Principles of College Teaching -EDCI 943
Observation #1 – Spring 2016
Here you and your partner can post your interview questions and the observed instructor’s responses to these questions. Please refrain from listing the instructor’s name in your post. We will discuss your observation and interview experiences during class.
About Monica E. Vaca-Cárdenas
Mónica Elva Vaca-Cárdenas is a Ph.D student at Kansas State University in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She has also been the Graduate Research Assistant at the Teaching and Learning Center of the Kansas State University for the last two years. Monica is from Ecuador, where she obtained the following qualifications: Doctor in Languages, mention International Cooperation, Diploma in teaching (EFL) English as a Foreign Language and a Master degree in Linguistics applied to EFL.
Teaching experience: Monica has been teaching English as a Foreign Language for fifteen years in Ecuador, at elementary, high school and University level; and teaching Spanish for a couple of semesters in the International Student Center of K-State.
View all posts by Monica E. Vaca-Cárdenas
Question #1: How long have you been teaching this class?
“I am coming up on finishing my third year of teaching this class. Each class holds up to 160 students, many times I am close to that capacity.”
Question #2: How has the course plan (i.e. lessons plans, activities, syllabus, etc.) changed/remained the same since you began teaching the course?
“I started teaching principles of biology and some upper level physiology courses and now I’m only teaching upper level physiology and biology courses. I re-do my syllabus every semester for every class. I don’t use commercial textbooks or products to teach. I believe that creating my own stuff can take the worst student and turn them into a better student. I have had two grants that have allowed me to create interactive e-textbooks. I strongly believe in social constructivism; that my students and myself work together to create the curriculum. And that’s exactly what I do through these e-books. They allow the students to take notes, read a few pages prior to class and space to draw pictures. It is compatible with iBOOKS and the students can click on specific words, ones that I use in class, and find external resources. I like drawing to teach and I think the student retain more from me drawing it, themselves drawing it and then talking about it”
Question #3: What are the student learning outcomes for the course? How do you accomplish these outcomes during class? How do you assess these outcomes?
“I do not create or use student learning outcomes, I don’t like them. I do not use Bloom’s taxonomy either”
Question #4: How do you get students engaged/interested in the class?
“The e-book keeps the student engaged and interacting. They are taking notes, drawing pictures; I’m drawing pictures for them as we go. I often bring in external sources, like videos or models, to demonstrate to the students. For example, tomorrow, we’re going to be building neurons out of candy. If you noticed, you’ll see none of my students are on their phones. While I don’t make them, a lot of student voluntarily put their phones on a table at the front of the classroom. They are not distracted or tempted; they are focused on class. There are some that will have their phones out, but they are recording the lecture. I like them to use technology as a tool, not a crutch.”
Questions #5: Any advice/best practices for future/first time instructors?
“Do what works for you, don’t care what everyone else tells you or what they do. You have to find what works best for you and stick with it.”
Question #6: Did you always see yourself becoming a professor?
“No, I never did. I even resisted teaching for many, many years. Both my mother and grandmother are veteran teachers and all I heard was how hard teaching was. Even while getting my Master’s degree, I never wanted to teach. I’d maybe offer to teach a class one semester, but that was it.”
Question #7: Were you ever able to take a course like our EDCI 943?
“Yes, I took it with Vicki Clegg. I think I was the last group to have her. I then went on and got my PhD in Curriculum Instruction.”
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Observation Notes
– Very large style lecture hall with lots of students (with their being so many there aren’t very many segregating themselves to the very back; they fill in all the seats)
– She turns the lights in the front of the room off, while keeping the remainder on, for the projector
– Begins class with a greeting, quick talk about upcoming assignments and classes and then begins lesson (began this class asking how many students have had a concussion- discussing neurons during a concussion)
– Gives students a schedule of what they’ll be discussing in class, as well
– Seems to have a sense of humor with engaging students
– Utilizes microphone to reach students in the back; ensure that all students hear her
– Takes pauses to ask if the students have any questions after teaching a piece of new material
– Utilizes overhead projector with handwritten notes and pictures (students have matching sheet with blank spaces to fill in for notes and pictures/seems to be a packet containing empty charts and readings)
– Students are all taking notes by hand; many have color-coding systems (using different coloured pens/markers)
– Again, engages with class by asking a question
– Does not show students all of the filled in notes at once, goes box by box (related only to what she is talking about at the time)
– Stops to ask students if they have any questions
– Gives students a moment to draw picture on their own notes; walks around classroom to see how students are doing (maybe even to see if they are paying attention)
– When discussing astrocytes, hand draws additional pictures while she talks
– While I am sitting in the back, I have not seen very many students get their phones out or seem unengaged.
– When a student asks a question, Dr. Rhodes responds by using the student’s first name in her response
– After explaining two of the cells, she took a break to show them how these cells work
– Shows part of a video “league of denial” to show how concussions impact football players (*frontline—remember this for my class!)
Our group observed Dr. Mike Finnegan during Senior Seminar: LEAD 450, a capstone class for leadership majors.
Interview
Before class we had a chance to sit down with Dr. Finnegan and cover a few questions. Dr. Finnegan has been teaching in leadership studies for 10 years and teaching the Senior Seminar for three years. The best advice he can give for keeping students engaged is, “Be you” and develop relationships.
An interesting concept we learned about in leadership studies was the rotation of teachers for classes. In many disciplines, teachers conduct the same class their entire careers. The leadership school has established a rotation where teachers cycle through classes in order to keep the material and teachers up-to-date. The department also holds teaching team meetings every two weeks with teachers who conduct similar classes, serving as professional development. Dr. Finnegan said, “We teach what we know. So the more I know, the more I can teach”.
Dr. Finnegan touched on the time it takes to put class materials together. Stating the time varies but it usually takes seven hours to put a lecture together and two hours to prepare for class the day before. The two questions are utilized to build Dr. Finnegan’s materials.
1. What do I want students to learn?
2. What do I want students to feel?
Example: Cross your arms…… Now cross your arms the opposite way (left over right to right over left).
(Watch students’ reactions they came laugh or show other signs of being uncomfortable.)
Things students can learn from this activity: Doing things the same way every time if comfortable. Branch out, try to be open minded.
Dr. Finnegan spoke on the topic of what makes a great teacher. According to Dr. Finnegan, Barry Flinchbaugh is a great teaching because of his ability to tell stories.
Studies conducted on what makes a great teacher highlight three characteristics: passion, encouragement, and high expectations. Dr. Finnegan bases his teaching philosophy off these three characteristics.
You can teach students content, but you can’t teach them how to interact with others. Dr. Finnegan touched on this when speaking about how to teach a mandatory class where students are not easily engaged. His recommendation was to make students relate to the class. Ask, “Why is [subject] important to you?” Make students identify why the topic will be of benefit to them.
Dr. Finnegan encourage outside readings related to the class. He has students purchase a subscription to the New York Times to keep students up-to-date and provide background knowledge. This gives students a chance to learn outside of the classroom.
There are no tests or quizzes assigned in Dr. Finnegan’s class. He believes that they only serve as a memorization tool. Since there are no tests or quizzes there is an additional level of expectation that students will put forth their best effort during group discussions and projects.
There is also no extra credit opportunities offered in his class. Students are allowed to make-up late work but the syllabus states it can only be made up until 24 hours after it is due, with a 25 percent deduction. Dr. Finnegan mentioned that this strict policy can be varied if a student comes to him asking for help. If students are open and honest about their situation different arrangements will made for the student. However, if a student is gone for an excused absence they do not get a chance to make up the in-class points assigned during their absence.
One-on-one time is important in Dr. Finnegan’s class. He will cancel class in order to meet with students in small groups during class time and outside of class. Peer evaluation is another tactic he uses, however students are never part of the grading process. Peers simply add suggestions to another peer’s work. It is important to set strict evaluation guidelines before beginning the peer evaluation process.
Observations from Dr. Finnegan’s classroom
Senior Seminar was held in room 111 in the Leadership Studies building. The classroom did not have a project or TV’s to project PowerPoints. There was one smart TV in the room (which was hard for all students to see) that Dr. Finnegan posted the class schedule on. Dr. Finnegan taught with lots of enthusiasm and energy. It was easy to see his passion for teaching and working with students. The classroom was set up with desks in groups of four for discussion. Students were very active in classroom discussion throughout the period and it seems Dr. Finnegan established that was the standard procedure at the beginning of class.
Throughout the period discussion questions were asked and students had time to discuss while Dr. Finnegan circled around the groups, conferring with each group. Then a new question was asked and the process would begin again. For the second half of the class Dr. Finnegan used a model on the board, which changed several times as the discussion changed. The model was about two people who lived on separate islands, fell in love, and now want to find a way to get to the mainland together. This model had students think about their values in several different ways. It was a fun way to engage students, while still making his point clear.
Dr. Finnegan ended the class with reminders about upcoming assignments in the course as well as what they would be covering next class period.
Some of the teaching techniques we enjoyed from observing our professor were:
-he does all assignments with the students to understand what it was like and how to tailor them for future semesters
-he told an incredibly compelling story with the use of images, video, audio, etc. that added to, rather than distracted from his topic
-he taught close to the students and didn’t distance himself with a podium, desk, etc.
-he asked questions that students felt comfortable answering (no right or wrong answers)
-he ended class by leaving students thinking about an exciting topic for next class
Interview Questions:
1.What do you try to do with each class that sets you apart from other teachers?
He completes assignments with the students, records and listens to every lecture he gives, and believes that mastery is everything. Students are able to redo assignments until they have achieved full mastery of the material and their grade will be changed. He truly understands things from the student’s perspective.
2. At the beginning of class, we noticed that you told students what you were going to do for an assignment (students must do something out of their comfort zone.) You then asked students to do it with you. Is this something that you normally do?
He said that he always completes every assignment so that he understands things from the students’ perspectives. He also uses his own journal entries to demonstrate to the student what they should do/what is expected.
3. Can we have a copy of your syllabus/journal entry sheet?
Of course!
4. We noticed not many students were taking notes. Do you put them online, are they not assessed on material from your slide presentations?
He’ll put “key” slides online. Students are required to reflect on each lecture in their journal- some choose to take notes, others don’t.
5. What kind of assessments do you give?
He noted that he does not give exams in that class and is moving toward not giving exams in any classes he teaches. He believes that students should learn to think like professionals in their field, and memorizing bold terms and other content from a textbook does not achieve this.
6.Was there any particular moment where you decided to teach and assess this way?
He was grading multiple choice tests and decided the format didn’t make sense to what he wanted the students to know after completing the course. He noted that multiple choice tests ultimately test if you are good at multiple choice tests or not.
Key Words:
Junior level course Non-traditional class Group exercise leadership Safer and Comfort
“Case-in-point” Teaching
Pre-class Interview
1. How long have you been teaching the Leadership in Practice course?
As an Adjunct instructor since 2007 and been an instructor since 2010
passion teach more.
2. How has the course plan (e.g., lesson plans, activities, syllabus etc.,) changed/remained the same since you began teaching the course?
Any semester is different to Tamara, she is keeping the same goal but the class are and bring them to a different environment.
3. What are the student learning outcomes for the course? How do you accomplish these outcomes during class? How do you assess these outcomes?
Background of the students were reported at the beginning of the semester, the (Vocabulary /Question/Free write), after practicing through the semester, similar work will be given to investigate the growth of their leadership compare and contract their previous answers.
4. How do you get students engaged/interested in the class?
Students are the main parts of the activity in the “Case-in-point” learning. The whole semester focuses on student’s leadership studies and practice rather than lecturing.
5. Any advice/best practices for future instructors?
watch lots of instructors’ teaching is very important, and trying to engage the students in learning. Remember the top of outcomes is “creativity”. At the beginning of the class, talking with students about who you are and how they want to be engaged.
Class Observation
The class started with a positive atmosphere and sweet environment with candies. Some basic vocabulary and concepts in leadership are placed around the classroom. All the tables are set in a big circle. Students were in groups randomly and free questions were given by the instructor,
Questions are depended on their last project, for example,
Who help make progress who did not – and why?
Whose Voice we valued and whose we do not value- and why?
who is in a right direction as a “good leader” in the last activity- and why?
During the conversations, the instructor keep track of each group and participate in their discussion for a better guidance, or raise up some questions for their discussion. They have discussion on their peer’s behavior and under the guidance of the instructor they explore the reason why they trust someone, why they listen to someone and why someone could be a good leader among them.
After the discussion of last week class project (out of class room). The instructor gives comments on student’s opinions. And list the students learning outcomes and student’s development outcomes on the board. By concluding the discussion, the instructor narrow down the terminology to a easier understand conclusion and related them to the content in discussion.
SLO- Understanding the process of facilitating change in self, others or system
SDO- Exercise leadership to make progress on personal+ community issue
To me, I really like this kind of teaching in leadership study. Leadership capacity is hard to be enhanced by only reading or listening to lectures, practice and conclusion can be a good way in improve the leadership among students. In the LEAD405, Tamara utilizing students’ behavior as their learning material, thus students can be highly involved and quickly realize what a leader should have. Because they can use their own mind to feeling who could be a leader during the teamwork and they have their explanations that why this person “can be” a leader, they have a active impression that what is a leadership and how a leader looks like. Then they can combine the concepts of leadership with their own behavior.
In the beginning of the class, Instructor clearly stated the Student Learning Outcomes(SLOs) and Student Development Outcome.
The class was facilitated by students’ engagements within or/and between a group to meet the SLOs and Instructor kept asking questions until students can find the understandable solution with their own thought.
Noticeably, the instructor utilize technology (i.e. Canvas) for students to share their ideas, which will enhance the class effectiveness. Furthermore, instructor always did eye contacts with students with smiling, which I believe a good factor leading to positive learning environment.
Q 1: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING THE OBSERVED COURSE?
A: 25 years.
Q 2: HOW HAS THE COURSE PLAN (E.G., LESSON PLANS, ACTIVITIES, SYLLABUS ETC.,) CHANGED/REMAINED THE SAME SINCE YOU BEGAN TEACHING THE COURSE?
A: They stated that the class had evolved naturally. There was now the introduction of electronic homework submission. The students have homework due approximately every ten days for each module. There are ten modules during the semester, but each student can only do one at a time. When one closes, the other opens. At 12:01 AM, the last module is closed, and the student missed the opportunity for that module. The students have specific due dates and that’s “really hard on my students.” They suggested that students are not ready to complete all modules right away. They stated that “this generation just wants to do it like THEY want to do it. And they don’t realize that there’s a reason for having it that way.”
In addition, they believe that this generation does not seem to care much about the due dates with the titles on the syllabus. The students understand that there is a sequence in modules. They stated that the students “have they been given so much freedom to do what they want to do, write whatever you want to write about. I’d say, 1 or 2% of them really want to be more free-spirited.” There are certain ways within all disciplines that must be covered in a specific order to have “building blocks for the other classes.” They explained that student just want to know why they have do it in this order.
Q 3: WHAT ARE THE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR THE COURSE? HOW DO YOU ACCOMPLISH THESE OUTCOMES DURING CLASS?
A: “I don’t know if I list any absolute specifics on the syllabus. But I tell my students that I have three distinct audiences. (1)I have business majors who are also marketing majors, (2) business majors that are not marketing, and (3) a great number of students are not business majors at all.” The professor explained that the class must be structured for students in all categories; those who are marketing majors versus those who just want to know how it is applicable to them. “It’s kind of a balancing that because you want to make sure people who are non-majors realize that it is also applicable to them.”
Homework needs be done before class begins. In addition, they stated that the students “Had to download this article. They are supposed to have read it beforehand. I don’t understand why you have to tell them to read something. If you ask them to download something and bring it to class, it is implied.” It was reiterated that students should be accountable for listening on bringing the article in, which is part of listening to directions.
Q 4: HOW DO YOU GET STUDENTS ENGAGED/INTERESTED IN THE CLASS?
A: The professor stated, “I am always asking them questions. I tell them upfront these are not rhetorical questions. When I ask something, I want feedback.” Even in classes that are not very large, some students are still intimidated. “In big classes, it’s hard to get them to participate and they are little intimidated. What I want them to understand how marketing impacts them, but I realize they are not going to be marketing researchers. They just want to be a better business person.”
Q 5: HOW DO YOU ASSESS THESE OUTCOMES?
A: To help understand the idea of assessing the outcomes, the professor stated that “To help, look at the syllabus, I know we need a course outline and we need structure. If you look at mine, every time when I have an exam, it’s in bold, and it talks about chapters and related materials.” The idea of related materials meant that there would be 10-20% of information outside the book, and that should study that as well. For them, it was a way to show the students that this information is important, “Which means I don’t care if you participate or not, but you’d better know this.”
Q 6: ANY ADVICE/BEST PRACTICES FOR FUTURE INSTRUCTORS?
A: The professor stated that it was very important to be yourself. There are many discussions about learning styles, but “I also think that we tend to forget about different teaching styles.” They stated that they are more hands-on, which included walking around the class and engaging with the students. “I like to engage by going back and forth. I understand that some colleagues of mine like to stand behind the podium delivering a Power Point.” Even though the more formal teaching style was different from this, the students “learned basically the same materials and basically the same grades. Standard deviation and distribution were not identical but they were similar.” They thought it was very interesting that two very different styles can have almost the same results.
For young teachers, the professor stated, “Teach to your teaching style first. Because I feel students can adapt. Their learning style can adapt to your teaching style.” They then reiterated that they must be able to accommodate those who are visual learners and those who oral learners. They also stated, “I always try to be careful to make sure that I have visual things for my visual learners. And I make sure we talk about things for my aural learners. I think it’s just important.” Homework was very important because it helps students learn in visual manner as well. In addition, “Some of the homework has 2 1/2-3 minutes of video pieces playing 45 seconds, then stop and ask a question. So, you know, I try to make sure all the different students have something that they can relate as for learning and teaching styles. I don’t know how it works, but I try.” They understood that there are many different ways to teach, and how others learn, and wanted to make that an important concept.
Q7: HOW DO YOU DEFINE GOOD TEACHING?
A: Starting off, the professor stated that there is something called a curse of knowledge. It is when “You know something in your field so well, have studied it so long that I fear you would assume that you know more than I do because I know nothing. It’s a curse of knowledge. If we know a great deal about the body of knowledge, sometimes it makes us bad teachers. We tend to forget what it was like when we learned it first time.” The professor also kept this in mind when it came to the exam as well. Even though they know what the answer should be, not all students interpret the question the same. To make this point, they stated that “They don’t know what I want the answer to be. Have I made it clear what I want them to learn from this? So like today, when I walk into the door I will remind them that last time when we were together we talked about something, where we left off. This is to remind them that this the direction we are going in. Because it is too easy for us to know the material.”
“I always tell people ‘On the first day of class, assume that your students know nothing.’” The most interesting idea was that they described the idea of letting students fail. “You also have to be willing to let them fail. It’s hard on teachers. We have homework every ten days and the first couple of weeks I remind them ‘Hey, you have got an assignment coming up’ then I quit telling them. They have to remember. It’s up to them. And if they go ‘I didn’t remember to have that done,’ I go ‘sorry.’” The professor also stated that the dates in the syllabus were there at the beginning, and unless they have changed, then “You have to let them fail and that’s hard.”
The professor defended this concept through advisory meetings. They stated, “We literally spend an entire day or two days with the recruiters that hire our students. We ask them, ‘What do you like about them? What do they do well? What would you like about our students to see improved?’” From this, they receives affirmation from recruiters.
In addition, they reiterated that there must be continuity with the material to place them in the “student mode.”
Q 8: WHAT PEDAGOGICAL CHANGES DO YOU SEE ON THE HORIZON IN YOUR DISCIPLINE?
A: This was an interesting idea for the professor, the main idea was that there will be much more technology in the future. Discussing their own techniques right now, they state that “Think how much paper I am using a year. To print, I use between a $1,600 worth. It’s ridiculous how much money we pay. I am thinking in the Fall 2016, maybe to have the students submit their assignments electronically. I am already doing in my Global campus class.” However, “When we have 300-400 students, then it’s ugly. So, I have not quite talked myself into it. I think we are going to see more electronic stuff.”
It was also very interesting when they were discussing the budget cuts. The believed that “We are going to see more adjunct people, which can be good and bad in business to have adjuncts come and teach students, who are actually in business.” The cuts seemed to be leading to this style, which was not a bad thing.
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In-Class Observation Notes
Uses humor to relate to students. It allows the students to relate to the material with the professor and to their own lives. Humor was used throughout to seem to always make sure that the students were not becoming bored or predicting what was going to be discussed next.
Even though they had slides, the way that the class was taught was more of a lecture/seminar approach. He would ask a question, and when someone would answer, he would have a dialogue about that answer and whether it was important or secondary. They walked around and never tried to stand in place for a long time, and made sure that every point was clear, and even asked students if they were not understanding the article. The professor used constant movement to keep the class flowing, and not come to a standstill with only reading notes. It seemed to keep students attention more because they had to focus on him, and write about what he was discussing without a complete slide.
There was one slide in particular that was left up for most of the class. It contained five different categories that dealt with marketing. To make sure that each category was clear, he went through each group separately so to not confuse students. When describing each of the five categories, they would always use a real life example to relate the category to his students. Using real life examples seemed to be very important throughout the class because it grasps each student and allows them to think about it from their point of view.
The discussion about a classroom on-campus really seemed to resonate with the students. They explained the room from multiple viewpoints, and made sure to explain what each view would be for the classroom. Using the real life experiences to explain more mundane concepts allowed for the class to be interesting.
They were also very strict when it came to instructions. Each student was instructed to bring a printed out a version of the article assigned for that day to class. At the end of the class, they made students accountable be giving them strict instructions about putting their name on the article and turning it in. If a student only had the online version, it was reiterated that the instructions were to bring it to class. The students received points that day for following the instructions, as well as, for coming to class – it was an all or nothing approach (this goes along with the idea of allowing students to fail).
Q 1: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING THE OBSERVED COURSE?
A: 25 years.
Q 2: HOW HAS THE COURSE PLAN (E.G., LESSON PLANS, ACTIVITIES, SYLLABUS ETC.,) CHANGED/REMAINED THE SAME SINCE YOU BEGAN TEACHING THE COURSE?
A: They stated that the class had evolved naturally. There was now the introduction of electronic homework submission. The students have homework due approximately every ten days for each module. There are ten modules during the semester, but each student can only do one at a time. When one closes, the other opens. At 12:01 AM, the last module is closed, and the student missed the opportunity for that module. The students have specific due dates and that’s “really hard on my students.” They suggested that students are not ready to complete all modules right away. They stated that “this generation just wants to do it like THEY want to do it. And they don’t realize that there’s a reason for having it that way.”
In addition, they believe that this generation does not seem to care much about the due dates with the titles on the syllabus. The students understand that there is a sequence in modules. They stated that the students “have they been given so much freedom to do what they want to do, write whatever you want to write about. I’d say, 1 or 2% of them really want to be more free-spirited.” There are certain ways within all disciplines that must be covered in a specific order to have “building blocks for the other classes.” They explained that student just want to know why they have do it in this order.
Q 3: WHAT ARE THE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR THE COURSE? HOW DO YOU ACCOMPLISH THESE OUTCOMES DURING CLASS?
A: “I don’t know if I list any absolute specifics on the syllabus. But I tell my students that I have three distinct audiences. (1)I have business majors who are also marketing majors, (2) business majors that are not marketing, and (3) a great number of students are not business majors at all.” The professor explained that the class must be structured for students in all categories; those who are marketing majors versus those who just want to know how it is applicable to them. “It’s kind of a balancing that because you want to make sure people who are non-majors realize that it is also applicable to them.”
Homework needs be done before class begins. In addition, they stated that the students “Had to download this article. They are supposed to have read it beforehand. I don’t understand why you have to tell them to read something. If you ask them to download something and bring it to class, it is implied.” It was reiterated that students should be accountable for listening on bringing the article in, which is part of listening to directions.
Q 4: HOW DO YOU GET STUDENTS ENGAGED/INTERESTED IN THE CLASS?
A: The professor stated, “I am always asking them questions. I tell them upfront these are not rhetorical questions. When I ask something, I want feedback.” Even in classes that are not very large, some students are still intimidated. “In big classes, it’s hard to get them to participate and they are little intimidated. What I want them to understand how marketing impacts them, but I realize they are not going to be marketing researchers. They just want to be a better business person.”
Q 5: HOW DO YOU ASSESS THESE OUTCOMES?
A: To help understand the idea of assessing the outcomes, the professor stated that “To help, look at the syllabus, I know we need a course outline and we need structure. If you look at mine, every time when I have an exam, it’s in bold, and it talks about chapters and related materials.” The idea of related materials meant that there would be 10-20% of information outside the book, and that should study that as well. For them, it was a way to show the students that this information is important, “Which means I don’t care if you participate or not, but you’d better know this.”
Q 6: ANY ADVICE/BEST PRACTICES FOR FUTURE INSTRUCTORS?
A: The professor stated that it was very important to be yourself. There are many discussions about learning styles, but “I also think that we tend to forget about different teaching styles.” They stated that they are more hands-on, which included walking around the class and engaging with the students. “I like to engage by going back and forth. I understand that some colleagues of mine like to stand behind the podium delivering a Power Point.” Even though the more formal teaching style was different from this, the students “learned basically the same materials and basically the same grades. Standard deviation and distribution were not identical but they were similar.” They thought it was very interesting that two very different styles can have almost the same results.
For young teachers, the professor stated, “Teach to your teaching style first. Because I feel students can adapt. Their learning style can adapt to your teaching style.” They then reiterated that they must be able to accommodate those who are visual learners and those who oral learners. They also stated, “I always try to be careful to make sure that I have visual things for my visual learners. And I make sure we talk about things for my aural learners. I think it’s just important.” Homework was very important because it helps students learn in visual manner as well. In addition, “Some of the homework has 2 1/2-3 minutes of video pieces playing 45 seconds, then stop and ask a question. So, you know, I try to make sure all the different students have something that they can relate as for learning and teaching styles. I don’t know how it works, but I try.” They understood that there are many different ways to teach, and how others learn, and wanted to make that an important concept.
Q7: HOW DO YOU DEFINE GOOD TEACHING?
A: Starting off, the professor stated that there is something called a curse of knowledge. It is when “You know something in your field so well, have studied it so long that I fear you would assume that you know more than I do because I know nothing. It’s a curse of knowledge. If we know a great deal about the body of knowledge, sometimes it makes us bad teachers. We tend to forget what it was like when we learned it first time.” The professor also kept this in mind when it came to the exam as well. Even though they know what the answer should be, not all students interpret the question the same. To make this point, they stated that “They don’t know what I want the answer to be. Have I made it clear what I want them to learn from this? So like today, when I walk into the door I will remind them that last time when we were together we talked about something, where we left off. This is to remind them that this the direction we are going in. Because it is too easy for us to know the material.”
“I always tell people ‘On the first day of class, assume that your students know nothing.’” The most interesting idea was that they described the idea of letting students fail. “You also have to be willing to let them fail. It’s hard on teachers. We have homework every ten days and the first couple of weeks I remind them ‘Hey, you have got an assignment coming up’ then I quit telling them. They have to remember. It’s up to them. And if they go ‘I didn’t remember to have that done,’ I go ‘sorry.’” The professor also stated that the dates in the syllabus were there at the beginning, and unless they have changed, then “You have to let them fail and that’s hard.”
The professor defended this concept through advisory meetings. They stated, “We literally spend an entire day or two days with the recruiters that hire our students. We ask them, ‘What do you like about them? What do they do well? What would you like about our students to see improved?’” From this, he receives affirmation from recruiters.
The professor also reiterated that there must be continuity with the material to place them in the “student mode.”
Q 8: WHAT PEDAGOGICAL CHANGES DO YOU SEE ON THE HORIZON IN YOUR DISCIPLINE?
A: This was an interesting idea for the professor, the main idea was that there will be much more technology in the future. Discussing their own techniques right now, they state that “Think how much paper I am using a year. To print, I use between a $1,600 worth. It’s ridiculous how much money we pay. I am thinking in the Fall 2016, maybe to have the students submit their assignments electronically. I am already doing in my Global campus class.” However, “When we have 300-400 students, then it’s ugly. So, I have not quite talked myself into it. I think we are going to see more electronic stuff.”
It was also very interesting when they were discussing the budget cuts. The believed that “We are going to see more adjunct people, which can be good and bad in business to have adjuncts come and teach students, who are actually in business.” The cuts seemed to be leading to this style, which was not a bad thing.
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In-Class Observation Notes
Uses humor to relate to students. It allows the students to relate to the material with the professor and to their own lives. Humor was used throughout to seem to always make sure that the students were not becoming bored or predicting what was going to be discussed next.
Even though they had slides, the way that the class was taught was more of a lecture/seminar approach. He would ask a question, and when someone would answer, he would have a dialogue about that answer and whether it was important or secondary. They walked around and never tried to stand in place for a long time, and made sure that every point was clear, and even asked students if they were not understanding the article. The professor used constant movement to keep the class flowing, and not come to a standstill with only reading notes. It seemed to keep students attention more because they had to focus on him, and write about what he was discussing without a complete slide.
There was one slide in particular that was left up for most of the class. It contained five different categories that dealt with marketing. To make sure that each category was clear, he went through each group separately so to not confuse students. When describing each of the five categories, they would always use a real life example to relate the category to his students. Using real life examples seemed to be very important throughout the class because it grasps each student and allows them to think about it from their point of view.
The discussion about a classroom on-campus really seemed to resonate with the students. They explained the room from multiple viewpoints, and made sure to explain what each view would be for the classroom. Using the real life experiences to explain more mundane concepts allowed for the class to be interesting.
They were also very strict when it came to instructions. Each student was instructed to bring a printed out a version of the article assigned for that day to class. At the end of the class, they made students accountable be giving them strict instructions about putting their name on the article and turning it in. If a student only had the online version, it was reiterated that the instructions were to bring it to class. The students received points that day for following the instructions, as well as, for coming to class – it was an all or nothing approach (this goes along with the idea of allowing students to fail).
Observations
• This is large class, lecture hall
• Music plays before class
• Class opens with a recap of last class and an explanation
• The professor was laid and relaxed
• The professor was available for at least 10 minutes before and after class
• The professor constantly moving and asking questions
• This professor engages students in multiple ways:
o Gets students to participate in from t of the class
o Has students come to the front of the class to complete problems
o Utilizes social media (Facebook, most recently snapchat)
o Throws the ball to select volunteers if no one volunteers
o Has a group called the Big 12 (students are in the Big 12 for 3 consecutive classes)
These students are asked questions during class more often
Students provide feedback on their experience and the course
The members are chosen semi-randomly
Questions:
How do you keep students engaged and class interesting?
Response: Karaoke, creative activities and social media
Questions:
How did you develop your style?
Response: Collected bit and pieces from other educators.
Questions:
How long have you been teaching?
Response: 12 years and 7 years at KSU.
Dr. Scott teach Principles of Finance for undergraduate level, for about 15 years. He has been in college teaching for 20 years. He has a passion about what he teaches, which is one of his advices that “you need to teach what you love”. He believes that teaching finance need to start from the logical perspective, which he described it as a “tool” that his students need to learn about finance. Then they need to move to the application phase. Dr. Scott, depends on examinations to assess his students, which we think assessment need to be more flexible and finding more ways of assessment that meet students needs and the course outcomes will be more helpful for the success of students. We observed one of his students looks sad after taking the exam. We believe on progressive education, which can give a good chance of success through meet students needs with different methods of teaching that care about students.
Since he 100 students in the lecture, he said he wants something mechanism to engage his students and keep them kind of somewhat thinking about finance along the way. He gives his students some online quizzes after each Tuesday and Thursday class that expires prior to the next class. He believes challenging keep someone engage, so if he needs his students to read something before the class, then he has some sort of quizzes in the class to make sure that they read it. In his other small class that he teaches, which only he has nine students, he looks for participation to engage them and include it in their grade, which is 20%. He believes participation is a good way to keep students engage in the class. His main advice to us is to teach something that you love. He said that he feels that he is success in finance, but if he had to teach something else, he doesn’t think he will success as he does in finance. He advises instructors to be enthusiastic, and come to the office before class starts.