The reading for this week was part 4 (Adding to Your Repertoire of Skills and Strategies for Facilitating Active Learning) in McKeachie's Teaching Tips. In this entry, I focus on just a few of the many things I found interesting from this section.
On page 205, author's Peter Elbow and Mary Deane Sorcinelli briefly discuss issues concerning spelling and grammar in student writing. I agree with the authors that it is not possible or appropriate for college instructors (outside of English departments) to teach spelling and grammar. Nonetheless it is important that students produce papers with appropriate spelling and grammar so that their writing is understandable. Writing centers like the one at NDSU may provide students with the assistance they need to produce writing that is free or nearly free of spelling and grammatical errors. I actually just took one of my own manuscripts to the writing center, and was surprised by how much their suggestions helped the clarity of my writing. Although I was fortunate to have the director of the center help me, I assume that the undergraduate and graduate assistants at the writing center are fully capable of helping students to improve their writing. I intend to require my students this Spring to write a paper, and I will encourage them to take their writing to the writing center.
These authors also suggest that instructors make writing assignments idiosyncratic so that students cannot easily plagiarize papers that have already been written. In a previous blog, I have mentioned that I intend to have my students write a paper in which they apply social psychological research in some way (a broad topic that allows students much flexibility). After reading this chapter, I have decided that I should at least consider narrowing the focus of this assignment to reduce the liklihood that students will plagiarize already written papers.
In chapter 16, McKeachie writes about cooperative and collaborative learning. I agree with McKeachie that group work should facilitate learning, and I intend to incorporate groupwork into my own course when possible. I acknowledge, nonetheless, that many instructors and students dislike group work. As an undergraduate, I had a philosophy instructor who told us that instructors who employ group work are lazy because they are trying to get out of developing lectures. Although I certainly agree that it would be problematic if an instructor overly used or only used group work, I disagree that group work is an ineffective teaching tool. As Mckeachie suggests, group work allows students to express their own ideas about course material and to do so in a low pressure situation.
Additional Resources
Facilitating group work in college classrooms
Information about plagiarism and its detection
Monday, October 19, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Blog Entry #7
The readings for this week were chapter 12 (Motivation in the Classroom) and 13 (Teaching Culturally Diverse Students) in McKeachie's Teaching Tips, and an excerpt from Learner-Centered Teaching (LCT). In this entry, I respond to three questions concerning LCT.
What is "learner-centered teaching" (LCT)?
In my own words, LCT refers to teaching practices that place special emphasis on student needs. I developed this definition based on what seemed to be a common theme in the writing of Hofer and Suinn in McKeachie's Teaching Tips and the author of the excerpt from Learner-Centered Teaching.
Although Hofer and Suinn do not use the term LCT (that I noticed), they are in fact advocating LCT by acknowledging specific needs of students and addressing how those needs can be met to facilitate learning. Hofer discusses motivational theories, and suggests that students arrive in the classroom with different types and levels of motivation. By responding to the different types and levels of student motivation appropriately, Hofer suggests that learning can be facilitated. Suinn discusses teaching to culturally diverse populations, and suggests that learning can be facilitated by acknowledging and responding to the unique needs of students from various backgrounds. The author of the excerpt from Learner-Centered Teaching focuses on the balance of power in college classrooms. This author argues that learning can be facilitated by encouraging active participation of students in the process of developing course content, policy, and evaluation methods.
Which aspects of LCT could you incorporate in your own teaching?
There were several ideas in this week's readings that would work well in my PSYC 214 course this Spring. Hofer discusses the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on learning. Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation influenced by internal factors such as natural curiosity and enjoyment regarding learning, and extrinsic motivation refers to motivation influenced by external factors such as grades and expectations. As an instructor, my goal will be to facilitate intrinsic motivation when possible by making the relevance of the material to student's lives clear. Fortunately, social psychology has many applications to our daily lives so this should not be exceptionally difficult. Of course, I will also provide external motivators for students such as grades to motivate students to keep up with the material when they are busy or lack interest.
The excerpt from Learner-Centered Teaching provides many ideas for encouraging students to take an active role in their learning. Although the author does not use the term intrinsic motivation, the ideas presented should facilitate intrinsic motivation among students. This is because allowing students a role in determining course content, policy, and evaluation should facilitate their natural engagement and interest with the material they are learning. In my own course, I do not plan to involve students with all aspects of course design. However, I do plan to allow students to determine the topic of the paper they write. Other instructors who have taught PSYC 214 typically require students to write a paper demonstrating their understanding of social psychological principles in a popular movies. I intend to broaden the options for writing this paper by allowing students to demonstrate their understanding of social psychological principles in other situations (e.g., their work experiences, novels they read).
Which aspects of LCT would be difficult (or, in your opinion, unwise) to incorporate in your own teaching?
As the author of the excerpt in Learner-Centered Teaching argues, I feel it would be unwise to allow students to make significant course decisions such as determining which textbook is used. As stated above, I do intend to allow students some flexibility in determining paper topics, but I feel it is important that this flexibility is limited. Because students typically lack knowledge and experience about the topics being taught, it is important that the instructor make major decisions.
I also feel it would be unwise to assume that student behavior is necessarily influenced by their cultural background. Suinn describes how as a way of showing respect, Asian-American students may be more likely than Caucasian students to avoid eye contact. Although it is possible that lack of eye contact may be indicative of cultural differences, it may also indicate that a student is not paying attention. Of course, it is difficult for an instructor to identify what the true cause of every behavior is. I think the important lesson here is to not make assumptions either way.
Additional Resources
Information about LCT from the University of Oregon
What is "learner-centered teaching" (LCT)?
In my own words, LCT refers to teaching practices that place special emphasis on student needs. I developed this definition based on what seemed to be a common theme in the writing of Hofer and Suinn in McKeachie's Teaching Tips and the author of the excerpt from Learner-Centered Teaching.
Although Hofer and Suinn do not use the term LCT (that I noticed), they are in fact advocating LCT by acknowledging specific needs of students and addressing how those needs can be met to facilitate learning. Hofer discusses motivational theories, and suggests that students arrive in the classroom with different types and levels of motivation. By responding to the different types and levels of student motivation appropriately, Hofer suggests that learning can be facilitated. Suinn discusses teaching to culturally diverse populations, and suggests that learning can be facilitated by acknowledging and responding to the unique needs of students from various backgrounds. The author of the excerpt from Learner-Centered Teaching focuses on the balance of power in college classrooms. This author argues that learning can be facilitated by encouraging active participation of students in the process of developing course content, policy, and evaluation methods.
Which aspects of LCT could you incorporate in your own teaching?
There were several ideas in this week's readings that would work well in my PSYC 214 course this Spring. Hofer discusses the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on learning. Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation influenced by internal factors such as natural curiosity and enjoyment regarding learning, and extrinsic motivation refers to motivation influenced by external factors such as grades and expectations. As an instructor, my goal will be to facilitate intrinsic motivation when possible by making the relevance of the material to student's lives clear. Fortunately, social psychology has many applications to our daily lives so this should not be exceptionally difficult. Of course, I will also provide external motivators for students such as grades to motivate students to keep up with the material when they are busy or lack interest.
The excerpt from Learner-Centered Teaching provides many ideas for encouraging students to take an active role in their learning. Although the author does not use the term intrinsic motivation, the ideas presented should facilitate intrinsic motivation among students. This is because allowing students a role in determining course content, policy, and evaluation should facilitate their natural engagement and interest with the material they are learning. In my own course, I do not plan to involve students with all aspects of course design. However, I do plan to allow students to determine the topic of the paper they write. Other instructors who have taught PSYC 214 typically require students to write a paper demonstrating their understanding of social psychological principles in a popular movies. I intend to broaden the options for writing this paper by allowing students to demonstrate their understanding of social psychological principles in other situations (e.g., their work experiences, novels they read).
Which aspects of LCT would be difficult (or, in your opinion, unwise) to incorporate in your own teaching?
As the author of the excerpt in Learner-Centered Teaching argues, I feel it would be unwise to allow students to make significant course decisions such as determining which textbook is used. As stated above, I do intend to allow students some flexibility in determining paper topics, but I feel it is important that this flexibility is limited. Because students typically lack knowledge and experience about the topics being taught, it is important that the instructor make major decisions.
I also feel it would be unwise to assume that student behavior is necessarily influenced by their cultural background. Suinn describes how as a way of showing respect, Asian-American students may be more likely than Caucasian students to avoid eye contact. Although it is possible that lack of eye contact may be indicative of cultural differences, it may also indicate that a student is not paying attention. Of course, it is difficult for an instructor to identify what the true cause of every behavior is. I think the important lesson here is to not make assumptions either way.
Additional Resources
Information about LCT from the University of Oregon
Monday, October 5, 2009
Blog Entry #6
The readings for this week were chapter 7 (One-on-One Interaction with Students) in First Day to Final Grade, and chapter 14 (Dealing with Student Problems and Problem Students (There's Almost Always at Least One!)) in McKeachie's Teaching Tips. There were several aspects of this week's readings that were interesting and could be implemented in my own teaching.
On page 111 of First Day to Final Grade, Curzan and Damour emphasize that it is important to keep email records. Although they do not go into much depth regarding why this is important, I assume it is because email records provide evidence of communications between the instructor and students. For example, consider a student who asks for a time extension on an assignment via email. The instructor replies, granting the student two extra days. The student then turns in the assignment one week later and thanks the instructor for the time extension. Based on the email communication, the instructor can easily justify not accepting the late assignment. Personally, I delete emails as soon as possible. This allows me to find important email correspondences more quickly. Considering the advice of Curzan and Damour, it may be useful to keep emails for a duration of time.
Also on page 111, Curzan and Damour discuss attendance problems. One of the recommendations they make is to allow students a certain number of absences without penalty. They suggest that this reduces the liklihood of instructors having to decide whether absences should be excusable or not. I see an important limitation to this strategy. If students are allowed a certain number of absences, they may be especially likely to miss the allowed number of classes (even more so than if no attendance policy were implemented). In psychology, research suggests that anchor values (e.g., allowing up to 5 absences) encourage people to adjust their behavior toward the anchor value. To use an example outside the classroom, consider pricing schemes in marketing. A business may advertise a product as 5 for $20 to encourage people to buy 5 of the item. Each item costs $4 regardless of whether or not it is purchased in bulk, but research indicates that simply providing these anchor values encourages consumers to buy more of the product. I do not plan to implement an attendance policy in my own course. However, I will seek other ways of motivating students to attend class. For example, I may remind students that not all test material comes from the textbook.
On page 172 of McKeachie's Teaching Tips, McKeachie states "...before focusing on changing the student's behavior, take a few moments to look at what you are doing that might be related to the student's behavior." If one spends most their time with instructors, they will hear lots of stories about what is wrong with students. If one spends most their time with students, they will hear lots of stories about what is wrong with instructors. Both students and instructors can cause problems. I agree with McKeachie that instructors should consider both the behavior of students and their own behavior when attempting to solve problems.
Additional resources:
Encouraging attendance
Managing conflict between instructors and students
On page 111 of First Day to Final Grade, Curzan and Damour emphasize that it is important to keep email records. Although they do not go into much depth regarding why this is important, I assume it is because email records provide evidence of communications between the instructor and students. For example, consider a student who asks for a time extension on an assignment via email. The instructor replies, granting the student two extra days. The student then turns in the assignment one week later and thanks the instructor for the time extension. Based on the email communication, the instructor can easily justify not accepting the late assignment. Personally, I delete emails as soon as possible. This allows me to find important email correspondences more quickly. Considering the advice of Curzan and Damour, it may be useful to keep emails for a duration of time.
Also on page 111, Curzan and Damour discuss attendance problems. One of the recommendations they make is to allow students a certain number of absences without penalty. They suggest that this reduces the liklihood of instructors having to decide whether absences should be excusable or not. I see an important limitation to this strategy. If students are allowed a certain number of absences, they may be especially likely to miss the allowed number of classes (even more so than if no attendance policy were implemented). In psychology, research suggests that anchor values (e.g., allowing up to 5 absences) encourage people to adjust their behavior toward the anchor value. To use an example outside the classroom, consider pricing schemes in marketing. A business may advertise a product as 5 for $20 to encourage people to buy 5 of the item. Each item costs $4 regardless of whether or not it is purchased in bulk, but research indicates that simply providing these anchor values encourages consumers to buy more of the product. I do not plan to implement an attendance policy in my own course. However, I will seek other ways of motivating students to attend class. For example, I may remind students that not all test material comes from the textbook.
On page 172 of McKeachie's Teaching Tips, McKeachie states "...before focusing on changing the student's behavior, take a few moments to look at what you are doing that might be related to the student's behavior." If one spends most their time with instructors, they will hear lots of stories about what is wrong with students. If one spends most their time with students, they will hear lots of stories about what is wrong with instructors. Both students and instructors can cause problems. I agree with McKeachie that instructors should consider both the behavior of students and their own behavior when attempting to solve problems.
Additional resources:
Encouraging attendance
Managing conflict between instructors and students
Monday, September 28, 2009
Blog Entry #5
The readings for this week were chapter 7 (Assessing, Testing, and Evaluating: Grading is Not the Most Important Function), 8 (Testing: The Details), and 9 (Tests from the Students' Perspective) in McKeachie's Teaching Tips, and an excerpt from What the Best College Teachers Do. There were several aspects of this week's readings that were interesting and could be implemented in my own teaching.
In both chapter 7 of McKeachie's Teaching Tips and the excerpt from What the Best College Teachers Do, the authors suggest that testing should be about both learning and evaluation. For example, McKeachie advocates that "taking a test in a group situation is a good learning experience...students learn a lot from one another and from having to explain their own answers." I wonder whether learning and evaluation should always be sought simultaneously. If students work together on all tests, it may not be possible to ever truly assess learning among individual students. As I illustrated in a previous post, I agree that working in groups should facilitate learning. In my own teaching, I will incorporate group work to facilitate such learning. However, for tests, I intend to require students to take tests individually so that I can assess their individual learning. Below, interested readers can find a link to a website that includes several group activities for social psychology courses.
On a related note, McKeachie gives several useful tips regarding returning tests to students. If students are to learn from tests, I believe the best time for this is following the test. McKeachie advocates reviewing test answers so that students can learn from their mistakes. I intend to review the answers to test questions that students are unsure about. For example, I may ask students which questions they would like to review and/or focus on questions that few students got correct. I found McKeachie's tips for grading essay questions very useful. As an undergraduate, I often had difficulty determining how instructors graded essay questions. Scoring of essay questions always seemed very subjective, and in a way it is. However, there are numerous techniques instructors can adopt to assess essay responses more objectively. There are three techniques that I find especially useful. The first is to read several essays before beginning to grade. The second is to read and comment on all essays, and then assign grades last. The third is to develop a grading rubric. I feel that these techniques should reduce the likelihood that an instructor will be unduly influenced by essays that were read before the one being graded. For example, an instructor may perceive an essay as poorly written if it follows an essay that was written very well (or vice-versa). In my own teaching, I would like students to be able to apply the knowledge that they develop. Including at least some essay questions will be necessary for accomplishing this goal. Using some of the techniques that McKeachie presents, I will seek to be as objective as possible in grading essay questions.
Lastly, I also found the excerpt from What the Best College Teachers Do very interesting. Specifically, I enjoyed the discussion regarding student evaluation of instructors. I think it is easy for instructors to discount the validity of these assessments. For example, instructors who receive low ratings may rationalize their ratings by arguing that students were not up for the challenges presented to them. However, I feel that student evaluations should be taken seriously by instructors. If instructors are to develop their teaching abilities, they should take into consideration what students find helpful and harmful. Nonetheless, I acknowledge limitations of such instructor evaluations. Below, I provide a link to a sample teaching evaluation form.
Additional Resources
1. Group activities for social psychology courses
2. Sample teaching evaluation form
In both chapter 7 of McKeachie's Teaching Tips and the excerpt from What the Best College Teachers Do, the authors suggest that testing should be about both learning and evaluation. For example, McKeachie advocates that "taking a test in a group situation is a good learning experience...students learn a lot from one another and from having to explain their own answers." I wonder whether learning and evaluation should always be sought simultaneously. If students work together on all tests, it may not be possible to ever truly assess learning among individual students. As I illustrated in a previous post, I agree that working in groups should facilitate learning. In my own teaching, I will incorporate group work to facilitate such learning. However, for tests, I intend to require students to take tests individually so that I can assess their individual learning. Below, interested readers can find a link to a website that includes several group activities for social psychology courses.
On a related note, McKeachie gives several useful tips regarding returning tests to students. If students are to learn from tests, I believe the best time for this is following the test. McKeachie advocates reviewing test answers so that students can learn from their mistakes. I intend to review the answers to test questions that students are unsure about. For example, I may ask students which questions they would like to review and/or focus on questions that few students got correct. I found McKeachie's tips for grading essay questions very useful. As an undergraduate, I often had difficulty determining how instructors graded essay questions. Scoring of essay questions always seemed very subjective, and in a way it is. However, there are numerous techniques instructors can adopt to assess essay responses more objectively. There are three techniques that I find especially useful. The first is to read several essays before beginning to grade. The second is to read and comment on all essays, and then assign grades last. The third is to develop a grading rubric. I feel that these techniques should reduce the likelihood that an instructor will be unduly influenced by essays that were read before the one being graded. For example, an instructor may perceive an essay as poorly written if it follows an essay that was written very well (or vice-versa). In my own teaching, I would like students to be able to apply the knowledge that they develop. Including at least some essay questions will be necessary for accomplishing this goal. Using some of the techniques that McKeachie presents, I will seek to be as objective as possible in grading essay questions.
Lastly, I also found the excerpt from What the Best College Teachers Do very interesting. Specifically, I enjoyed the discussion regarding student evaluation of instructors. I think it is easy for instructors to discount the validity of these assessments. For example, instructors who receive low ratings may rationalize their ratings by arguing that students were not up for the challenges presented to them. However, I feel that student evaluations should be taken seriously by instructors. If instructors are to develop their teaching abilities, they should take into consideration what students find helpful and harmful. Nonetheless, I acknowledge limitations of such instructor evaluations. Below, I provide a link to a sample teaching evaluation form.
Additional Resources
1. Group activities for social psychology courses
2. Sample teaching evaluation form
Monday, September 21, 2009
Blog Entry #4
This week's readings were chapter 8 (Grading) in First Day to Final Grade, and chapter 10 (What to Do About Cheating) and 11 (The ABC's of Assigning Grades) in McKeachie's Teaching Tips. There were several useful tips in this week's readings that I can apply in my own teaching. Here, I focus on a few of the most useful ideas.
In chapter 8 of First Day to Final Grade, Curzan and Damour provide tips for maintaining control of the time it takes to grade assignments (p. 147). For example, they suggest that grading most undergraduate papers should only take 20 to 30 minutes. I was very surprised by this suggestion. As an undergraduate, writing a good paper can take several weeks. For an instructor to determine a grade so quickly seems alarming. However, I understand the reasons behind the authors' suggestion. I am anticipating up to 70 students in the course I am teaching in the Spring and I intend to assign a 5-8 page paper due near the end of the semester. If I take 30 minutes to read and grade each paper, I will have taken 35 hours. 35 hours is a lot of time near the end of a semester! Consequently, I will need to set a time limit on the amount of time I devote to grading papers and other assignments.
Also related to time management and grading papers, I found Curzan and Damour's suggestion to point out problems but not solve them important (p. 150). The authors argue that it is the instructors job to identify problems in student assignments, and it is the students job to solve those problems. I feel that this is a good time management strategy. However, I wonder how many students are capable of identifying appropriate solutions to the problems that their instructors pose. In my own teaching, I intend to follow the suggestion of the authors, but I also intend to be available to students who are unable to identify appropriate solutions to the problems I pose.
I also found McKeachie's perspective (p. 127) and Curzan and Damour's perspective (p. 162) on late work interesting. McKeachie suggests that penalizing students for late work influences grades so that they no longer exclusively represent knowledge and understanding, but rather are diluted by assessment of responsibility, maturity, and other factors. Curzan and Damour suggest that penalizing students for late work does not account for real emergencies. They provide the example of a student whose assignment is 1 hour late due to a power failure. I agree with these suggestions. As an undergraduate, I wrote a paper in my social psychology course suggesting that grades were a better measure of conformity than intelligence. I used many of the same arguments that McKeachie presents. Of course, it is also important that aside from special circumstances, students regularly turn assignments in on time. In my own teaching, I do not intend to mark students down for turning in assignments late. However, I do intend to schedule deadlines for assignments and express the importance of these deadlines to my students.
Below are a couple additional resources that relate to this blog. The first link provides techniques for managing time more effectively, and includes a printable to-do list. The second link is a forum discussion regarding penalizing late work.
http://www.glencoe.com/ps/teachingtoday/weeklytips.phtml/27
http://www.teach-nology.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-975.html
In chapter 8 of First Day to Final Grade, Curzan and Damour provide tips for maintaining control of the time it takes to grade assignments (p. 147). For example, they suggest that grading most undergraduate papers should only take 20 to 30 minutes. I was very surprised by this suggestion. As an undergraduate, writing a good paper can take several weeks. For an instructor to determine a grade so quickly seems alarming. However, I understand the reasons behind the authors' suggestion. I am anticipating up to 70 students in the course I am teaching in the Spring and I intend to assign a 5-8 page paper due near the end of the semester. If I take 30 minutes to read and grade each paper, I will have taken 35 hours. 35 hours is a lot of time near the end of a semester! Consequently, I will need to set a time limit on the amount of time I devote to grading papers and other assignments.
Also related to time management and grading papers, I found Curzan and Damour's suggestion to point out problems but not solve them important (p. 150). The authors argue that it is the instructors job to identify problems in student assignments, and it is the students job to solve those problems. I feel that this is a good time management strategy. However, I wonder how many students are capable of identifying appropriate solutions to the problems that their instructors pose. In my own teaching, I intend to follow the suggestion of the authors, but I also intend to be available to students who are unable to identify appropriate solutions to the problems I pose.
I also found McKeachie's perspective (p. 127) and Curzan and Damour's perspective (p. 162) on late work interesting. McKeachie suggests that penalizing students for late work influences grades so that they no longer exclusively represent knowledge and understanding, but rather are diluted by assessment of responsibility, maturity, and other factors. Curzan and Damour suggest that penalizing students for late work does not account for real emergencies. They provide the example of a student whose assignment is 1 hour late due to a power failure. I agree with these suggestions. As an undergraduate, I wrote a paper in my social psychology course suggesting that grades were a better measure of conformity than intelligence. I used many of the same arguments that McKeachie presents. Of course, it is also important that aside from special circumstances, students regularly turn assignments in on time. In my own teaching, I do not intend to mark students down for turning in assignments late. However, I do intend to schedule deadlines for assignments and express the importance of these deadlines to my students.
Below are a couple additional resources that relate to this blog. The first link provides techniques for managing time more effectively, and includes a printable to-do list. The second link is a forum discussion regarding penalizing late work.
http://www.glencoe.com/ps/teachingtoday/weeklytips.phtml/27
http://www.teach-nology.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-975.html
Monday, September 14, 2009
Blog Entry #3
This week's readings were chapter 4 (Reading as Active Learning), 5 (Facilitating Discussion: Posing Problems, Listening, Questioning), and 6 (How to Make Lectures More Effective) in McKeachie's Teaching Tips. I found several aspects of this week's readings interesting.
In chapter 4, McKeachie argues that students learn more from reading than they do from lectures. This is an interesting point. As an undergraduate, I often felt that attending lectures did not add much to the knowledge I acquired from reading the textbook. Although I still feel this way at times, I think that lecturing can sometimes be valuable. For example, lecturors may be able to supplement reading materials by generating enthusiam about the topic, providing a check on author biases, and adding additional material. In my own teaching, I intend to cover reading material in classes, but also add to this material with new information and examples.
In chapter 5, McKeachie emphasizes the importance of discussion for learning. Information learned by listening to a lecture or reading a textbook may not be retained as well as information that is actively discussed. My advisor and I are currently working on an article concerning collaborative group memory. As part of this article, we review evidence suggesting that members of collaborative groups tend to remember information better than individuals at later points in time. When recalling information, collaborative groups are able to discuss their recall. This discussion seems to facilitate recall in group members at later points in time. In my own teaching, I intend to encourage student participation by creating a comfortable atmosphere for discussion.
In chapter 6, McKeachie provides suggestions for how to make lectures more effective. I thought he provided many interesting ideas for accomplishing this. For example, motivating attention with phrases like "This will be on the test" may be worth considering. In my own teaching, I may consider changing this phrase slightly to "This may be on the test." This is because anything may be on the test. As long as this phrase is not used to frequently, it should help encourage student attention when needed.
Below are a couple links to additional resources. The first link compares collaborative learning and lecture/discussion. The second link provides techniques for improving lecture effectiveness.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3886/is_200101/ai_n8935939/
http://www.reproline.jhu.edu/english/6read/6training/lecture/delivering_lecture.htm
In chapter 4, McKeachie argues that students learn more from reading than they do from lectures. This is an interesting point. As an undergraduate, I often felt that attending lectures did not add much to the knowledge I acquired from reading the textbook. Although I still feel this way at times, I think that lecturing can sometimes be valuable. For example, lecturors may be able to supplement reading materials by generating enthusiam about the topic, providing a check on author biases, and adding additional material. In my own teaching, I intend to cover reading material in classes, but also add to this material with new information and examples.
In chapter 5, McKeachie emphasizes the importance of discussion for learning. Information learned by listening to a lecture or reading a textbook may not be retained as well as information that is actively discussed. My advisor and I are currently working on an article concerning collaborative group memory. As part of this article, we review evidence suggesting that members of collaborative groups tend to remember information better than individuals at later points in time. When recalling information, collaborative groups are able to discuss their recall. This discussion seems to facilitate recall in group members at later points in time. In my own teaching, I intend to encourage student participation by creating a comfortable atmosphere for discussion.
In chapter 6, McKeachie provides suggestions for how to make lectures more effective. I thought he provided many interesting ideas for accomplishing this. For example, motivating attention with phrases like "This will be on the test" may be worth considering. In my own teaching, I may consider changing this phrase slightly to "This may be on the test." This is because anything may be on the test. As long as this phrase is not used to frequently, it should help encourage student attention when needed.
Below are a couple links to additional resources. The first link compares collaborative learning and lecture/discussion. The second link provides techniques for improving lecture effectiveness.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3886/is_200101/ai_n8935939/
http://www.reproline.jhu.edu/english/6read/6training/lecture/delivering_lecture.htm
Monday, September 7, 2009
Blog Entry #2
This week’s readings were chapter 3 (Weekly Class Preparation), 4 (Running a Discussion), and 6 (Trusty Class Plans) in First Day to Final Grade. I found several aspects of this week’s readings useful, and I intend to incorporate them into my own teaching.
I enjoyed the discussion about facilitating student notes in chapter 3. College teaching often requires that the instructor speak slowly and occasionally pause to facilitate note taking. This is much different from a professional presentation (e.g., at a conference), where the audience tends to only take notes that relate to their own interests. In my own course, I intend to be aware of the audience and talk at a pace that allows for note taking and learning, even if it requires that I cover less material. For example, if students are furiously taking notes, I will talk slower and incorporate pauses between topics.
I also found the discussion about incorporating writing interesting (chapter 3). The authors state, “By writing, students move immediately from passively receiving information to actively synthesizing ideas and creating original arguments.” I strongly agree with this statement, and I intend to incorporate writing into my own course. For example, I will likely require a 5-7 page application-focused paper, as well as several in-class writing assignments.
In chapter 4, the authors suggest several types of effective and ineffective discussion questions. One type of ineffective question is a “talking down” question (e.g., who is the author?). In my own view, “talking down” questions could be equated with “very easy” questions (e.g., asking students to define a very simple concept). Although it may seem to be a minor point, I think the consequences of asking too many of these types of questions can be dramatic. For example, if students perceive the instructor as condescending, students may not volunteer to answer other questions. In my own teaching, I intend to incorporate few, if any, very easy questions. Rather, I will seek to ask questions that at least minimally challenge students.
I found the discussion about handling sensitive material in Chapter 4 interesting as well. In the example on page 56, the author’s state, “…we must remember that we are evaluating arguments, not the people who raise them.” This is something I have discussed with my advisor on many occasions. Both of us believe that it is the ideas that are important for the progression of the psychological sciences rather than the names associated with those ideas. Nonetheless, it is important to realize that both researchers and students identify with the ideas that they generated. Consequently, it may be difficult to critique an idea without the generator of that idea feeling slighted. One potential solution to this dilemma may include acknowledging the value of how the student arrived at the idea (e.g., “You are on the right track, but…”) before critiquing the end result.
Below are a couple links that relate to the readings for this week. The first link provides techniques for facilitating student participation, and the second link provides techniques for facilitating effective group activities in the classroom.
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ltas/intro/teachingAdvice/documentation/Facilitating_Student_Participation.pdf
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html
I enjoyed the discussion about facilitating student notes in chapter 3. College teaching often requires that the instructor speak slowly and occasionally pause to facilitate note taking. This is much different from a professional presentation (e.g., at a conference), where the audience tends to only take notes that relate to their own interests. In my own course, I intend to be aware of the audience and talk at a pace that allows for note taking and learning, even if it requires that I cover less material. For example, if students are furiously taking notes, I will talk slower and incorporate pauses between topics.
I also found the discussion about incorporating writing interesting (chapter 3). The authors state, “By writing, students move immediately from passively receiving information to actively synthesizing ideas and creating original arguments.” I strongly agree with this statement, and I intend to incorporate writing into my own course. For example, I will likely require a 5-7 page application-focused paper, as well as several in-class writing assignments.
In chapter 4, the authors suggest several types of effective and ineffective discussion questions. One type of ineffective question is a “talking down” question (e.g., who is the author?). In my own view, “talking down” questions could be equated with “very easy” questions (e.g., asking students to define a very simple concept). Although it may seem to be a minor point, I think the consequences of asking too many of these types of questions can be dramatic. For example, if students perceive the instructor as condescending, students may not volunteer to answer other questions. In my own teaching, I intend to incorporate few, if any, very easy questions. Rather, I will seek to ask questions that at least minimally challenge students.
I found the discussion about handling sensitive material in Chapter 4 interesting as well. In the example on page 56, the author’s state, “…we must remember that we are evaluating arguments, not the people who raise them.” This is something I have discussed with my advisor on many occasions. Both of us believe that it is the ideas that are important for the progression of the psychological sciences rather than the names associated with those ideas. Nonetheless, it is important to realize that both researchers and students identify with the ideas that they generated. Consequently, it may be difficult to critique an idea without the generator of that idea feeling slighted. One potential solution to this dilemma may include acknowledging the value of how the student arrived at the idea (e.g., “You are on the right track, but…”) before critiquing the end result.
Below are a couple links that relate to the readings for this week. The first link provides techniques for facilitating student participation, and the second link provides techniques for facilitating effective group activities in the classroom.
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ltas/intro/teachingAdvice/documentation/Facilitating_Student_Participation.pdf
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html
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