Teaching in Higher Ed

Teaching

Course evaluation reflections

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I've been inspired by Doug McKee (past guest on the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast and co-host of the Teach Better podcast) on a number of occasions.

In this case, I've been inspired by his courage to share his course evals online and reflect on what worked, what didn't, and what changes he will make in each course he teaches.

His recent post describes how he extracts value from course evaluations. I will follow a similar process below.

Fall 2014 course evaluations

At our university, we don't typically get our course evaluations back until well into the next semester. I received mine on February 20, 2015, which is sooner than they've been in past years, but still not soon enough for me to have made any significant adjustments to this semester's courses.

Those of us with tenure only have half of our courses evaluated each semester, creating a bit of a gap in the feedback process. Still, there are lessons to be gleaned each time I review the evaluations.

Quantitative results

In both classes that were evaluated (Introduction to Business and Sales and Sales Management), the evaluations were rated higher than the national average. This feedback is typically not very valuable to me, since having my institution's data to compare myself to might be a better data set to use.

However, there are some detailed questions toward the end of the quantitative section that tend to help me put things in perspective. The items that typically help me remember who is was who was providing me feedback include:

  • What grade are you anticipating in the course?
  • How much effort did you put into the course?
  • The workload for this course was _____ (heavier, about the same, lighter than) other courses you took this semester.

Sometimes, there will be one or two students who anticipate earning a D or an F in the course. In those instances, there are also anomalies on the quantitative results such as one person that marks that I didn't have a command of the English language, or that I treated people unfairly, based on their gender. I haven't ever been marked down for not speaking English well, or treating people unfairly, except in those cases where one or two students anticipate not earning a passing grade.

I realize it is correlation, not causation, that I'm describing here. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps in those cases, it has less to do with me needing to work on my ability to speak English and more to do with me needing to keep a pretty thick skin during the course evaluation process for those students with more of an external locus of control who aren't likely to pass the class.

Introduction to Business quantitative results

outcomes

communication

interaction

outcomes

effort

Sales and Sales Management quantitative results

m-organizationm-communicationm-interactionm-courseoutcomeseffort

 

Qualitative results

I find the qualitative data on course evaluations to be far more beneficial for me. I often wonder if a simple net promoter score might be able to take the place of all the other quantitative data.

Of course, I recognize that I don't have access to any institutional data. I just see my raw scores and the national mean. It seems like a whole lot of time and expense that goes into data that isn't very actionable in my case. However, perhaps it is more beneficial for my institution than I realize.

Our quantitative data essentially gets to the question of what worked and what didn't, though it isn't phrased in those exact works. Here are the results from my fall classes.

Introduction to Business (n=29)

What worked:
  • Pencasts (n=6)
  • Everything (n=5)
  • EdTech tools (n=4)
  • Interactive teaching style (n=4)
  • Business plan project (n=3)

I am not including those comments that only came up once or twice.

One of the most humorous comments to me was when one student said what helped her learn was “Dr. B's calmness.” Wow. That's not something I get every day. Enthusiasm? Yes. But, calmness? That's a first.

What didn't work:
  • Everything worked (n=9)
  • Case studies (n=4)

I am skipping the two other comments that only came up once, though if you're interested, one student didn't like that I had them use Zotero and another didn't like that I had reading assignments in the course. Can you imagine that? A professor who assigns reading?

What I think is interesting about the case studies is that there were a number of comments on those items about them not being graded. Therefore, the students indicated that they didn't take them as seriously and didn't learn as much from them. I feel a bit stuck in my thinking between Ken Bain's advice to have there be opportunities for feedback before any grade gets assigned to something… and the accountability that comes from a stricter grading process.

I do look over all the students' cases in the class and there are points associated with them. However, the vast majority of the time, the students walk out with the full points and they don't feel the pressure to perform well.

Sales and Sales Management (n=16)

What worked?
  • Role plays (n=3)
  • Real-world scenarios/experiences (n=9)
  • Sales challenge #3 (where they visit a company and do a final role play with a business professional they've never met) (n=7)
  • Increased confidence (n=3)
  • Relationship with the professor (n=3)

I skipped those comments that only came up once or twice.

What didn't work?

There weren't any items that came up more than once. However, I do plan on making changes as to the accountability on the blogging assignments when I teach this course in the future. I've started using a Google doc form to track submissions and my first trial run was a success.

Next steps

I've taught both of these courses many times (Intro to Business 30+ classes and Sales and Sales Management 10+ classes). I write new exams each semester, in an attempt to lower the opportunities to cheat. I also bring in fresh examples of what's happening in the business world each class session.

There are many affirmations in the assessments above that encourage me in my teaching. I commit to making the following changes next time I teach these courses:

  • Use a Google doc form to track blog submissions, as described above, and do not waiver in the slightest on the due dates/times.
  • Consider being more stringent in my grading of the cases and perhaps having the students be required to complete them as a group before they come to class on the day they are being discusses.
  • This one isn't related to the evaluations, but I also want to start showing students a TurnItIn.com originality report before they submit their first assignment. It can be just one more way I can minimize the potential for academic dishonesty.

[reminder]Have you received your course evaluations back from last semester yet? What changes are you implementing for the next time you teach those classes?[/reminder]

 

The struggle is real (group projects)

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The struggle is real

I've been thinking a lot about group projects.

Back in episode 25, Chrissy Spencer introduced us to the CATME team maker and other group project tools. I also recently became aware of Babson's group project survival guide, which offers students many tools to set a solid foundation for their work, not to mention resources for when they run into trouble.

While I've been thinking a lot about what to incorporate, my actions have been limited (read non-existent) in making any changes.

I keep succumbing to the faulty logic that if I introduce just the right set of tools to students, that they won't have as difficult of a time working on group projects. If I can tweak the processes I use just a bit more, I'll identify a magic combination of approaches that will make everything run smoothly.

I've been getting discouraged, thinking that I'm in my tenth year of teaching and when it comes to group projects, it might as well be my first.

Then I settle myself down a bit and revisit letters and emails from former students. A friend had once advised me to have a folder in my filing cabinet where I keep words of encouragement to serve as fuel for the days in teaching when I find I have little left to give.

When I look at those letters, they remind me that it is the very messiness that I attempt to remove from the process of group projects that enabled these individuals to learn the most.

The struggles students encounter that they so very much want me to save them from will have the most value if I don't step in. My desire to be helpful and supportive has the potential for blocking opportunities for deep learning to occur.

I keep wanting to make things seamless. When my mind realizes the impossibility of that, I lose all motivation to make the ongoing changes I've been considering.

Nevertheless, this semester I plan on using the CATME team charter, instead of the one I've been using. Also, after the students select their groups, there will be a place for teams to post agendas and minutes each week inside our LMS, using the CATME agenda and minutes template.

Then, I'll remain confident that it is going to get messy.

And messiness isn't always such a bad thing…

Cupcake kiss
Cupcake kiss

 

Let's get moving

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We had a little visitor come in to my night class this week.

I haven't seen students move that fast in the ten years I've been teaching.

get moving

Traditional gender roles were played out, perfectly, as the young women raced to the side of the room without a lizard, and the young men ran toward it with glee.

I'm proud to report that I just stood there, completely entertained.

Even though they are an engaged class, this incident brought about a whole new level of energy for the rest of the evening.

I particularly enjoyed how the presenters who went immediately after our lizard friend was evicted from the classroom, were able to incorporate the reptile into an example on Rawls' theory of justice.

There's just something that happens when we all get moving, students and faculty alike. To that end, here are some ideas for getting physical movement happening inside and outside the classroom:

Tape signs on the wall and have students give input via sticky notes

I've written previously about an exercise that uses sticky notes and gets students moving around the classroom.

There's also a PostIt Plus app that will allow you to capture the data, virtually, and then let you sort and move the individual sticky notes on your screen, as needed. As with any good app, there are plenty of sharing options made available.

Have students walk and talk

When I'm reviewing a concept that can sometimes be difficult for students to apply, I often have them take a walk around the building, while they talk to someone else in the class about the topic.

I make it clear that when they return from their walk, that I will be randomly calling on students, so that they feel a bit more pressure to stay on task during their walk.

I also always join with a group for the walk, or go with a student who doesn't have a partner. This always gives me one more opportunity for one-on-one interaction.

Use a FitBit

Fitness trackers are becoming all the rage these days. Those of us who use them know that they have the power to get us making all sorts of seemingly small changes that add up to signifiant change.

We take the stairs, park further away, and run around more with our kids.

The FitBit device tracks steps and flights of stairs. Dave and I both use one, though he likes the FitBit charge that goes on your wrist and I prefer the one you wear on the waist of your pants.

Consider a treadmill desk

When we finished off an extensive consulting project about a year ago, Dave and I decided to reward ourselves with a treadmill desk. He had wanted one for a while and I was ambivalent (but not opposed to spending the money, necessarily).

I didn't think I would use it that much, since I thought it would be too hard to maintain a train of thought.

It wound up being just the opposite experience. I find that I'm able to get into a flow and work longer and stay focused more than when I'm sitting at a desk.

We have a LifeSpan treadmill desk and both absolutely love it.

[reminder]What do you do to get your students (or yourself) moving?[/reminder]

Let’s get moving

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We had a little visitor come in to my night class this week.

I haven't seen students move that fast in the ten years I've been teaching.

get moving

Traditional gender roles were played out, perfectly, as the young women raced to the side of the room without a lizard, and the young men ran toward it with glee.

I'm proud to report that I just stood there, completely entertained.

Even though they are an engaged class, this incident brought about a whole new level of energy for the rest of the evening.

I particularly enjoyed how the presenters who went immediately after our lizard friend was evicted from the classroom, were able to incorporate the reptile into an example on Rawls' theory of justice.

There's just something that happens when we all get moving, students and faculty alike. To that end, here are some ideas for getting physical movement happening inside and outside the classroom:

Tape signs on the wall and have students give input via sticky notes

I've written previously about an exercise that uses sticky notes and gets students moving around the classroom.

There's also a PostIt Plus app that will allow you to capture the data, virtually, and then let you sort and move the individual sticky notes on your screen, as needed. As with any good app, there are plenty of sharing options made available.

Have students walk and talk

When I'm reviewing a concept that can sometimes be difficult for students to apply, I often have them take a walk around the building, while they talk to someone else in the class about the topic.

I make it clear that when they return from their walk, that I will be randomly calling on students, so that they feel a bit more pressure to stay on task during their walk.

I also always join with a group for the walk, or go with a student who doesn't have a partner. This always gives me one more opportunity for one-on-one interaction.

Use a FitBit

Fitness trackers are becoming all the rage these days. Those of us who use them know that they have the power to get us making all sorts of seemingly small changes that add up to signifiant change.

We take the stairs, park further away, and run around more with our kids.

The FitBit device tracks steps and flights of stairs. Dave and I both use one, though he likes the FitBit charge that goes on your wrist and I prefer the one you wear on the waist of your pants.

Consider a treadmill desk

When we finished off an extensive consulting project about a year ago, Dave and I decided to reward ourselves with a treadmill desk. He had wanted one for a while and I was ambivalent (but not opposed to spending the money, necessarily).

I didn't think I would use it that much, since I thought it would be too hard to maintain a train of thought.

It wound up being just the opposite experience. I find that I'm able to get into a flow and work longer and stay focused more than when I'm sitting at a desk.

We have a LifeSpan treadmill desk and both absolutely love it.

[reminder]What do you do to get your students (or yourself) moving?[/reminder]

Seeing the gorillas through the trees

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Our friends, Sandie and Jean came over for dinner last night. Jean was doing some recording with Dave for the Carnegie Coach podcast, while Sandie and I hung out with the kids.

attention-blindness

Our son, Luke, was pretty antsy from an exciting day with his Grandparents, who are visiting. A book seemed in order, to calm him down and possibly also to entertain Sandie.

I had recently bought him the book Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa, by Jeanette Winter. Here’s the book’s plot, from the publisher’s description:

This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of how one woman's passion, vision, and determination inspired great change.

The author makes the story accessible to kids as she describes Wangari's opposition to the trees that were cut down in Kenya, to make room for buildings.

An entirely different meaning

Since this was not the first time Luke was hearing the story, I asked him questions, as we went along, about what was about to happen next. I inquired as to what had happened to all the beautiful green trees in Kenya, as we flipped to a page with lots of tree trunks, but no lush green branches.

Someone trimmed them,” Luke replied.

He was using the most commonly-used vocabulary around here for what happens to trees. It’s actually quite an exhilarating event, for an almost three year-old.

Landscapers from our community come around every few months and trim the trees.

I found out that we have nearly double the amount of trees where we live than they do in Central Park. The tree trimmers climb up on tall ladders and make quite a ruckus.

It’s got everything that Luke loves in life: noise, green, climbing, and people.

Of course, in Kenya, they weren’t doing trimming. Their work was not designed to make the trees more beautiful and healthy, but to destroy them. They had cut down all the trees, to make room for new construction.

I didn’t correct Luke’s use of the word trimming, but replaced it with the accurate word as I repeated back to him mostly what I had heard him say.

I responded to Luke that, “Yes, they had cut down the trees and now the green was gone, and so were the birds who had made their homes in the trees.”

After a few times of me using the word “cutting,” he seemed to be able to distinguish between trimming and chopping down trees. I never would have realized that there was any confusion, if I hadn’t been asking questions along the way.

This happens to us all the time in the classroom, though the potential for us to completely miss it is significant.

Attention blindness

Dr. Cathy Davidson, my guest on episode 28, shared with us about the experiments done on attention blindness. As Dr. Davidson describes on Inside Higher Ed:

…this famous experiment is a video of six people passing a basketball, half in white and half in black shirts.

Subjects are asked to count how many times the ball is passed only to and from those wearing black, not white, and then are quizzed on the number of passes they counted. What over half of subjects in a normal testing situation miss is a woman in a gorilla suit who walks in among the tossers for a full nine seconds, stares into the camera, and walks away.

The experiment is designed to show us what we normally cannot see about ourselves: how paying attention in a focused way requires us to shut out everything else — even a gorilla.

If you would like more information about attention blindness, including a video of Harvard’s invisible gorilla experiment, Brain Pickings did a nice job overviewing Dr. Davidson’s book and research.

When we learn about the gorilla experiment, or watch the video, having already received the spoiler, it’s easy to think that we are somehow different. That we wouldn’t have been among those who would have missed the gorilla, if we had been one of the subjects in the study.

But that kind of thinking can limit our potential and hinder our growth. Dr. Davidson has inspired me to dig in even more than usual on what I might be missing in my teaching throughout 2015.

Now what?

We read to children far better than some of us teach. Our challenge is to constantly be assessing where there may be gaps in our students’ understanding and help challenge them to apply what they are learning.

If we don’t turn the page and stop to ask them what happens next, we can all to easily be left thinking they have mastered the material in the same way that we perceive we have. I'm thankful for the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast guests who are open to exposing us to new ideas that challenge the way we have been doing things and help us reach new heights.

[reminder]What will you to doing in 2015 to look for the gorillas in your teaching?[/reminder]

Cultivate curiosity in higher ed students

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CURIOSITY

Our son has a new habit. He points at something he hasn't seen before and says, “Whaaaaaaaassssshhaaaatttt?”

For many parents, I know this stage is frustrating. I also recognize that there may well come a time when I'm not amused by it, either.

However, I'm delighted by it now. It's interesting to see what captures his attention and what things are new to him. The whole experience also makes me wish I could bottle his curiosity and administer it, when needed, in the higher ed classroom.

Dr. Mark Carnes joined me for the most recent episode of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast (episode 21). He described how the role playing immersion game, Reacting to the Past, is transforming the way students engage in the college classroom. In Minds on Fire, his book on the same subject, he talks about his early experiences having students play one of the games.

He describes:

Never had students been so engaged and in such a weird way.

Someone piped up, ‘does anyone realize that class was supposed to end seven minutes ago?'

…We had lost track of ourselves.

Carnes seems to be describing students who are in what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls being in a state of flow. Their curiosity is heightened and they're thinking critically about the class content.

Carnes has found a way to bottle the adventurous nature of a toddler and sparked the curiosity of his college students.

Not all of us will be able to use a Reacting to the Past curriculum for a particular class. However, there are steps we can take to cultivate curiosity in our classes.

Direct students solve a problem

Probably the most influential person on my teaching throughout my career has been Dr. M. David Merrill, Professor Emeritus from Utah State University.

I used to work for a computer training company. We hired Dr. Merrill to do some consulting for us. I remember how vividly he altered my view of teaching.

At the time, I thought I was teaching computer application skills. What I realized was that I was getting people to follow a series of steps that I prescribed and only assessing them on their ability to do what I instructed.

Throughout Dr. Merrill's career, he has emphasized the importance of having learners engaged in solving problems. I'm only skimming the surface of Merrill's principles of instruction here.

Our classes in higher education will promote greater learning opportunities if we direct students to solve a problem and not simply get them to regurgitate facts.

Instruct students to give advice to people (or characters) involved in the situation

I've previously recommended using the podcast Planet Money in teaching about business. One of the most interactive sessions I typically see in my introduction to business students is when I ask them to recommend a solution to the currency problem experienced in Brazil's history.

I play the episode up until the point when they have described the challenges with an unstable currency and how difficult that point in Brazil's history was for them. Then, I press the pause button and ask them how they would recommend that they solve the currency problem.

Resist the temptation to be a know it all

If students perceive that we already know everything there is to know on a topic, we can inadvertently diminish their curiosity about a topic.

The other day, I brought in an example from the NBA for my introduction to business class. There's a running joke about my lack of sports knowledge in just about all of my classes. One student had lamented that I use Apple in my examples too often and he was hoping for more sports.

After receiving his feedback, I changed an entire section of my module introducing various promotion strategies that companies use to be centered around the NBA's promotional efforts.

I shared about a website that the NBA had set up in 2010 to use direct marketing to appeal to Hispanics. Candidly, I admitted that I wasn't sure what had become of the website, or what more current efforts they were putting in to attracting Hispanic fans. It was the best example I had found when I was putting it together late the prior evening.

My lack of knowledge opened the door for sports fans in the class to share their knowledge. One student talked about how players will wear special jerseys to culminate their Latin nights celebrations. Other students piped in with their examples and a few asked questions to extend the scenario a bit further.

If I hadn't resisted the temptation try to know it all, the students have missed the opportunity to apply their newfound knowledge to a topic they are passionate about.

[reminder] How do you cultivate curiosity with your students?[/reminder]

How to make a seemingly boring topic come alive

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It's a boring topic, so of course the evaluations are going to be lower.

Make boring topic come to life

In evaluating the success of various courses, low course evaluations are often explained away by asserting that the faculty member was teaching a boring subject. I have heard this logic at more than a handful of institutions in my ten years in academia and am disappointed that some of us are satisfied with that answer.

I certainly had my idea about what subjects were boring when I was an undergrad. Now, as a lifelong learner, I can't find a topic that can't be made interesting by a teacher who has a passion for the subject and brings it to life.

Here are five ways to make a seemingly boring topic interesting.

Introduce an experience

Speaking of topics I found boring as an undergrad, science can definitely be among those topics that professors find challenging to generate interest in for many students.

Dr.Chrissy Spencer at Georgia Tech uses engaging and creative techniques to help her students actually experience the learning in her courses. This Active Learning in Biology video shows her “teaching evolution by turning her students into chili peppers.”

Despite the over 200 students in that large lecture hall, they are each getting to share in an experience that will help them remember the lessons learned for a long time to come. It is no surprise that she wound up winning a prestigious teaching award from Georgia Tech, based on her innovation in the classroom.

Bring in humor

My sales students were learning about how you don't want to present a solution to a client as soon as you think they know what they need, but to hold off until you explore the challenges further and understand their impact. The textbook author describes the studies done on children where they were given a marshmallow and told that if they waited for five minutes that they could have two more marshmallows.

I showed this video of kids who participated in the marshmallow study. It brought the reading alive in a new and humorous way. I also showed Stephen Colbert interviewing Walter Mischel, the author of a recent book about the marshmallow studies.

These humorous segments brought energy into the class and invigorated the discussion.

Invite some friendly competition

As long as it is done in a way that won't embarrass those who aren't understanding the material as well as others, competition can be a way of bringing interest and energy into the classroom.

Do a quiz using PollEverywhere, or play the HeadsUp game.

Have students create something new from what they have been learning and then have the students vote for their top three new creations. There are all sorts of way to invite a little friendly competition into your classroom.

Reinvigorate your own passion

Perhaps if the topic seems boring to you, it's time to invest in reigniting your interest in the subject. I've found that having a well-established personal knowledge mastery system set up helps to keep breathing new life into what I teach.

If your organization offers professional development funds, perhaps it's time to attend a conference or to start exploring some interdisciplinary teaching and learning opportunities.

Approach the topic from a child-like perspective

To keep my students from memorizing words that don't actually mean anything to them, I often have them explain something as if they were talking to an eight year old.

I also use ridiculous analogies for difficult to comprehend subjects, such as when I use a trip to CostCo to buy toilet paper in an example on the accrual method of accounting.

Astrophysicist Roberto Trotta was quoted on NPR [arguing] that we don't need jargon. In his new book, The Edge of the Sky, Trotta tells the story of how the universe was created without using complicated descriptions. In fact, he conveys his message while restricting himself to the 1,000 most commonly used words in English.

[reminder]What approaches do you use for making seemingly boring topics more interesting?[/reminder]

 

Sticky notes as a teaching tool

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This past week was our start to the semester. I was struck, once again, at how little I knew of the students' individual stories that led them to find themselves in my class. As the week ended, though, I celebrated what I was able to glean about them in that short of a time.

A particularly useful tool in connecting with my students was the sticky note.

mostcommon-sticky
Sticky note exercise: Signs were created using the easy-to-use graphics editor called Canva.com

I'm teaching three sections of Introduction to Business, in addition to one marketing elective. I've taught Introduction to Business over twenty times, previously, just not three times in the same semester.

We started out with an exercise designed to help them get to know each other and start to think about how entrepreneurs come up with ideas.

I shared how many business ideas are the result of attempts to solve problems.

There was recently a story from Wired Magazine about the invention of a gadget that helps solve the problem of doctors not washing their hands thoroughly enough. Another example came from college students looking to reduce date rape incidents through their creation of nail polish that changes color when exposed to date rape drugs.

[Read more…] about Sticky notes as a teaching tool

Cultivating character

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It isn't just about getting students not to cheat. It's about them cultivating character and developing into people who can make good decisions in a complex world.

cultivating character

The headline reads like something from the online satirical news site, The Onion.

Professor plagiarized plagiarism definition in textbook, co-author says

However, as the headlines started to spread, none of the sources were from anything but actual news organizations. As more stories about this co-author's accusation emerge, the defense from the accused (or at least those who are speaking for him) seems to be that he neglected to cite the quote correctly, not that he intended to do anything dishonest. Let's keep in mind that the guy we are talking about here is a person who wrote a book about plagiarism, who supposedly should be among the leading sources on how to cite correctly. The university has conducted an investigation and suggests that the problem happened on the publisher's end, with citations being removed from the work. While they have concluded their focus on the matter, questions still exist as to the root causes.

This story was revealed after we recently learned that Senator John Walsh had plagiarized large portions of his thesis, while at the Army War College. While there are some plagiarism charges that are less clear cut and sometimes used as a means to launch an attack on an opponent, the kind of dishonesty I am writing about for this article is the type that is easily identified.

As the news cycle seems to have hit on another supposed pattern of academic dishonesty, it is easy to focus on the individuals that the media has made take center stage. While I do want those who chose to take that route to be held accountable, I also hope that those of us in academia can be thinking about ways that we contribute to these incidents occurring.

The profession of accounting has a model that can help us conceptualize how we might better cultivate character in our students. Criminologist Donald R. Cressey articulates how fraud is perpetuated by three forces working together in what he calls the fraud triangle: opportunity, motivation, and rationalization. Let's consider the three ways we avoid cultivating character in our students:

We give them opportunity

More than half of the time, the students I catch plagiarizing have been in college or graduate school for some time. This is not their first class. I typically discover that this is the first time a professor has ever used any type of plagiarism detection service with their work. When I first started teaching in higher ed and such services were not available to me, I used to be able to determine (or so I thought) pretty easily when students' writing was not their own. However, the vast majority of the time when issues arise today, I would never have caught it on my own, without the support of TurnItIn.com.

We don't take away their motivation

I've written previously about what my students have taught me about plagiarism. I'm still struck by one of the young women telling me that it was clear to her that when plagiarism happens in my classes, the consequences are severe. She couldn't imagine it would be worth it to anyone to take the risk. I loved her transparency. We can use the disincentive that holding students accountable for their actions can provide us.

We let them rationalize their choices

A natural response to being confronted with our unethical behavior can be to try to excuse it as something that isn't really them. “You have to understand. I'm just not like that.” When I have heard that response, I attempt to get the student to a place where he or she can begin to name the choice they made. The next step I hope they can take is to see that when we do “a thing” – we are the kind of person who does “that thing.” When we behave a particular way, we are the kind of person who behaves that way. When we don't attribute other people's words and ideas to them, we are the kind who steals other people's words and ideas. The final place I work to influence toward is where students can build a foundation of values that are in alignment with the choices they make. This important aspect of cultivating character is to help people identify, name, and acknowledge what it is they have done.

[reminder]How to you work to cultivate character in your students? Where are we allowing for more opportunity, motivation, and rationalizations to contribute to an environment where cheating flourishes? [/reminder]

First impressions in the higher ed classroom

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Dave and I are in the process of evaluating preschools for our son, Luke. It has been hard for me to separate my feelings about the person in the role of salesperson from the realities about what it would be like for Luke to actually attend school at any of the places. I keep wanting to give the people giving us tours this book, which transformed my thinking about selling. The whole experience has reminded me of the enormous role that first impressions can play in how we perceive a person or environment.

first_impressions
A college professor makes a good, first impression, building a foundation of trust for the semester.

Shaping First Impressions in the College Classroom

First impressions in the higher ed classroom are crucial. There is even some indication that students' perceptions on the first day will be almost identical to how they will eventually assess the professor on the final course evaluation. Here are a few ideas for starting the semester strong:

Arrive early and set the tone

This recommendation is in every single first day prep article I've ever read. Yet, I'm still including it here, because it is so important. Think about what your students will see, hear, feel, and experience as they enter the environment they will be learning in for the semester. I tend to open up the blinds and let in as much natural light as possible.

Music is also an important start to every class session for me. If you don't believe that music can completely change the mood, this little girl might change your mind:

[The video may not play if you're viewing this on email, but you can view it by opening this post on Teaching in Higher Ed]

Start with a story, statistic, anecdote, or other means of inspiring students

I just received my first email from a student who is going to miss the entire first week of classes, since he will be out of the country. At least he didn't ask the dreaded question: “Am I going to miss anything?” While I could write plenty of blog posts about my frustration about students who choose to miss this crucial time in building a learning community, I also submit to you that some of this is our fault. Any of us who have handed out the syllabus on the first day of class and proceeded to review the assignment requirements and course schedule contribute to students who think they can get everything they need by reading the syllabus on their own. When we have the students introduce themselves and share their majors in a predictable fashion, we forget how repetitive this gets and just how anxious it makes some students feel. There are alternate ways to begin to build students' confidence to engage, without having them do the same thing they're being asked to do in their other classes.

I asked Dave about his memories of classes where he had a great first impression and he shared this anecdote from an experience he had with an incredible teacher. He shared a story about his high school chemistry teacher. The first class focused on the theme that we don't always understand the things around us. Dave doesn't remember the details of the lesson, but he sure remembers how the teacher ended.

A candle was on a table in the center of the classroom. The students hadn't thought much about it, but a candle or light analogy had come up in one or two of the stories, so it didn't seem misplaced. In the few minutes remaining in the class session, the teacher picked the candle up off the table and proceeded to put it in his mouth. He then chewed, swallowed, and said:

Just remember, things aren't always what they seem.

Dave remembers looking at his fellow students in surprise and exclaiming, “This is going to be a great class.” It turned out to be Dave's favorite class in high school, one that lived up to its initial promise. Given my clumsiness, I think it is best if I refrain from any activity that involves having a lit flame in class. However, we can all think about a powerful story, statistic or anecdote that will capture the imagination of our students and getting them excited for the learning that is to come…

Set a culture for self-directed learning and personal responsibility

My classes almost all use a blended learning approach. This format only works well if students understand that they are accountable for more than just what happens in the classroom, but that we need to build a community of learning that will extend to our engagement online. One EdTech tool that really helps build the bridge between online and in-person is Remind (formerly named Remind101). This semester, my introduction to business classes will be expected to complete the online portion of our class before 1:00 pm on Fridays each week. I'll be able to preschedule a message that goes out to them on Friday mornings, reminding them of the deadline and perhaps even using a bit of humor, since Remind now supports sending images, along with the text reminders.

Now if only we could get more of our students to read this article and consider ways they might make a good impression with their professors.

What did I leave out about making a good first impression in the college classroom? What else have you seen make a difference in starting off well in the semester? What powerful memory still remains for you, for what made a good start to one of the college classes you took?

What My Students Have Taught Me About Plagiarism

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I'm almost through the book Cheating Lessons by James Lang. Already, it feels like an answer to so many of the questions I have had over the years. Lang doesn't pretend that there are quick fixes in the area of academic dishonesty. Still, the hope comes in the fact that all that we can do to reduce the likelihood of cheating has the added benefit of making our teaching more effective. That's been the biggest inspiration to me. The negative aspects of taking steps to address issues of plagiarism and other forms of teaching may also result in giving me new ideas for improving my teaching.

avoiding_plagiarism_James_Lang

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How to respond when students give wrong answers

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We all know just how wrong students can be when they answer a question in class. There have even been entire books devoted to the subject. A student indicates that his favorite hue is “Jackman,” while another submits the following sentence as her essay on the enlightenment:

‘The Enlightenment had many great thinkers, none of which come to mind currently.”

My students have told me that I have a unique ability to not make students look dumb, when they give a completely wrong answer. I think it is probably because I have no doubt given my share of wrong answers throughout my educational experience. Students tell me that I am able to avoid being transparent about just how wrong students are, while still indicating that their answers were incorrect.

wrong student answers

When students have given me this feedback, they have shared how much it both made them laugh (they thought about how hard it must have been for me not to let on just how dumb the student's answer was) and also respect me more (because I didn't just let the wrong answer pass). It wasn't anything I had given much thought to, until the feedback kept being repeated to me.

Here are a few thoughts on how to approach incorrect answers in the classroom: [Read more…] about How to respond when students give wrong answers

The Breaking Bad of boundaries in the classroom

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I'll admit that I'm a bit behind. I've been doing the “parents-of-young-children” version of binge-watching Breaking Bad. It's like regular binge-watching, in that you consume a lot of television. But, it's a bit slower of a route than some of my undergraduate students go through tv series. If you're not familiar with the premise of Breaking Bad, a high school teacher gets cancer and feels compelled to do whatever it takes to rescue his family from a life of paying off his medical bills, long after he's gone. Don't worry. There was no need for a spoiler alert there, as that's pretty much how the show begins.

Serious woman breaking a cigarette against white background

Exercise to get students engaged and increase retention

Getting my students to engage in the classroom is something I regularly strive to achieve. Early in my introduction to business class, I do a group matching exercise, to try to solidify the key terms from the first few chapters. Once the students are in a group, they are asked to come up with a hand-drawn picture that will stick in everyone's minds as representing the overall concept and definition of terms.

A recent semester, one of the groups had to describe how price gets set in an environment of perfect competition and use the terms supply, demand, and equilibrium price. A guy in the group (let's call him Mike) seemed like he might be a bit mischievous (though I am always working on not making assumptions). The group got up to the white board to draw their picture.  Mike was puffed up like he couldn't be prouder of his great contribution to his early college experience, while at the same time, looked like he was quite interested in my reaction.

They had drawn a bunch of drug-related paraphernalia and their example was how price gets set for illegal drugs. I was actually quite impressed with the way they articulated their ideas. They illustrated the push and pull between supply and demand and how prices get set in an economic system without regulation. I asked them to sit down and then started asking the rest of the class questions about their example, starting with whether or not their example was a good illustration of how supply and demand works.

The room was quieter than it had been when prior groups had presented. At first, I couldn't figure out if the silence was because they didn't understand the terms, or if it was something else. I asked if perhaps they had questions for me, since they didn't seem to be able to answer mine. One very quiet young woman raised her hand and responded, when I called on her.

Dr. Stachowiak. You see, uhhh, we go to a Christian school. Drugs are bad. We aren't supposed to talk about them.

It was actually a pretty adorable response, like somehow I wasn't aware that drugs are frowned upon at our university. I talked a bit about how indeed, illegal drugs wreaked a lot of havoc for individuals and communities. I told them that if they didn't think using or selling them could result in some pretty terrible consequences, we certainly wouldn't have to work very hard before we could find ample examples to tell us otherwise.

We talked about that no one was advocating using drugs. However, using a memorable example, like the one the students had used, meant that it was highly likely that people would remember the concepts and the vocabulary, by the time the exam came around. Indeed, the students did superbly on related questions on the first exam.

Benefits

This experience was early in the semester and resulted in a number of positive benefits.

Positive reinforcement for a boundary-tester

My boundary-tester, Mike, got to feel like he was a part of the class and could actually engage with me without having to worry too much that I would make him look bad. There were a couple of times that semester that I did have to rein him in a little, but I've found that if students who are apt to try to shock me early in a course get shot down, they decide they are “too cool for school” the rest of the term. Instead of alienating him early on, I drew him in to our class community, but also earned the right to insist that he adhere to the class norms built upon respecting each other.

Method to demonstrate that I am interested in students' feedback

The students discovered that I did want to know what was going on “behind the scenes” with them, and they could feel comfortable participating in my “check-ins” throughout the semester when I would ask about why things were quieter than usual, for example.

Improve students' visual thinking capabilities

Students got to begin the practice of becoming better visual thinkers. Visuals don't have to be just for entertainment's sake, like this one (spoiler alert) of Breaking Bad: The Uncertainty of Walter White, or these famous movie quotes as charts . Instead, increasing visual thinking skills can be a powerful way to increase retention. Wesley Fryer, PhD, provides a great overview of visual thinking and some tools for those of us who use iPads. John Medina, author of Brain Rules (affiliate link), stresses:

…the more visual the input becomes, the more likely it is to be recognized – and recalled.

Questions

In what ways have you seen your students try to test the boundaries a bit, but you wound up creating more of a culture and positive risk-taking in the classroom? How have you helped your students become better visual thinkers?

 

 

The danger of making assumptions as educators

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I've fallen victim to it many times. I think I understand a situation completely and discover that I was missing some fundamental pieces of the picture.

male college student sitting in a classroomA couple years ago, I had a student who seemed like a complete jerk. He regularly came in late and seemed so disengaged. He seemed like someone so resistant to learning. Toward the end of the semester, he emailed me and asked to meet with me. I prepared myself for the typical end-of-semester conversation, where all the excuses come out and the dreaded requests for do-overs.

He actually wasn't even doing that poorly in the class, so I'm not sure why I felt so primed for him to ask me for favors. He showed up and started his story out slowly. He hadn't wanted to come see me that day, but his Mom had encouraged him to have a conversation with each of his professors. It turned out that he wasn't there to make excuses, but to share that his Dad was in a hospital bed, dying of cancer. He thought I should know, but didn't want to get pity from me. That had been the biggest thing that had held him back from making the appointment with me previously.

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Three lessons my children have taught me about teaching

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I had lunch with a former colleague at Strawberry Farms here in Irvine, CA, recently. What a great opportunity to admire the beautiful flowers that surround the place (see photo), despite the otherwise dreary day. If any of you reading this are locals and want an amazing salad, you can't go wrong with their chicken Waldorf.

flowers

 

My lunch companion has children that are 17 and 19, while our kids are two and just four months old. In the course of our conversation, my friend and I lamented about the physical demands that young children take in stark contrast to the cognitive challenges that older kids bring.

The process of parenting can be the great educator: always challenging and always providing new opportunities for learning. Here are three lessons my children have taught me about teaching:

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Still questioning the effectiveness of rubrics?

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Ever since I first read the book Introduction to Rubrics: An Assessment Tool to Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback, and Promote Student Learning, I was hooked.

However, I am surrounded by colleagues who not only don't see value in them, but think they are a deterrent to teaching. Their concerns range from what I call the supreme court method of assessment (“I'll know it when I see it) to the “sink or swim” mentality that they say will help prepare our students for corporate life.

I see… If there are awful managers out there who don't communicate their expectations well, we should definitely employ their methods in our teaching process…

arrowpavement

 

It doesn't take long to find a poor quality rubric, which certainly contributes to the concerns about their validity. Grant Wiggins stresses the importance of having “intelligent versus thoughtless” rubrics. It takes time to craft a rubric that truly assessed learning and, over time, increases the quality of student work. A rubric should provide the means to assess quality in differing degrees. If what is being described is a binary characteristic (the student either included it, or didn't), the proper term is checklist, not rubric (Wiggins).

If you're reading this post and have attempted to use rubrics well, but still aren't sure you've capitalized on their benefits, this is the right place for you. Here are ways to get more out of rubrics by capturing, curating, and creating them:

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Top 100 tools for learning announced

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top100Jane Hart has released her annual survey of the top 100 tools for learning for 2013. Some of the top tools aren't much of a surprise. Between Google announcing it was no longer going to offer their Google reader product (which allowed people to subscribe to different blogs/feeds in one place) and more people wanting to avoid having a bunch more things to keep up with, it isn't surprising that Twitter is once again on top of the list. I've stayed with my newsreader service, called Newsify, though I now subscribe to RSS feeds via a free, online tool called Feedly (#19 on the list).

It isn't surprising to see Evernote so high on the list. They just keep on innovating, making it easier to store and share important information. One of the ways I've been using Evernote lately is to answer students' questions that require a more lengthy response in audio format, from within Evernote. I also have really enjoyed the tight integration that Evernote has with an iPhone app called Drafts, which completely does a 180 on how you think about capturing a thought or a note. With most apps (including email), you start with where to save whatever it is you're typing, or who to send that email or text message to… With Drafts, you start by capturing the thought/idea, and then decide what to do with it.

One of the simple ways I'm using Drafts is to compose and send an email, when I don't want to be distracted by other emails that might have come in to my inbox since I was last on email. It also offers a quick way of sending a text message (far faster than the built-in iPhone messaging app), as well as a speedy way of appending or prepending some text to an existing Evernote note.

Check out the top 100 list from Jane Hart and tell us which ones are your favorites in the comments.

Seth Godin on amazing

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“If you set your bar at ‘amazing,' it's awfully difficult to start… The only path to amazing runs directly through not-yet-amazing. But not-yet-amazing is a great place to start, because that's where you are. For now.

There's a big difference between not settling and not starting.”

For the full quote:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/05/overcoming-the-impossibility-of-amazing.html