Reaction to Readings (Blog #11)

~*My Freshman Year*~

What was the most surprising aspect of the book, and why did it surprise you?

The aspect of the book that I felt was most surprising was Nathan’s observation of the public and private divisions allocated by the students and that academics is placed in the public domain and rarely in the private. She discovered a “…conversational boundary between course/formal time and free/informal time” (pg. 97). She stated that conversations or issues presented in class that seemed likely to spill over across the boundary to the world outside of the classroom was dropped the moment students walked out of class. It seemed to Nathan, and myself as I read, that the students simply put on a show for the professor only to leave the classroom, dropping the act, and to never, at least out loud, think about the issue again.

I found this division of class and free time surprising because it did not seem to represent my experiences as an undergraduate. Perhaps it was a unique combination of professor, classmates, and my own interests, but often if we had a very engaging debate in class, my friends and I would find ourselves continuing to discuss it after class. Although it was not always a formal discussion after class, we typically still talked about the issue and continued chattering about it and I often found myself sharing interesting issues or debates from class with my family or significant other. One possibility is that the peers I associated with and myself, fall into the “outsiders” category of students; those who value intellectual discourse, respect good grades, and have close relationships with faculty.

In light of the challenges faced by undergraduate students highlighted in the book, what advice would you give new college instructors?

The first piece of vital advice I would give a new college instructor is to remember to make clear how each and every reading, assignment, or issue is relevant to the class or to the students’ past, present, or future lives. This is important for two primary reasons. First, students are more likely to complete the work if it seems relevant to them. Often in the book, students reported that they did not do “busy work” or readings that did not seem important or relevant either to the class, their lives, or what they wanted to do in life. Second, student responses to Nathan’s inquiries about cheating also indicated that it is OK to cheat “when the info on the test/paper/homework is totally irrelevant,” “when it’s a liberal studies class that has no relevance to your major,” and finally “…they are making you learn [info] you know you won’t ever use again” (pg. 126). Relevance, to the class and to student’s lives, both past and present, is a recurring issue that seems to present itself again and again. Obviously there will always be the student’s who simply don’t care to do the work or will cheat no matter how relevant the information is, but by making the relevance apparent to the class, the overall number of these incidences might be greatly decreased.

The second piece of advice is to give students multiple options for a large assignment, such as a paper, throughout the term. For example, if students must complete two term papers, then provide them three to four opportunities to complete the paper. This is important for two reasons. First, it may help undergraduates who are struggling to juggle the many academic and personal balls they have in the air manage their time. They can plan to complete the paper at a time when other courses do not have major work due. Secondly, by providing students with choices, the professor is catering to their need for “freedom.” A large theme in the book was that student’s like to appear to have choices and freedom in their decisions.

My last piece of advice would be to remember that although your particular class is important, it is NOT the only class that students are taking. There have been numerous times that I’ve very much wanted to tell one of my professors that, but held my tongue and did my work. Students will not tell you when your demands are perhaps too taxing when taking all their other course work in mind. New college professors should not “dumb down” their course work load, but should keep this piece of advice in their mind when scheduling and creating their course.

Has this book changed your perspective on undergraduate students? If no, why not? If so, how so?

Apart from a the aspect already mentioned above, that the students have private and public domains of academic information, I would have to say that this book did not change my perspective on undergraduate students. This is because I currently find myself with one foot in each world, straddling the line between student and teacher. It was not long ago, only three years, that I lived in the dorms, and just over four years since I was a freshman. I am still very much juggling many balls, trying to keep them all into the air. I still find myself having to sacrifice some of the school work for other school work or even for a brief personal life. I was the undergraduate described in this book at one time in my life, and although I feel that I did quickly become an “outsider,” I very recently was a part of this culture. I believe my transition to an “outsider” began in my sophomore year, therefore I experienced the culture described by Nathan for an entire year.

I once read an article as an undergraduate that stated that this generation, and those to come, is the most egocentric generation the U.S. has ever experienced. This is apparent in college. Course schedules, subject matter, assignments, and extracurricular activities all best serve the undergraduate population when made relevant to their world.

Reaction to Readings (Blog #10)

This week's readings covered the final chapters of McKeachie's Teaching Tips. Following the traditional blog format, I've outlined the concepts I felt were useful, how I plan to implement them in my own teaching experiences, and how such concepts are or could be implemented in the field of psychology.

The first suggestion I feel is important to note is the concept of being sure to encourage students to set useful goals for class. This is important because it helps students develop strategic learning skills and most importantly, it helps generate and maintain motivation. I plan to implement this suggestion in two ways. First, I hope to frequently identify how material in class might be useful to the students and their overall goals. Second, I plan to also discuss how the various topics we're focusing on in class relate to students past, current, and future lives, in other words how the material personally relates to and affects them.

In the field of psychology, this is done quite frequently, however, often for other reasons than for goal setting. Usually, the material covered in psychology courses is abstract and can be difficult to understand. However, all of our lives, ever single student's life, is affected by psychology and the concepts covered by psychology are present in every day life. Instructors often use the approach of relating information to students' lives in order to enhance comprehension.

The second concept I feel is important is to be sure to help students build bridges between what they already know and what they're trying to learn. This is important because, according to McKeachie, this type of strategy has been shown to increase comprehension tenfold. I plan to implement this suggestion by frequently tying new topics into previous ones. For example, when discussing each new clinical disorder chapter, I would be sure to refer back to our discussion on the definitions of abnormal behavior, the process of diagnosing and assessing, and how previously learned treatment strategies apply to new disorders.

Next, I think an interesting, and useful, suggestion from the reading is to not answer every student question. Instead, turn student questions into an opportunity for all the students to think, brainstorm, reflect, and provide opinions. I would be there to provide suggestions, facilitate discussion, and of course make any corrections necessary. This is important because it is a type of active learning in which students can help one another and feel more involved in the learning process. A similar suggestion I hope to implement is to encourage students to share examples of successful approaches with each other. This is an important self-regulation technique which is useful because it provides students with an opportunity to discuss what works and what doesn't, learn new learning strategies, and to learn self-regulation skills (determine what self strategies are beneficial and harmful). I plan to implement this suggestion after exams. On the day that we discuss the results as a class, I plan to allow for time for the class to have an open discussion about studying strategies that worked and did not work for them. This would also be a good teaching and modeling moment on my behalf for the students. This suggestion also fits well with my previous ideas of implementing study groups in the classroom. The groups could discuss these issues on a small group basis rather than as a large class, and thereby encouraging more discussion.

The last suggestion, similar to the previous one noted, is to provide examples to the students of specific student DOs and DONTs. I would choose common mistakes student's make and discuss them, providing visual, concrete examples, and being sure to preserve anonymity. Similar to the previous suggestion, this is important because it helps students self-regulate, recognizing mistakes and providing them the opportunity to correct, and to learn successful learning strategies. I plan to use this suggestion before the first large paper assignment, before any "diary/blog" assignments, and before the first exam. Following the first introductory stage of the assignment, I feel it is the student's responsibility to remember the examples and utilize the opportunity to their benefit.

Additional Links and Information:

From an APA Journal - Teaching Students How to Learn

A Professor's Duties: Ethical Issues in College Teaching

Ethical Issues of College Teaching Professionals