Why Do I Need This Class?

A common challenge that educators face from students is the question “Why do I need this class?” Though we want to believe that students intuitively understand the importance of our subjects, often they do not. Many struggle to relate our disciplines to their lives. Without a sense of relevance, students experience a disconnection between our enthusiasm for our subjects and their experiences with it in and outside of class. This disconnection can hamper self-motivation, engagement and meaningful learning. Because of this dynamic, many of us now work to teach the relevance of our content disciplines. After attending an On Course workshop last year, I now employ a number of new tools in my history classes.

With them, I have been enhancing what I call a “subject-value pedagogy” that encourages students to make meaningful connections between discipline-based skills/knowledge and other aspects of their lives. In every way possible, I encourage my students to find personal value in the content of my courses. My students know this approach as “Why History?” skills. This article discusses how subject-value pedagogy can be used in any content area to increase students’ intrinsic motivation to learn it.

BEGINNING THE PERSONAL CONNECTION

Beyond usual active-learning methods, I now ask students to own and be the creators of their “Why History?” experiences. Starting in week one, I employ activities that reveal history as a practical tool for self-empowerment in the present. To be discipline specific, I adapted the wording of the On Course principles to read: “People from the past can role model for us how to take personal responsibility for our lives, have self-motivation, use self-management skills to get things done, be interdependent by working with others to achieve results, be self-aware about the ways we impact ourselves and others, look at life as a learning process, be realistic about managing our emotions, and believe in ourselves and abilities!” Then via written assignments, surveys, and discussions students reflect upon the manner in which they already value and employ “Why History?” skills. Though initially some do not see cross-pollination with other aspects of their lives, this approach sets a tone that shifts students’ perceptions of history from the impersonal and disconnected to the personal and connected.

SUSTAINING THE PERSONAL CONNECTION

Here is a quartet of “Why History?” activities that I employ:

1. Quotations: As a means of further prompting student thinking, a “Why History?” bulletin board displays quotations from and images of historical figures. For example, Philosopher Herbert Spencer reminds them that “The great aim of education is not knowledge but action”; while President Abraham Lincoln offers, “People are about as happy as they make up their mind to be.” At mid-term, my students then add their own group-created “advice to the future” along with their pictures. For example, one group metaphorically advised: “Today is homework for tomorrow’s exam.” Another group offered: “People who dwell too much on the past may come to realize that they are preventing their future.” During discussions, my students said this activity helped connect them to their role in shaping history.

2. Mission Statements: To encourage semester-long engagement, another classroom bulletin board, displays inspirational “Why History?” quotes. After reading and reflecting on words like Paul McElroy’s “We are the living link through which will be transmitted to the timeless future all that will be preserved of value from the ageless past,” students create personal “Why History?” mission statements. For example, one young man wrote: “I will use the information from the past, so I can apply what I learn to help better myself as well as other people who may need help in their own lives.” Another female student wrote: “I will strive to learn about the important events of history so I can relate past events with my choices, decisions, and ideas today.” Such statements are placed on the bulletin board, and at various times in the semester students share their “Why History?” thinking with the class. For fun, each person who shares places a star on his/her mission statement. From this activity, I have witnessed improved individual ownership of the class as well as an increased interdependence amongst students. This outcome has been anecdotally evidenced by their willingness to spontaneously offer “Why History?” thoughts and to ask others to share ideas. For example, one student shared that as a result of studying World War II, she was able to make a personal connection with a veteran at the nursing home where she worked. By asking questions and talking about what she knew, she felt she made a difference in the quality of his life.

To read the full article click here:
Source: --June Klees, Faculty, History, Bay College , MI
On Course Newsletter 2/2010

True Costs of Student Success

"Student success" programs of various types -- learning communities, first-year experience programs, and the like -- have proliferated on college campuses, driven by the reality that it's easier to keep current students than recruit new ones. The programs are popular, but as is true of just about all campus efforts these days, they are open to scrutiny about their effectiveness -- and their cost effectiveness.

Given that climate, many student affairs officials would probably be wary of looking too closely at what their programs cost and whether they provide a meaningful return on that "investment," for fear that the data, if they don't look good, might be used against them in the fight for resources. But putting those trepidations aside, 13 colleges -- as part of a project sponsored by Jobs for the Future and the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity and Accountability -- agreed to examine both the full costs of first-year retention efforts focused on first-generation and low-income students, and the extent to which their success in keeping students enrolled produces revenue to help pay for themselves.

A report on the Investing in Student Success effort, published this week by the two organizations, suggested that a majority of the programs had produced gains in retention that went a long way toward offsetting their costs. Most of the others could not complete the analysis, using a "cost return calculator" that includes a wide range of data, because they didn't have all the necessary cost and retention statistics (for students in the programs and for a comparison group).

But by looking at their first-year programs through the prisms of cost and return on investment, all 13 of the participating colleges experienced what the sponsors of the initiative call a "change in conversation" about those programs -- with some saying that they planned to apply similar scrutiny to other academic programs on their campuses. Officials at several of the campuses said they believed it was important to take financial considerations into account in assessing these programs, as long as they didn't overwhelm other, more qualitative factors, such as the programs' quality and the beneficial impact on students.

To read the full article click here:
Source: --Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed

Think Aloud Pair Problem Solving

As an instructor of English composition (mostly developmental), I have struggled to find ways to get students to engage themselves actively in their learning activities. Like many instructors, I get tired of seeing my students looking out the window, sending text messages, or doing some other equally non-productive activity during my class sessions. To diminish these behaviors, I have incorporated many active-learning strategies into my classroom, but I continue to see many non-engaged behaviors that suggest to me that students are still not actively engaging in the planned activities. I still often see students who refuse to speak or contribute in any way during small-group discussions, students who write one or two sentences and close their journals when I have asked them to write non-stop for five minutes, and students who are doing homework for some other subject during my class.

Because I know my students will be much more successful if they actively engage themselves in their learning experiences, I am constantly on the lookout for activities that will better facilitate active student engagement. In the activity I describe here, students work in pairs to solve a series of problems. Students have specific roles—problem solver and listener—that they alternate with each problem. The problem solver “thinks aloud,” verbalizing the steps he or she takes to solve the problem. The listener listens carefully, following the steps taken by the problem solver, attempting to understand the reasoning behind the steps, and offering suggestions if necessary.

Although I used the activity with grammar rules, it could easily be adapted to suit the needs of any instructor in any discipline. Approximate time needed: 30-45 minutes.

PURPOSE

• To have students actively engage in the learning process
• To have students learn to identify relevant information and apply it in the solution of a problem
• To have students learn and practice problem-solving strategies

SUPPLIES/SET UP

• A set of problems to solve (I used problems from the grammar workbook I use in my class
• Plenty of writing instruments for writing on the board (dry erase markers for whiteboards, chalk for blackboards, etc.)

To read the full article click here:
Source: --Adrienne Peek, Faculty, English, Modesto Junior College , CA
On Course Newsletter 2/2010

Why You Shouldn’t Use PowerPoints in (Most) Online Courses

Sigh. Where to begin? There are so many reasons why using PowerPoint for online courses is a Bad Idea. PowerPoint is just a tool, of course, but it’s so often the wrong tool for the job, especially in teaching online. A hammer is only a tool, but in the wrong hands, well, it makes a mess of things. So it is with PowerPoint.

It’s not that PowerPoint—henceforth referred to as PPT—can’t be used effectively for teaching online. It’s just that most people have developed deplorable PPT habits and now believe that textually dense PPT slides, cheesy animated transitions, and gaudy 3-D graphs are de rigueur for teaching in the classroom and therefore are the perfect choice for online courses, too. To that I say “Nuh-uh. Not. FAIL!” Who else says so? Well, these guys:

To read the full article (with videos) click here:
Source: http://nauelearning.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/nopptonline/

Witch's Broom

I teach general chemistry at a community college. Most science and engineering majors take the course in their first semester and need to earn a high grade to gain admittance to a four-year school in their major. Nonetheless, the success rate in this course remains very low, with an attrition rate between 30-50%.

One of the reasons that many of these students are unsuccessful is their beliefs about learning. Many believe that learning is a passive process, that learning is a solitary activity, and that if they are smart they won’t need help. They also greatly underestimate the time they need to devote to studying in order to be successful. Experience is a slow teacher, and by the time they realize these beliefs are inaccurate, most have gotten too far behind and drop out. In the past I have attempted to address these beliefs head on. I’ve spent a lot of the first class lecturing students on what it takes to be successful in chemistry. I even designed a handout that clearly explains how to be successful in the course. As you might guess, my lecture and handout were largely ignored.

Last semester, I decided to try a first-day activity that I hoped would catch students’ attention, foster interdependence, and make them aware of the active nature of learning.

This activity can be used in any course. It can be done in as few as 20 minutes, but can be extended depending on the depth of discussion you choose to facilitate.

PURPOSE

• To create an attention-getting first-day experience
• To help students become aware of the active nature of learning
• To foster interdependence between and among students

SUPPLIES

• Four-foot length of string or yarn, ends tied to create a loop, one per student
• Instructions for Witch’s Broom, one per student (appended below in Support Documents)
• Two questions for student reflection written on board (see directions below)

To read the full article click here:
Source: --Kirsten Casey, Faculty, Chemistry; Anne Arundel Community College, MD
On Course Newsletter 1/2010

10 Warning Signs of a Bad Professor

Many students are heading back for the second semester of college this week. How the semester goes will depend heavily on the quality of the courses they've chosen. Many students will consult sites such as www.ratemyprofessors.com, their college's own evaluation systems (when public), and the general scuttlebutt from their real and virtual friends. But it's always better to size the professor up yourself by attending the first couple of lectures, then dropping the course if you think the professor is bad. But how do you tell? Here are our 10 surefire signs that your prof's a dud—and that you should get out while there's still time:

1. The professor is boring. Even in the very first classes, you can tell if the professor presents the material in an interesting way. Be especially alert for professors who stand up there and read large sections of the lecture from their notes. If it's a snoozer in Week 1, it's going to get excruciating by Week 15.

2. The professor is bummed out. If a professor comes in on the first day of classes already grumbling about how much he or she hates teaching this course, how much he or she would like to be teaching at a better college, or how teaching is a waste of his or her time (because research is where it's at), don't expect things to get any better as the course progresses. Rule of thumb: Bummed out to start gets more and more bummed out, exponentially, as the weeks drag on.

3. The professor doesn't give out a syllabus—or hands out a one-paragraph syllabus that is just the course description from the Web. Professors who don't distribute a detailed syllabus probably don't actually know what they're going to do in the class this semester.

4. The professor isn't clear about the requirements and how much they count. Professors who don't have a clear and comprehensible idea about how the grading will be handled can end up springing all sorts of wacky or inconsistent grading plans on the students. Often students in this sort of class never know how they're doing during the semester and end up with unpleasant surprises at the end.

5. The professor assigns an undoable amount of work—or no work at all. In the first case, the professor has unreasonable expectations of the students—the kiss of death for any student trying to do well in the course. And while the alternative—little or no work—might seem tempting, it's likely to result in a course where you learn nothing.

6. The professor has incredibly petty rules. Bail out if you encounter a syllabus with page upon page of rules dealing with everything from the use of cellphones to whether you can wear caps to an exam; how to address the professor; when you can enter the room and when you can exit the room; policies about eating, drinking, and using the bathroom; 25 acceptable reasons for an extension and 53 unacceptable reasons; grade penalties for lateness timed to the half-hour, etc. Look, you're taking a course, not rewriting the healthcare system.

7. The professor can't fill the whole class period. Lots of professors hold a short session the first day: They introduce themselves, go over the syllabus, and call it a day. But if class is let out early the whole first week, you can be pretty sure that the professor is inexperienced, is a bad planner, or, worst of all, doesn't really give a damn about the course. Sure, you'd like to blow it off early every day. But why cheat yourself out of the education you've paid for?

8. The professor seems unsure about the material. Professors who present their lectures in a halting or tentative way could well be professors who aren't on top of the course content. You might think that colleges would hire only people who really know the material backward and forward, but you'd be wrong. It's not at all uncommon for faculty to be saddled with a course in which they have no expertise. Why should you be saddled with it, too, if you've got a choice?

Extra sign. If the professor says he or she is going to "learn the material with you," run for the exits. That's professor-speak for "I don't know my a** from my elbow about this stuff."

9. The professor presents the material in a confused way. Every lecture at college should have a clear structure: an introduction, a main part, and a conclusion. If your professor's lectures are all over the place and you can't figure out what the main points are—or when and why the professor has moved from one point to the next—something is definitely wrong. Example: The professor isn't able to explain the stuff in a way the students can understand. In street language, he or she can't teach.

10. The professor never involves the students. If a professor attends only to his or her notes and never even looks at the students—or never pauses to invite or accept questions—it's not a good thing. A good class is a dynamic class, and a good professor engages with the students.

BY: LYNN F. JACOBS & JEREMY S. HYMAN • JANUARY 6, 2010 • US NEWS &WORLD REPORT

Source: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/professors-guide/2010/01/06/10-warning-signs-of-a-bad-professor.html

Social Networks Not Just for Chatting Anymore

Social-networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter can help community college students become more engaged in their academics, a recent report from the Center for Community College Student Engagement suggests.

Although large numbers of students say they use such tools in their daily lives, many two-year colleges have yet to mine the potential of the technology.

"The uses of social-networking tools are clearly growing in frequency," said Kay McClenney, director of the Texas-based Center for Community College Student Engagement, which released the report. But "colleges are not taking advantage of that particular set of tools for making connections with students to the extent that they could."

Ohio University Lancaster Campus Dean John Furlow said officials at the campus have discussed the possibility of utilizing Facebook and Twitter as a way to recruit new students and more effectively communicate with the students who don't regularly check their campus e-mail accounts.

"If we need to get a message out to all students, we send it through e-mail system; every student is assigned an e-mail address through Ohio University," Furlow said. "But we have a number of nontraditional students who don't use their e-mail, so we're not reaching as many students as we need to."

The report is based on a survey of more than 400,000 students from 663 institutions that assesses how much effort students invest in their studies, whether they interact with faculty and staff and whether they are challenged by their academics. Studies show the more engaged students are in such activities and relationships, the more likely they are to learn.

The survey found higher levels of engagement among students who said they used social media multiple times a day for academic purposes, such as communicating with other students, instructors or college staff about coursework, than students who said they don't use such tools at all.

It also revealed a potential downside for colleges that don't harness the technology: Students who frequently used social-networking tools but not for academic reasons tended to put less effort into their schoolwork.

Among the findings:

95 percent of students ages 18 to 24 use social-networking tools, including instant messages and texting, 64 percent multiple times a day. Yet just 18 percent do so for schoolwork, and 27 percent never do. Just 5 percent never use social networks.

Among older students, 68 percent used social networking, 41 percent multiple times a day. But just 10 percent do so for school; 49 percent never used social networking for school.

The report stops short of suggesting that social networking is the key to engaging all students, but it urges colleges to "find the right match."

Furlow said OU-L has worked to implement more ways for students to chat about what they've learned in classes and communicate with their professors. For the past five years, the university has utilized a social networking site of sorts called Blackboard.

"There is a chat element to that blackboard system, where professors can put out a discussion question for students and then students can interact by giving feedback," Furlow said. "Professors also can put up entire syllabus and put up notices about assignments, which can be helpful for students."

Furlow said the system has gone through numerous upgrades during the past five years and has become easier to use.

He said social networking avenues such as Twitter and Facebook could only improve that communication process among students and professors -- but there still needs to be some discussion about how to most effectively use the sites.

"We are aware these sites are out there and we love to talk about tweeting and twittering; it makes us sound up to date," Furlow said with a laugh. "There are so many different sites out there, we want to be sure we find the best one."

Social networking seems a natural for Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas, based in rural Helena.

"We're always fighting the tendency of students to go from the parking lot to the classroom and back to the parking lot and into their jobs and homes and their other life," said chancellor Steven Murray. "A lot of our students do not have computers at home, broadband Internet access, but they all have cellphones with the capacity to text, and ... access Twitter and Facebook."

BY MARY BETH MARKLEIN • USA TODAY • December 6, 2009

Eagle-Gazette Education Reporter Michelle George contributed to this article.

Source: http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20091206/NEWS01/912060324/1002