Chand Chauhan Yvonne Zubovic FACET Retreat May18, 2013

What is an Excellent Teacher?

What the students said… Can teach in a clear, organized way (24) Caring, compassionate, interested in student success (18) Approachable/makes student feels comfortable (11) Passionate/excited about teaching (10) Well informed in his /her area (8) Helps students prepare for the test (6) Can engage students effectively (5) Able to explain in more than one way Prepares for life Challenges students

How would you define “learning”?

What the students said… Ability to solve problems on my own. Understand new information and be able to apply it. Becoming aware of important information. Self improvement: beyond knowing the facts and skills. Ability to understand concepts. Comprehend and reproduce the information with ease. Learning is more effective when students take an active role. Gaining knowledge or skills through study, practice, or experience.

Roles and Relationships From Students’ Perspective: Ideal from Educators’ Perspective: Teacher: Knowledgeable, judge, lectures in well organized manner, prepare us for exams, caring Student: Learn new facts/information, prepares for exam. Follow instructions, take notes, memorize, etc. Teacher: Student:

Conflicting Educational Objectives Students: Get a good grade with minimum effort. Educators : Enhance critical /independent thinking. Provide life long learning tools/habits. Administrators : Improved retention, graduation rates.

Comfort to Creative Learning Zone Comfort Creative Learning Educator: Lecturing (role) “Cover” material My way Students: Receiving information (role) Passive Learning for tests Educator: Facilitating learning centered interactions “Uncover” material Our way (mutual) Students: Seeking understanding Active Life-long learning

Why Leave Our Comfort Zones?

Students are demonstrating rote memory of information rather than deep understanding of concepts Not retaining concepts over time (not successful at next level) Not able to see connections between different courses or different concepts within same course Not able to apply concepts to real life problems Do not appreciate the discipline

Some of Our Challenges Lack of classroom engagement Define student engagement and it’s importance Define reasons for the lack of student engagement. Ways to enhance. Outcomes Increased # of students participating in discussions Increased # of students willing to share their work with the class (board, group, etc.),a short talk, research. Increased # of students finding applications outside of class

Student Engagement Student engagement, learning are inseparable. Learning is a shared responsibility. Learning is a continuous process. Being connected with the content, with other students, and with the teacher. Being engaged both inside/outside the class. Take an active role in deeper understanding. Classroom engagement should be a norm, and not an activity to earn bonus points.

Reasons for the lack of classroom engagement : Fear of being judged. Processing new information, notes taking, listening, and engaging in independent thinking may be too much. From students’ perspective: Its not part of learning. Too set in their comfort zone: classroom is a place to take notes. Learning occurs just before the test. No real value of engagement: Their value= grade value. Some educators hesitate to leave the comfort zone. Time taken for student activity is an issue for educators.

Ways to Enhance Engagement: Know your students 1. Extrovert: often over participating, energize in a group, like to speak, lead, give ideas. 2. Introvert: take time to respond, use long term memory to build ideas, may sometimes seem uninterested, prefer to work alone or in small group, unlikely to lead or volunteer, take their share of work seriously, likely to speak when called upon. 3. Shy: need more motivation, fear of being wrong/judged,, resist to come out of the comfort zone. WE SHOULD NOT TRY TO CHANGE PERSONALITIES. WE SHOULD MAKE ROOM FOR VARIOUS FORMS OF ACTIVITIES.

Strategies to involve introvert students Provide opportunity to do internet search on content related topics, and then give a 3 to 4 minute talk. Assign a challenging problem as a home work assignment, to be discussed in the classroom. Provide opportunity for students to help other students. Directly call on the student to engage. Such people may talk when given the floor to do so. Create a strategy in the classroom where each student is randomly called, such as using a pair of dice.

Some common strategies to enhance engagement Be an active listener: specially if an answer is incorrect.“ Don’t force your style / wording. Avoid the word “wrong”. Respect an unfamiliar idea. Involve other student: “Can you repeat what he just said in your own words?” “Do you think his/her reasoning works all the time?” Can you think of a counter example? “ Do you agree or disagree?” This allows students to focuses their attention on what their classmates are saying. It also helps to strengthen the connections between ideas. Use an incorrect/incomplete answer as an opportunity to open a meaningful discussion. Become a facilitator who generates interest and includes all students. Tactfully discourage over participators.

Another Challenge Lack of daily preparation Questions as you read Reading quizzes or informal CAT Redesign class session—spend time on challenging concepts, applying to problems Outcomes: Spend less time on “remedial” concepts Fewer mistakes of “low level” Students participation increased in small groups

Comfort to Creative Learning Zone Comfort Creative Learning Educator: Lecturing (role) “Cover” material My way Students: Receiving information (role) Passive Learning for tests Educator: Facilitating learning centered interactions “Uncover” material Our way (mutual) Students: Seeking understanding Active Life-long learning

Take time to think about… Identify one challenge Identify one strategy that pulls you outside of your comfort zone that may address this challenge How might you assess whether your strategy is effective?

References Dallimore, E. J., Hertenstein, J. H., and Platt, M. B.,(2004). Classroom participation and discussion effectiveness: Student generated strategies. Communication in Education, 53 (1), McPherson, M. B., and Liang, Y. (2007). Students’ reactions to teachers’ management of compulsive communicators. Communication Education, 56 (1),