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Tips marked with an * indicates that
the tip is consistent with learnng-centered teaching
Positive Room Climate
A Guiding Principle for your interactions
with Students
Try to keep this in mind in all your interactions with students:
Students will forget what you say, forget what you do, but they
will never forget how you make them feel. Thanks to Ed. Neal, a
faculty developer at UNC for reminding us of this important guiding
principle.
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First day of class
Probably the most important agenda items to do the first day of
class is to establish rapport with the students. The time you spend
establishing rapport will pay off throughout the semester.
Try to make the students feel comfortable and help them overcome
their anxieties about this class
If possible try to learn their names as early as possible in the
semester as possible. This is even more appreciated in large classes.
Your interaction style may have greater impact on your success
as an instructor than your knowledge of the discipline.
First day of class
Probably one of the most important tasks for the first day of
class in a new semester, especially with new students, is to establish
a positive classroom climate. Here are some ways to establish and
maintain a positive classroom:
- get to class early and chat with students as you set up
- put the class name and number on board in bold letters so those
who are in wrong place can leave before you begin
- carefully structure how you will begin the class - people form
first impressions early provide information about you, the course
let the excitement about the field flow from you to the students
use some humor
- If you take roll, ask some questions of the students as you
to get to know them a bit. Let them ask questions about you
- Make expectations, availability, etc clear
- Directly state the goals for the course
- Model procedures you will be following such as: outline major
topics to be covered in class introduce, cover and wrap-up topic
class participation
- Learn students names as quickly as possible-use tools if necessary
- Answer questions
- Stick around after class if someone wants to talk to you individually
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Showing concern and helping students in
times of tragedy
In the wake of tragedies a particular group of individuals get
blamed by the media. Unfortunately sometimes there is a backlash
against people who share an ethnic/cultural/religious heritage with
those accused As faculty and role models is it especially important
that we try to protect our students from this hatred being expressed
on our campus. It is appropriate to announce that misguided generalizations
about certain groups do not apply to everyone in that group, to
show support for our students of that religious heritage and offer
your students opportunities to talk to you privately if they need
to.
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Do your students show respect and civility in
your classroom?
Some faculty have noticed that there is more cross talk (not directed
to the lecturer, or not on the topic when asked to discuss) and
some students are coming in late or leaving early. If this is a
problem for your classes, find out why it is happening. Give a 3x5
index card out and ask students to list why students are not showing
respect, or engaging in more talk that does not pertain to the classroom.
Ask them if they have any solutions. Then as soon as possible try
to talk to the class about what they said and what you are going
to do about it.
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How to handle innovations in your courses
Many faculty are trying innovations in their courses, either in
requiring more active learning by the students, using technology
more or made changes to the way the course was run from last year.
Change is difficult for everyone, especially students.
- Spend some time going over the new expectations or changes
with your students. Answer their questions and prime them for
what they will be doing or different responsibilities. The students
had expectations about what would happen and you have changed
them. They might resist even a good change just because it is
not what they expected
- Allow extra item in your planning the first time the innovation
is introduced.
- Do not expect the innovation to be perfect the first time you
do it
- If you are making major changes, let your colleagues know about
it and keep your chair informed as you go through the course.
Course evaluations may not look like they did in previous years
- Share your innovations with all the faculty and let us all
celebrate your good idea, perhaps adapt it for other uses.
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Mentoring
If you can help your students to feel comfortable saying and believing
each of the 4 following statements, you will probably significantly
help them to succeed
- I do not know
- I do not understand that, can you explain it?
- I made a mistake, how can I correct it now?
- I am proud of what I did
Paula Kramer, the chair of the OT Department at USP suggested
this tip.
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How are your students feeling
(psychologically) and doing?
Take a lesson from the USP Advisor of the Year from 1999-2000,
Bob Morgan. He feels the most important part of his teaching (and
his students agree) is the individual time he takes with students
and how much he shows that he cares about all of them. To put this
philosophy into practice, spend a few minutes in class from time
to time reaching out to the students as people. Ask how they are
feeling if they are happy at USP, with their classes, major, etc.
As a result of asking students, Bob reports that about 1/3 of
the current first year class questions if they make the right decision
coming to USP. Remember adjusting to this new phase of their lives
is difficult.
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Avoiding the mid-semester or March doldrums
in your classes
Mid-semester students often seem less interested than usual. To
regain their attention, or capture their interest, try some thing
different in your classes. Change what you do in a creative way.
Try a new activity with your class or change the peace or pattern
of the class.
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Inviting guest experts to your classroom
If you are planning to invite a guest expert to your classroom,
here are few suggestion:
- Steer clear of inviting the person to do a presentation or
speech
- Invite the person for a get acquainted with you or your work
session
- You should interview the person during the class that way you
can make sure the speaker Sticks to what are your objectives for
the session and the level of the class
- Ask the student to prepare a few questions on the topic in
advance
- Screen he questions and then let the students ask the questions
during the interview as they flow naturally
These ideas come from Lynn Sorenson at Brigham Young University
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*Do students pack up before the class is over?
To avoid premature preparation for leaving:
- List all items you want to cover on the board
- Have a student summarize all points made thus far prior to
the last point on the agenda
- Then cover the last point, allowing time for closure
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Maintaining a good atmosphere for teaching
and learning through to the end of the school year
Toward the end of the semester, especially during the spring semester,
some students seem a little less connected to their courses. One
way to maintain their connection to the faculty and to each other
is to encourage all students to treat each other and you with humility.
Do not allow students to say any ridiculing remarks about any one
else. Put downs of others are not part of good discussions. You
can institute this policy any time, reinforce it and most important,
model it yourself.
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Being prepared for class
Having all materials for class - Roger's box. Roger Ideishi an
a OT faculty member, keeps all necessary materials for class in
a plastic box. Items to include chalk, dry erase markers, erasers,
post-up notes, index cards, tissues, pens, pencils, reading glasses.
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Be prepared if your voice leaves you
This teaching tip comes from my personal experience. I was giving
a presentation as the invited keynote speaker at another college
and I started coughing from a cold. For the next few minutes I could
not speak. So, here is another thing to add to Roger's box - a few
cough drops. Once the drop (that someone else provided me with)
had dissolved my voice was fine and I could continue.
Other possibilities for such a time are to give a short classroom
assessment technique that the students have to write some review
or some questions until your voice returns.
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Catching up if you lost time from your
schedule
If you are currently a class or two behind, take some time now
to preplan the rest of the semester. Don't just drop the last topic
because you never got to it. You have several options-look at the
material to be covered and decide if some topic can be shortened
or have the students cover the material on their own. The students
could cover a chapter on their own by doing exercises or problems
and then get a quiz grade for their efforts. Perhaps you want to
restructure some-in-class assignments or assessment exercises. Whatever
you decide to do, put your revisions in writing and distribute the
revised plan to your students as quickly as you can. This will give
the students a sense of comfort and security that you have realigned
the course and will not just jam everything into the remaining time.
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New Year's Teaching Improvement Resolution
A colleague of mine, Kevin M. Johnston at Michigan State U. did
a survey of students concerning the most irritating behaviors of
faculty. I am sure his findings generalize to our campus. Read over
his list of the top most irritating faculty behaviors and see if
you could improve just 1 of these irritating behaviors. Resolve
that for 2002, you will improve 1 of these behaviors (in no particular
order):
- showing up late for class
- not controlling the class
- not showing up for office hours
- making students feel stupid, putting them down, or not showing
them respect
- not getting to know the students
- not following the syllabus
- writing on the board and blocking the information
- talking to the board
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Are you feeling behind in your class schedule?
Sometimes we lose class time due to weather or other situations
that were not planned in the original schedule. If you are feeling
that you are 1-2 classes behind where you planned to be now, take
a look at your remaining classes. Can you change some of your regularly
scheduled class time to be a distance activity? For example, can
you post your lecture notes for a easier to understand class electronically
and then ask the students to do the homework or exercises in class
on their own and then hand it in. Or you might ask the students
to read the textbook on the material that will not be covered in
class and for you to be available during office hours to answer
any questions from the material they need to cover on their own.
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*Still time to revise your syllabi
As the first week of the semester draws to a close, it is a good
time to make a few changes in your syllabi. Before doing so gather
some data from your students. Perhaps they would like to see the
test dates or due dates for assignments modified a little bit to
ease their overly heavy days. Do the students understand what is
expected of them? Perhaps you need to elaborate on what you want
them to do. After seeing who is registered for the class, do you
need to modify the schedule a little? Perhaps you need to spend
more or less time on the introductory material at the beginning
of the semester. Did enough copies of the textbook arrive at the
book store or do you need to modify some early assignments? These
are the types of minor modifications that you can make now and go
a long way to improving student learning and satisfaction in your
courses.
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Setting the right tone for your class, getting
to know your students
Early on in the semester, have a discussion with the students (can
be in small groups, with summaries reported back to you) about what
they expect in a class. What have they liked or disliked about classes
in the past. Ask whose responsibilities is it to establish or maintain
such a climate or a policy? This short discussion can give you insights
into how to improve your class and promotes learning-centered teaching.
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Making large classes more manageable
If you form groups for administrative purposes the size of a large
class can be more manageable. For example, each group can have a
folder and the folder can be how papers are handed in to you or
you to them. Once you have groups you might consider doing small
group activities with them. If you are going to do small group activities
you might arrange the groups by dividing the class in half by previous
grades. SAT scores, etc. then pug groups together by counting off
students from the top of the class to the middle and the middle
to the bottom. That way you have heterogeneous groups, but not so
diverse that it can be frustrating.
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*Getting students to focus on the class content
as they enter
Students can postpone starting a class by coming in a little late
or come on time and not focus on your class right away. Giving students
a warm up activity as they enter can get them focused on your class
and help fill the time effectively as class is starting. Barbara
Millis, who came to this campus last year, suggests the following
warm-up activity: Ask students to write down their knowledge of
the specific topic that you will be converge in class, (this technique
can work for lecture classes as well as other formats.) This list
formation will focus them on the content of the class and perhaps
remind them that they are supposed to come to class prepared and
have read the material before class.
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*Helping students learn to assess their
knowledge and to study more effectively
Ellen Flannery-Schroeder shared this easy to use tip with us in
the last TableTalks.
When you are constructing an exam you usually have a few dimensions
you are testing on. Give students feedback on what dimension this
question covered when you return the tests. For example, Ellen takes
her text questions both from her notes and from the textbook (not
covered in class).
She also asks factual and applied questions. Therefore, she asks
students to construct a 2x2 grid (where came from vs. type of question).
When students get an answer wrong they mark the appropriate cell.
They then know their own areas of weaknesses, e.g., applied questions
from the textbook. Her students loved this technique and felt that
it helped them to prepare better for future texts. While Ellen does
this with multiple choice questions, you could use it with other
types of questions. You might also change the dimensions to fit
your dimensions. Asking students to make this grid on the answers
they got wrong takes some of their anger away on the questions themselves
and lets them see their areas of weakness.
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Getting information about the students
during the first days of class
Many of us ask for contact information about our students , such
as names, email addresses, phone number (especially cell phone number),
address, major, etc. at the beginning of the course. Kevin Wolbach
suggests that you ask students to tell you a little about themselves,
such as interests or hobbies, outside responsibilities, etc. Kevin
also suggests that you use this card to ask students if they have
any questions about the course. This way you can gain a little feedback
on how clear the syllabus or you were the first day. Try to answer
these questions as soon as you can.
Take the first week of class in stride, it is one of the most stressful
for all faculty.
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Increasing student satisfaction and
decreasing student anxiety in your course through knowledge of dates
for evaluation
A recent study of domains that students like and those that cause
them anxiety found an inverse relationship between satisfaction
and anxiety on items that tell students what to expect and what
they will do. While this finding was true for all levels of students,
it was the truest for undergraduate students. Giving students a
course syllabus, dates for tests and deadlines for assignments in
advance, and having specific grading criteria outlined in advance
were the items valued the highest by students compared to domains
that were valued less including those that focused on content of
lectures and clear outlines of lectures. Further the results of
this study found that students are frequently less concerned about
the content of a course, what they will be tested on, or how they
will be tested, or how they will be tested than they were about
receiving advance information related to what to expect and when
in terms of evaluations. The study was conducted at a school where
the students carry a high number of credits per term and often feel
time pressured.
The study was reported by DeRoma and Slater, Student Preferences
for specific domains of course structure. Journal of Student-Centered
Learning, 2005, 2:131-137.
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Establishing a positive classroom climate
from the beginning
According to research students typically decide what kind of teacher
you are and what kind of class this will be within the first 15
minutes of the first class. Here are some ideas to get the class
off to a good start:
- Put the class name and number on the board before class so students
can check if they are in the right room
- Be very enthusiastic about the discipline you are teaching and
the course itself
- Use a little humor
- Try to get to know students as asking them something about themselves
(either orally or on a paper)
- Tell them a little something about yourself
- If possible, learn students names as quickly as possible and
refer to students by name
- Stress your availability-when and how
- Come prepared with al the materials you need and plan how you
want to conduct the first class more carefully than you usually
do.
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Getting students to listen to each other
in class discussions
When you ask students to speak in class, do not repeat what they
say. If you repeat what they say,the students will learn not to
listen to each other and only to listen to you. Also ask your students
to comment on each other's comments or to summarize what was said.
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Getting students to hear you
People, especially those with less power or status than you have,
do not hear you unless they feel that you will or have listened
to them. This is a good tip for interacting with many people, but
especially our students,
This tip or way of treating people with civility come from Jennifer
Beer the civility speaker at USP on March 2, 2006.
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Learning names of students early in the
class
Draw a small box in front of the last name of your students on
the class list prior to class. During the first class, divide the
students into groups of threes and ask them to introduce themselves
to one another and share some information about themselves. Then
ask students within groups to introduce each other, e.g. a introduces
b, b introduces c, c introduces a and talks about them.
As soon as the person is introduced, find his/her name on your
class roster. Write down any nicknames or how to pronounce the name.
Look directly at the student being introduced and silently repeat
his/her name. Once the introduction is over, address the introduced
person by name and ask a question to that person. Acknowledge the
student by name after the comment and use the name again asking
that person to introduce the next person. Try to use each person's
name at least 2-3 times. During the rest of the class make an effort
to call on each student by name whenever you can.
Place a dot in box relating to the location in the room where the
student is sitting, top-back, bottom, front, left, right. Most students
will sit in the same place next class, especially since they either
were sitting with their friends or have now gotten to know some
students in the room better. Learning student names helps students
to think you regard them as individuals and with respect. Students
will know there is no hiding in your class.
This idea comes from David Howle (2005) The Best of the Teaching
Professor, p.32 Magna Publishers.
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Helping students who are not doing well in
your class
It is a good idea to make an effort to help students who are not
doing well in your classes. You might make a special effort to call
them in for a 1:1 chat, offer tutoring, remind them of SI tutoring,
ask them to talk to their advisor, etc. Sometimes the personal reaching
out may be enough to help them get the help they need or make a
connection with you. However, actually contacting them can be time
consuming and if we send out a broad email to all students who are
not doing well we are violating their privacy and students may not
read mass messages. However, if you email the message to yourself
and put the students' names as a blind copy, each student will receive
the email with only his/her name on it. You can easily select the
students you want to email from the class list if you have set up
a BlackBoard account for this course.
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Making sense of students' complaints that
the instructor or the course was unfair
Research shows that students complain that a course or an instructor
was unfair when there is a disconnect among the goals or objectives
of the class, what the instructor did in class, such as how the
students were taught, what the students were expected to do and
how they were assessed. Courses that are aligned or consistent in
all of these areas are more likely to be perceived as fair. Students
might think that they are too difficult or too challenging, but
fair if they are aligned.
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Getting your students to appreciate you
Some schools use a voluntary thank your professor activity where
students can write notes to their professors to thank them for any
number of things. It is a way to show appreciation for a professor.
When people analyze what students thank professors for the most,
the characteristic most frequently valued is that the professor
showed they cared about the student as a person and as a learner.
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How to handle a dysfunctional group
Often when students are assigned group tasks, one student does
much more work than the others. If you hear this is happening in
several of your groups, remove the over-achiever from their groups,
and put all of them together. This will serve lots of purposes:
the over-achievers will be rewarded by being in a great group that
can really get things done, the less motivated students will have
to work harder to get the job done and there will be more group
learning.
Barbara Oakley suggested this idea
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Dealing with a student who does not seem
to listen to you in a 1:1 situation
When you feel you are knocking your head against a wall trying
to get your point across to a student, especially if it is about
a difference of opinion or a grade, it might be more that the student
feels that you are not listening to him/her. People can only hear
to learn or come to understand when they feel they have been listened
to.
Jenny Beer suggested this tip.
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Helping students to realize that they earn
their grades
Just prior to when you are about to go over your grading schemes
for your courses, ask your students to note what grade they expect
or hope to make in this course. Then tell them what you expect that
they will do to earn an A,B,C etc. This is especially important
if you have different work or additional work to earn a higher grade.
Some students think that doing all the assignments earns them an
A. You might talk about the quality of assignments or writing expected
and how an A paper exceeds the quality of a B paper. If you allow
students to redo an assignment but then can only earn a grade less
than full credit on the second try, make sure you tell them that
point.
Andrew Peterson suggested this tip.
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The importance of food for classes during meal
times, especially over dinner
If you teach long classes that run over a meal time and especially
those that start at 5 or 6PM, insure that they are not hungry. You
can either bring food and put out a plate to cover the costs of
the food or ask students, on a rotating basis to bring food to share
with others. Try to provide real meal food and not just empty sugar
calories. Students will concentrate better when they are not hungry
and will also like your class better.
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Rules of effective dialogue in the classroom
You can either use this technique at the beginning of a semester
or part way through when you are not pleased with the civility in
the classroom.
Begin the discussion by asking the class to list as a large group
the things that other classmates do or the instructor does that
drive you crazy. Then ask people to list the behaviors that people
could do to make the classes more enjoyable. Then ask the class,
for today, would everyone please practices using the behaviors that
would make class more enjoyable and refrain from using the behaviors
that drive people crazy. At the end ask the class if the class was
more enjoyable and would they like to continue using these rules
of dialogue. The goal is to continue these rules so that they become
the class norm. Ultimately, the class collectively should police
each other's behaviors without 1 person, especially the instructor
being the heavy-handed person. If you can achieve these goals, your
class will be more comfortable and a safer place.
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Do your student's grandparents always
die when there are deadlines?
I read of a clever way to see if your students are telling the
truth about their grandparents passing away when you have assignments.
Send a sympathy card to the student's family. If the person did
pass away, you will be seen as very compassionate. If not, the family
caught your student in a lie and most likely your student will not
try this again.
Karen Eifler of University of Portland wrote about this in the
Teaching Professor, March 2006.
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*Grading for student groups
Excellent students are often anxious about receiving group grades
for group assignments because they feel their grade may be lower
than what they usually receive. Students need to have a mechanism
for letting you know about their peers who did not contribute or
were even worse. You need to give students permission to fire a
group member or leave the group themselves to become part of another
group. However, before they take such a drastic step, they should
try to work out problems and discuss their concern with you. If
students have not let you know about any problems during the term,
they may find that their group project is not as good as it could
have been and their grade may reflect that lack of communication.
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