Ashley's Reading Notes #7

This week’s readings discussed topics that are important for an instructor to address and decide what he/she wants to do in the classroom. Both Davis and Lang talk about how the student bodies of today’s universities are changing. More women are in nontraditional majors, older students are returning for another degree, and there are many different cultures. Knowing this I think it will be tricky as an instructor to be correct in terms to make sure I do not offend any of my students. Davis (p. 59) provided many ideas for the different terms for different groups. As a new instructor at a new university, how would I approach learning what the proper terminology is for the area? Would the people that work in the area of diversity know what is proper? I think this is good to know because I want to start on the right foot with my students.

Helping students learn is why I am interested in being a teacher, but this task is difficult. Students may lack motivation or just memorize the material for the grade. In order to prevent this I would emphasize my classroom material towards a deep learning approach (Davis, p. 262). It is a common habit of students in large classrooms to just memorize or skim the surface just to get by. I think most of us are guilty of this, but what did we really learn in the class? Deep learning is important, how would I promote this type of learning? What type of class activities lean towards this type? Davis does comment on the importance of making classroom material and tests relevant to the students and what you want them to learn. I think this would help with the deep learning approach. I liked the suggestion of providing frequent quizzes so students are always reviewing the material. Looking back at some of my classes, I always hated the cumulative exams because I had to reteach the material to myself. What are some other pedagogical methods that will help students to be more successful and not dread cumulative exams (or will they hate them no matter what)?

Keeping students motivated with these frequent check-ups would be helpful. I think students dread cumulative exams because they are usually weighted heavier than any other exam and this could ruin their grades. That brings up another interesting point that Davis mentioned, emphasizing intrinsic rewards (p. 281). Our society is so focused on grades and that being the sole reason for going to class. How do you shift students away from this thinking?

I enjoyed Lang’s examples about students as people and what to do in situations. I think it is important to have a relationship with students, but how do you decide when to draw the line? I don’t want to seem cold to my students, but as Lang mentioned I do not want to make myself vulnerable.