Guest Blogger: Michele Petrovsky
I’d like to chat with you about the dovetailing of teaching philosophy and classroom technology.
I’ve designed and implemented software that administers and grades exams; draws exam questions from a single test bank, regardless of question type (e.g., true/false versus fill-in-the-blank), exam type (e.g., quiz versus midterm), or course; and uses randomization to help ensure that no two students receive exactly the same exam. Since I wanted to present the whole package, including graded exams, through the Web, I ended up with a rather extensive web site, of which the test generator makes up only about 20 per cent. The generator was built with MySQL 4.0.15 and PHP 4.0. It runs under SuSE Linux Professional 9.0 (kernel release 2.4.21-99-default), using Apache 2.0 as its Web server and HTML 1.1 as the basis for its forms. The server that supports the generator also provides a variety of administrative tools such as scheduled backups and rotation of log files, as well as a firewall that monitors HTTP, FTP, and TELNET (that is, Web, file upload/download and remote login, respectively) traffic.
That’s some fairly serious tech. I’m proud of it, but no more proud than I am of knowing how to drive a stick-shift car, and being able to hold said car on a hill with a skillful combination of clutch and gas pedals. In other words, I think it’s neat. What’s more, I firmly and deeply believe that it’s neat, that I enjoyed creating it as much as I did, and that it works as well as it has, because of the perspective that led me to the project in the first place.
I’m not trained as an academician. But, I’ve been reading and talking and learning since the age of three. My father was a teacher, who, when I was five, enlisted me as his assistant in grading his middle school students’ papers and exams. It simply never occurred to me until I was well into adulthood that learning was anything out of the ordinary, or anything one needed to work at. Rather, it, like the clutch/gas combo, was something ‘neat’ that was available to anyone.
When I began teaching, it was in a community college. Most of my students were out of work or had never worked, and were attempting not only to
gain a certificate or degree but, also, to embark on a new life. To stand in front of a room full of such folks is a humbling experience. It taught me in no uncertain terms the truth of the saying, “A master is someone who started before you.” For both these reasons, I saw little role then, and see no larger one now, for an ivory-tower approach to education, even when the ivory tower is built in part of silicon and copper.
I hope none of this seems disrespectful of the sincere and strenuous efforts so many of you have made to become and remain effective educators. Those who love teaching and learning have my utmost respect. But, in this as in everything, I feel strongly that individuality and individual means and styles of expression, including the choice of classroom technologies, must be honored. The marvelous tech we have available can make our teaching more effective. But it can never substitute for excitement about the process of learning.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Three Easy Steps to Excellence or The Courage to Lead
Guest Writer, Abbes Maazaoui
“Bonjour Professor Maazaoui.
I am [SM], I recently just checked my mid-term grades and I see that I have a C- in your class which basically means I didn't do what I was supposed to do but I have room for improvement and that is what I am going to do. There is no need for extra credit work. But I will bring my grade up by attending your class daily and doing all work especially with extra tutorial. As you say if I pay attention, attend class and work on my pronunciation I can improve and that’s what I intend on doing. Thank You.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Here is a student who does not consider “C-” an acceptable grade. More importantly, she does not blame me for this grade. Even better, the student understands what areas of her performance need attention. No excuses, nothing, but determination and confidence in her ability to change things for the better. This Monday is already looking good!
Of course, if all our students were like the author of this email, Lincoln would achieve all the wonderful goals set by the president in just one year. Unarguably, this is not the case. Fostering excellence will require courage and leadership. Here are some suggestions that can be put immediately into action:
1. Scrap (and replace) the current Lincoln policy on attendance. It is a toothless policy precisely because of its so-called built-in flexibility (“Four absences may result in an automatic failure in the course”). This loophole is at the heart of students’ absenteeism and tardiness, which are reaching epidemic proportions. Whom are we kidding? Students know it and instructors know it. Has anyone ever heard of a Lincoln professor who failed a student just because of four-five-six,… unexcused absences. Let’s have a policy that is enforceable, not subject to the interpretative whims of individual instructors. Let’s agree on a fixed number of allowable absences and then require all faculty to enforce it. Furthermore, let’s make the faculty accountable by making “attendance taking” part of the student evaluation form.
2. Every student should be required to have/buy/borrow/ etc. (in digital format or otherwise) mandatory textbooks and materials of instruction. By the way, this requirement is stated in most syllabi. Students who can’t afford to purchase textbooks should be allowed to seek an exemption from the bursar’s office. Let’s also work on a solution whereby textbooks might be “awarded” to hard-working needy students. If we can judge by the high-end electronic gadgets and texting services used on campus, only few students would qualify for any type of assistance.
3. The administration should be required to lead this effort, not (just) by sending memos and emails (that the majority of the students don’t read anyway), or by giving speeches at board, faculty and school meetings, but by going to classrooms and talking to students face-to-face. Since most students don’t show up at convocations and large gatherings, members of the Board of Trustees, the president, vice-presidents and deans should bring this message to students in class and promote these simple policies that must be upheld by all, so that there is no confusion in the minds of the students or the faculty. FYE classes offer the best time and place for spreading the message.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Are We Doing Right by Our First Year Students?
Guest Writer, Pat Joseph
We know the first year represents a critical and important time in the life of a college student. There seems to be a trend that every five years or so, as varied colleges and universities put forth “new and improved” efforts aimed at helping first year students succeed and persist in college. Lincoln University has offered a vibrant Freshmen Transition week of activities where new students practically have the campus to themselves to comfortably move in, get to know others, take placement exams, get their class schedules, and of course learn the LU pride chant. In the fall of 2006, First Year Experience (FYE101) became a course requirement, where freshmen students study and are exposed to a common set of assignments designed to help them adjust to the college experience.
Our latest endeavor, the recently implemented Split Model of Advising Program, immediately assigns new students to Academic Advisors in the college major/department of their choice. Within this plan there are potential advantages and challenges. For example, it’s a good idea to provide new students with a department “home” but many students are not realistic in their choice and/or are not aware of the difficult requirements of a number of majors. Some may realize later that they do not have the aptitude and/or interest to continue with their initial selection of a major. Thus, I think we must now figure innovative ways to ensure these new students make good career decisions in a timely manner.
This cursory review does not include other freshmen-related issues including the large number that test into developmental courses, the need for an adequate number of courses for them to choose from, and student experience with enhancement programs like the reading & writing labs, and tutoring.
Initiatives for new students may come and go, but what should remain constant is our ability to positively (or negatively) answer the question, “Are we doing right by our first year students?” It would be interesting to learn your thoughts and ideas.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Learning to Teach or Teaching to Learn?
Guest writer, Anna Hull
"So, Anna, are you a better teacher or student?" asked my friend as we were discussing my latest Spanish class that I attended as a student last Sunday. Hmm. Well, answer the question – are you a better teacher or student? It seemed like a simple enough question to my friend, but I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t answer quickly enough. Of course I wanted to say that I am a better teacher; after all, that is my chosen profession. Within seconds it dawned on me that I cannot claim to be a better teacher than I am a student. The two are too intimately linked; I don’t know if it is truly possible to be a good teacher without also being an excellent student.
Case in point: Do you remember the very first time you had to teach a difficult concept to a class? My memory comes from graduate school: I was leading a discussion group of about twenty students and I was due to teach how the energy in food is converted to another type of energy (ATP) within the cell. I thought my grasp of the concept was sufficiently clear, but as I reviewed the material, I realized that all I had was a "grasp"; I didn’t own the knowledge in a way that would allow me to teach it efficiently. Since then, the story has repeated itself many times; only after I have taught the material in class, or given a seminar, do I have the feeling of actually owning the knowledge and therefore doing a better job the next time I teach it.
Even when I am well prepared and know the concepts that I am planning to teach, I constantly ask myself how the students perceive my words and the points that I am trying to convey. So often, it seems like they are hearing something completely different than what I think I’m saying. How would they try to explain the same concept that I don’t seem to be able to communicate, and how can we as teachers tap into that? How can we utilize the willingness of the students to learn by letting them be the teachers?
I am slowly learning to turn many of the students' "hows' and "whys" into mini-assignments, sometimes worth extra credit. When my students in Molecular Biology asked for a study guide for their midterm exam, I told them how I usually make the guide by going through all my PowerPoint lectures and writing questions to each slide. This is clearly an excellent way for the students to study the content for the exam, so I had them make the study guide and submit it to me for extra credit. It probably helped the students to study, they earned much-needed extra-credit, and it reduced my workload (at least up front; I did read all the submissions and compile a study guide that I shared with the entire class in the end).
I would love to hear what you do in your classroom. What have you tried that works and what doesn’t? And for extra credit: How would you answer the question, "Are you a better teacher or student?"
"So, Anna, are you a better teacher or student?" asked my friend as we were discussing my latest Spanish class that I attended as a student last Sunday. Hmm. Well, answer the question – are you a better teacher or student? It seemed like a simple enough question to my friend, but I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t answer quickly enough. Of course I wanted to say that I am a better teacher; after all, that is my chosen profession. Within seconds it dawned on me that I cannot claim to be a better teacher than I am a student. The two are too intimately linked; I don’t know if it is truly possible to be a good teacher without also being an excellent student.
Case in point: Do you remember the very first time you had to teach a difficult concept to a class? My memory comes from graduate school: I was leading a discussion group of about twenty students and I was due to teach how the energy in food is converted to another type of energy (ATP) within the cell. I thought my grasp of the concept was sufficiently clear, but as I reviewed the material, I realized that all I had was a "grasp"; I didn’t own the knowledge in a way that would allow me to teach it efficiently. Since then, the story has repeated itself many times; only after I have taught the material in class, or given a seminar, do I have the feeling of actually owning the knowledge and therefore doing a better job the next time I teach it.
Even when I am well prepared and know the concepts that I am planning to teach, I constantly ask myself how the students perceive my words and the points that I am trying to convey. So often, it seems like they are hearing something completely different than what I think I’m saying. How would they try to explain the same concept that I don’t seem to be able to communicate, and how can we as teachers tap into that? How can we utilize the willingness of the students to learn by letting them be the teachers?
I am slowly learning to turn many of the students' "hows' and "whys" into mini-assignments, sometimes worth extra credit. When my students in Molecular Biology asked for a study guide for their midterm exam, I told them how I usually make the guide by going through all my PowerPoint lectures and writing questions to each slide. This is clearly an excellent way for the students to study the content for the exam, so I had them make the study guide and submit it to me for extra credit. It probably helped the students to study, they earned much-needed extra-credit, and it reduced my workload (at least up front; I did read all the submissions and compile a study guide that I shared with the entire class in the end).
I would love to hear what you do in your classroom. What have you tried that works and what doesn’t? And for extra credit: How would you answer the question, "Are you a better teacher or student?"
Friday, October 23, 2009
Learning A Language
Guest Writer, Maribel Charle Poza
My first experience with foreign languages was not a very pleasant one. It was September of 1986 and I had just started sixth grade in my native country of Spain when I got sick and had to stay home from school. Needless to say, I missed what would have been my first ever English lesson. The events of the next day, when I returned to school, have stuck to my memory until today.
Class time arrived and Don Javier, the school’s new English teacher, walked into the classroom, put his books down, and immediately started to ask a series of unintelligible questions to the students. To my surprise, my classmates had no problem understanding and answering his questions in English. As I prayed that Don Javier would not call on me, I looked at my classmates in astonishment. I could not believe that after only a day of class, they were already communicating in another language!
Rather than having a discouraging effect, that first experience instilled in me a deep desire to master the English language. This desire led me to live in three different English-speaking countries, and to become a foreign-language professor in the United States. Today, I have no doubt that learning a language has changed my life in ways that I could never have imagined.
Similarly, I am convinced that language-learning can be life-changing to American students in both their professional careers and their personal lives. Being fluent in another language not only opens doors in a job market that is more competitive than ever before, but also gives students greater insight into their own language and opens their minds to a world that is culturally and linguistically diverse.
In 1996, the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning were published as an answer to a concern from educators and the government about the role of foreign languages in American education. Furthermore, in 2006 the government called for an increase in the number of Americans that are fluent in critical-need languages. Surprisingly, and in spite of the emphasis at the federal level, foreign language study has not received the attention that it deserves in American education. Furthermore, over the past three decades, scholars in the language profession have called attention to the low numbers of African American students in foreign language programs in the United States. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), only 4.1% of the bachelor’s degrees in foreign languages were awarded to African Americans in 2006.
Personally, I believe that we, at Lincoln University, have a unique opportunity to turn this state of affairs around by increasing the percentage of African Americans who are fluent in a foreign language. At the departmental level, we are constantly looking for innovative ways to recruit new students. We emphasize the importance of language study not only in the classroom, but also on the entire campus with events such as Language Day, Language Night, the International Food Festival, and the Study Abroad Convocation. Over the years, we have shaped our curriculum so that it matches the latest research on language-teaching methods, and we have established ourselves as a vibrant, open, and friendly department. However, we cannot do this alone. We need the help of the entire Faculty and Administration to change the NCES gloomy figures. Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to achieve this goal, and only through collaboration will we succeed in this endeavor.
Many in the Faculty have experienced learning another language, either by taking courses, traveling abroad, or talking to immigrants in their communities. For many, English is their second (or third, maybe fourth) language and they use it to conduct their professional life in the United States. I think that it would be very enriching if we all shared our thoughts and experiences about language learning in this blog. I’m very interested in reading your comments to this post. As a final point, I would like to thank Nancy Evans and Linda Stine for making the discussion possible through the creation of this blog.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Academic Excellence
Guest Writer, Zizwe Poe
I would like to begin my comments by thanking you, my colleagues, for allowing me to kick off this week's blog on academic excellence. I want to touch on two aspects and I will attempt to do this in the most succinct way I know how.
Aspect 1: There is no way around it. We need physical space that supports academic excellence. This means the library AND an academic presence in the residential space of the campus. The completion of phase 1 of the library's renovation makes the edifice usable as a library. Reading the meticulous report of the president we should be able to see that phase 2 is not about library functions. Glossy pictures aside I want our students and faculty to benefit from the opportunity of stumbling upon texts that they did not intend to use because of the text's juxtaposition to a targeted text. This is the type of serendipity that can only come by walking through the stacks. Our students are tacitly being prepared to seek answers without knowledge and a degree without collegiate research. Our president's post said that the students and faculty currently have all the library and library services needed to facilitate learning. I hope that this isnot true for if it is we may never have a true library again.
Aspect 2: Lincoln University needs a Pan-African Studies program. Lincoln University has a historic relationship with Africa and the most diverse population of students from African countries than most HBCUs. This is an undervalued niche that we should take advantage of. A Pan-African Studies program would strengthen relations with African countries and Caribbean countries while assisting with connecting African American students with our international populations.
I will begin with these concerns as I expect there will be some feedback on both issues. Again, thanks for allowing me to initiate this week's string.
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