't write a thing on the grading form (I thought feverish writing wouldn't look very good) and listened. I acted as if nothing unusual happened. I'm glad I took this approach because I think it isn't necessarily this student's fault, it is just how he sees the world. My overall goal for him individually is to get him to adopt the idea that multiple truths can exist. I fear that I may not be able to do this because he seems to fit McKeachie's "angry student".
I have written about this student before. When I handed back the first speech, he was the one who wouldn't even look at me. Clearly, he is both verbal, and non-verbal in his expression of anger during my course. I anticipate using the advice McKeachie gives in the text during the next speech which is in small groups. I plan on meeting with each group and asking them how things are going in their speech, then in the class overall. I hope this strategy alleviates some of the tension I have with this student. Although this student clearly is a problem I feel a sense of obligation to try to make the course enjoyable for him
Part of why I feel this obligation is the fact that I was a problem student myself, just of a different sort. I was what McKeachie would call a discouraged student. I felt much stress during my first semester as an undergraduate student, and didn't think college was the right choice for me. As I read the section I kept nodding my head and thinking about myself as the freshman that walked onto NDSU's campus nine years ago. I started with enthusiasm for the new environment and the opportunities it presented. As the semester wore on, about week three, I was feeling overwhelmed and disillusioned by the whole experience.
This disillusionment, and lack of enthusiasm for school caused me to be the "unprepared for class" problem student. Sadly, since my primary problem was being discouraged the issue of preparedness never was properly addressed. Since I was seldom prepared for class, it was rarely I would attend class. Then I became a student with excuses.
As I read the chapter and identified with multiple aspects of problem students, I think that they are interrelated. The student with excuses may be that way because they are discouraged students. I would often complement my instructors so that hopefully they would accept my recurrent excuses. I believe that the text has good insights for dealing with problem students, but should consider the potential interconnectedness of types of problem students. Clearly, they can stand on their own, but I think that by adopting a strategy of looking at a bigger picture of student motives and activity we can be better equipped to deal with these issues.
The tools provided in both texts seem to be useful. First, I like how First Day to Final Grade addressed excessive absences. I liked the two reasons why students miss class. I think that is highly relevant as I have been in both situations. As a student who formerly didn't really care about academic achievement because I felt discouraged, I fit the category of the student who didn't care. As a student who got fired from his job, evicted from his apartment, and found out his significant other of 2 years was cheating all in the same week, I have been the student who has had things go seriously wrong in his personal life. This section also rang true with the student in me. I wish the chapter had given more recommendations than just offering to let the student withdraw. My instructors at the university did far more than that for me.
Clearly, when I just didn't care, withdrawing from the class was my best option. It was an option I pursued often. I think that when students have serious personal issues, every attempt should be made to accommodate that student. I was completely disheartened when on top of my string of other misfortunes, I had to withdraw from all but one class. My class that I stayed in, the instructor let me dig my own grave by asking me what I thought would be appropriate to make up for the lost time. I think it is often easy to loose compassion when we deal with the number of illegitimate student excuses we get.
I really liked some of McKeachie's recommendations for dealing with students with excuses. I liked the idea of building in checkpoints for bigger assignments. Next semester I will be more stringent with my workdays and seeing student progress. This semester when instructors talked about obsessively checking student progress I thought it was a waste of time. After reading this chapter, and the volume of excuses I got for the first speech, I can see the value. One portion of excuses that I had a strong objection to was the part about offering extra credit for turning in an assignment early. Going back to my discussion in my last post on arbitrary extra credit and grade inflation, I think this is potentially very problematic.
In sum, this week was all about problems. As both readings pointed out we will all face problem students in our careers. I am glad that I have my perspective as a former problem student because I feel it is helpful for me when addressing some of the issues I confront as a teacher. Further, I feel that after completing this week's reading I now have some fantastic tools to address issues I face with my students.
Helpful Links:
Excuses excuses: This is a humorous look at the world of excuse making in academia. Although this piece is written in a satirical tone, I found it relevant to this week's reading, especially given the use of technology for communicating excuses.
Tough Problems:Difficult Students This web page contains a group project that is very well written and deals with problem students. The page cites an older edition of the McKeachie book, goes deeper in depth, and brings in other sources. I also found the appendices at the end very helpful in solidifying materials from the reading.
Teaching Non-Traditional Students This article does a good job at addressing changes in education and making good practical recommendations. Much of the material in the article is relevant to previous classes, but I found the bulk of the material relevant to our readings on student issues.
It all started about a week before the beginning of the semester. I was sitting in my living room watching the ten o'clock news when the story regarding the ELCA and their acceptance of homosexual pastors came on. I watched the story, and the interviews WDAY did with members of an ELCA church's congregation. One member who embraced it was a faculty member I met at orientation, the member who opposed it had a familiar name. Why was this name familiar? Then it hit me like a cement truck, it was a name I had uttered while practicing student names on the roster for my 8:00 class. As a comfortably "out" gay man, I was concerned of the potential conflict should the topic arise in class. Not that I planned on going into class and saying, "I'm your fabulous gay fundamentals of public speaking teacher" however, I don't plan on denying my identity should the question arise.
Much to my happiness the issue has never come up, but to my chagrin the individual is a problem student in ways I had never imagined. When I read the section in First Day to Final Grade on antagonistic students it seemed to ring true of this one student. He seems to always have something to say that runs counter to what I have to say. During my first meeting with the class he challenged the syllabus. Every class period since, he has had some objection to one aspect or another of the material I present. I try my hardest to explore what he has to say, make it relevant, and move on. I feel I now have tools with which to address him and hopefully not see the look of horror on my students' faces when he raises his hand.
The first time he really challenged me was during my first lecture on actual material from the text. I was honest with him and said I said I wasn't sure about his assertion, but would get back to the class on it. I managed to find a nice article that supported both our points of view and presented my findings to the class, making us both right. I even asked for his input in the matter and approached it as if I wanted his confirmation. After reading McKeachie's section on students who want the truth versus students who believe that everything is relative, I think I now realize part of the problem. I think this student views things in terms of being right or wrong. His belligerent rebuttal during his informative speech on the matter, and why he is ultimately right, tells me that he must think in this dualistic view.
As an instructor, I was appalled at the notion of a student not letting go. The class was equally disturbed as they kept looking back at me during his speech for fear that I may be offended. I didn't write a thing on the grading form (I thought feverish writing wouldn't look very good) and listened. I acted as if nothing unusual happened. I'm glad I took this approach because I think it isn't necessarily this student's fault, it is just how he sees the world. My overall goal for him individually is to get him to adopt the idea that multiple truths can exist. I fear that I may not be able to do this because he seems to fit McKeachie's "angry student".
I have written about this student before. When I handed back the first speech, he was the one who wouldn't even look at me. Clearly, he is both verbal, and non-verbal in his expression of anger during my course. I anticipate using the advice McKeachie gives in the text during the next speech which is in small groups. I plan on meeting with each group and asking them how things are going in their speech, then in the class overall. I hope this strategy alleviates some of the tension I have with this student. Although this student clearly is a problem I feel a sense of obligation to try to make the course enjoyable for him
Part of why I feel this obligation is the fact that I was a problem student myself, just of a different sort. I was what McKeachie would call a discouraged student. I felt much stress during my first semester as an undergraduate student, and didn't think college was the right choice for me. As I read the section I kept nodding my head and thinking about myself as the freshman that walked onto NDSU's campus nine years ago. I started with enthusiasm for the new environment and the opportunities it presented. As the semester wore on, about week three, I was feeling overwhelmed and disillusioned by the whole experience.
This disillusionment, and lack of enthusiasm for school caused me to be the "unprepared for class" problem student. Sadly, since my primary problem was being discouraged the issue of preparedness never was properly addressed. Since I was seldom prepared for class, it was rarely I would attend class. Then I became a student with excuses.
As I read the chapter and identified with multiple aspects of problem students, I think that they are interrelated. The student with excuses may be that way because they are discouraged students. I would often complement my instructors so that hopefully they would accept my recurrent excuses. I believe that the text has good insights for dealing with problem students, but should consider the potential interconnectedness of types of problem students. Clearly, they can stand on their own, but I think that by adopting a strategy of looking at a bigger picture of student motives and activity we can be better equipped to deal with these issues.
The tools provided in both texts seem to be useful. First, I like how First Day to Final Grade addressed excessive absences. I liked the two reasons why students miss class. I think that is highly relevant as I have been in both situations. As a student who formerly didn't really care about academic achievement because I felt discouraged, I fit the category of the student who didn't care. As a student who got fired from his job, evicted from his apartment, and found out his significant other of 2 years was cheating all in the same week, I have been the student who has had things go seriously wrong in his personal life. This section also rang true with the student in me. I wish the chapter had given more recommendations than just offering to let the student withdraw. My instructors at the university did far more than that for me.
Clearly, when I just didn't care, withdrawing from the class was my best option. It was an option I pursued often. I think that when students have serious personal issues, every attempt should be made to accommodate that student. I was completely disheartened when on top of my string of other misfortunes, I had to withdraw from all but one class. My class that I stayed in, the instructor let me dig my own grave by asking me what I thought would be appropriate to make up for the lost time. I think it is often easy to loose compassion when we deal with the number of illegitimate student excuses we get.
I really liked some of McKeachie's recommendations for dealing with students with excuses. I liked the idea of building in checkpoints for bigger assignments. Next semester I will be more stringent with my workdays and seeing student progress. This semester when instructors talked about obsessively checking student progress I thought it was a waste of time. After reading this chapter, and the volume of excuses I got for the first speech, I can see the value. One portion of excuses that I had a strong objection to was the part about offering extra credit for turning in an assignment early. Going back to my discussion in my last post on arbitrary extra credit and grade inflation, I think this is potentially very problematic.
In sum, this week was all about problems. As both readings pointed out we will all face problem students in our careers. I am glad that I have my perspective as a former problem student because I feel it is helpful for me when addressing some of the issues I confront as a teacher. Further, I feel that after completing this week's reading I now have some fantastic tools to address issues I face with my students.
Helpful Links:
Excuses excuses: This is a humorous look at the world of excuse making in academia. Although this piece is written in a satirical tone, I found it relevant to this week's reading, especially given the use of technology for communicating excuses.
Tough Problems:Difficult Students This web page contains a group project that is very well written and deals with problem students. The page cites an older edition of the McKeachie book, goes deeper in depth, and brings in other sources. I also found the appendices at the end very helpful in solidifying materials from the reading.
Teaching Non-Traditional Students This article does a good job at addressing changes in education and making good practical recommendations. Much of the material in the article is relevant to previous classes, but I found the bulk of the material relevant to our readings on student issues.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Post 5, Testing is such fun
This week in the reading, I found myself disheartened at what I read. I know testing isn't fun for students. Last week, and this week I'm learning of the agony of testing from the other side of the classroom.
First and foremost I found the notion of choosing the type of question problematic in my class I'm teaching. The test I formulated is all multiple choice. Judging by what McKeachie says about multiple choice testing, this does not conform to my idealized concept of how my classroom would run. I did find some solace in reading the section titled "Grading Essay Questions"
This section was helpful for several reasons. First, it gave me comfort knowing that although I'm using a multiple choice format for my test, I am getting at some of the benefits of an essay style question through the speaking assignments. I came to accept that my students are (hopefully anyhow) applying class concepts through their speeches.
Additionally, the section was helpful to me as an instructor going through the pains of grading speeches. I found that suggestions presented for grading essay tests can easily be applied to grading speeches. I found that the suggestions presented were helpful in terms of making a rubric, writing specific comments on papers (or grading forms in this case), coding comments, and doing a short analysis of student performance. Sadly however many of the recommendations do not carry over to speeches. Examples of these are: grading without knowing who the student is and taking a random sample. Somewhere in between applicable and not is the notion of grading in teams. We have fun grading in the office together which, makes the experience more enjoyable. Also, to a degree we can get our colleagues input on grading, but on the whole it isn't something that we can really do with a speech.
Admittedly, I thought about skipping the section on grading essay questions due to time constraints but, I'm glad I decided to read it. I found it useful information that confronted many of the tensions and struggles I'm facing in grading this second round of speeches. For the next speech I plan on expanding upon the rubric provided for the speech. For example, determining exactly what good eye contact is, and assigning a certain amount of points to that aspect of delivery. I believe that this will add to the overall validity of my grading. In a similar fashion assigning a grade calls upon issues I've been facing.
The notion of grading on a curve versus criterion based grading I found to be of interest. I believe that much of the grading and exam related principles suggested imply grading on a curve. We can see this through the implications of looking at work relative to other students. For example going back to "Grading Essay Questions" procedure 3 says "Read all or several of the examinations in a preliminary fashion to establish some notion of the general level of performance" (McKeachie, 2006, p. 96). Clearly, this implies grading on a curve and looking at student performance relative to each other. If for example, every essay violates the core rubric an instructor has for what an A paper is, does that make it okay to lower the bar? In a way this could cause grade inflation.
Grade inflation is our favorite topic ever, therefore I must dedicate some time to it. The excerpt for the week "What the Best College Teachers Do" very briefly touches on the notion of "arbitrary extra credit". Given the discussion we had on grade inflation last week, and reading over that term, I feel that this could likely be a good reason for grade inflation (if it does indeed exist). The notion of arbitrary extra credit is that we are grading on items not related to learning.
Arbitrary extra credit can be found everywhere in the fundamentals of public speaking course that many of us are teaching. For example, why do we give credit for attending class? I don't believe that this is an effective measure of what students are learning. Also, although I understand the value of the research requirement, this too is a form of arbitrary extra credit. I felt underhanded for adding pop quizzes as a way to help my students, and give them an easy opportunity to enhance their grade. After reading about arbitrary extra credit I think this is actually a far more honorable means of giving credit for coming to class. If nothing else, I'm measuring learning and understanding of course concepts which is far more than giving 40 points for attendance is doing. Clearly, if we want to battle grade inflation within the communication department, we should cut much of the arbitrary extra credit that we give.
On a final note I wanted to talk about assessment. We spoke of the value of non-graded assignments, and concerns of students completing them. (This is probably why we give arbitrary extra credit for participating in research). In any event, I've thought a lot about ungraded assessment. I believe it has it's place, and can bridge our dissonance with the notion of arbitrary extra credit. For example, we could have an "ungraded" assignment and use a check, check plus/minus system and use that as attendance points. As long as a student turns something in they get the equivalent of a "D" for argument sake. I feel there is no harm in rewarding students for effort on something that isn't graded, and it could work towards making attendance something less given, and more earned. Perhaps this runs counter to the notion of ungraded assessment (or completely does) but I think it may be useful.
Helpful Links:
ECE Article in Ebsco I found this article in the ebsco database on extra credit exercises (ECE). this article speaks to the value of giving one point extra credit pop quizzes. The article also talks about giving percentages of a point but I don't necessarily agree with that. However, the article speaks to several benefits of this exercise, and I think it would be something I would incorporate into my classroom.
General Tips for Writing Multiple Choice Questions I found this source to be very useful when considering how to write multiple choice questions. Additionally, the book referred to terms that this article expands upon.
First and foremost I found the notion of choosing the type of question problematic in my class I'm teaching. The test I formulated is all multiple choice. Judging by what McKeachie says about multiple choice testing, this does not conform to my idealized concept of how my classroom would run. I did find some solace in reading the section titled "Grading Essay Questions"
This section was helpful for several reasons. First, it gave me comfort knowing that although I'm using a multiple choice format for my test, I am getting at some of the benefits of an essay style question through the speaking assignments. I came to accept that my students are (hopefully anyhow) applying class concepts through their speeches.
Additionally, the section was helpful to me as an instructor going through the pains of grading speeches. I found that suggestions presented for grading essay tests can easily be applied to grading speeches. I found that the suggestions presented were helpful in terms of making a rubric, writing specific comments on papers (or grading forms in this case), coding comments, and doing a short analysis of student performance. Sadly however many of the recommendations do not carry over to speeches. Examples of these are: grading without knowing who the student is and taking a random sample. Somewhere in between applicable and not is the notion of grading in teams. We have fun grading in the office together which, makes the experience more enjoyable. Also, to a degree we can get our colleagues input on grading, but on the whole it isn't something that we can really do with a speech.
Admittedly, I thought about skipping the section on grading essay questions due to time constraints but, I'm glad I decided to read it. I found it useful information that confronted many of the tensions and struggles I'm facing in grading this second round of speeches. For the next speech I plan on expanding upon the rubric provided for the speech. For example, determining exactly what good eye contact is, and assigning a certain amount of points to that aspect of delivery. I believe that this will add to the overall validity of my grading. In a similar fashion assigning a grade calls upon issues I've been facing.
The notion of grading on a curve versus criterion based grading I found to be of interest. I believe that much of the grading and exam related principles suggested imply grading on a curve. We can see this through the implications of looking at work relative to other students. For example going back to "Grading Essay Questions" procedure 3 says "Read all or several of the examinations in a preliminary fashion to establish some notion of the general level of performance" (McKeachie, 2006, p. 96). Clearly, this implies grading on a curve and looking at student performance relative to each other. If for example, every essay violates the core rubric an instructor has for what an A paper is, does that make it okay to lower the bar? In a way this could cause grade inflation.
Grade inflation is our favorite topic ever, therefore I must dedicate some time to it. The excerpt for the week "What the Best College Teachers Do" very briefly touches on the notion of "arbitrary extra credit". Given the discussion we had on grade inflation last week, and reading over that term, I feel that this could likely be a good reason for grade inflation (if it does indeed exist). The notion of arbitrary extra credit is that we are grading on items not related to learning.
Arbitrary extra credit can be found everywhere in the fundamentals of public speaking course that many of us are teaching. For example, why do we give credit for attending class? I don't believe that this is an effective measure of what students are learning. Also, although I understand the value of the research requirement, this too is a form of arbitrary extra credit. I felt underhanded for adding pop quizzes as a way to help my students, and give them an easy opportunity to enhance their grade. After reading about arbitrary extra credit I think this is actually a far more honorable means of giving credit for coming to class. If nothing else, I'm measuring learning and understanding of course concepts which is far more than giving 40 points for attendance is doing. Clearly, if we want to battle grade inflation within the communication department, we should cut much of the arbitrary extra credit that we give.
On a final note I wanted to talk about assessment. We spoke of the value of non-graded assignments, and concerns of students completing them. (This is probably why we give arbitrary extra credit for participating in research). In any event, I've thought a lot about ungraded assessment. I believe it has it's place, and can bridge our dissonance with the notion of arbitrary extra credit. For example, we could have an "ungraded" assignment and use a check, check plus/minus system and use that as attendance points. As long as a student turns something in they get the equivalent of a "D" for argument sake. I feel there is no harm in rewarding students for effort on something that isn't graded, and it could work towards making attendance something less given, and more earned. Perhaps this runs counter to the notion of ungraded assessment (or completely does) but I think it may be useful.
Helpful Links:
ECE Article in Ebsco I found this article in the ebsco database on extra credit exercises (ECE). this article speaks to the value of giving one point extra credit pop quizzes. The article also talks about giving percentages of a point but I don't necessarily agree with that. However, the article speaks to several benefits of this exercise, and I think it would be something I would incorporate into my classroom.
General Tips for Writing Multiple Choice Questions I found this source to be very useful when considering how to write multiple choice questions. Additionally, the book referred to terms that this article expands upon.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Grading is why I check my brakelines before I drive home.
As a new T.A. I have had a lot of stress dealing with grading. Especially in a public speaking course, grading becomes difficult. I wanted to record my students' presentations however, in class it was brought up that one instructor did that and over graded students. I liked the chapters on grading and feel that they were able to offer some valuable insights.
First Day to Final Grade gave me several very useful pieces of information regarding grading. First, the reading addresses the issue of setting up a grade book. I have a grade book and have been using it primarily for attendance. I will now add grades in on the center flap as the text suggests. I had been toying around with that idea for some time anyhow. One thing that the text didn't mention that I have found helpful is entering all of my grades in an Excel spreadsheet as I grade. That way all of my grades are in alphabetical order so I can just fill down the column of my paper grade book, rather than fumbling around the alphabet in the column. In addition to tracking grades, the book offers valuable insights on handing back graded assignments.
For the first speech, I did not follow the guidelines set in First Day to Final Grade. The book recommends to hand graded assignments back towards the end of the hour to make sure that students don't become disgruntled for the entire class period. Additionally, to hand things back so there is a limited amount of time to discuss the assignment. After my experience, this advice makes sense, and is how I plan on doing things in the future. When I returned the first speech, I lost about half of the class. One student was so angered that he wouldn't look at me, nor contribute to class (he always has something to say). I tried to recover the day by giving the "listen, it's the first assignment and a small part of your grade" talk but much to my chagrin, the class was still a lost cause.
McKeachie talks about grading, but it seemed to be more on a macro-level. McKeachie addresses what students, instructors, and employers want grades to tell them. Frankly, until reading this I'd only considered grades to be something that a student would be concerned with. This brings us to the notion of grade inflation. As we have Dr. Nelson for a supervisor, we all know about grade inflation. I believe that this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed in the academic community. That said, please don't address the problem until after I've completed my education. I believe that grade inflation is something that we need to work on collectively. Additionally, grade inflation is something that lingers in the back of my mind while I'm grading. "Is this average?" and "Hmm, without being comparative to my other students, what is average or "C" work?" are questions that plague me as I'm grading papers. Further, I must remind myself that my students are right out of high school where for the most part, fulfilling as opposed to going beyond the assignment requirements constitutes an A.
Grade inflation is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Academic honesty was also an important part of the reading for this week. An episode from "The Golden Girls" touches on the importance of grading, grade inflation, and academic honesty on the part of the faculty. In this clip Dorothy is filling in for an instructor for the semester, and has a student that she cannot in clear conscience pass. The most important parts of this video (part 2 of 3) are from the beginning to 4:30 and from 7:12 until the end. Unfortunately embedding is disabled on this video, here is the link if you are interested. Although McKeachie does a good job at presenting grading and the notion of academic honesty there are some items that I disagree with.
One for example is the pledge of academic integrity at the beginning of each exam. I think that once students get to college it is insulting to make them sign a "I promise not to cheat" clause. I also think it is demeaning to students. I have made it clear that I expect students not to cheat and plagiarize. I feel that after that it shouldn't be something that I have to remind them of over and over again. Ultimately academic honesty lies on the students. As instructors we are responsible to catch plagiarism and cheating. Further I feel that we have a responsibility to make sure that students know that plagiarism is not an option and that we are here to help and should there be a problem. That said, it is ultimately the student's responsibility to come to the instructor to ask for extensions on assignments, or assistance on parts they do not understand.
Overall I feel that academic honesty, and grading as presented by McKeachie are somewhat universal to any field, including communication. Some of the information in First Day to Final Grade regarding grading is information I don't think I will ever use given my field. I do not anticipate grading problem sets, or lab reports. Additionally, there was no advice given on grading presentations and oral reports. I would really have liked to have seen some advice regarding that type of grading.
Useful links:
NDSU's plagiarism policy and guidelines. This is the full policy that we use at NDSU regarding plagiarism. This document details rights and responsibility of accused students.
General information on cheating, and cheating types. This is the website from Berkeley highlighting different types of cheating students partake in and some very generalized advice on what to do. Additionally the link at the bottom of the page takes you to more advice on what do do about academic dishonesty.
Grade inflation. This article comes from Minnesota State University Mankato and does a great job at explaining and making recommendations in terms of grade inflation.
First Day to Final Grade gave me several very useful pieces of information regarding grading. First, the reading addresses the issue of setting up a grade book. I have a grade book and have been using it primarily for attendance. I will now add grades in on the center flap as the text suggests. I had been toying around with that idea for some time anyhow. One thing that the text didn't mention that I have found helpful is entering all of my grades in an Excel spreadsheet as I grade. That way all of my grades are in alphabetical order so I can just fill down the column of my paper grade book, rather than fumbling around the alphabet in the column. In addition to tracking grades, the book offers valuable insights on handing back graded assignments.
For the first speech, I did not follow the guidelines set in First Day to Final Grade. The book recommends to hand graded assignments back towards the end of the hour to make sure that students don't become disgruntled for the entire class period. Additionally, to hand things back so there is a limited amount of time to discuss the assignment. After my experience, this advice makes sense, and is how I plan on doing things in the future. When I returned the first speech, I lost about half of the class. One student was so angered that he wouldn't look at me, nor contribute to class (he always has something to say). I tried to recover the day by giving the "listen, it's the first assignment and a small part of your grade" talk but much to my chagrin, the class was still a lost cause.
McKeachie talks about grading, but it seemed to be more on a macro-level. McKeachie addresses what students, instructors, and employers want grades to tell them. Frankly, until reading this I'd only considered grades to be something that a student would be concerned with. This brings us to the notion of grade inflation. As we have Dr. Nelson for a supervisor, we all know about grade inflation. I believe that this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed in the academic community. That said, please don't address the problem until after I've completed my education. I believe that grade inflation is something that we need to work on collectively. Additionally, grade inflation is something that lingers in the back of my mind while I'm grading. "Is this average?" and "Hmm, without being comparative to my other students, what is average or "C" work?" are questions that plague me as I'm grading papers. Further, I must remind myself that my students are right out of high school where for the most part, fulfilling as opposed to going beyond the assignment requirements constitutes an A.
Grade inflation is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Academic honesty was also an important part of the reading for this week. An episode from "The Golden Girls" touches on the importance of grading, grade inflation, and academic honesty on the part of the faculty. In this clip Dorothy is filling in for an instructor for the semester, and has a student that she cannot in clear conscience pass. The most important parts of this video (part 2 of 3) are from the beginning to 4:30 and from 7:12 until the end. Unfortunately embedding is disabled on this video, here is the link if you are interested. Although McKeachie does a good job at presenting grading and the notion of academic honesty there are some items that I disagree with.
One for example is the pledge of academic integrity at the beginning of each exam. I think that once students get to college it is insulting to make them sign a "I promise not to cheat" clause. I also think it is demeaning to students. I have made it clear that I expect students not to cheat and plagiarize. I feel that after that it shouldn't be something that I have to remind them of over and over again. Ultimately academic honesty lies on the students. As instructors we are responsible to catch plagiarism and cheating. Further I feel that we have a responsibility to make sure that students know that plagiarism is not an option and that we are here to help and should there be a problem. That said, it is ultimately the student's responsibility to come to the instructor to ask for extensions on assignments, or assistance on parts they do not understand.
Overall I feel that academic honesty, and grading as presented by McKeachie are somewhat universal to any field, including communication. Some of the information in First Day to Final Grade regarding grading is information I don't think I will ever use given my field. I do not anticipate grading problem sets, or lab reports. Additionally, there was no advice given on grading presentations and oral reports. I would really have liked to have seen some advice regarding that type of grading.
Useful links:
NDSU's plagiarism policy and guidelines. This is the full policy that we use at NDSU regarding plagiarism. This document details rights and responsibility of accused students.
General information on cheating, and cheating types. This is the website from Berkeley highlighting different types of cheating students partake in and some very generalized advice on what to do. Additionally the link at the bottom of the page takes you to more advice on what do do about academic dishonesty.
Grade inflation. This article comes from Minnesota State University Mankato and does a great job at explaining and making recommendations in terms of grade inflation.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Post 3 (I love my catchy titles!)
In my class I generally lecture and ask questions. As I alluded to in earlier posts, I want to move more towards a discussion based environment. This week's reading was very useful in terms of presenting tips for effective lectures and discussions. I think that discussion based classes are very important in the field of communication, therefore this information is of particular relevance to me. Finally, given the previous points it is clear that these are strategies I will incorporate into my classroom.
What was most useful in the readings was about lectures and why they are ineffective. While reading about lectures I can see things in my lectures that aren't working. Also, during the teaching presentations I have been able to note things that I do in my lecture that I don't necessarily find helpful as a student. Given all of this new information I will be changing how I do lectures in my classroom. I think that incorporating discussion into lectures will be key in helping students reach their maximum potential. The combination of discussion and lecture are essential to the field of communication.
It is my opinion that in the field of communication we should be doing just that, communicating. By incorporating discussion into the communication classroom we can help students become more involved in the processes that we teach. For example, this week in my lecture on audience analysis we stopped and took a moment and analyzed ourselves as an audience. I guess my main line of thought is that since we are constantly studying communication we can take a moment and study ourselves within the classroom context. In addition to using ourselves as examples in communication, an arguably large part of the field is being able to support your arguments.
In the classroom, students need the life skill of backing themselves up. I feel that communication courses are the starting point of this skill. We are covering more than just how to speak effectively in a public setting, we are also teaching students how to back up their claims. I believe that by holding discussions rather than lectures we are encouraging students to be critical thinkers of their work. We also get the opportunity to ask students why they hold an opinion and help them to build skills to support their arguments. Finally, discussions can give students the opportunity to see other viewpoints.
Viewpoints of other students are very important to the classroom. By using discussion we can bring these viewpoints out into the foreground. Hopefully some of these viewpoints will teach students new ways to see vital issues, and the world at large. Another technique that the text recommends, which I feel is important to our field, is asking students to argue the position that runs counter to theirs. This is a fantastic way to get students to broaden their worldview, and learn how to formulate a solid argument. Finally, it teaches students not only how to think, but also new ways to think.
Mixing discussion with lectures enhances student thinking, which is why it is something I would like to incorporate into my classroom. I think that there is much value to be had in having good student discussions. As the semester progresses I am seeing a willingness in my students to discuss and participate in class activities. I think that the ides the text offers are valid in terms of facilitating discussion. I broke my class into small groups to discuss a video clip on Monday, then brought them back into a larger discussion as the text recommends. I must say that the results were outstanding. My students were lively participants, and we had an engaging conversation on audience analysis that brought up aspects of the clip that I hadn't considered. This is how I feel a communication classroom should operate, and how I would like mine to be in the future.
This week's readings provided many relevant and useful pieces of information. I feel that the elements of an effective lecture were very helpful. Also, the use of discussion in the classroom is essential in our field. Suggestions surrounding these two items are things I would like to incorporate into my own classroom.
Helpful links:
Discussions
Electronic discussions, and more helpful hints
Lectures
Additional points of consideration in lecturing
What was most useful in the readings was about lectures and why they are ineffective. While reading about lectures I can see things in my lectures that aren't working. Also, during the teaching presentations I have been able to note things that I do in my lecture that I don't necessarily find helpful as a student. Given all of this new information I will be changing how I do lectures in my classroom. I think that incorporating discussion into lectures will be key in helping students reach their maximum potential. The combination of discussion and lecture are essential to the field of communication.
It is my opinion that in the field of communication we should be doing just that, communicating. By incorporating discussion into the communication classroom we can help students become more involved in the processes that we teach. For example, this week in my lecture on audience analysis we stopped and took a moment and analyzed ourselves as an audience. I guess my main line of thought is that since we are constantly studying communication we can take a moment and study ourselves within the classroom context. In addition to using ourselves as examples in communication, an arguably large part of the field is being able to support your arguments.
In the classroom, students need the life skill of backing themselves up. I feel that communication courses are the starting point of this skill. We are covering more than just how to speak effectively in a public setting, we are also teaching students how to back up their claims. I believe that by holding discussions rather than lectures we are encouraging students to be critical thinkers of their work. We also get the opportunity to ask students why they hold an opinion and help them to build skills to support their arguments. Finally, discussions can give students the opportunity to see other viewpoints.
Viewpoints of other students are very important to the classroom. By using discussion we can bring these viewpoints out into the foreground. Hopefully some of these viewpoints will teach students new ways to see vital issues, and the world at large. Another technique that the text recommends, which I feel is important to our field, is asking students to argue the position that runs counter to theirs. This is a fantastic way to get students to broaden their worldview, and learn how to formulate a solid argument. Finally, it teaches students not only how to think, but also new ways to think.
Mixing discussion with lectures enhances student thinking, which is why it is something I would like to incorporate into my classroom. I think that there is much value to be had in having good student discussions. As the semester progresses I am seeing a willingness in my students to discuss and participate in class activities. I think that the ides the text offers are valid in terms of facilitating discussion. I broke my class into small groups to discuss a video clip on Monday, then brought them back into a larger discussion as the text recommends. I must say that the results were outstanding. My students were lively participants, and we had an engaging conversation on audience analysis that brought up aspects of the clip that I hadn't considered. This is how I feel a communication classroom should operate, and how I would like mine to be in the future.
This week's readings provided many relevant and useful pieces of information. I feel that the elements of an effective lecture were very helpful. Also, the use of discussion in the classroom is essential in our field. Suggestions surrounding these two items are things I would like to incorporate into my own classroom.
Helpful links:
Discussions
Electronic discussions, and more helpful hints
Lectures
Additional points of consideration in lecturing
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Post 2
This week’s reading had several pieces of useful information. The more we read From First Day to Final Grade, the more I appreciate the book. Not only does the book provide many useful points, it gives techniques that are highly applicable to the field of communication, and provides me with ideas that I would like to incorporate into my own teaching.
I found the chapter on weekly class preparation very useful. The chapter answered some of the questions I face as I write lesson plans from week to week. Some of the material I found redundant as we had discussed it in orientation, but many insights I found to be highly useful.
The book touches on using the board rather than power point presentations. I found this to be a good idea because I have been using power point in my classroom and students haven’t been active in taking notes. I think there are two reasons for this. First, students aren’t necessarily sure what the most important points are. Secondly, I think I may move a little too quickly through my power point presentations. Writing on the board should slow me down a little, and also clearly illustrate what I find to be important points from the textbook.
I still plan on using power point in the classroom however; I’m going to use the board to illustrate the most important ideas. Hopefully this will get students more actively taking notes, and slow me down enough so that it is possible to take notes. Using the board wasn’t the only useful piece of information from this week. I also liked the ideas on discussion in the classroom.
My biggest complaint about my classroom is that when I ask questions and try to initiate discussions I get blank stares. I now know some of the reasons why, and have ideas how to fix this.
The biggest problem I have in the classroom is that I have been trying to run task-based discussions without the knowledge of how to properly do that. I thought discussion was discussion until I read this chapter and learned about the two types of discussions. With the tools provided in the text book I think I will be better equipped to run task-based discussions in my classroom.
Regarding discussions, the text speaks to reasons why students are silent. I feel the text leaves out a very important reason for silent students. I think that the culture of the geographical area where students are from can affect the amount of conversation in the classroom. For example, in the Midwest, some students are raised not to make themselves appear as if they are a know it all. Many students feel that they are being ostentatious when they speak up in class, rather that contributing to knowledge. In cultures, or co-cultures in this case, where modesty is valued; I feel that students are less likely to speak up in the classroom. I believe that framing discussion as a way of learning, rather than a way of showing what students know may help students overcome this cultural phenomena. In communication understanding the culture is an important part of running a classroom.
Communication has several solid uses for some of the techniques found in the text. Discussions on issues are a great way to come up with speech topics. Additionally, when discussing an issue, I feel it is a good idea to make students take the opposite position and formulate an argument for that position. In my opinion, most of our field‘s work doesn’t revolve around being right but, forming an argument to defend what you think.
Students should also feel comfortable working together in a communication classroom. I liked the ideas presented about different ways to divide students up so that they all work with different partners. Especially in the Fundamentals of Public Speaking classroom, students need to feel comfortable with each other and feel as if they are amongst friends rather than strangers. I feel that when students feel like they are among friends they will also have better discussions.
The text gave some very good advice on how to run a discussion. I have had issues running discussions in my classroom in the past, and now feel far better equipped to do so. As I mentioned in my last blog I would like to move my classroom from primarily lecture based, to more discussion based. After reading this section I think that this is a good idea because students can learn many things from a good discussion. I also feel like I will be able to effectively run a discussion in my classroom. Hopefully the ideas I drew from the reading for the week will make my classroom a place of livelier discussion and active learning.
Interesting links:
American Classroom Culture
Research Article on Classroom Discussions
Lesson Planning Resource
I found the chapter on weekly class preparation very useful. The chapter answered some of the questions I face as I write lesson plans from week to week. Some of the material I found redundant as we had discussed it in orientation, but many insights I found to be highly useful.
The book touches on using the board rather than power point presentations. I found this to be a good idea because I have been using power point in my classroom and students haven’t been active in taking notes. I think there are two reasons for this. First, students aren’t necessarily sure what the most important points are. Secondly, I think I may move a little too quickly through my power point presentations. Writing on the board should slow me down a little, and also clearly illustrate what I find to be important points from the textbook.
I still plan on using power point in the classroom however; I’m going to use the board to illustrate the most important ideas. Hopefully this will get students more actively taking notes, and slow me down enough so that it is possible to take notes. Using the board wasn’t the only useful piece of information from this week. I also liked the ideas on discussion in the classroom.
My biggest complaint about my classroom is that when I ask questions and try to initiate discussions I get blank stares. I now know some of the reasons why, and have ideas how to fix this.
The biggest problem I have in the classroom is that I have been trying to run task-based discussions without the knowledge of how to properly do that. I thought discussion was discussion until I read this chapter and learned about the two types of discussions. With the tools provided in the text book I think I will be better equipped to run task-based discussions in my classroom.
Regarding discussions, the text speaks to reasons why students are silent. I feel the text leaves out a very important reason for silent students. I think that the culture of the geographical area where students are from can affect the amount of conversation in the classroom. For example, in the Midwest, some students are raised not to make themselves appear as if they are a know it all. Many students feel that they are being ostentatious when they speak up in class, rather that contributing to knowledge. In cultures, or co-cultures in this case, where modesty is valued; I feel that students are less likely to speak up in the classroom. I believe that framing discussion as a way of learning, rather than a way of showing what students know may help students overcome this cultural phenomena. In communication understanding the culture is an important part of running a classroom.
Communication has several solid uses for some of the techniques found in the text. Discussions on issues are a great way to come up with speech topics. Additionally, when discussing an issue, I feel it is a good idea to make students take the opposite position and formulate an argument for that position. In my opinion, most of our field‘s work doesn’t revolve around being right but, forming an argument to defend what you think.
Students should also feel comfortable working together in a communication classroom. I liked the ideas presented about different ways to divide students up so that they all work with different partners. Especially in the Fundamentals of Public Speaking classroom, students need to feel comfortable with each other and feel as if they are amongst friends rather than strangers. I feel that when students feel like they are among friends they will also have better discussions.
The text gave some very good advice on how to run a discussion. I have had issues running discussions in my classroom in the past, and now feel far better equipped to do so. As I mentioned in my last blog I would like to move my classroom from primarily lecture based, to more discussion based. After reading this section I think that this is a good idea because students can learn many things from a good discussion. I also feel like I will be able to effectively run a discussion in my classroom. Hopefully the ideas I drew from the reading for the week will make my classroom a place of livelier discussion and active learning.
Interesting links:
American Classroom Culture
Research Article on Classroom Discussions
Lesson Planning Resource
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Post 1
In today’s post I will be addressing the readings from last week, and my own experiences in the classroom. I will be talking about the items of most utility to myself as a new teacher, how I can apply what was covered in the reading to the field, and finally how I plan to incorporate it into my teaching.
Useful in today’s readings:
There were many things that I found to be useful in the week’s reading assignment. In Teaching Tips I found chapters two and three very interesting. Although I don’t find them terribly important right now, I believe in the future knowing how to build my own course will be very useful. I also liked how we got tips on text book selection. In my current role as a T.A., I hadn’t really thought all that much about selecting a text book for my course because it was done for me already. By contrast, I had thought about the syllabus, but was given one at orientation. After reading chapter two in Teaching Tips, I wish I would have taken more time with the syllabus and crafted it into something more my own.
Chapter three in Teaching Tips also addressed several items that I found to be useful. After reading chapter three, first I got a sense that I ran my first day of class about how I should have. That said however, I feel that I gained much valuable information regarding how I will run my first class period next time. Next time I will cover less material in the syllabus, and spend more time with icebreakers and activities to give students a feel for the course. I think I may have read a little too much of the syllabus to my class. In the future I hope to make better use of this time.
Ways to implement the text in communication:
I believe that the field of communication does a great job at implementing what the books talk about in terms of teaching practice. I believe that as we are naturally enthralled with the phenomena of communication. As a field we pay especially close attention to how we communicate. Although I feel we may pay more attention to how we communicate, I think that First Day to Final Grade makes some good points that are often forgotten.
Some reminders I found particularly helpful were based on gender and ethnicity. I knew that students react differently based on the gender of the instructor. The book also addresses ethnicity and language barriers that I hadn’t really considered. Although I’m a native speaker of English, not all of my students are. I think the book gives some good insight into overcoming these issues.
Incorporation of the material in my classroom:
After completing the readings, I have several things that I am going to try to incorporate into my classroom. First, I know that next semester the first day of my class is going to look very differently. I did use all of my time on the first day, but next semester I will use it differently. I will spend far less time reading the syllabus, and I will just highlight the most important points. After that I will spend more time in activities and icebreakers.
As for the remainder of this semester, I think I’m going to change my approach to covering the material. I liked what Teaching Tips said about time management, especially in terms of my students and the time they should be spending outside of class preparing. I still plan on lecturing however, I think I’m going to slowly wean my students off of lecture and plan more activities. I think right now my course is catering to those who aren’t reading the text, and I need to change this early on. I plan on slowly reducing the amount of lecture while increaesing the amount of discussion and activities. Hopefully the transtion will be both beneficial and seamless.
This week’s reading did several things for me. Not only did I get valuable information I can use right now, I also got material that I believe will be helpful in the future. I plan on continuing my education with the eventual hope of becoming a professor. I feel that the information in this week’s reading has given me tools to use as I move forward with my career both as a student and a teacher.
Helpful Links:
Textbook selection and review process.
Syllabus Planning
Useful in today’s readings:
There were many things that I found to be useful in the week’s reading assignment. In Teaching Tips I found chapters two and three very interesting. Although I don’t find them terribly important right now, I believe in the future knowing how to build my own course will be very useful. I also liked how we got tips on text book selection. In my current role as a T.A., I hadn’t really thought all that much about selecting a text book for my course because it was done for me already. By contrast, I had thought about the syllabus, but was given one at orientation. After reading chapter two in Teaching Tips, I wish I would have taken more time with the syllabus and crafted it into something more my own.
Chapter three in Teaching Tips also addressed several items that I found to be useful. After reading chapter three, first I got a sense that I ran my first day of class about how I should have. That said however, I feel that I gained much valuable information regarding how I will run my first class period next time. Next time I will cover less material in the syllabus, and spend more time with icebreakers and activities to give students a feel for the course. I think I may have read a little too much of the syllabus to my class. In the future I hope to make better use of this time.
Ways to implement the text in communication:
I believe that the field of communication does a great job at implementing what the books talk about in terms of teaching practice. I believe that as we are naturally enthralled with the phenomena of communication. As a field we pay especially close attention to how we communicate. Although I feel we may pay more attention to how we communicate, I think that First Day to Final Grade makes some good points that are often forgotten.
Some reminders I found particularly helpful were based on gender and ethnicity. I knew that students react differently based on the gender of the instructor. The book also addresses ethnicity and language barriers that I hadn’t really considered. Although I’m a native speaker of English, not all of my students are. I think the book gives some good insight into overcoming these issues.
Incorporation of the material in my classroom:
After completing the readings, I have several things that I am going to try to incorporate into my classroom. First, I know that next semester the first day of my class is going to look very differently. I did use all of my time on the first day, but next semester I will use it differently. I will spend far less time reading the syllabus, and I will just highlight the most important points. After that I will spend more time in activities and icebreakers.
As for the remainder of this semester, I think I’m going to change my approach to covering the material. I liked what Teaching Tips said about time management, especially in terms of my students and the time they should be spending outside of class preparing. I still plan on lecturing however, I think I’m going to slowly wean my students off of lecture and plan more activities. I think right now my course is catering to those who aren’t reading the text, and I need to change this early on. I plan on slowly reducing the amount of lecture while increaesing the amount of discussion and activities. Hopefully the transtion will be both beneficial and seamless.
This week’s reading did several things for me. Not only did I get valuable information I can use right now, I also got material that I believe will be helpful in the future. I plan on continuing my education with the eventual hope of becoming a professor. I feel that the information in this week’s reading has given me tools to use as I move forward with my career both as a student and a teacher.
Helpful Links:
Textbook selection and review process.
Syllabus Planning
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