The Teaching Professor March 2011 Issue Update

Active-Learning Ideas for Large Classes: Simple to Complex The article that proposes these ideas is written for faculty who teach large-enrollment biology courses. But large courses share many similarities, not the least of which being any number of strategies that work well with a variety of content. Even so, most strategies need to be adapted so that they fit well with the instructor's style, the learning needs of the students, and the configuration of course content. The authors of the following list of strategies write that they attempted to "focus ... on strategies and activities that typically do not require ... a radical reframing of current standard practice, and are therefore more readily accessible to most science educators." (p. 263) They discuss each strategy in much more detail than space here allows, and they include many references describing experiences with and alterations of these seven strategies.

Engaging Students in Argument
The elderly shop owner opposes a corporation that wants to build a plant in her town. She's afraid that its products, similar to the ones she manufactures, will drive her out of business. At 70, it's too late in her life to start over and, even though the corporation says it will hire locally, she doubts it will hire someone her age. Besides, after a lifetime of running her own business, she doesn't want to work for someone else. How can she convince her fellow townspeople to rally against the corporation?

Honoring and Challenging Students' Beliefs
Students walk into college classrooms with values and beliefs that are nonnegotiable. They do not see themselves as broken vessels, blank slates, or empty cups ready for filling. Many students whom I have encountered accept that they may not know everything, but they still seek affirmation that their experiences and beliefs are valid. In any course, there is room for students to doubt and dismiss ideas that contradict what they hold most dear. As educators, we must consider their starting points in order for our dialogues with them to be more authentic.

Learning: Five Key Principles
A review of the research on active learning compiled for physiology faculty contains five "key findings" that author Joel Michael maintains ought "to be incorporated [into] our thinking as we make decisions about teaching physiology [I would say, name your discipline] at any educational level." (p. 160) Here's the list, along with a brief discussion of each.

Peer-Led Team Learning
This strategy involves training students who have successfully completed a course to serve as peer leaders for a small group of students currently enrolled in that same course. The peer leaders meet with their student groups—six to eight students, sometimes fewer—for a weekly session, during which they work on faculty-created problems. The problems involve material presented during the lecture, covered in the text, or assigned as homework. These weekly sessions replace one regularly scheduled course lecture per week.

Saffron and Gold: The Value of High-Quality Information and Library Instruction to Teaching Professors
"I gotta write a page on saffron and it's gotta be in Chef Rob's box in two hours!" Culinary student Rosa flies into the library, curly hair escaping from her white skull cap and tomato stains on her chef coat. Rosa, Kathleen, and Tran gather around a computer, notebooks and knife kits on the floor. Rosa: "Hey, this stuff is 180 dollars an ounce." Click. Click. Kathleen: "Here's an article. But I don't see any author. What do we put in 'works cited' if there's no author?" Click. Tran: "It says here saffron is made of gold. Um, hang on. Maybe it says it costs as much as gold. But it kinda looked gold when Chef showed it to us in the kitchen last night. So maybe it is gold. Whatever. Can we copy this and paste it into our paper?"

Teaching Mindfulness in the College Classroom
Pressures and constant distractions are a significant part of the lives of American students of all ages. For college students, learning how to balance school, jobs, and relationships is stressful; social networks and cell phones constantly interrupt the current focus of attention. Academic performance suffers when feelings and distractions filter out lecture content and impede studying. Recent reports of increases in young adult depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorders, and social problems are compelling college teachers to explore methods for guiding students to better understand their minds and how they think.

Using Clickers Effectively: A Research-Based Tip
Use of clickers (or personal response systems, as they are officially known) continues to grow. They offer students a way to participate in large courses. They give faculty immediate feedback as to the level of understanding on a particular topic, concept, or issue. They add interest and variety to lectures. No wonder they have become so popular.

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The Teaching Professor March 2011 Issue Update