A Teacher's Sketchbook
Monday, April 14, 2014
What if Universities Put Education First?
In the TED Talk, Professor David Helfand presents an alternative to the modern university, one that ditches departments, levels hierarchy and places education first.
Monday, February 10, 2014
How to Recover from a False Start?
Experimentation and spontaneity can create a dynamic and exciting classroom environment, but what happens when experiments flop? For over three years now I’ve been teaching American Political Thought online. The students are required to complete weekly readings and short writing assignments in addition to a midterm and a final.
But after a very successful summer course on Media and Politics where I had students create and maintain blogs on Tumblr, I decided to try something new. I scraped all of the traditional assignments and replaced them with a class blog called: what would the founders do?
The idea was simple: our class would work together to provide robust commentary and insight on contemporary events based on key themes and arguments from our reading. In addition, I challenged the students to develop strategies to build a readership and offered extra-credit points for the articles with the most comments and shares.
The possibilities seemed endless. But the project failed to launch. One, two, three weeks passed without a single student posting on the blog. Despite daily reminders, pleas, trouble-shooting technical difficulties only three students out of fifteen participated on the page.
Frustrated and at a loss, I decided to change course. In an attempt to recover I scrapped the project and returned to my old syllabus. I gave students an option to pursue a dual track – they could continue writing for the blog or they could do reading responses. Only one student opted for the blog.
By changing the syllabus three weeks into the semester, I risked my authority as the professor but it allowed me to reengage the bulk of students who were otherwise lost. While I survived the semester, I paid for it in the number of email clarifications I sent and perpetually tardy assignments.
It also meant that this semester, I have been much more hesitant to experiment.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Advice from Students on Good Writing
Recently, I asked my students: what barriers stand between good and bad writing? What prevents them from handing in quality work?
They had a lot of good insight. Here are four problems that they identified:
Don’t overthink sentences:
Students think writing needs to be academic, ornate, and formal. I have no idea where they got these ideas from. As a result, their essays can appear like a well-meaning party guest in an ill-fitting tuxedo. They flex the binder of their virtual thesaurus (AKA Google) and pose as a sesquipedalian. They bury the subject and the verb in the back of the sentence. Because, well, if they wrote it like they’d say it, it’d be too causal. That may be true. But balance is the key.
Don’t procrastinate:
Another group of students complained that they couldn’t write unless they had an intrinsic drive, so they would just wait until the last moment. And it’s true. When an assignment piqued their imagination, they shined. When they were bored, they dulled. Many of these students confessed that they loved to write, just not the assignments and tests they receive in school. Well, that’s understandable. But, truth be told, most people have to work for a living. If part of your job entails writing, well, it’s contingent on other people. Just be grateful you’re not a technical writer for a lumber company…unless of course, you work as a technical writer for a lumber company.
What’s the solution? Set a specific time and space to write every day. Or, as one student noted thoughtfully – do the least savory work first.
Revise:
Many college classes overemphasize the final draft of a paper. In my experience, many professors will agree to read early drafts if requested, but few require multiple drafts. And this goes for both grad school and undergrad. As a result, students never learn the steps or strategies to good revision. My advice – ok, ok, it’s really Roy Peter Clark’s advice – start big, then go small. In other words, focus first on structure and organization and then edit for style and grammar. On the first point, I always advise students to re-outline their paper AFTER they have completed a first draft. This helps capture a big picture overview of their argument and content. It helps to determine a few key factors: order of thoughts, key elements, and superfluous content. On the second point, I advise – again, not original to me – for students to read their work aloud – emphasis on loud -- and pay attention to the moments when they stumble or sound awkward.
Don't sweat page requirements:
When some students run out of stuff to say…they just talk till they fill the required space. So, how can you expand your ideas without producing fluff? Use examples to help provide context to difficult ideas or elaborate on the significance of your argument. Use conjunctions to link and expand ideas: for, and, nor, but, etc. Use subordinate clauses to add contrast. These are sentences that start with although, nevertheless, unless, if.
Are you a TA or a student? Comment and share a note about your experience as a grader…or someone being graded.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Teaching Through the College Transition
In my three years teaching at UMass, I’ve had hundreds of students. If you count my time as a teaching assistant,
that number would be in the thousands.
In all that time, I only met one set of parents – it was move in week
and we bumped into each other at a café.
While secondary school teachers are in a game of chess,
negotiating school administrations, unions, helicopter parents and students,
College professors are playing checkers.
They have the distinct advantage of singular, content-based focus. In other words, all they have to worry about
is education. But the singular focus,
risks myopia. College marks that
strange, awkward (and now prolonged) transition to independence and
adulthood. It’s those very struggles
that often enter into the classroom sideways – chronic tardiness, sleeping in
class, plagiarism, generally being unprepared.
Which makes me think – is the single focus flawed? Would a broader perspective help professors
connect with students and teach their material? And
if so, what would that look like?
UMass, Amherst’s Residential Academic Program (RAP) might
provide a model: Students live together
in the same dorm and take three classes together – one in the dorm room. It’s an opportunity for a small college experience
at a big research university. The class
provides a bridge between college life and college responsibilities. As an instructor, there is one big difference
– it’s not just an educational environment, it’s a social environment. While in my traditional classes, students
hardly speak to one another before or after class, in RAP classes, I often had
a hard time getting students to stop talking.
On the one hand, it made my job more difficult – I had to
balance a social dynamic in addition to class requirements and content
instruction. But on the other hand, it
helped deliver a more meaningful classroom experience for the students. Many of whom, stay in touch.
But the parents – for better and for worse – are still
absent from the picture. I’m not
suggesting that helicopter parents should make the trip to college. But is there a presence of absence that
should be acknowledge or considered? And
if so, what does that look like?
Reading an Op-Ed in the Washington Post this morning by
Michael Gerson reminded me that there is a complex social and familial dynamic –
alongside the complex economic calculation – underpinning the college
experience. And professors would be
crazy to think that that doesn’t creep into the classroom.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Taking College Classes Public Via Tumblr
The
emergence of social media fundamentally changes the way people read, discover
and create news. It has also transformed
communication and media strategies for business, non-profits and politicians. Those who succeed are the ones who can shape
the conversation, connect with people and build a coalition of supporters.
In other
words, the people who understand and adapt communication technologies have the
best chance at getting elected, advancing policy alternatives and driving
change.
While
the technology has changed, the principle remains the same. Take for example the story of Ben Franklin: In 1729 the people of Philadelphia
debated whether or not to increase the amount of paper money in the
colony. Ben Franklin recounts the story in his autobiography:
“Our debates possessed me so fully of the subject that I wrote and printed an anonymous pamphlet on it, entitled “The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency.” It was well received by the common people in general, but the rich men disliked it, for it increased and strengthened the clamor for more money; and they happening to have no writers among them that were able to answer it, their opposition slackened and the point was carried by a majority in the House. My friends there, who considered I had been of some service, thought fit to reward me by employing me in printing the money; a very profitable job and a great help to me. This was another advantage gained by my being able to write.”
Over the last three centuries, there have been monumental
changes in communication technology (obviously). But there is one thing
that hasn’t changed: The ability to write, to connect and to communicate
effects change. It matters for politics, it matters for business and it
matters for life.
This summer, I have been teaching Media and Politics at
UMass, Amherst. The class provides a
historical and theoretical overview of communication technology and how these
technologies have been used to govern and effect policy. But the class also challenges students to engage
the practical application of social media.
The class project asks students to monitor and analyze a
single issue across a six week period and record their analysis through blog posts
on Tumblr. The project entails three dimensions: 1) the
quality of analysis; 2) a strategy memo on how to build an engage an audience;
3) a reflection paper about what they learned about media and politics. It asks students to break out of the class,
build an audience and connect with the world.
The results so far have been astounding. The public component of the blog has motivated
the students to produce higher quality content and to be actively engaged in
the course. It also creates an opportunity
for the students to not just learn about the symbiotic relationship between
media and politics, but to experience and understand it.
Here are some examples of their work:
Friday, August 2, 2013
Does Grade Inflation Help Students?
It’s
impossible not to notice rampant grade inflation across university campuses and
the inflated expectations that inevitable follow. The new question is: does
grade inflation help students or hurt students?
According
to Inside Higher Ed, professors and Universities that have lenient grading
policy give students an advantage in applying to graduate school.
“New research in the journal PLOS
ONE has
found that admissions officers appear to favor applicants with better grades at
institutions where everyone is earning high grades over applicants with lower
grades at institutions with more rigorous grading. The research is based on an
experiment involving 23 admissions officers and on long-term, real data on
applicants to four competitive M.B.A. programs.”
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/30/study-suggests-admissions-decisions-reward-grade-inflation#ixzz2ajlbE5qr
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/30/study-suggests-admissions-decisions-reward-grade-inflation#ixzz2ajlbE5qr
I don’t
really care about grades. I would be
happy to give out 100 A’s every semester.
But I do care about quality work.
The problem is that too often students who expect an A tend to pass in
subpar work, while the students with low expectations wrestle with assignments and
grow by leaps and bounds.
While higher grades may increase a
student’s chances at being accepted to graduate school, I worry that grade inflation
teaches students that they can do mediocre work and receive an exceptional
grade.
If that’s the case, then students entering
a competitive graduate school or the workforce are in for a rude
awakening.
What do you think? Comment below, does grade inflation help or hurt college students?
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