In our readings this week we learned a bit about nonconscious learning - what we learn and our students learn that we are not aware of. I liked a pull quote in the chapter that summed up the idea that there is a big difference "between teaching and learning."
The chapter outlined many different ways that students can perceive certain things about the teaching, class or material that is not spoken aloud as part of the lecture. One thing I found particularly interesting that I mentioned in a previous post is the teacher's appearance. Since the beginning of the semester I have tried to make sure I always dress professionally when I will be teaching either of my classes. While I know this is not important to all teachers, it is important to me mainly because of my age and look - some of my students are the same age or older than me and so by dressing like an instructor and not a student I can be sure to separate myself from them on that level. In general I think it's important to dress for where you want to go and not where you might think you are - while I am only a graduate teaching assistant right now, I want to teach after I graduate and so there is no reason not to start dressing for success now! While I've thought these things, both consciously and unconsciously in the past, it was interesting to read that there is research to back up my thoughts that how a teacher dresses can unconsciously send the students a message and affect how they learn.
The chapter gave various tips for how to make the most of unconscious learning. They fell in line with many of the tips we already learned in books like Train Smart and the Ultimate Training Handbook - for example, active learning, varying the visual field and incorporating stories and examples. The first one is one I find particularly important as it sets the whole tone for everything I do as an instructor in my classroom: "Model a positive attitude and enjoyment of learning." I try to do this in various ways, keeping my statements positive, leaving life problems at the door when I go into the classroom and giving students personal examples about material that has helped or struck me. Showing the students why I care about what I teach is, I think, a great way to get them to care too, or at least get them to think about why they should care. This ties in to a later section of the chapter which talks about suggestion; everything we do and say in a classroom suggests something to the students. So if we can strive to make our suggestions positive and affirming as much as possible, we can increase student learning and potential.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Managing problematic students
Chapter 16 of the Ultimate Training Workshop Handbook outlines various ways to encourage and handle participation in a workshop. The part I was most interested in involves how to deal with problematic participants. There are various problems that I see or think I might run into in my Comm 101 classes.
First Klatt outlines some suggestions for how to deal with students who under-participate. The first way he suggests is one way I already get students involved. I have them discuss what we are talking about with a partner. That puts them in a one-on-one situation where they have to really work on not participating. That way I can then call us back into a group discussion and I can call on people if they don't participate and I know they have talked about the subject somewhat so I hopefully am less likely to be met with a blank stare. Klatt also makes a few other suggestions including polling students - I have tried this and find that many students just don't bother participating in the poll - and giving lots of verbal and nonverbal feedback - which I think can help somewhat as it shows students they will get reinforcement if they do participate. I have used the first strategy a lot in my early Comm 101 class because my students can just sit there sleepy and not participate. I'm glad I now have another idea to incorporate!
The next problem goes in the opposite direction, how to deal with students who over-participate - those dominating students who think that everything they have to say is the most important thing (I'm sure every teacher sees them at some point and I have one very boring one in one of my classes!). Again, just getting the students into a one-on-one situation here can help and then the student will have a chance to get their point out there. I can also be assured that everyone will have at least something to say so I can call on other students who are not speaking up because one student is dominating. Klatt also says just giving that student recognition can be enough since that is all they might be seeking. Another way to deal with the student might be to ask closed-ended questions - although I don't think this is something I want to do often because I like to foster discussion with open-ended questions - and simply asking other students to join in can be helpful.
Finally, managing when participants are overly agressive is another issue Klatt outlines some potential solutions to. Giving the person attention and showing their point is made can be helpful in making sure they know they are heard - writing down their point on the board or repeating it back to them. The author suggests using humor carefully or being direct and asking the student to reserve their judgment for the moment. I have used the latter strategy in my classes. Specifically, I have one student who likes to play "devil's advocate" and question a lot of things that I am talking about. Sometimes I just have to ask them to reserve their comments to the end of my lecture and I'll give time for questions then. Usually they just forget or boil it down to one comment so it has proved somewhat effective so far.
First Klatt outlines some suggestions for how to deal with students who under-participate. The first way he suggests is one way I already get students involved. I have them discuss what we are talking about with a partner. That puts them in a one-on-one situation where they have to really work on not participating. That way I can then call us back into a group discussion and I can call on people if they don't participate and I know they have talked about the subject somewhat so I hopefully am less likely to be met with a blank stare. Klatt also makes a few other suggestions including polling students - I have tried this and find that many students just don't bother participating in the poll - and giving lots of verbal and nonverbal feedback - which I think can help somewhat as it shows students they will get reinforcement if they do participate. I have used the first strategy a lot in my early Comm 101 class because my students can just sit there sleepy and not participate. I'm glad I now have another idea to incorporate!
The next problem goes in the opposite direction, how to deal with students who over-participate - those dominating students who think that everything they have to say is the most important thing (I'm sure every teacher sees them at some point and I have one very boring one in one of my classes!). Again, just getting the students into a one-on-one situation here can help and then the student will have a chance to get their point out there. I can also be assured that everyone will have at least something to say so I can call on other students who are not speaking up because one student is dominating. Klatt also says just giving that student recognition can be enough since that is all they might be seeking. Another way to deal with the student might be to ask closed-ended questions - although I don't think this is something I want to do often because I like to foster discussion with open-ended questions - and simply asking other students to join in can be helpful.
Finally, managing when participants are overly agressive is another issue Klatt outlines some potential solutions to. Giving the person attention and showing their point is made can be helpful in making sure they know they are heard - writing down their point on the board or repeating it back to them. The author suggests using humor carefully or being direct and asking the student to reserve their judgment for the moment. I have used the latter strategy in my classes. Specifically, I have one student who likes to play "devil's advocate" and question a lot of things that I am talking about. Sometimes I just have to ask them to reserve their comments to the end of my lecture and I'll give time for questions then. Usually they just forget or boil it down to one comment so it has proved somewhat effective so far.
How effective is online learning?
Kristine and I attended a workshop last week and I just realized that I forgot to blog about it at the time. Hopefully I'll remember enough to write about but I suppose it will allow me a retrospective look and I'll just write about the things that were most important :)
The workshop was a Learning Lunch put on by the Center for Teaching. Titled "Changing text, changing brains: Conversations about literacy, genre and neuroscience and what this means for student writing." The group of professors and instructors present talked about the rise of online tools in teaching - specifically for reading and writing - and the general rise of internet and technologically mediated communication, and how this is changing the way students learn.
One thing they mentioned that I have heard before is the "F pattern" of reading on a webpage. This research doesn't specifically apply to academic work, it apparently is for any type of online resource. But basically it says that people are most likely to read in this pattern - look at the computer screen and imagine the vertical line of the letter F running all the way down the left side of the page. Then fill in the rest of the letter across the screen. That is the most common area that is read by people in general in an online format. This might be helpful for me when assigning students work they will read or complete online. I'll have to make sure the most important and pertinent information is in that F to be sure they are more likely to read it.
One thing I questions the professors about that I have noticed in my classes was the way students use "text speak" in their papers and whether this is a more recent change; since I have only been teaching college students this semester for the first time I have no frame of reference when I see a student leave I uncapitalized or other such things that are now common, because quick texting with no thought for grammatical correctness becomes more commonplace. Many of the teachers present were nodding in agreement as I explained what I observed about students writing in this way and many spoke up saying it was something they see an increasing problem. However, one made the valid comment that students will always make mistakes and not proofread so this is not really that different to mistakes they made in the past.
One recommendation from an English instructor was understanding that students can be a lot more distracted by all their technology these days and accepting that so we can address it. She suggests making a deal with students that they can have a two minute technology break to check their texts, Facebook or email, if they will make every effort to pay attention for the rest of class. I'm not sure how well that would work because it seems like students might be more distracted after the break thinking about what they looked at in the break. She also said a drawback is older students who don't care about the technology and don't want the break. However, that said, I think it might be worth a try to see if it is an effective strategy - she obviously likes it since she uses it in her classes. I'll have to consider if this is something I will include in my classes for next semester, I'm still not totally convinced.
The workshop was a Learning Lunch put on by the Center for Teaching. Titled "Changing text, changing brains: Conversations about literacy, genre and neuroscience and what this means for student writing." The group of professors and instructors present talked about the rise of online tools in teaching - specifically for reading and writing - and the general rise of internet and technologically mediated communication, and how this is changing the way students learn.
One thing they mentioned that I have heard before is the "F pattern" of reading on a webpage. This research doesn't specifically apply to academic work, it apparently is for any type of online resource. But basically it says that people are most likely to read in this pattern - look at the computer screen and imagine the vertical line of the letter F running all the way down the left side of the page. Then fill in the rest of the letter across the screen. That is the most common area that is read by people in general in an online format. This might be helpful for me when assigning students work they will read or complete online. I'll have to make sure the most important and pertinent information is in that F to be sure they are more likely to read it.
One thing I questions the professors about that I have noticed in my classes was the way students use "text speak" in their papers and whether this is a more recent change; since I have only been teaching college students this semester for the first time I have no frame of reference when I see a student leave I uncapitalized or other such things that are now common, because quick texting with no thought for grammatical correctness becomes more commonplace. Many of the teachers present were nodding in agreement as I explained what I observed about students writing in this way and many spoke up saying it was something they see an increasing problem. However, one made the valid comment that students will always make mistakes and not proofread so this is not really that different to mistakes they made in the past.
One recommendation from an English instructor was understanding that students can be a lot more distracted by all their technology these days and accepting that so we can address it. She suggests making a deal with students that they can have a two minute technology break to check their texts, Facebook or email, if they will make every effort to pay attention for the rest of class. I'm not sure how well that would work because it seems like students might be more distracted after the break thinking about what they looked at in the break. She also said a drawback is older students who don't care about the technology and don't want the break. However, that said, I think it might be worth a try to see if it is an effective strategy - she obviously likes it since she uses it in her classes. I'll have to consider if this is something I will include in my classes for next semester, I'm still not totally convinced.
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