Throughout the classes I have taken, I have usually enjoyed planned discussions. Lang and Davis both stress the importance of planning a discussion session just as you would plan for a lecture. There is a difference in planning, but it is important there is some planning. I can remember one class where we had discussions every single day. The teacher was unorganized and by the end of the semester we never actually “discussed” anything of relevance. We learned fast that we did not need to read the books prior to class, nor did we need to actually discuss the questions the professor gave us. She never gave us time to actually discuss the answers; she gave them to us almost immediately.
This was a great example of what not to do in discussions. The professor did not plan ahead of time (Davis, 97), wait for students to form answers (Lang, 90) or change up the lessons as previous discussed in class (aka not lecturing every day). We knew what to expect and therefore, knew exactly how much we needed to prepare (or not prepare) for that class. I think I learned more of what to do from that class then from all of the positive discussion lessons I have had. The readings also gave some helpful tips and advice on how to facilitate and lead discussions.
Lang says the two the two best things you can do to prepare is form “a deep knowledge of the material under consideration, and a [have] backup plan” (Lang, 89). I think giving students a low-stakes assignment to start thinking would be very beneficial in engaging all of your students. Having them do small writing assignments prior to the discussion helps students formulate their thoughts ahead of time and they will be more likely to participate in the discussions. I also thinking using pairs or small groups to discuss the questions will help shy students gain the confidence to speak up in larger groups. I also found it helpful to start discussions early in the semester before students learn to expect lectures every day. When is a proper time to start discussions? How much general knowledge is needed before you can start discussions? Should discussions be integrated into the general “theory” learning as well?
As for students who either monopolize the conversation or are slow to join the discussion, what techniques have others found beneficial to deal with this issues? How often do these issues arise? How have others who have used discussion graded the participants? Lang mentions the sticky notes or poker chips for every comment made. What are effective ways to grade participation without these methods? What do others think of the students grading themselves and setting the standard that way? Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Christie's Readings Notes #2
Lang introduces reading allowed as useful way to learn the material more deeply (pg. 87). This has been something that I have found really helpful and I would never have been aware of it if it hadn’t been for my English professor in my undergraduate degree. He had us download some type of software that allowed you to input your papers and it would read them allowed. It was very helpful to hear how your paper sounded to someone else and allow you to make revision’s prior to handing it in. It was a truly great tool for making my papers better but it also made me discover a new way to learn. Even though I might sound crazy to my roommate’s I often read aloud from the text that I have been assigned because I find it helpful for synthesizing the material. Not only do I find it helpful when I myself read material but I have had professors who ask students to read certain passages and I also have found that valuable as a student. I wanted to highlight this because I have not seen it used in classrooms very often and since I find it so helpful I wanted to highlight it as a way to potentially help the students we are all going to encounter.
As idealistic as this may seem I love the idea of teachers being the guides through the material mentioned in Lang (88). In coaching we talk a lot about asking guiding questions to the players to make sure they understand the points we are trying to get across and also so that they feel they have some ownership in arriving at the correct answer. This can be tricky because what if even with your guidance they are still not getting the points correctly, it can be somewhat of an awkward moment for you and for them. Even though these moments occur I still do believe that if the students feel some type of ownership in their learning then they can get excited about the material and see the benefits in what you are trying to teach. Like Lang says (89) students are human beings and that even if something doesn’t work and we fail for that day, it does not mean an idea is simply scrapped and never tried again. I think it’s very important for a teacher to realize that not everything they try is going to work and that is okay as much as it might feel awful at the time.
I know we already discussed participation points on the first day of class but I am curious to your thoughts on how to grade participation. Davis mentions keeping notes on participation after each class which in theory is a great idea but if you are running to teach another class it might not be as feasible to take notes. What do you think about the students grading each other in relation to participation? I am also curious what everyone’s thoughts would be about grading the participation in relation to the content that a student provides or do you just reward them for participating at all?
As idealistic as this may seem I love the idea of teachers being the guides through the material mentioned in Lang (88). In coaching we talk a lot about asking guiding questions to the players to make sure they understand the points we are trying to get across and also so that they feel they have some ownership in arriving at the correct answer. This can be tricky because what if even with your guidance they are still not getting the points correctly, it can be somewhat of an awkward moment for you and for them. Even though these moments occur I still do believe that if the students feel some type of ownership in their learning then they can get excited about the material and see the benefits in what you are trying to teach. Like Lang says (89) students are human beings and that even if something doesn’t work and we fail for that day, it does not mean an idea is simply scrapped and never tried again. I think it’s very important for a teacher to realize that not everything they try is going to work and that is okay as much as it might feel awful at the time.
I know we already discussed participation points on the first day of class but I am curious to your thoughts on how to grade participation. Davis mentions keeping notes on participation after each class which in theory is a great idea but if you are running to teach another class it might not be as feasible to take notes. What do you think about the students grading each other in relation to participation? I am also curious what everyone’s thoughts would be about grading the participation in relation to the content that a student provides or do you just reward them for participating at all?
Thava's Reading Notes #2
I knew discussion adds to variety to classroom teaching. I have incorporated lots of discussion on topics to make it lively. However, I did not know how discussion made teaching more interesting, other than some free time for me to reflect student questions, answers and different points of views. According to Pavio (Lang, p87) reading, listening, writing and so forth engages learner at different levels. I could not agree more than as a scientist as this is what we do all the time to generate lots of new ideas. We read journals articles/reviews, listen to fellow scientists (conferences- peer instructions) and teach (talking loud-peer instruction) to graduate/undergraduate students. This definitely taken me from one level to next, and also refined my thinking of my science issues/insights. If we look at from these aspects, discussions could be pedagogically more valuable than just adding the variety to learner boredom.
We were discussing the credibility issues in the second class. I think credibility comes from deep knowledge of material. Lang, p89 also mentions about having deep knowledge to succeed in leading discussion. People with deep knowledge of subject matter are confident, credible and could discussion more effectively. In a way this goes to two questions about the strengths: playing to your own strengths. Most successful professors I have seen are the ones who stood up with confidence due to their deep knowledge in the area. For me their delivery style had less impact; content was more powerful delivery. Again junior faculty and graduate students will have less influence in the choice of their teaching courses; we are stuck again in a hole with fairness to students and teachers who has lesser strengths in the courses they are supposed to teach.
One of the techniques Lang suggests is to move from fact gathering to interpretation (p, 94). I teach 400 and graduate level classes; they already know lot of facts or process to find more information. This also forces us educators to move in to higher levels of Bloom’s cognitive learning area such as synthesis and evaluation. Based on today’s class discussion on two issues of strength (John) and agreeing to teach (Soccer Coach-sorry, I cannot remember your name). Synthesis of these two leads to four scenarios (at least for my logic’s purpose); from teaching a course to the strength and to agreeing to teach a course of with no knowledge. We also may be able to evaluate leaning-teaching effectiveness under these scenarios. If students could interpret the significance of outcome we not only make them better learners, but also better decision makers. Is not it the purpose of higher education? I think Lang suggestion made me to think what I was vaguely felt about discussions.
On use of online discussion, Davis, p112, I think lots of science questions could be discussed using online discussion opportunities. Online science discussion will have minimum “sensitive” issues as this discipline tries to see things in a more “objective” fashion. However, I like to keep this open only for students registered for the course to test its effectiveness and before opening it to other sources.
We were discussing the credibility issues in the second class. I think credibility comes from deep knowledge of material. Lang, p89 also mentions about having deep knowledge to succeed in leading discussion. People with deep knowledge of subject matter are confident, credible and could discussion more effectively. In a way this goes to two questions about the strengths: playing to your own strengths. Most successful professors I have seen are the ones who stood up with confidence due to their deep knowledge in the area. For me their delivery style had less impact; content was more powerful delivery. Again junior faculty and graduate students will have less influence in the choice of their teaching courses; we are stuck again in a hole with fairness to students and teachers who has lesser strengths in the courses they are supposed to teach.
One of the techniques Lang suggests is to move from fact gathering to interpretation (p, 94). I teach 400 and graduate level classes; they already know lot of facts or process to find more information. This also forces us educators to move in to higher levels of Bloom’s cognitive learning area such as synthesis and evaluation. Based on today’s class discussion on two issues of strength (John) and agreeing to teach (Soccer Coach-sorry, I cannot remember your name). Synthesis of these two leads to four scenarios (at least for my logic’s purpose); from teaching a course to the strength and to agreeing to teach a course of with no knowledge. We also may be able to evaluate leaning-teaching effectiveness under these scenarios. If students could interpret the significance of outcome we not only make them better learners, but also better decision makers. Is not it the purpose of higher education? I think Lang suggestion made me to think what I was vaguely felt about discussions.
On use of online discussion, Davis, p112, I think lots of science questions could be discussed using online discussion opportunities. Online science discussion will have minimum “sensitive” issues as this discipline tries to see things in a more “objective” fashion. However, I like to keep this open only for students registered for the course to test its effectiveness and before opening it to other sources.
Emily's Reading Notes #2
Davis and Lang present many good ideas for leading discussion. Their suggestions for facilitating and developing discussion are helpful, and are great ideas for creating a discussion oriented class. I was surprised by the large amount of attention Davis (2009) spent discussing the need for allowing students time to prepare for discussion and allowing them to play a role in starting the discussion. This notion is contrasted by Lang (2008) focusing on the teacher preparing the discussion. I find it interesting to note this difference, and the impact this format may have on the discussion. Though Lang (2008) provides many different techniques for starting discussion, I feel the focus on preparation provided by Davis (2009) is very important, and merits further attention from the class. Though Lang (2008) addresses giving students time to prepare in class the day of a discussion, Davis (2009)’s suggestion of assigning preparation activities to complete before class can give students more time to think, especially for those who have issues with anxiety. Communication educators tend to focus on anxiety in the context of public speaking, which I agree is the biggest fear people have. However, many students may also experience issues with group anxiety. Allowing students time to prepare outside of class, mentally and emotionally, could help build students confidence and encourage them to speak up in the discussion, where being put on the spot in class could present more of a challenge.
The other concern I have about leading discussion is how to evaluate discussion. I feel that if students are not evaluated in some way, they are going to choose to clock out and not participate in the discussion. Both Davis (2009) and Lang (2008) address grading as an important consideration, and it is an issue I am concerned about. In one sense, it is important to grade. However, it can go over the top. During a graduate class I took, the professor sat every night with a class list (24 students) and a chart to track our contributions to the discussion. The sheet had columns corresponding to types of contributions we made (i.e. pose question, ask question of classmate, clarify point, etc.). This seems over the top to me. How have others graded discussion in the past? Is there a better way to keep track of student contributions to discussion? If you decide to grade on participation, how important is it to try to pull people into the discussion and when do you decide to let students take charge of their grade? It is important to allow students the opportunity to participate, especially if you have certain students dominating the discussion. However, students deserve the chance to participate by choice (this may also be the side of me that views students as adults that need to figure out life). Also, how successful is discussion in introductory classes (such as COMM 110)? Freshmen students seem reluctant to jump into discussion, and I am concerned about the success of discussion, regardless of how much preparation is assigned.
Finally, I have a question about Davis (2009)’s recommendation to “be patient with students who ask questions you have already answered”. This is an issue I have struggled with in the past. I would answer a student question about due dates for an assignment, and then I would have three or four more students ask later (I know this is not Davis’ exact situation, but it crossed my mind when reading about questions). I always thought that “I’ve already addressed that topic so please check with a classmate” was an appropriate response for that situation. However, based on the reading in Davis, I wonder if that is appropriate. I agree for course material it is important to clarify whenever you can and address student concerns, but I find it frustrating to be answering the same question over and over, especially if students are not paying attention to the discussion. What do you all think? How do you handle this type of situation where students keep asking the same question again and again (about due dates or course material)? Also, I think (in the situation Davis (2009) mentioned), it would be important to also make a note of this issue in your lecture notes. If many students have questions about certain topics or areas, it would be important to make a note of this in your notes to revise your lesson plans for future teaching situations.
The other concern I have about leading discussion is how to evaluate discussion. I feel that if students are not evaluated in some way, they are going to choose to clock out and not participate in the discussion. Both Davis (2009) and Lang (2008) address grading as an important consideration, and it is an issue I am concerned about. In one sense, it is important to grade. However, it can go over the top. During a graduate class I took, the professor sat every night with a class list (24 students) and a chart to track our contributions to the discussion. The sheet had columns corresponding to types of contributions we made (i.e. pose question, ask question of classmate, clarify point, etc.). This seems over the top to me. How have others graded discussion in the past? Is there a better way to keep track of student contributions to discussion? If you decide to grade on participation, how important is it to try to pull people into the discussion and when do you decide to let students take charge of their grade? It is important to allow students the opportunity to participate, especially if you have certain students dominating the discussion. However, students deserve the chance to participate by choice (this may also be the side of me that views students as adults that need to figure out life). Also, how successful is discussion in introductory classes (such as COMM 110)? Freshmen students seem reluctant to jump into discussion, and I am concerned about the success of discussion, regardless of how much preparation is assigned.
Finally, I have a question about Davis (2009)’s recommendation to “be patient with students who ask questions you have already answered”. This is an issue I have struggled with in the past. I would answer a student question about due dates for an assignment, and then I would have three or four more students ask later (I know this is not Davis’ exact situation, but it crossed my mind when reading about questions). I always thought that “I’ve already addressed that topic so please check with a classmate” was an appropriate response for that situation. However, based on the reading in Davis, I wonder if that is appropriate. I agree for course material it is important to clarify whenever you can and address student concerns, but I find it frustrating to be answering the same question over and over, especially if students are not paying attention to the discussion. What do you all think? How do you handle this type of situation where students keep asking the same question again and again (about due dates or course material)? Also, I think (in the situation Davis (2009) mentioned), it would be important to also make a note of this issue in your lecture notes. If many students have questions about certain topics or areas, it would be important to make a note of this in your notes to revise your lesson plans for future teaching situations.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tara - Reading Set 2
I love Lang’s stories. I can feel his excitement as he describes the “first [lecture] question that will blow their [his students’] minds” (Lang p.85). I can imagine the skip in his step, as he buys his latte and walks to class in anticipation of the best in-class discussion his students have ever experienced. And I can feel his pain (I’m shaking my head and making a sad face right now) as he walks away from class wondering “what the hell happened.”
Engaging students in discussion is an interesting challenge. I use the work interesting because sometimes it isn’t a challenge at all. Although rare, it is an amazing feeling when your students are so engaged in conversation you actually have to signal the end of class and you leave thinking, ‘wow, I am great at engaging my students.’ You pat yourself on the back and feel elated with your skills as a teacher. More often, however, you experience the ever dreaded silent stares. It is like they have been practicing the oh so stoic pose of a deer in headlights. Unfortunately, those days of pulling teeth for conversation can throw even the most experienced instructors for a loop and greatly affect confidence. Fortunately, our amazing teacher Carrie Anne (brown nosing intended) has provided us with two textbooks that have provided excellent information on engaging students in classroom discussion.
Both authors talked about using debates as a way to foster classroom discussion. I love debates and find them to be useful in creating discussion (especially if the class has time in advance to prepare). Davis had an interesting twist to his debate format; his students had to form an opinion for both sides of the argument ready for class. Not only did this activity help engage discussion, it taught students to “understand the complexities of a controversy, rather than simply reinforce their initial views” (Davis p. 100). Lang provided a cool idea of the “forced debate” in which he asked students to choose one side of two opposing positions. In class the students had to physically move to one side of the room according to their viewpoint (middle of the classroom if undecided). Lang explained, “I usually ask a handful of students on one side to respond to that question; by the time they are finished, the students on the other side are frantic to refute” and then “whenever someone moves to a new side or away from the middle, you can pause and ask them why; it also helps the students see that others are changing their minds as a result of the discussion” (Lang p. 95).
A great tip that Davis provided was to limit your own comments to encourage student discussion (Davis p. 107). As I read this I thought, ‘whoa, that is what Carrie Anne does.’ Yes, she validates our conversation, nods, and will make a small comment here ant there, but she is awesome at just sitting back and letting us “respond to one another” (Davis p. 107). (brown nosing not intended) Lang also commented on this point when he said “you are not the teapot… and they are not the teacup. … you serve as a guide along the way—but they work with their peers to construct their new understanding of the subject” (Lang p. 88).
I love the post-it note ideas. Both authors mentioned this strategy but I liked how Lang provided us with a couple different ways we can make this strategy work to our advantage. Not only could we use it as a “token of encouragement” (Davis p. 108), we can use it as a way to limit the “over contributors” in the class by explaining that the post-its represent one point of extra credit but you can only get two (Lang p. 100).
Overall, I think both authors presented excellent way to encourage classroom discussion. I’m excited to try some of the new tips and ideas!
Engaging students in discussion is an interesting challenge. I use the work interesting because sometimes it isn’t a challenge at all. Although rare, it is an amazing feeling when your students are so engaged in conversation you actually have to signal the end of class and you leave thinking, ‘wow, I am great at engaging my students.’ You pat yourself on the back and feel elated with your skills as a teacher. More often, however, you experience the ever dreaded silent stares. It is like they have been practicing the oh so stoic pose of a deer in headlights. Unfortunately, those days of pulling teeth for conversation can throw even the most experienced instructors for a loop and greatly affect confidence. Fortunately, our amazing teacher Carrie Anne (brown nosing intended) has provided us with two textbooks that have provided excellent information on engaging students in classroom discussion.
Both authors talked about using debates as a way to foster classroom discussion. I love debates and find them to be useful in creating discussion (especially if the class has time in advance to prepare). Davis had an interesting twist to his debate format; his students had to form an opinion for both sides of the argument ready for class. Not only did this activity help engage discussion, it taught students to “understand the complexities of a controversy, rather than simply reinforce their initial views” (Davis p. 100). Lang provided a cool idea of the “forced debate” in which he asked students to choose one side of two opposing positions. In class the students had to physically move to one side of the room according to their viewpoint (middle of the classroom if undecided). Lang explained, “I usually ask a handful of students on one side to respond to that question; by the time they are finished, the students on the other side are frantic to refute” and then “whenever someone moves to a new side or away from the middle, you can pause and ask them why; it also helps the students see that others are changing their minds as a result of the discussion” (Lang p. 95).
A great tip that Davis provided was to limit your own comments to encourage student discussion (Davis p. 107). As I read this I thought, ‘whoa, that is what Carrie Anne does.’ Yes, she validates our conversation, nods, and will make a small comment here ant there, but she is awesome at just sitting back and letting us “respond to one another” (Davis p. 107). (brown nosing not intended) Lang also commented on this point when he said “you are not the teapot… and they are not the teacup. … you serve as a guide along the way—but they work with their peers to construct their new understanding of the subject” (Lang p. 88).
I love the post-it note ideas. Both authors mentioned this strategy but I liked how Lang provided us with a couple different ways we can make this strategy work to our advantage. Not only could we use it as a “token of encouragement” (Davis p. 108), we can use it as a way to limit the “over contributors” in the class by explaining that the post-its represent one point of extra credit but you can only get two (Lang p. 100).
Overall, I think both authors presented excellent way to encourage classroom discussion. I’m excited to try some of the new tips and ideas!
Melinda's Reading Notes 2
Class discussions always seem to be dreaded by a lot of students. I have seen the fear in undergraduates and graduates. I think it is important as the instructor to make students feel as if it is not something they HAVE to do, but something that is valuable. Davis (98) makes a suggestion that I feel aids in that process. Involve the class in conversation about what makes for a good discussion and deciding the rules of the discussion. We have talked in class about making the student feel as if they have some control over their learning process and this helps achieve that goal.
I think the most important advice that both Lang (96) and Davis (97) offer is to start early. It establishes to student that discussion is an important part of the course. Even if participation is not graded, the students will still see the value of learning from their peers if it’s done from the beginning. I feel that if an instructor lectures for 6 weeks with little discussion or debate, then students won’t take the discussion as seriously when the instructor does decide to include it. Students may feel that it’s just something to kill time and has very little impact on their learning or grade in the course. Lang (93) and Davis (107) also offered another reason for starting early: the longer a student goes without contributing, the less likely it is that the instructor will ever hear from them in class.
There are two techniques that Lang described that I was already considering using when I teach. The first was using low stakes writing (90). From my experience, discussions lasted longer and were more student directed when this method was used. I do feel that expecting student to come up with a coherent answer to a complex question is unfair. Giving students the opportunity to think of ideas first, makes the discussion less painful for them and the instructor.
I also liked the moving from fact gathering into interpretation method on page 904 of Lang. It is very easy for students answer questions when they know there is a right or wrong answer and they have the right one. Getting the “right” ones quickly out of the way allows them to change their shift that other possibilities are correct as well. For example, I could have asked the class the two main forms of corrections (jail/prison and probation/parole). Then, I could have asked other forms such as fines, home monitoring, etc. I also could have furthered the discussion as to which punishments are more appropriate for a certain crime.
I have not really formed an opinion on using online discussions. It may very well be that it was only used in one my classes. That class did have some very debated material. I can see in that context that people may be more inclined to offer their true opinion on a topic from behind the safety of a computer screen. Debates would probably be more real and a little less politically correct. However, I feel it may be more work for me to constantly have to check the threads to make sure there is nothing that may overly offend other students. As well, given my material (unless we are talking death penalty) people’s opinions aren’t as “personal” and they are more inclined to offer them. For example, talking about executive compensation being tied to company performance isn’t as controversial as same sex marriage.
I think the most important advice that both Lang (96) and Davis (97) offer is to start early. It establishes to student that discussion is an important part of the course. Even if participation is not graded, the students will still see the value of learning from their peers if it’s done from the beginning. I feel that if an instructor lectures for 6 weeks with little discussion or debate, then students won’t take the discussion as seriously when the instructor does decide to include it. Students may feel that it’s just something to kill time and has very little impact on their learning or grade in the course. Lang (93) and Davis (107) also offered another reason for starting early: the longer a student goes without contributing, the less likely it is that the instructor will ever hear from them in class.
There are two techniques that Lang described that I was already considering using when I teach. The first was using low stakes writing (90). From my experience, discussions lasted longer and were more student directed when this method was used. I do feel that expecting student to come up with a coherent answer to a complex question is unfair. Giving students the opportunity to think of ideas first, makes the discussion less painful for them and the instructor.
I also liked the moving from fact gathering into interpretation method on page 904 of Lang. It is very easy for students answer questions when they know there is a right or wrong answer and they have the right one. Getting the “right” ones quickly out of the way allows them to change their shift that other possibilities are correct as well. For example, I could have asked the class the two main forms of corrections (jail/prison and probation/parole). Then, I could have asked other forms such as fines, home monitoring, etc. I also could have furthered the discussion as to which punishments are more appropriate for a certain crime.
I have not really formed an opinion on using online discussions. It may very well be that it was only used in one my classes. That class did have some very debated material. I can see in that context that people may be more inclined to offer their true opinion on a topic from behind the safety of a computer screen. Debates would probably be more real and a little less politically correct. However, I feel it may be more work for me to constantly have to check the threads to make sure there is nothing that may overly offend other students. As well, given my material (unless we are talking death penalty) people’s opinions aren’t as “personal” and they are more inclined to offer them. For example, talking about executive compensation being tied to company performance isn’t as controversial as same sex marriage.
Reading Notes 2
Having a meaningful in class discussions is an important part of any college level course. As students bring a number of perspectives to any given topic, encouraging and allowing them to interact and process the material together can help reveal interesting new takes on the material at hand. One of the most important points that I think comes through in both sets of readings is that instructors should put just as much planning and thought into class discussions as they would into any normal lecture. Some instructors take a more hands off role when it comes to discussion times hoping that the students will be totally inspired and will take control of the class. As Lang describes in his opening example, sometimes that just doesn’t happen. Most students want to know that there is a point to the activities that they participate in. Davis
An issue not from the readings but that bothers me concerning group discussions is the fact that students opt to skip when they know that the class is primarily going to be group discussion. What is confusing to me is that when asked at the end of the class students often say that they really enjoyed group discussions and that it helped them understand the material. I am curious as to why many students don’t find class discussion important enough to attend when they have the opportunity, but why they cite these discussions as valuable to their learning experience.
Jordan- Reading Notes #2
I definitely found the discussion topics interesting, mostly because of the different styles of discussion that I've been apart of over the years in college classes. The Davis text states first and foremost on Chapter 9 that "class discussion provides students with opportunities to develop their communication skills and to acquire knowledge and insight through the face-to-face exchange of information, ideas and opinions (pg 97). The text continues "a lively, productive give-and-take discussion allows students to articulate their ideas, respond to their classmates' points, and develop skills in thinking through problems and organizing evidence using the language and methodologies of an academic discipline" (pg 97). I immediately thought back to the classes that I've previously had as an undergraduate. I had just as many internet classes as I had live classes, probably more. It was in these internet classes where most of the discussions throughout my years as an undergraduate took place. For example, each week in just about every internet class I took, we had discussion posts based on the readings for the week and different questions that the instructor wanted us to answer, similar to how in this class we post on this blog. Each student then had to respond to another student, or sometimes two other students, about their discussion post. With the live classes that I took which were in the classroom with an instructor, most of those classes were just lecture based and we listened to the instructor for most of the period. Some people would usually chime in with a comment every now and then, but it wasn't a full-fledged class discussion where the instructor made sure everyone participated. I thought it was interesting because while I certainly had discussions where I found the opportunity to develop communication skills and acquire knowledge and insight, as Davis puts it, it wasn't through the face-to-face medium, it was through technology and online.
I think the most difficult thing for me to do would be to pose discussion questions that "does not have a single correct answer" as Davis states (pg 99). I think that comes mostly from me being used to being a student and having to find answers for certain questions like multiple choice quizzes, or writing essays and exams that have certain points that I should hit. I will definitely work on many of the ideas that Davis presents, like brainstorming or posing opening questions and have students write responses to. I think I will definitely find it hard to keep discussions focused. Davis presents many ways on pages 101-103 on tips for guiding discussions. Redirecting discussions that get off track and remembering to return to key issues will be something that I will definitely work on.
I also feel as though I'll have trouble getting students to participate. While Davis presents ways to increase student participation from pages 107-108, I always have the fear that I'll pose a question and nobody answers because the students hope that the faster I get through the lectures the sooner they will get out. I've definitely had that feeling when I was younger. Lang refers to this as the "terror of silences" (pg 86). Lang also says that lecturing provides a comfort zone for teachers, especially newer ones, but also stresses not to continually fall back into that comfort zone. I think that dividing students into smaller groups to get them talking, as Davis says on page 107, will at least get students more comfortable with speaking within a smaller group and then with the entire class.
On the flip side of that, I'm also a little nervous about answering student questions. I feel as though there will be plenty of times when a student asks a question and I'll be stuck in thought in front of a class full of people. I'd be a lot more comfortable answering questions by the method of having students stay after class or stop by my office, as Davis says on page 130. I think I'm much more effective on an individual level as opposed to in front of an entire class. I also don't want to just ramble on about a question and try to sound as though I'm answering a question when I didn't really address the topic at hand either. I've been in many situations where a classmate would ask a question, the instructor would reply, and I'd think to myself, "Wait a minute, that didn't really have anything to do with his/her question". I think being prepared and having a good understanding of the material will help avoid this. I don't think I need to become an expert and learn every little facet of a subject, but I do need to know a decent amount to help establish credibility.
I think the most difficult thing for me to do would be to pose discussion questions that "does not have a single correct answer" as Davis states (pg 99). I think that comes mostly from me being used to being a student and having to find answers for certain questions like multiple choice quizzes, or writing essays and exams that have certain points that I should hit. I will definitely work on many of the ideas that Davis presents, like brainstorming or posing opening questions and have students write responses to. I think I will definitely find it hard to keep discussions focused. Davis presents many ways on pages 101-103 on tips for guiding discussions. Redirecting discussions that get off track and remembering to return to key issues will be something that I will definitely work on.
I also feel as though I'll have trouble getting students to participate. While Davis presents ways to increase student participation from pages 107-108, I always have the fear that I'll pose a question and nobody answers because the students hope that the faster I get through the lectures the sooner they will get out. I've definitely had that feeling when I was younger. Lang refers to this as the "terror of silences" (pg 86). Lang also says that lecturing provides a comfort zone for teachers, especially newer ones, but also stresses not to continually fall back into that comfort zone. I think that dividing students into smaller groups to get them talking, as Davis says on page 107, will at least get students more comfortable with speaking within a smaller group and then with the entire class.
On the flip side of that, I'm also a little nervous about answering student questions. I feel as though there will be plenty of times when a student asks a question and I'll be stuck in thought in front of a class full of people. I'd be a lot more comfortable answering questions by the method of having students stay after class or stop by my office, as Davis says on page 130. I think I'm much more effective on an individual level as opposed to in front of an entire class. I also don't want to just ramble on about a question and try to sound as though I'm answering a question when I didn't really address the topic at hand either. I've been in many situations where a classmate would ask a question, the instructor would reply, and I'd think to myself, "Wait a minute, that didn't really have anything to do with his/her question". I think being prepared and having a good understanding of the material will help avoid this. I don't think I need to become an expert and learn every little facet of a subject, but I do need to know a decent amount to help establish credibility.
Jessica's Reading Notes #1
The reading for today focused on technology in the classroom and lecturing. I found the technology somewhat helpful, but I already knew a lot of the information being a “digital native” although I particularly liked the section on how to avoid the annoying squeak of chalk on the chalkboard. I did, however, find the lecture readings more useful and relevant to my future teaching plans and current worries and anxieties I have going into the fall semester.
It was discussed several times throughout the readings that there is no correct way to lecture and teach a class. The “less is more” concept when lecturing is an important one to master. I know when preparing speeches, I tend to put too much information into it and need to make drastic cuts to get within the time constraints I am allowed. Teaching a lecture is essentially making a speech. It involves preparation, knowing your audience, practice, and enthusiasm on the topic. Davis provides an entire chapter on how to deliver a lecture. It was a preview of what I will be teaching all semester to my students in Comm 110. If I cannot give an effective lecture, I should probably rethink teaching Public Speaking.
Regardless, that chapter gave good tips reminders for me of what to include and not include to keep my students engaged throughout the semester.
Both Davis and Lang stressed the importance of preparation, organization, and clarity of lectures. They mention that each lecture should take at least two (and up to ten) hours of preparation and to stay about two weeks ahead of my students in the readings (Davis, 140). I would like to hear more from others who have teaching experience about how they go about preparing for a lecture. How long does it typically take them to prepare? How far in advance do they plan out lectures? How structured do they make their lectures? What tips and advice to they have for someone starting this process?
I also really found the readings about personalizing the lecture helpful. I particularly liked the example Davis gave about having freshmen in a large lecture classes. During the second week of the semester, a professor invites upperclassmen to leave for the last twenty minutes and goes over effective study habits, campus resources, and how to utilize office hours and study groups in a class for the new students (p. 164). This is a great way to get to know the students in your class and make yourself more accessible to those freshmen students who are still learning the college culture. Another example he gave was forming “leaning dyads” (p. 169) where students came to class with a few questions about the reading. The students then formed pairs or groups and asked other students the questions to test the readings for the day. I thought this was a good way to make sure students keep up on the reading, find what they thought was important, and see if there are any concern areas within the material. What are different in class activities others have found to be effective or not effective? I want to focus on aspects that are supplementary to lectures that foster group dynamics, communicating effectively, and public speaking..
As far as the technology readings go, the main part I found useful was the statistics about learning with PowerPoint. My friends in education classes were told “only bad teachers use PowerPoint” but I think if used effectively and not over used, they can be an effective tool to engage students in the classroom. What are other’s opinions of PowerPoint in the classroom? What about other forms of technology in the classroom? What has been the most beneficial I past experiences?
It was discussed several times throughout the readings that there is no correct way to lecture and teach a class. The “less is more” concept when lecturing is an important one to master. I know when preparing speeches, I tend to put too much information into it and need to make drastic cuts to get within the time constraints I am allowed. Teaching a lecture is essentially making a speech. It involves preparation, knowing your audience, practice, and enthusiasm on the topic. Davis provides an entire chapter on how to deliver a lecture. It was a preview of what I will be teaching all semester to my students in Comm 110. If I cannot give an effective lecture, I should probably rethink teaching Public Speaking.
Regardless, that chapter gave good tips reminders for me of what to include and not include to keep my students engaged throughout the semester.
Both Davis and Lang stressed the importance of preparation, organization, and clarity of lectures. They mention that each lecture should take at least two (and up to ten) hours of preparation and to stay about two weeks ahead of my students in the readings (Davis, 140). I would like to hear more from others who have teaching experience about how they go about preparing for a lecture. How long does it typically take them to prepare? How far in advance do they plan out lectures? How structured do they make their lectures? What tips and advice to they have for someone starting this process?
I also really found the readings about personalizing the lecture helpful. I particularly liked the example Davis gave about having freshmen in a large lecture classes. During the second week of the semester, a professor invites upperclassmen to leave for the last twenty minutes and goes over effective study habits, campus resources, and how to utilize office hours and study groups in a class for the new students (p. 164). This is a great way to get to know the students in your class and make yourself more accessible to those freshmen students who are still learning the college culture. Another example he gave was forming “leaning dyads” (p. 169) where students came to class with a few questions about the reading. The students then formed pairs or groups and asked other students the questions to test the readings for the day. I thought this was a good way to make sure students keep up on the reading, find what they thought was important, and see if there are any concern areas within the material. What are different in class activities others have found to be effective or not effective? I want to focus on aspects that are supplementary to lectures that foster group dynamics, communicating effectively, and public speaking..
As far as the technology readings go, the main part I found useful was the statistics about learning with PowerPoint. My friends in education classes were told “only bad teachers use PowerPoint” but I think if used effectively and not over used, they can be an effective tool to engage students in the classroom. What are other’s opinions of PowerPoint in the classroom? What about other forms of technology in the classroom? What has been the most beneficial I past experiences?
Christie's Reading Notes #1
I must admit I prefer Lang’s text to Davis because I can connect with the informal way in which he writes compared with a more standardized Davis text. Perhaps this is a problem that I will not encounter for some time given that I am fairly close in age to the students I will be teaching but when Lang mentions technology and how it has changed so much I am concerned with how as I age I will lose the capability to connect with my students. I do not use twitter, facebook and I do not blog so already I am behind the technological curve even with the students today that I interact with. The students are for the most part the same age 19-24 give or take a few nontraditional students yet I am getting older. I am concerned with how an older professor is able to connect with students who are quite a bit younger. I feel that this might be a barrier and a challenge for an older professor similar to how youth can also be a challenge.
Lang mentions that the use of blackboard is helpful to build a community. In my experience with blackboard and having to post threads and responses it felt very cold to me, it created the opposite of a community. The class was social inequalities and some of the material was sensitive in nature. Many of the students were willing to post some very opinionated statements on blackboard but refused to really discuss them in class. Instead of creating a community it seemed to give people the freedom to write whatever they wanted with little regard for what they were actually saying. I appreciate that using blackboard gives people a voice that they do not feel they have in class but I also feel that students need to be accountable for what they have said. I felt that blackboard created more of a barrier than a community. It seems that with all of the social media sites people are allowed to post whatever they wish with little consequences and that scares me if the material is sensitive in nature. I am curious to see if any of you have had this similar experience. Also how do you penalize a student who is disrespectful in a discussion or post such as this?
In the Davis readings I found two ideas to be of interest to me for further discussion teaching a course you are not comfortable with and developing the content. I cannot imagine being a new professor and then being asked to teach a course you are not very familiar with, talk about daunting. Not only would I be nervous but to try to establish what content to include in the course would seem impossible. The Davis book mentions consulting a department curriculum for the course, this might be an ignorant question but does every course a department offers have a predetermined curriculum to follow? Is it possible to develop your own class or is that something you have to propose to a department? Lastly if you are really feeling uncomfortable with teaching a class that you unfamiliar with is there any flexibility or are you just stuck with teaching it?
Lang mentions that the use of blackboard is helpful to build a community. In my experience with blackboard and having to post threads and responses it felt very cold to me, it created the opposite of a community. The class was social inequalities and some of the material was sensitive in nature. Many of the students were willing to post some very opinionated statements on blackboard but refused to really discuss them in class. Instead of creating a community it seemed to give people the freedom to write whatever they wanted with little regard for what they were actually saying. I appreciate that using blackboard gives people a voice that they do not feel they have in class but I also feel that students need to be accountable for what they have said. I felt that blackboard created more of a barrier than a community. It seems that with all of the social media sites people are allowed to post whatever they wish with little consequences and that scares me if the material is sensitive in nature. I am curious to see if any of you have had this similar experience. Also how do you penalize a student who is disrespectful in a discussion or post such as this?
In the Davis readings I found two ideas to be of interest to me for further discussion teaching a course you are not comfortable with and developing the content. I cannot imagine being a new professor and then being asked to teach a course you are not very familiar with, talk about daunting. Not only would I be nervous but to try to establish what content to include in the course would seem impossible. The Davis book mentions consulting a department curriculum for the course, this might be an ignorant question but does every course a department offers have a predetermined curriculum to follow? Is it possible to develop your own class or is that something you have to propose to a department? Lastly if you are really feeling uncomfortable with teaching a class that you unfamiliar with is there any flexibility or are you just stuck with teaching it?
John's Reading Notes #1
Lang in his discussion of teaching with technology expresses a certain level of doubt concerning the assertions made by Prensky, which basically claim that students attending college courses in the modern age are much more adept at multi-tasking and have a generally ability to work in the midst of a lot of distracters in their immediate environment (44). I think that Lang has a reason to be skeptical of these assertions. While students may still be able to write a paper in the midst of a lot of distraction, there is a strong possibility that the quality of the work is significantly impacted by the presence of distracters. Recently, I took the Attention and Thinking class offered by the Psychology department. In that class we heard recent research indicating that the quality of students’ work declines as the number of distracters increases. Furthermore, college students did significantly differ from middle aged adults.
I also liked Lang’s argument concerning the benefits of weblogs for helping students participate in class. He claims that online learning communities help include a wider array of students and they help students who might be reticent to speak in a face-to-face settings express their opinions to their classmates (52). This actually is the topic which is at the center of my own research. Budding research on computer-mediated communication shows that people often disclose more, feel as if they more accurately represent themselves, and are less anxious when communicating online than when communicating face-to-face (McKenna, & Bargh, 1999; McKenna, & Green, 2002; McKenna, Green, & Gleason, 2002). I think online communication utilities expand help include more students’ voices. I also think that they allow students to sit and reflect on what they want to say rather than feel the need to produce a hastily constructed response of lower quality.
On page 65 of the Lang book, he emphasizes the importance of varying one’s teaching style. He discusses how different individuals have different learning preferences and varying the manner in which material is presented will help the instructor to connect with more students. I do think that too much focus on varying one’s style can at times hurt one’s ability to present the information clearly. Just as students have preferred methods of learning, instructors have preferred methods of instructing. To a certain extent I think that instructors should play to their strengths. If a professor isn’t good at singing then they shouldn’t try to turn their lesson into a rap song. Furthermore, if a student learns best from group discussion and not as well from other types of instruction, the inclusion of too many other types of instruction would mean fewer opportunities for group discussions. I am not trying to advocate for instructors going with one style, but I think that trying to accommodate too many learning styles can dilute the general effectiveness of the instruction. I feel like instructors should use a few different methods that they feel comfortable with. Lang seems to warn against moving too far outside one’s comfort zone when discussing lecturing style, but I do think that varying activities too much can be counter productive. Additionally, I feel that some topics and contents lend themselves to a broader range of activities.
I think the topic Davis does the best job of emphasizing across the readings is the concept of monitoring. It is important to remember that incremental and informal feedback can really benefit how students learn across the semester (Davis, 166). There is a reason why students hate having one large assignment or exam at the end of a course as their only assessment. If students receive feedback at short regular intervals then they are better able to correct mistakes in their thinking prior to major evaluations.
In this same vein, I think it’s important that instructors seek out feedback from their students. I don’t think that they need to cater to every suggestion or whim, but they should give student input serious consideration. I think this helps the instructor both monitor their strengths and weaknesses and helps them to connect to the overall learning style of the class. Getting incremental feedback from students can help make sure that the course and its content is connecting with students. However if the instructor is going to ask for feedback I think it is important that they show that they are going to act on it. I recently was in a class where the instructor asked for feedback and read the feedback aloud in class then said he was not going to use the suggestion. This to me communicated that the students’ opinion was not valid or did not fit into the concept of the type of change the instructor was willing to make.
I also liked Lang’s argument concerning the benefits of weblogs for helping students participate in class. He claims that online learning communities help include a wider array of students and they help students who might be reticent to speak in a face-to-face settings express their opinions to their classmates (52). This actually is the topic which is at the center of my own research. Budding research on computer-mediated communication shows that people often disclose more, feel as if they more accurately represent themselves, and are less anxious when communicating online than when communicating face-to-face (McKenna, & Bargh, 1999; McKenna, & Green, 2002; McKenna, Green, & Gleason, 2002). I think online communication utilities expand help include more students’ voices. I also think that they allow students to sit and reflect on what they want to say rather than feel the need to produce a hastily constructed response of lower quality.
On page 65 of the Lang book, he emphasizes the importance of varying one’s teaching style. He discusses how different individuals have different learning preferences and varying the manner in which material is presented will help the instructor to connect with more students. I do think that too much focus on varying one’s style can at times hurt one’s ability to present the information clearly. Just as students have preferred methods of learning, instructors have preferred methods of instructing. To a certain extent I think that instructors should play to their strengths. If a professor isn’t good at singing then they shouldn’t try to turn their lesson into a rap song. Furthermore, if a student learns best from group discussion and not as well from other types of instruction, the inclusion of too many other types of instruction would mean fewer opportunities for group discussions. I am not trying to advocate for instructors going with one style, but I think that trying to accommodate too many learning styles can dilute the general effectiveness of the instruction. I feel like instructors should use a few different methods that they feel comfortable with. Lang seems to warn against moving too far outside one’s comfort zone when discussing lecturing style, but I do think that varying activities too much can be counter productive. Additionally, I feel that some topics and contents lend themselves to a broader range of activities.
I think the topic Davis does the best job of emphasizing across the readings is the concept of monitoring. It is important to remember that incremental and informal feedback can really benefit how students learn across the semester (Davis, 166). There is a reason why students hate having one large assignment or exam at the end of a course as their only assessment. If students receive feedback at short regular intervals then they are better able to correct mistakes in their thinking prior to major evaluations.
In this same vein, I think it’s important that instructors seek out feedback from their students. I don’t think that they need to cater to every suggestion or whim, but they should give student input serious consideration. I think this helps the instructor both monitor their strengths and weaknesses and helps them to connect to the overall learning style of the class. Getting incremental feedback from students can help make sure that the course and its content is connecting with students. However if the instructor is going to ask for feedback I think it is important that they show that they are going to act on it. I recently was in a class where the instructor asked for feedback and read the feedback aloud in class then said he was not going to use the suggestion. This to me communicated that the students’ opinion was not valid or did not fit into the concept of the type of change the instructor was willing to make.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Melinda- Reading Notes 1
The use of technology in the classroom is a very interesting topic to me. Transparencies were considered high technology when I was working on my bachelors degree. Blackboard was available, but not implemented. Most students didn’t have laptops and those who did were not allowed to use them in the classroom. It was almost a culture shock to come back in 2008 and see how technology use has changed. Almost all of my teachers use powerpoints and Blackboard. I considered perhaps the change of program could have accounted for this as well. Criminal justice really doesn’t have a need to focus on your slide making skills as much as a business college would, so therefore technology is not as important. Because student could be giving presentations in the business world, teachers probably feel like they should be required to expose students to the media technology. In a way, this becomes an almost invisible component of the business professor’s teaching philosophy.
Lang argues that there is a lot of time investment in implementing technology and the pay off may not be that great. In fact, he says that new faculty shouldn’t spend more than 2 hours for any given hour of lecture (46). I agree that the initial investment may be time consuming, but everything will be ready the next time the class is taught. It would also be easy to change as soon as class is over or add notes to the powerpoint. Most of my class demonstrations and presentations in the business college required powerpoints. I used powerpoints, youtube, and even created an excel spreadsheet on demand. It probably wouldn’t be that much more effort for me to use technology in my lectures.
With that being said, I do not want to solely rely on technology as Davis (453) has advised. For some concepts it would be more practical for me to use other methods. For example, when explaining a pyramid or Ponzi scheme powerpoint would be useless. Use of the whiteboard and allowing students to giggle at my amazing stick-figure drawing ability or a hands on approach is far more effective. I would also be able to stop and clarify ideas that students may be questioning.
Lecture preparation was something that I felt the authors disagreed. Lang (46) almost commanded that faculty not spend more than 2 hours per hour of lecture. Davis (140) didn’t seem to have any problems with 2-10 hours per lecture. I am not quite sure what my opinion is on this. I think until I am in the classroom teaching more I can’t really offer too much of an opinion. I am interested in what the other members of class think on the topic of class preparation.
I felt quite a bit of the advice on lecturing was Public Speaking 101. I didn’t feel as if I learned anything incredibly new in either authors‘ advice. Davis’s advice about how to signal a lecture was starting made me laugh (149). I guess I have never really thought about or had a teacher flicker the lights or use a gavel. I guess for my class I could play a recording of the stock market bell.
Lang argues that there is a lot of time investment in implementing technology and the pay off may not be that great. In fact, he says that new faculty shouldn’t spend more than 2 hours for any given hour of lecture (46). I agree that the initial investment may be time consuming, but everything will be ready the next time the class is taught. It would also be easy to change as soon as class is over or add notes to the powerpoint. Most of my class demonstrations and presentations in the business college required powerpoints. I used powerpoints, youtube, and even created an excel spreadsheet on demand. It probably wouldn’t be that much more effort for me to use technology in my lectures.
With that being said, I do not want to solely rely on technology as Davis (453) has advised. For some concepts it would be more practical for me to use other methods. For example, when explaining a pyramid or Ponzi scheme powerpoint would be useless. Use of the whiteboard and allowing students to giggle at my amazing stick-figure drawing ability or a hands on approach is far more effective. I would also be able to stop and clarify ideas that students may be questioning.
Lecture preparation was something that I felt the authors disagreed. Lang (46) almost commanded that faculty not spend more than 2 hours per hour of lecture. Davis (140) didn’t seem to have any problems with 2-10 hours per lecture. I am not quite sure what my opinion is on this. I think until I am in the classroom teaching more I can’t really offer too much of an opinion. I am interested in what the other members of class think on the topic of class preparation.
I felt quite a bit of the advice on lecturing was Public Speaking 101. I didn’t feel as if I learned anything incredibly new in either authors‘ advice. Davis’s advice about how to signal a lecture was starting made me laugh (149). I guess I have never really thought about or had a teacher flicker the lights or use a gavel. I guess for my class I could play a recording of the stock market bell.
7/27 First Set of Reading Notes
Davis must adhere to the philosophy of “repetition is the key to retention.” While reading Tools for Teaching I’m constantly thinking, ‘didn’t I just read that?’ My feelings of annoyance were validated when Lang noted that written arguments do not need to be repeated (Lang p.74). With that said, my OCD loves Davis’s structured style of writing. Bullet points are my friends. Specifically, I thought he provided excellent bullet points/steps to “structure your lectures to emphasize the most important points” and “structure you lecture to make your points unforgettable” (Davis p. 142 and 143). Even the best list can’t provide the impact of actually seeing and learning from the best, so I appreciated that Davis provided UC Berkley’s video link to their distinguished teachers.
Some of the most helpful reminders throughout the readings were to: provide a simple outline before you begin each class to help students track the progression of the material and keep yourself from going off on a tangent (Davis p.151 & 157); use pauses to draw attention to what you are about to say (Davis p.154); use strong summaries, and overall, tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them (Davis p.143 & 154) (Lang p. 74); and finally, verbally alert students to important points of your lecture (Davis p.159).
Cool ideas throughout the readings included: Inviting a different set of students in a large-enrollment class to sit in the front row each week, then get to know those students informally before class (Davis p. 164); Recognizing outside events or accomplishments. In My Freshman Year by Nathan, the author found that most of the “college experience” happens outside the classroom (Nathan p. 102). By recognizing outside events, as Davis noted on p. 164, students will connect with you and will let them know that you understand their student culture (Davis p. 164); Asking students to become experts on one key point/term/event and have them serve as the expert when that key point comes up in class (Davis p. 172).
On a side note, not necessary to include, but interesting enough. On p. 152 Davis provided the following tip: “If direct eye contact upsets your concentration, look between two students or look at foreheads.” Don’t you think if you have this big of an issue with eye contact, teaching might not be in your or your students’ best interest? And did anyone get a chuckle out of Davis’s section on “Signal that the lecture is beginning” (Davis p.149)? Do we get a gavel if we pass this class?
Some of the most helpful reminders throughout the readings were to: provide a simple outline before you begin each class to help students track the progression of the material and keep yourself from going off on a tangent (Davis p.151 & 157); use pauses to draw attention to what you are about to say (Davis p.154); use strong summaries, and overall, tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them (Davis p.143 & 154) (Lang p. 74); and finally, verbally alert students to important points of your lecture (Davis p.159).
Cool ideas throughout the readings included: Inviting a different set of students in a large-enrollment class to sit in the front row each week, then get to know those students informally before class (Davis p. 164); Recognizing outside events or accomplishments. In My Freshman Year by Nathan, the author found that most of the “college experience” happens outside the classroom (Nathan p. 102). By recognizing outside events, as Davis noted on p. 164, students will connect with you and will let them know that you understand their student culture (Davis p. 164); Asking students to become experts on one key point/term/event and have them serve as the expert when that key point comes up in class (Davis p. 172).
On a side note, not necessary to include, but interesting enough. On p. 152 Davis provided the following tip: “If direct eye contact upsets your concentration, look between two students or look at foreheads.” Don’t you think if you have this big of an issue with eye contact, teaching might not be in your or your students’ best interest? And did anyone get a chuckle out of Davis’s section on “Signal that the lecture is beginning” (Davis p.149)? Do we get a gavel if we pass this class?
Reading Notes for Class 2- Thava
Two hours preparation for every hour teaching seems to be a wise idea, especially for non-tenured faculty; time spent for teaching may be a lost time for research and grant proposals/publications. This also enables new teachers to be productive in their time usage both in research and teaching. Balancing the act of research and teaching towards tenure may be an interesting one to discuss in the context of teaching preparations.
Incorporation of technology is beyond a regular email could be a wonderful way to achieve several teaching goals. However, to learn technology could be time consuming and might take time away from designing and preparing course contents. I think I can manage in doing a good job in delivering course materials just by power-point presentation, white/black boards and classroom discussions. I am yet to learn the value of bloggers and other forms of electronic tools on how students will use for their own learning, group activities and provide an interactive atmosphere for the rest of class members.
Having a backup plan is always very important. I have seen some faculty candidate loosing very good opportunities not having a backup plans for their seminar and classroom presentations in their interviews due to power/equipment/software failures. In classroom setting always we could manage these situations by spending time on revising, group discussion activities, problem solving and application of quizzes and helping difficult to learn students.
Overhead projection- I am not sure many people use this as a teaching technology. However, there may be useful times when power points fails. Again you need to have all the backup transparencies to make use of this technique.
My department is in the process of having interactive whiteboard. Showing video of an experiment and getting student to write, discuss, and encourage group activity is a great way to use this technology to enhance learning. I can also use this to develop ideas, collaborate with peers and solve science problems. Prior to reading about interactive whiteboard, I was thinking only about using laboratory experiments to develop these skills.
Virtual learning community- This is a new concept yet to explore as I am coming to teaching business after about 10 years. Lots have changed since I last taught in a developing country. I can visualize the value of virtual technologies in developing communities. However, I am yet to experience this phenomenon. Hopefully, I will be able to learn something from this course before I could test with my students in the fall teaching.
There are so many gadgets in the classroom that students bring in ranging from cell phone, ipad to laptop computers. They may be using these devises for the purposes other than for classroom activities. They are also adults and could choose to do whatever they want to do. I am debating myself with how do we control these activities so that we can get their attention to the materials discuss in the class. Use of newer technologies helps teacher to do a better job. They also bring lots of waste when students are not using them for the class purposes for which we cannot blame. I am looking forward to Wednesday class on discussing this point and get some insights .
Reading Notes #1
I found the section about using video clips to be interesting. I always enjoyed the change of pace in a classroom from listening to an instructor lecture to watching a video clip. The Davis text reinforces this by saying that video clips can “break up a long lecture” (pg 450). The downside of this is that there were also plenty of times that an instructor showed a video and if I didn't find it too entertaining I could easily find myself day-dreaming. I always found that short videos that didn't last too long were able to hold my attention. Whenever I had to watch a video that lasted twenty or thirty minutes it just seemed as though I would find myself spacing off and thinking about assignments in other classes or what I wanted to do after class. The Davis text offers a little bit of advice on battling this problem on page 451 by advising to pause the film and discuss the film in parts throughout the film. The Lang text also suggests this. He says that student's attention spans fade after the first 15-20 minutes. He suggests breaking up the film and the lecture into parts, lecture for 10 minutes, show a clip, lecture for another 10 minutes, show another clip, etc (pg 77). I think that this would definitely provide a much easier transition and it would keep student's attention spans a little longer than the 15-20 minutes that Lang suggests. I think that video clips are useful because, while I haven't used them in a classroom, when I coached sports, I used video clips to provide the kids with another voice besides my own. The Davis article suggests this as well, saying that “relevant content clips generated student interest and improved their comprehension of basic concepts” (pg 450). I felt that when it came to coaching at least, and probably more insecurity than anything, that the biggest challenge for me was to establish my own credibility. I felt as though bringing in video clips from other older and more-experienced coaches to reinforce the same message I was sending was very helpful to me in that setting. I feel as though showing video clips could definitely serve me some purpose when it comes to teaching in a classroom, and I'll probably still be a little uneasy until I gain more confidence and experience.
I too was interested in the PowerPoint section, mainly because for as long as I can remember, when I've had to give a speech in any class, I've always used a PowerPoint when giving that speech. When it comes to teaching, I had already planned on using PowerPoints, but after reading through the texts, I've questioned that a little. The Davis text says that you shouldn't use PowerPoints in every class, and you shouldn't use them for a full class period (pg 453). I've had some teachers who have used PowerPoints for just about every class period and they had the PowerPoints posted throughout the entire period. The Davis text also says that PowerPoints appear “to neither hinder nor enhance student learning (pg 453). I think that effectively using PowerPoint can definitely be beneficial. The Davis text gives good examples of how this can be done in the Preparing a Presentation section on pages 454-455. I've always adhered to the principles that the text presents, like using words and images, clear outlines and headings and not putting in extraneous material (pg 454). That was always one pet peeve of mine during class presentations and someone would have a power point with huge blocks of text and would read straight from the PowerPoints. The class that I had that used PowerPoints throughout the entire class period also had slides that just had a few words and images and when it came to term definitions, ideas and main points the instructor had those written in the PowerPoints for the students to copy, but she didn't make those PowerPoints available to the students. Lang reinforces this idea when he says that not giving printouts of material to students and rather have them take notes in class “does help improve their learning and understanding” (pg 76). I think that I'll still utilize PowerPoints, but I'll definitely use them as more of a guide for myself and try to make sure they aren't as big of a crutch to lean on when I'm teaching compared to when I would give presentations.
I too was interested in the PowerPoint section, mainly because for as long as I can remember, when I've had to give a speech in any class, I've always used a PowerPoint when giving that speech. When it comes to teaching, I had already planned on using PowerPoints, but after reading through the texts, I've questioned that a little. The Davis text says that you shouldn't use PowerPoints in every class, and you shouldn't use them for a full class period (pg 453). I've had some teachers who have used PowerPoints for just about every class period and they had the PowerPoints posted throughout the entire period. The Davis text also says that PowerPoints appear “to neither hinder nor enhance student learning (pg 453). I think that effectively using PowerPoint can definitely be beneficial. The Davis text gives good examples of how this can be done in the Preparing a Presentation section on pages 454-455. I've always adhered to the principles that the text presents, like using words and images, clear outlines and headings and not putting in extraneous material (pg 454). That was always one pet peeve of mine during class presentations and someone would have a power point with huge blocks of text and would read straight from the PowerPoints. The class that I had that used PowerPoints throughout the entire class period also had slides that just had a few words and images and when it came to term definitions, ideas and main points the instructor had those written in the PowerPoints for the students to copy, but she didn't make those PowerPoints available to the students. Lang reinforces this idea when he says that not giving printouts of material to students and rather have them take notes in class “does help improve their learning and understanding” (pg 76). I think that I'll still utilize PowerPoints, but I'll definitely use them as more of a guide for myself and try to make sure they aren't as big of a crutch to lean on when I'm teaching compared to when I would give presentations.
Reading Notes 1
These were really interesting readings for me. As a techno-phobe, I am always leery of using technology in the classroom, especially with students who likely know more about it than I do. Thus, my first entry focuses on technology, and hopefully getting some insight from you all about how to handle technology in the classroom.
I found it interesting how both Davis and Lang discussed the use of Power Point in lectures, and emphasized the positive help Power Point can be in a classroom. As a communication major, I remember teaching students the benefits of Power Point, and the downfalls of Power Point. The downfalls addressed by Lang are spot on. “You should use these visual displays only to highlight the main concepts from the lecture; doing more than this will result in students copying down furiously every detail from your slide, and not listening to a word you are saying” (Lang, 2008, pg. 75). The times I have used Power Point while teaching led to students not even noticing that I asked a question or arguing after an exam about topics on the exam that were not on the Power Point slides. There seems to be a dangerous precedent in students minds that whatever is on the Power Point slide is the ONLY information they need. As teachers, how can we fight the precedent? What can we do to show students, especially freshmen and sophomores, that the information on the screen is as important as the information we are discussing? I would love to get insight from others about how we, as teachers and students, can make sure that both what is on the screen, and what is being said, are equally important. This is also a critical issue for me because I expect students to listen to their classmates while giving speeches, whether they use Power Point or not. If students doze off or are not paying attention to me, I am not as concerned. However, their classmates deserve respect when delivering speeches. Many students are concerned about public speaking, and looking out into a group of dozing classmates does not help confidence.
I was also intrigued by Lang’s comment towards the end of the chapter on technology. “As I’ve already said, you do not need to make use of technology in any way to be an effective teacher” (Lang, 2008, p. 59). With students lives completely engrossed by technology (Facebook, Twitter, cell phones, iPods, etc.), it seems like a teacher would be more effective if they used technology. From my past teaching experience, students almost expect technology to be used. I would use Power Point presentations every now and then, but not with every class. However, many students would come into class expecting to see Power Point lectures every day, and to be given copies of the slides. Students who missed class would email and ask for copies of the Power Point. These freshmen all seemed to assume that Power Point was required of instructors, and that I was expected to make all of my work available to them. Students relate to technology, and it is an essential part of their lives (including ours, as a discussion after class regarding no internet showed). Is this still possible and relevant for today’s classroom to NOT use technology? I think it is important to look at the role of technology, and whether it has become a necessity in today’s classroom. I would love to not use technology in the classroom and focus on only using the whiteboard. However, it seems like student’s dependence (and dare I say obsession) with technology makes it almost essential for use in the classroom.
Hopefully some of you have insights into this. I seem to ask more questions than anything else. Maybe some of you have ideas on how to help this techno-phobe.
I found it interesting how both Davis and Lang discussed the use of Power Point in lectures, and emphasized the positive help Power Point can be in a classroom. As a communication major, I remember teaching students the benefits of Power Point, and the downfalls of Power Point. The downfalls addressed by Lang are spot on. “You should use these visual displays only to highlight the main concepts from the lecture; doing more than this will result in students copying down furiously every detail from your slide, and not listening to a word you are saying” (Lang, 2008, pg. 75). The times I have used Power Point while teaching led to students not even noticing that I asked a question or arguing after an exam about topics on the exam that were not on the Power Point slides. There seems to be a dangerous precedent in students minds that whatever is on the Power Point slide is the ONLY information they need. As teachers, how can we fight the precedent? What can we do to show students, especially freshmen and sophomores, that the information on the screen is as important as the information we are discussing? I would love to get insight from others about how we, as teachers and students, can make sure that both what is on the screen, and what is being said, are equally important. This is also a critical issue for me because I expect students to listen to their classmates while giving speeches, whether they use Power Point or not. If students doze off or are not paying attention to me, I am not as concerned. However, their classmates deserve respect when delivering speeches. Many students are concerned about public speaking, and looking out into a group of dozing classmates does not help confidence.
I was also intrigued by Lang’s comment towards the end of the chapter on technology. “As I’ve already said, you do not need to make use of technology in any way to be an effective teacher” (Lang, 2008, p. 59). With students lives completely engrossed by technology (Facebook, Twitter, cell phones, iPods, etc.), it seems like a teacher would be more effective if they used technology. From my past teaching experience, students almost expect technology to be used. I would use Power Point presentations every now and then, but not with every class. However, many students would come into class expecting to see Power Point lectures every day, and to be given copies of the slides. Students who missed class would email and ask for copies of the Power Point. These freshmen all seemed to assume that Power Point was required of instructors, and that I was expected to make all of my work available to them. Students relate to technology, and it is an essential part of their lives (including ours, as a discussion after class regarding no internet showed). Is this still possible and relevant for today’s classroom to NOT use technology? I think it is important to look at the role of technology, and whether it has become a necessity in today’s classroom. I would love to not use technology in the classroom and focus on only using the whiteboard. However, it seems like student’s dependence (and dare I say obsession) with technology makes it almost essential for use in the classroom.
Hopefully some of you have insights into this. I seem to ask more questions than anything else. Maybe some of you have ideas on how to help this techno-phobe.
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I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the readings.
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