Teacher Education

Guest Blogger: Dipali Puri

Teacher education programs continue to change and evolve in an effort to address the changing needs concerning what pre-service teachers need to know to successfully function in today's schools. In order to better prepare pre-service teachers for a career in education, where they feel ready and prepared to take on the classroom and address the needs of their students, it is important to look at the pre-service teachers themselves and their perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes about education.

The perceptions and expectations of teachers are of crucial importance to the way that a teacher behaves in a classroom (Giovannelli, 2003; Ross & Gray, 2006). The study of pre-service teacher perception is a crucial topic of research for, not only the teacher education community, but for the larger educational community as a whole. Teacher perception, or cognition, is a concept that encompasses what teachers know, believe and think. This concept comes into play in the larger educational discourse through the recognition of the relationship that perceptions and cognitions have with teacher behaviors. In other words, teacher perceptions are an important topic of study because they influence what a teacher does on a day-to-day basis in the classroom

Pre-service teachers should be questioned on what their vision of a classroom looks like, who the students in that classroom are, and where that classroom is located For example, do undergraduate pre-service teachers perceive that ideal classroom as located in an urban, suburban or rural area? What type of student population do they envision teaching in the future? What type of teaching technique do they plan to implement? Student centered, teacher directed, etc? What is their philosophy of education? In turn, how does this influence their beliefs about education?

Through teacher preparation programs, pre-service teachers are beginning to think about and reflect on what they envision their own classrooms will look like. As a result of this, it is important that teacher educators provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to reflect on their own teaching practices and how this will translate into their future career as educators.

How To Get Students To Think About Graduate School

Guest Blogger: Murali Balaji

One of the most interesting transitions I've made in my year-and-a-half at Lincoln is adjusting my teaching approach to students' expectations. Most of my mass communications majors don't give graduate study a second thought, focusing instead on the quickest way to a job.

But in adjusting my approach, I've also been able to get some students to get interested in graduate study. For me, the best method is getting students excited about topical discussions, especially those that get them to think deeply about answers.

In classrooms, especially larger lectures, some students feel uncomfortable expressing their thoughts. Many usually wait for one person to lead, but once a discussion begins, it develops into provocative and stimulating discourse. In mass communications classes, many contemporary issues can be tied to theories, allowing students to more quickly make the connection between theoretical abstract and practice.

As a result, more students are asking whether the kinds of discussions they have in class are what they can expect in graduate school. I tell them that the conversations at Lincoln barely scratch the surface of graduate discussion but that they are a good starting point.

Last year, a number of students asked for extra reading materials that they thought would help them prepare for graduate school. Some admitted that their families were encouraging them to find jobs, or that they were intimidated by the idea of graduate work.

This is where we as educators can help facilitate both the "A-ha" moment and the "can-do" attitude. By being responsive to their concerns and asking them for feedback on critical readings, we are helping to change their perspectives on learning beyond their undergraduate years.

I have also tried to connect students to scholars outside of Lincoln, at least so that they feel like they're not learning in a bubble. When we interact with our students constantly, some of our motivational techniques tend to wear thin on them. That's why a fresh perspective is welcome. In December, I had my dissertation adviser speak at Lincoln, and when he did, he met with several students interested in graduate school but concerned about the steps to getting admitted.

After his visit, a couple of students said they were now excited about the graduate school application process. For me, that's two down, many more young minds to go.

Helping Students Reach their Dreams

Guest Blogger: Kristin Anderson

It started as a typical Sunday on a bitter cold January morning in 2007. My photographer and I approached the news desk, dreading an assignment outside in the blinding snow. Our editor handed us a police press release detailing the events of a drug deal gone bad. We looked at each other, knowing full well that we would not be welcomed guests in the most dangerous housing project in Cleveland.

We drove up to the scene, now empty of the police presence that had filled the area during the shootout. After many years as a television news reporter I had covered this story too often. This time it was a 14-year-old boy who, ironically, lost his life while selling drugs to survive. He never had a father. His mother left him. His grandmother kicked him out and the Cleveland School district gave up on him when he dropped out at the age of 12. He did not even have someone to give him a proper burial. Everyone in his life failed him, no one told him that he mattered. I was haunted by this teen's death. I could not stop asking myself, "What can I do to make a difference?" I tried to write a heart-touching story that would penetrate the television screen and reach the hearts of viewers. It somehow inspired the community to pull together and bury the teenager, but it wasn't enough for me. A year later, I made a life-changing decision to leave television and start teaching upcoming news professionals about the changing world of news and deliver a message that THEY MATTER!

In the past two years in the classroom, from West Chester University to Lincoln, I have found that students know how to dream. They know what they would like out of a career, but they don't fully realize how important they are and how much they have to contribute. As a result, they don't know how to make their dreams turn into reality. When I ask them what they want "to be" after graduation, they often respond with "music producer, news anchor, radio announcer," and that's just from one student. That's impossible! It's great to shoot for the stars but where is the reality? What I am trying to do this semester is get students to focus on their dream and come with a realistic plan to make it happen. I can teach them how to write in broadcast style, how to use the ENG cameras to record professional video, and how to edit using the highest quality equipment in the industry, but it all falls to the wayside without a focused plan.

I'm going to experiment with one class and have them narrow down their career path to just one position. From there I'm going to have them pick a role model in their chosen industry and research how that person reached the top of his/her field. Finally, students will have to come up with a plan of their own to find internships, meet mentors, create resumes and job search. I wish I could blog that I have attempted this approach in the past, at numerous universities, and 100% of the students are successful in their chosen careers; however, the truth is that I don’t know. I am relatively new to this, but I know that something needs to be done to motivate students to reach their potential, to rise up and not be average.

I can't go back in time and save the life of the 14-year-old boy in Cleveland, but I can try to get students to realize that THEY MATTER, and that the world needs what they have to offer!!!

PowerPoint in the Classroom

Guest Writer, Dave Royer

PowerPoint – so who has the power and what’s the point? What a great opening this could be if I had a clever answer. But you do get the message that I have chosen to write about PowerPoint, hereafter abbreviated PP. I will give you my perspective and then my students’ multiple perspectives, the latter being the more important as they are the ones who are doing the learning. Based on no reliable or systematic data, I would say that PP is used in more than half the classes at Lincoln, but have we investigated whether it improves student learning, compromises student learning or is neutral? It certainly offers more versatility as to what I can offer in the classroom; I can show pictures, animations, diagrams, figures, etc. that I could never adequately draw on the whiteboard so I feel my lectures are more interesting and engaging. I can go beyond talking about global warming by embedding video of glaciers crashing into the sea in my PP presentation. My students can see the results of extended droughts in sub-Sahara Africa that are more graphic and provocative than my recitation of statistics of rainfall amounts. PP also makes my life easier, and I admit that with some guilt. Nearly every textbook in the sciences comes with a companion website that includes an instructors’ section with a full set of PP lectures. One could simply copy the PP lecture onto a computer or flash drive and present it in the classroom with minimal preparation, and while the quality of these PP lectures varies, most of them are, at the very least, adequate. So even though I routinely edit these PPs by adding, deleting and modifying slides, it is still much easier than preparing a lecture from scratch and thus my guilt. My lectures are being at least partially prepared by a person or team at the publisher with whom I do not need to share my office or my salary. Another advantageous aspect of PP lectures is the ease with which they can be posted to WebCT, where they are accessible to students at any time and from nearly any location.

So what are my concerns about PP lectures? First, I think they contribute to our perennial problem of students not purchasing textbooks; the students feel that the PPs give them all the information that they need to prepare for exams, making the text an unnecessary expense. Second, many of our students have poor note-taking skills, and PPs prevent the development of those skills as students see little or no need to take notes when the PPs will be posted for them.

And for those students who do want to take notes, there is no training available on how to take notes during a PP lecture. My last concern is whether students are learning better, learning more, and developing effective critical thinking skills with PPs, and I have no information or impressions about this.

The second part of the story is what the students think so I took some time with my General Biology II and Microbial Ecology classes to get their thoughts on the subject. I started my classes one day recently by asking whether I should teach with PP or with a traditional write on the board lecture, and more than half voted for the latter. When I asked why, I received a variety of responses. One student stated that if I wrote the information on the board, he would copy it and begin the learning process with the act of writing the information in his notebook. Another said that when I write on the board, it slows things down a bit, and when she copies from the board, it gives her time to think about what is being taught and to come up with questions. She sees PP lectures as going too fast and not allowing for some thoughtful consideration of the material being covered.

Several students thought it was easier to follow the lecture when the instructor wrote on the board, and one student said he was less likely to fall asleep if I wrote on the board; presumably the act of copying something would keep him awake. And many students felt their notes were better when the professor was writing on the board.

As for the students who preferred PP lectures, they cited the ability to include various types of media in the presentation. They also liked that the lectures are available online; the word “convenient” came up several times. Last, they felt that material missed when they could not attend lecture was easily obtained because most faculty post their PPs to WebCT.

In general, the students also noted that the quality of PPs varied considerably from course to course with the worst ones being those that were slide after slide of just text.

So what can be drawn from all of this information? While there are some implicit suggestions above, I invite you, the reader, to share your thoughts, experiences and responses. Barring some new technology, we will be using PP for many years to come.

Last, special thanks to my students in Microbial Ecology and General Biology II for their input on the use of PowerPoints in classes.