Notes on Teaching and Learning

It’s virtually guaranteed that, no matter how energized a discussion facilitator you are, or how exciting the material you’re covering is, you will have a few silent students in your classroom. This can be demoralizing, especially for a new teacher, since it often appears that students who don’t respond aren’t as interested in the subject matter. Additionally, it can be hard to gauge how well those particular students are following your lecture or the classroom discussion. Here are some tips on how to engage students who are habitually quiet in class:

• As is so often the case, planning ahead can save you trouble later. A simple way to learn about your class is to have every student fill out a note card at the beginning of the year with their name, background, reasons that they’re taking your class, as well as anything else you may wish to know about them.  Include an open-ended question like “What else would you like your instructor to know about you?” This will still give students a chance to communicate with you and let you know more about what they are looking for.

• Since part of the challenge with quiet students is getting to know them and their needs as a student, if your class size allows it, consider asking everyone in class to drop by your office hours at the beginning of the semester. This gives you an opportunity to ask about their interests and relevant background; knowing the makeup of the classroom in this way is always helpful for class preparation.

• Try to avoid calling on quiet students when they aren’t expecting it, even in a well-intentioned effort to hear their input. If you have students who are quiet because they are shy or unused to speaking in front of others, forcing them to speak extemporaneously will probably only reinforce their discomfort.

• If you do establish a policy of calling on students unprompted, make sure to do so only after 1) giving fair warning that this will happen and 2) giving students a chance to think and write about their responses before they are asked to share them with the class.  You may give all students 2 minutes to consider a prompt or tackle a problem before calling on someone to share their answer.  You may even give them a chance to discuss their answer with a neighbor before asking anyone to speak to the whole class. These techniques allow all students, and particularly the quieter ones, to gather and consider their thoughts before being put on the spot.

• Calling on students after giving time to write and even discuss answers with neighbors can work particularly well if you ask questions that are don’t require a strict right or wrong answer. If the question is sufficiently broad, you can incorporate the wide variety of answers into something productive for the whole class. The benefit for your quiet students is that it introduces a positive environment where all responses are taken seriously and drawn into the main theme of the class. If a student’s answer does need some correction, make sure to include positive feedback as well; the main point is for your students to see that there should be nothing to fear in venturing their opinion.

• Finally, a good way to ensure that you are hearing the thoughts of your quietest students is through writing assignments. Whether reacting to the reading before class or reflecting on the discussion after class; short, low-stakes writing assignments allow quiet students time to gather their thoughts and formulate their answers away from the pressure of the classroom, and allow the instructor insight into those students’ thoughts and progress in the course.

Students are quiet for all kinds of reasons, from their personalities to their educational or cultural backgrounds. Your job is not to change them into talkative people, but to build a classroom environment conducive to the learning of all students.

Additional Resources:

http://www.chronicle.com/article/Whats-the-Problem-With-Quiet/124258

http://www.teachhub.com/10-teaching-strategies-making-quiet-class-talk

As instructors, we play critical roles in promoting a supportive and motivational learning environment for our students.  Below is a survey of strategies suggested by recent research for promoting a positive classroom environment:

Building rapport with students

In a study of students’ perceptions of their rapport with their instructors, the strength of this perceived relationship appeared to be most important for students’ motivation and satisfaction, outweighing their attitudes toward the course content or recommended course behaviors (Myers & Bryant 2002). These results suggest that even if your students are unenthusiastic about your subject, you can promote positive experiences in the classroom by personally empowering and motivating them.

Improving attitudes toward diversity

A study on student attitudes toward diversity found that even a basic intervention had lasting effects. A senior white male faculty member gave a presentation on diversity to a group of white, male engineering students. In comparison to the control group who received no diversity presentation, the students who listened to the presentation expressed stronger positive attitudes toward diversity in engineering.  The message, delivered at the beginning of the semester, had a measurable effect three months later, which underscores importance of setting the tone for respect and civility at the beginning of the semester (Bennett & Sekaquaptewa 2014). The study also suggests that even if you are not part of a marginalized group, you can effectively deliver messages of inclusivity to your students.

Dealing with difficult situations

A survey of teachers’ and students’ responses to microaggressions found that instructors report a greater willingness to ignore incidents, but students feel it is important that their teachers address these situations. In this study, microaggressions took the form of statements or actions that conveyed subtle or unintentional racism in the classroom. Students rated all possible interventions as more effective than instructors, including strategies such as privately addressing the issue outside of class, holding a class discussion, and immediately addressing the unacceptability of the behavior (Boysen 2012). If you find yourself in a difficult situation in the classroom, do not let your uncertainty about the perfect response be the enemy of the good.  Whatever thoughtful and genuine intervention you make is better than no response and likely will be more effective than you imagine.

The Take-away

As the instructor, you probably have more power than you give yourself credit for to positively influence students’ attitudes and experiences in your classroom.  Take opportunities to connect to your students, develop an inclusive atmosphere early in the term, and use teachable moments throughout the semester to make your classroom a more welcoming environment.

References

Bennett, J. E., & D. Sekaquaptewa (2014). Setting an egalitarian social norm in the classroom: improving attitudes towards diversity among male engineering students. Social Psychology of Education, 17, 343-355.

Boysen, G. A. (2012). Teacher and Student Perceptions of Microaggressions in College Classrooms. College Teaching, 60 (3), 122-129.

Myers, S. A., & Bryant, L. E. (2002). Perceived Understanding, Interaction Involvement, and College Student Outcomes.  Communication Research Reports, 19 (2), 146-155.

Collaborative and cooperative learning, often commonly known as “group work,” is growing in favor among professors as an effective active learning tool. Aside from the benefits of getting students involved in the education process, another reason for the expanded role for group work in the classroom is the demand from students (and their future employers) for opportunities to develop teamwork and interpersonal communication skills. Others have highlighted the ways in which group work promotes critical thinking and cross-cultural competencies. While most are also familiar with common complaints about group work, when done well, activities like the think-pair-share, in-class debates, or group projects can all help students understand the content and develop the skills they need to be successful.

For group work to be effective, however, it requires careful planning: choosing an assessment that matches your lesson plan and goals, assigning a task at the correct challenge level, and deciding how you will select groups for the activity. For many, it is the formation of groups that receives the least amount of attention. And though group work can be sufficient with many different group arrangements, a group that is strategically designed with learning in mind can elevate group work to the next level. Here are just a few options for forming student groups, along with some brief advantages and disadvantages to each:

• Proximity-based. This is perhaps the most common way to form groups: get into a group with one or two students sitting near you and discuss the question on the board. It is the least time-consuming method, requires little movement around the classroom, and allows students to (hopefully) get right down to business. However, since students tend to sit in the same position, near people they know, it limits the number of students one partners with for group work.
• Student-selected. If proximity-based selection models are the most common, student-selected groups are a close second. Forming groups is simple when we ask students to take charge. Furthermore, this method gives students freedom to take ownership over the activity and work with people they feel comfortable with. As above, however, this may limit discussion to those individuals who students are already communicating with. It may also mean that all of the “talkers” or “hard-workers” are in a single group, or that some students may be left out when forming groups.
• Student-selected with limitations. To limit the problems associated with student-formed groups, you may consider placing certain requirements on who students work with in group activities. For example, ask students to find a person they have not worked with yet during the semester, that one student majoring in the subject work with a non-major, or that they work with someone sitting in a different section of the classroom. Though this may open up the discussion more, it also reduces student choice in the matter and will likely take more time.
• Assigned roles. If your project includes multiple roles for students, such as note-takers, presenters, or multiple sections that can be completed by one or more students, another way to divide students up is to first assign (or let them select) these roles and then ask them to form complete groups based on division of labor. This allows students to work on a particular skill and potentially with a potentially different group than they otherwise would have. If you use this method, be sure to give students a chance to perform most (if not all) of the roles throughout the semester.
• Randomly assigned. Want your students to hear different perspectives and work with new people? Random assignment of groups might be the way to go. There are many ways you can do this, from entering names into a random number generator, drawing names out of a hat, or having students line up in order of their birthday. (Hint: try to avoid forming groups based on physical characteristics, like what a student is wearing or how tall they are; this may draw uncomfortable attention to students’ appearances.) Though it may be more time consuming and cause more commotion in the classroom, it is a fair way to form groups, ensures everyone is included, and breaks students out of the habit of talking to the same people. Plus, it raises opportunities for the formation of community (learning birthdays or favorite books) and can be good to get students moving around the classroom.
• Assigned groups. Sometimes the best way to generate groups is to do it yourself! In particular, if you want to balance student personalities, abilities, or the sociodemographic characteristics of the group, assigning groups can be an effective, if somewhat time-consuming, method. If you assign groups for graded work, consider reducing the point value of the assessment, otherwise you need to be confident that your assigned groups will work out.

In choosing which method to use to form groups, consider the limitations of your classroom space, time, and the goals of the activity. For a quick think-pair-share, perhaps proximity-based groups are the way to go. For in-class debates, you may want students to prepare both sides of an argument before randomly assigning them a team in class. For longer group projects, students may feel more comfortable choosing their own groups. Try to match your selection method with your goals for the activity. Throughout the semester, mix it up and try a couple of these group formation options! Being thoughtful about your preparations should put you on the path towards an effective assignment or class activity.

Additional Reading

• “Group Work: Using Cooperative Learning Groups Effectively” – Brame & Biel
• “Group Work: How to Use Groups Effectively” – Burke
• “Group Work as a Form of Assessment: Common Problems and Recommended Solutions” – Davies
• “Effective Group Work Strategies for the College Classroom” – Faculty Focus
• “Turning Student Groups into Effective Teams” – Oakley et al.
• “Implementing Group Work in the Classroom” – University of Waterloo

In anticipation of the upcoming book talk being hosted by the Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning (James Lang, discussing his book Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, on April 7^th, 2017), this spring break we challenge you to plan one “small teaching” activity for a course you are teaching or plan to teach in the future. Small teaching, which Lang describes as “small but powerful modifications to our course design and teaching practices” (2), are learning activities that take 5-10 minutes, one-time interventions in a course, or small changes to course design or communication with students. Here are a just a few suggested activities:

• Opening Questions. As you begin class, consider asking students to recap the previous class, the main theories covered by the course to that point, or other relevant material from earlier in the semester, either orally or in writing. The more practice students have retrieving what they’ve learned from the course materials, the more likely they are to be able to do so successfully in the future. This also helps students contextualize new material, form connections with old material, and follow the logical flow of the course.
• Minute Thesis. On the board, write the names of materials read in the course in one column and major themes from the course in a second column. Have a volunteer circle a theme and draw lines to the materials. Then, have students think of a thesis for how the materials connect to that major theme. Repeat as necessary to give students practice with developing a thesis and drawing out connections across the different units of the course.
• Tell a Story. Human brains have a knack for understanding and remembering stories, and students often find them more interesting and motivating than regular lectures. Furthermore, stories bring student emotions into the classroom, allowing for a more holistic learning experience. If you want students to remember a major concept, try communicating it through story! For more on storytelling in the classroom, check out this previous blog post or review the materials from our workshop on storytelling.

An added benefit of small teaching activities: they are designed to be low-stakes exercises so you can try lots of them and determine what works best for you. There are plenty of other small teaching activities to experiment with; for more ideas, check out James Lang’s Small Teaching book, read his series of articles on the Chronicle of Higher Education, and attend the book talk in a few weeks. As always, the Kaneb Center is happy to help you with all of your teaching questions or concerns, big or small. Stop on by soon!

Have students reflect on the work they have done thus far in the semester 

You can solicit this information in a survey format at the end of class or allocate time to have a class discussion (or both!) This is an efficient way to gauge what students feel they have learned, what lessons or activities they felt worked best, and what gaps still exist in their knowledge. This information will help you structure or reframe the next half of the semester during the break. As always, make it clear to students that you are listening to their feedback and be transparent when you alter the class based upon their reflections.

Tip: if you feel crunched for time right before the break, you can always do this activity online either before or over the break.

Tip: Having students complete self-reflections multiple times during the course of the semester will help you better gauge student progress at more regular intervals.

Sample self-reflection questions:

• What was the most important thing you have learned this semester? Explain your reasoning.
• What do you expect to learn after the midterm break? Make sure to explain the reasoning that led you to this prediction.
• What are one or two things that you wish could have been explained more clearly to you during the first half of the semester? Please be as specific as possible so that I can better address your concerns going forward.
• Evaluate your work thus far in the semester. What specifically might you do to improve in the future?
• What is an assumption you had before the course started that this class has helped you think more deeply and more nuanced about? Please full explain how your thought process has evolved.

Give students a meaningful assignment over spring break

Most of the time, the second half of the semester will be devoted to a larger project. Think about the specific learning goals of this project and ascertain what knowledge or skills students will need to begin and complete this project. You do not necessarily have to introduce the entire project to them before the break but should assign an exercise, reading, etc., that will prepare them for the challenges of the project once introduced. If you are in the middle of a big project, use student reflections to gauge what information they might need to continue the project and assign reading or assignments designed to clarify or extend their knowledge and skill sets so that you can build on them together after the break.

Further Reading

Ken Bain. What the Best College Teachers Do.

Beginning and sustaining an engaged class discussion is a notoriously difficult enterprise for new teachers and if you are teaching a contentious topic, passionate outbursts and heated debates can create even more challenges. Like many other aspects of teaching, preparation is critical for establishing a welcoming but ordered environment for students to participate in debate and deliberation.

Over time, experience will help you recognize the difference between a possibility for fruitful debate and a situation that should be defused quickly so you can guide the class back to the topic at hand. But as you begin your teaching career, here are some ideas to consider in order best to cultivate that much needed experience.

• At the beginning of the semester, give your class guidelines for polite discussion, so they know what to expect. It can also be helpful for the students themselves to participate in constructing a list of rules for debate; this can help to underscore the importance of those rules and develop a sense of shared responsibility in the class.

• As the instructor, you are the one who paces the discussion, including who has the floor at a given time and when to move from one topic to another. Students expect you to set boundaries and to enforce the rules, so have confidence in your position. Lead by example, listening to students’ contributions and affirming or qualifying them respectfully.

• Cultivate friendship and camaraderie within the classroom through group activities that allow the students to get to know one another and better sympathize with each other’s assumptions and backgrounds. You can’t control what happens outside the classroom, but to some extent you can help relationships to develop during class time. This can be achieved through various paired or small group activities that fit your current materials.

• You might plan your classes carefully, but be flexible with your time. If a particular topic is raising more discussion than you expected, consider accommodating the students’ interests instead of moving on to stay on schedule. If you feel unprepared to deal with a topic at the moment, make a note to come back to it at the next class period. Be transparent with your students; you can admit, “I’m not sure about this, let me do some research and we’ll return to it next time.”

• If you are about to cover a contentious topic, give your students time to gather their thoughts with an in class writing assignment or short reflection before class. This individual approach will help the quiet students who are reluctant to speak up in tense situations to work through their opinions. Ask them to consider why this topic is so divisive or difficult to discuss. You might ask them to submit their responses to you anonymously or reassure them that their answers will stay with you and won’t be shared with the group. Making time for them to formulate their reactions and ideas will also give you a sense of the diversity of opinion present in your class.

• Even when a debate isn’t particularly heated, you can help to reformulate unintentionally offensive comments both for the sake of the offended and the offender. Because it can be difficult to understand the repercussions of one’s own views if they have never been challenged before, some students will not understand why their comments come across as inflammatory to others. You can depersonalize such a comment by acknowledging that such a view is widely held but also quickly explain why others might disagree or respond differently.

• Always connect student comments to course materials and goals for the class. You don’t just want to keep a heated exchange from spiraling out of control; you want these arguments to be an opportunity for the students to learn. Re-framing different assertions and responses within the context of the course helps to accomplish both those goals.

Most people enter graduate school with very little (if any) teaching experience. One major component of learning to be an effective teacher is the chance to serve as a teaching assistant (TA). TAships are supposed to be an opportunity to observe a professional teacher in action and get hands-on experience with certain aspects of teaching without bearing responsibility for the whole course. This model assumes quality mentorship from the lead professor, which may be more or less the case in a given semester. Regardless of how proactive the instructor is in actually training the TA, here are just a few strategies TAs can use to make sure they are making the most of their TAship opportunity:

• Take notes. Chances are, if you are TAing for a particular course, you may be asked to teach a similar course in the future (or at least incorporate those themes into other courses you teach). This is the perfect time to begin thinking about how those courses are structured and the content you will include when you are the lead professor. Try to attend every class, even if it is not required of you, and take notes during class. Although it may be review, write down notes on the content being presented for future reference. Additionally, try to take note of how the professor structures class time, interacts with students, and delivers the material. Then begin thinking about ways you might teach the course similarly or differently when you are in charge.
• Offer to teach a class. Some professors are willing to allow a TA to take over preparations for at least one class period. This allows you to get involved in the behind-the-scenes work of preparing for class in a lower-stakes and (hopefully) supportive environment. Meet with the main instructor ahead of time to review your material, and maybe consider asking the professor to distribute informal student evaluations of your class. These can be used in a job market packet if you have few opportunities to obtain student evaluations; at the very least, the chance to see you in action gives the professor an insight into your teaching for letters of recommendation. If you are unable to lead a formal class, you could also practice preparing a future class session and see how it aligns with what the professor does.
• Learn to grade efficiently and effectively. One of the primary duties of TAs is grading student work, sometimes including class participation. Those new to grading may see this as a daunting task. It is indeed and important one for both the students and for you: it is a chance to learn how to grade fairly without allowing it to take over your life. Talk to the course instructor and other TAs about strategies you might employ, read up on effective grading techniques, and consider attending a workshop through the Kaneb Center on effective grading.
• Interact with students. Even if you are only grading for the course, seek out opportunities to practice interacting with students. Hold regular office hours and encourage students to attend. In consultation with the main instructor, put on an exam review. Chat with students before or after class to make yourself available as a resource to them. Even these casual interactions can be useful practice for running a full course.
• Ask questions! While some professors will initiate conversations about teaching with their TAs, many times it is helpful if a TA comes up with questions to discuss with the professor. They can even be quick discussions after class: How did you plan for class today? What did you look for in the reading assignments? What do you do when students ask for a regrade on an assignment? While many of these conversations can start at the beginning of the semester, look for ways to learn from the experience of the primary instructor throughout the semester. The best way to do so: ask questions!

The experience of being a teaching assistant is often the first step towards teaching one’s own class, and it is an important part of graduate students’ professional development. However, it does not have to be the only preparation one makes. The Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning is a valuable resource on campus to assist TAs and instructors with all of their teaching needs. Attend one of our workshops, sign up for a confidential individual consultation, or check out our library with lots of great resources for teachers of all experience levels. We hope to see you soon!

For Further Reading

• “7 Tips for Succeeding as a New Teaching Assistant.” – McKendree
• “From Teaching Assistant to Tenure-Track Faculty” – Wells
• “The Teaching Assistant’s Role” – Stanford Teaching Commons
• Planning a College Course: A Guidebook for the Graduate Teaching Assistant – Ryan & Martens