Notes on Teaching and Learning

When you sit down to write a final exam, where do you start? Ideally, in the process of designing your course, you already put some serious thought into how to assess and measure student learning.  Perhaps you followed the steps of “backward course design”—a course design strategy which makes the development of an assessment strategy the second step of course design coming immediately after the formulation of learning goals and long before determining what content and activities will fill individual class days.  Or, perhaps you adhered to the sage advice of writing exam questions immediately after each class, when the class was still fresh in your memory.  If so, you already hold in your hand dozens of potential exam questions.

But, what if you didn’t?  What if you need to write a final from scratch?  Is there anything that you can do?  Yes, it is not too late.

First consider what you hope to accomplish with the final exam.  For example, a final exam could be…

• a motivator for students to review what they have learned in your class;
• an opportunity for students to think about and process course material at a deeper level (e.g. one could require student to apply methods and skills learned earlier in the course to new problems);
• and, lastly, a chance to measure student completion of the course’s learning goals.

Second—with regard to this last possibility—master teacher, Linda Nilson (2010, 281-82), reminds us that student assessment should reflect and reinforce both your overall goals for the course and the kinds of learning accomplished in individual classes and assignments.  For this reason, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What are your learning goals for the class?
2. What level of cognition is required by each goal? (Does a given goal require low-level learning such as recognition and recall, or higher-level learning such as evaluation and application?)
3. How have class sessions and assignments prepared students for these levels of learning? (E.g., How much practice do your students have at applying a concept to a new problem?)
4. Can you think of questions that both measure student achievement of learning goals and reflect the kinds of learning practiced in class?

Third, get students involved.  Help students take ownership of the final exam process:

• Explain to your students the purpose of the final exam
• Review course goals and explain how you intend to measure these goals
• Invite students to reflect on their own learning; for example, have students write about what they have learned and how far they have achieved the learning goals
• Ask students to consider the course goals and write their own final exam questions

References and Further Reading:

Linda B. Nilson, Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors, Third Edition (Jossey-Bass, 2010).

For a wealth of ideas and strategies, see: Mary E. Piontek, “Best Practices for Designing and Grading Exams,” Center for Research on Learning and Teaching Occasional Papers 24 (2008).

Consider the do’s and don’ts provided by educator Rob Weir, “Having the Final Say” Inside Higher Education (2009).

For example:

1. Don’t use the final exam to exact revenge on students who seemed disrespectful or inattentive.
2. Don’t experiment with your final exam, but stick to the methods employed previously during the semester.
3. Do prepare students by making instructions and expectations clear ahead of time.

More tips may be found at UC Berkeley’s Center for Teaching and Learning

During your career, you will inevitably be asked to write a letter of recommendation for a student. Below are some ways to deal with student requests and advice on how to write the letter itself.

Set up Expectations

• Be Transparent: Since you are likely to be asked for a recommendation at some point during your career, it is perfectly reasonable for you to spend some time discussing recommendation requests in class and to set reasonable guidelines for when you expect to be notified of a possible request. The exact time-frame is up to you, but most people find anywhere from 2 weeks to a month’s notice to be reasonable. It depends on how many other commitments you have. You might also want to send the information in e-mail, or place it on your syllabus, just so that you can point to this information if a student makes an unreasonably late request and is upset when you decline them.
• Cultivate Mutual Respect: From my experience, it seems that most students think that we work only during class hours and therefore have tons of free time that we spend watching Netflix and goofing around. After all, if they don’t read something, their grade decreases to what they might feel is a perfectly acceptable C and they don’t realize that if I don’t read and/or grade something and/or prepare for class, then class literally can’t function. So, part of making sure you don’t get unreasonable requests is to make sure you express that your time is valuable and build your class based on mutual respect. For example, when I collect papers, I always ask student to provide me with the same time to read and grade the assignment as I did for them to write it. In other words, if I gave them the assignment prompt two weeks before the due date, I ask them to respect that I will need that same time to grade their assignments. Before I started to emphasize mutual respect for each other’s time, some students used to get annoyed with me if the paper was not given back by the very next class period.  Now, I receive fewer complaints each class period about the paper not being turned back yet and students are extra appreciative if I hand something back earlier than expected (which I try to do, regardless). If you demonstrate that you are respecting your students’ time, they are more likely to respect your time. If you consistently underscore that your time is important and that you are providing           them with the same courtesy, you are unlikely to receive too many late requests. In the event that you do, it will be easier to explain to the student why the request is impossible for you if you have already set up parameters in your class.

Writing the Recommendation

• Ask the Student for Important Documents: Always ask a student for complete information about the opportunity they are considering along with a CV, a short description of their recent work (or, if you think it is necessary, a full length example of their most relevant work), and, at the very least, a few bullet points of what they are including in their application essay and a short explanation of why they are applying to this specific program or scholarship. This process is time consuming and the reason that it is important for a student to provide you with adequate notice, since you are going to need time to collect documents from the student, review them, and then address the information in these documents.
• Create a narrative: When you write a recommendation, represent your student the same way you would represent yourself in a cover letter for a job. Do not use empty phrases, such as “intelligent” or “hard working” without demonstrating these qualities with examples. Create a narrative for the student that speaks specifically to the type of opportunity you are writing the letter for and to the student’s unique strengths.

Respect Your Own Time

As noted above, sometimes students will ask for an unrealistically quick turnover on a letter of recommendation, even if you have already made your guidelines clear. I have had friends who have felt bad turning down a late request, especially when it was for a student they really cared about. I have been there myself. Yet, it is important not to give into this guilt. It is obviously not your fault if a student is late in requesting a recommendation and it is perfectly reasonable to say, even to your favorite student, that you cannot fulfill a late request and will need more time in the future. This is an important skill that they need to learn for future applications and professional relationships.

It is important not to get annoyed at a student if you feel like they are disrespecting you with such a demanding request. Rather, just politely say no and explain to them that they need to provide a certain amount of notice when requesting recommendations. If the student gets angry, which I have never experienced but I have heard of from at least one former colleague, then it is best to just disengage with that person at that time and, if they are willing, explain to them later why their request was not professional and provide them with advice on how to go about asking for recommendations in the future.

You are only helping them by turning them down. Now certainly, it is your prerogative if you decide that you are actually free over the next two days and want to accommodate your favorite student’s late request because you have the time to do so. I would just suggest that you do so sparingly, so as not to set a precedent. After all, your letters will hardly be helpful to a student anyway if it is written at the last minute in between mounds of previously scheduled work.

Further Reading

The below documents will provide more information on how to respond to student requests and construct successful letters of recommendation.

• Recommendation Letter Advice compiled by Michael Ernst, University of Washington. Includes general advice and an example of a poor recommendation letter: https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/advice/write-recommendation.html
• Recommendation Letter Advice compiled by PACE University Career Services. Includes general advice and examples of successful recommendation letters.  https://www.pace.edu/career-services/sites/pace.edu.career-services/files/PDF/WritingLettersofRecommendation.pdf
• Recommendation Letter Advice compiled by the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University. This site is most useful for its general guidelines and how to deal with requests from students for whom you may not be the best recommender, or for whom you feel you cannot write a strong recommendation for: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58474/Verba-recs.html

As the weather gets warmer, it’s a refrain heard by many teachers: “Can we have class outside?” Though some have visions of passionate philosophical debates being held under the shade of the old oak tree, in reality, it is a question often fraught with concerns about the weather and any number of distractions that might impede the lesson plan for the day. On the other hand, maybe acquiescing once won’t hurt anything, and may end up giving a nice bump to those teaching evaluations. What’s a TA or instructor to do when approached with this question? Here are the pros and cons of teaching outdoors, as well as some suggestions to consider when doing so.

The Concerns:

A popular outdoor classroom location between DeBartolo Hall and the Law School

• Distractions. There are plenty of distractions within the classroom, and even more outside of it. Your lesson for the day will be competing with other students walking past, construction noise, bugs and animals, and other conversations. It will also take up additional class time to find and move to the right location.
• Weather. While it may look beautiful out the window, sitting in one place outside can be too hot/cold for some students, and it can be difficult to find a space with the right amount of sun or shade. The wind can whip papers around, and then there’s always the chance for passing rain (or snow, for that matter). Plus, weather changes sometimes lead to allergies, which can make for an uncomfortable out-of-the-classroom experience.
• (Lack of) Resources. The convenience of a classroom is that it has most everything needed to conduct a class session. On the other hand, taking your class outdoors likely means no computer, whiteboard, or desks for students to take notes. Some classes, like lab sciences, rely even more on classroom space to fulfill daily learning activities.

The Defense:

• It’s Healthy. In a world of “nature deficit disorder,” it is easy to be cramped up indoors all day without a chance to see the sun and breathe the fresh air.[1] Particularly so for busy college students and professors. Getting outdoors, even for a short while, can improve health and well-being and help one recover from mental fatigue.
• Motivation. Holding class outside offers a change of pace from the normal routine: a chance to reinvigorate the subject and increase students’ motivation to learn. A new environment adds excitement to discussions, and may actually improve student concentration.
• (New) Resources. Teaching class without PowerPoint or immobile desks allows one to incorporate different active learning techniques that might not be practical in the classroom. For instance, the additional space presents an opportunity for easy small group discussions, group work, or other activities that require movement. With some creativity, you may also be able to tie the environment to your subject or lesson plan for the day.

Things to Consider

Seating outside of O’Shaughnessy Hall

• Is there a space that is available with enough (clean) seating for the students? Will everyone be able to see and hear what is going on? What distractions will you be competing with?
• Are all students properly prepared to hold class outside? If students aren’t expecting to be outdoors for an extended period of time, they may not have warm enough clothing to be comfortable for the entire class period. If you are planning to have class outside, consider telling students to come prepared to the next class or email them the night before to let them know it is a possibility. Try to get a sense from all students how they feel about having class outside, not just those asking.
• Don’t throw out your best teaching practices! Just because you are outdoors doesn’t mean your lesson plan has to go out the door too (except to accompany you to your learning space). Stick to your agenda by identifying learning goals for the day and having a beginning, middle, and end to the class.

Additional Reading

• Ask Professor Pedagogy: Holding Class Outside
• “My Nomadic Class” by Thomas Fisher
• “Vitalizing Effects of Being Outdoors and in Nature” by Richard M. Ryan et al.
• “Views to Nature: Effects on Attention” by Carolyn M. Tennessen & Bernadine Cimprich
• “Exposure to Restorative Environments Helps Restore Attentional Capacity” by Rita Berto
  ________

[1] Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv

I was a university student from the year 2000 until the year 2015, first as an undergraduate and then as a graduate student.  During that decade and a half, I witnessed a rise and fall of laptop use in the classroom.  In the early 2000s laptops in the classroom were a novelty.  By the mid-to-late 2000s, laptops in the classroom were ubiquitous.  But then, to my surprise, in the early 2010s, laptops started to disappear.  Many of my classmates began to revert to the old-fashion pen and paper.  At the same time, certain professors started to ban the use of laptops in the classroom.  It seemed, at least to some students and instructors, that laptops had become a hindrance to learning.  Is this really the case?  Or, is there a place for laptops in the classroom?  Can laptops be used productively in the classroom, or are laptops simply a distraction?  In this post, we will review a few recent arguments and studies that address these questions.

First, there are some who advocate for the use of laptops in class, pointing to the potential benefits of laptops for learning.  For example, some argue, laptops can be used to encourage student engagement with class content.  Learning may be facilitated by strategically designed digital activities and tools that reinforce the course’s learning goals.  The Teaching Center Staff of Washington University points to a study describing the benefits of wisely implemented laptop use:

• According to this study (Samson, 2010), the use of the interactive LectureTools app leads to a “dramatic increase in the number of students posing questions during class time” and suggests students may be more engaged in lectures.

• The Teaching Center Staff also offers some examples for how digital activities and tools can encourage learning in the classroom.

Yet, many others argue that laptop-free classrooms are more conducive to learning. Several recent studies support this conclusion.  For example:

• In one study (Sanaa, et al., 2013), laptop multitasking not only distracted laptop users from learning (leading to lower test scores), it also distracted others in the classroom who were sitting in view of their classmate’s laptop.

• In another study (Mueller and Oppenheimer, 2014), students who took notes longhand performed better on conceptual questions than students who typed out their notes on laptops. Why? When writing longhand, students cannot write fast enough to record every word that a teacher speaks; instead they must summarize the main points, which requires active processing, evaluation, and paraphrasing. Laptop users, who can write faster, “transcribe lectures verbatim” without processing what they are writing.

In spite of these studies, some may still decide to allow laptops in the classroom; fortunately, guidelines exist that could help avoid some of the pitfalls of laptop use.  For example, The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching  (University of Michigan), suggests:

• Making and communicating a clear laptop policy that allow the use of laptops for “legitimate classroom purposes” like notetaking and downloading class information, but which prohibits all other uses.

• Creating a “laptop free” zone at the front of your classroom, for students who do not use laptops and who would be distracted by their classmates’ screens.

• When using digital activities and tools in the classroom, make sure your classroom is set up to accommodate all of your students’ computers; consider the number of outlets; and remind students to charge their batteries before class. And make sure all of your students have access to a laptop.

Sources and Further Reading:

Pam A. Mueller and Daniel M. Oppenheimer, “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking” Psychological Science 25 no. 6 (June 2014), 1159-68.

P. J. Samson, “Deliberate engagement of laptops in large lecture classes to improve attentiveness and engagement” Computers in Education 20 (2010): 22–37.

Faria Sanaa, Tina Westonb, and Nicholas J. Cepedab, “Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers,” Computers & Education 62 (2013): 24–31.

Consider the testimony of Clay Shirky—internet technology consultant and usually that last to side with the Luddites—who recently decided to ban laptops from his classroom: “Why I Just Asked My Students to Put Their Laptops Away.”

And, that of Dan Rockmore: “The Case for Banning Laptops in the Classroom,” The New Yorker, 2014.

Older studies suggesting negative results for laptop use:

Helene Hembrooke and Geri Gay, “The Laptop and the Lecture: The Effects of Multitasking in Learning Environments,” Journal of Computing in Higher Education 15 (2003)

• Hembrooke and Gay write, “Students in the open laptop condition suffered decrements on traditional measures of memory for lecture content.”

Carrie B. Fried, “In-class laptop use and its effects on student learning,” Computers & Education 50 (2008): 906-14.

• Fried explains, “Results showed that students who used laptops in class spent considerable time multitasking and that the laptop use posed a significant distraction to both users and fellow students. Most importantly, the level of laptop use was negatively related to several measures of student learning, including self-reported understanding of course material and overall course performance.”

This spring break, the Kaneb Center challenges you to create one new action plan for your teaching. One new activity, assessment, or approach to teaching. An update to an old syllabus or lesson plan. Take your pick. Then let us know how it goes – we’d love to hear from you!

Don’t know where to start? Check out some of our selected resources below:

Recent Blog Posts

• Teaching Study Skills
• Using Small Group Concept Mapping for Active Learning
• Eliciting Student Feedback
• Scaffolding Student Work
• Incorporating Storytelling in the Classroom

Books in the Kaneb Center Library

• How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching – Susan A. Ambrose et al.
• Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning – Peter C. Brown et al.
• Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses – L. Dee Fink
• Teaching What You Don’t Know – Therese Huston
• Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery – Garr Reynolds

Other Kaneb Center Services

• Gathering Early/Mid-Semester Student Feedback
• (Confidential) Individual Consultations
• Learning Technology Integration & Consultations
• Learning Technology Lab
• Collaborative Teaching Reflections

Have a great spring break, and good luck with your teaching challenge!

One semester a student came to me disappointed about his grade on an exam. He told me that he had studied for nine hours yet felt unprepared for the exam. I asked him to describe to me what exactly he did during those nine hours.  He explained his review strategy: he reread all of his notes from class; identified unfamiliar terms and concepts; and then memorized definitions for each of these terms and concepts.  While he had stored in his brain a huge treasury of relevant information, he did not know how to use this information.  The exam required him to do more than just regurgitate memorized facts or recognize familiar concepts; instead my student was challenged to relate familiar concepts to unfamiliar concepts and to synthesize distinct ideas.

My student’s struggles prompted me to ask two different questions: (1) what was I doing during class time to prepare my students for the higher level of learning required by my exams; and (2) what should my students be doing outside of class to prepare effectively for an exam.  Apropos to the first question, several recent Kaneb blog posts have offered strategies for prompting higher levels of learning in the classroom such as the use of in-class writing assignments, concept mapping, and guided discussions.  I encourage you to scroll down and read these for yourself.  In addition to utilizing such strategies, I suggest preparing students for exams by requiring them to solve questions and problems during class time that are similar to those that will show up on the exams.  In other words, early on and throughout the semester, expose students to the kinds of tasks and puzzles that you hope they will be able to accomplish and solve by the last day of class.

With regard to the second question, if students are to perform well on their exams, it is important to teach students how to study and review class material effectively.  Consider the following tips:

• Invite, inspire, and require students to review subject matter from class early and often.
• Encourage students to review their notes from class as soon as possible after class is over. Explain that students learn more effectively when they review newly learned material promptly.
• To motivate such prompt reviewing, for each class period, consider assigning a review problem/question that is due twenty-four hours after the class.
• Require students to come to class prepared to recall the main points from the previous class. Tell students that as a part of their grade, you will call on them at the beginning of class to summarize the previous class.
• Offer frequent low-stakes, self-diagnostic quizzes (or short practice tests) that expose students to kinds of questions and the higher level of learning that will be required on the exam.
• Grade these quizzes in class and talk through the correct answer.
• Encourage students to form weekly study groups for discussing class content. Consider offering extra credit to students who commit to meeting in such a group.
• Urge students to practice discussing ideas and answering questions from class out loud and on paper. Explain to them that putting their thoughts into words spoken and written, will force them to thinking about class concepts on a deeper level.

For a bibliography on teaching study skills:
http://fod.msu.edu/oir/teaching-students-study-skillshow-learn

Consider the study skills handouts prepared by Dartmouth College:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/handouts.html

and their learning strategies videos:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/videos/index.html

Also, consider Joe Landsberger’s very popular collection of study guides and learning resources:
http://www.studygs.net/

I am a big proponent of assigning writing as an active learning tool in the classroom. This should not come as a surprise, as I am pursuing a PhD in English and have primarily taught English courses that require writing as a major component. Yet, I actually learned the best methods for incorporating writing into the classroom from a philosophy professor I observed who decided to make writing the focal point of his classroom after finding himself frustrated by traditional methods of knowledge acquisition in philosophy classrooms. Upon altering his pedagogical approach from one that was test and teacher centered to a student centered course in which students weekly articulated substantial responses to philosophical texts in writing, he observed a significant increase in critical thinking and theoretical sophistication in the majority of his students.

Writing as a tool can benefit every discipline if it is implemented as an active learning strategy, in which students are tasked with developing a deep, focused written engagement with a question or idea. This means that the focus should be on quality of thought rather than on grammatical conventions. This is not to say that a final draft should be turned in without having been carefully proofread but only to emphasize that thinking is sometimes messy and that, especially in early stages, good, interesting written ideas might still need to be polished. Writing, like thinking, is a process.

Writing as Active Learning Strategies:

• Provide students with time to write down their initial responses to a new idea or topic, especially one that is particularly complex, in writing before discussing the topic in depth. This writing does not need to be collected or formally graded but should rather be thought of as a springboard for discussion. If students have had time to articulate their ideas on their own first, they will be more confident in their knowledge and more likely to participate in the class discussion. Even five minutes is helpful.
• Generate specific writing assignments or writing prompts. The complexity of the questions can vary depending on what you are looking for from the assignment. Are you looking for understanding of key concepts or are you expecting students to delve deeply into a difficult concept? The more transparency you provide the better the students will be able to engage with the assignment.
• Have students present their writing in class. This option can include a formal presentation or a more informal presentation given to select group members. The idea is to give the students a chance to test their ideas out on others. As the saying goes, the best way to learn something is to teach it.
• Divide the class into groups based upon specific topics or questions. For examples, in a philosophy section on Kant, you could task each group with responding to a specific Kantian principle. Each student would develop a rough draft of a written response independently and then get into their shared groups to enhance other’s grasp of Kant’s concepts. You could then have them each develop a further draft of their individual ideas to hand into you.
• Build in multiple drafts. As emphasized above, writing and thinking take time. The first articulation of an idea might be the seed of a more complex argument that just needs more time to germinate. Providing students with a response to an initial draft and requiring them to hand in a revision based upon your comments will help them to think more deeply about their initial ideas and give them a chance to further enhance their argument. It is important not to frame revision as corrections, as that implies that there was something negative about the student’s initial draft that needs to be fixed and this could frustrate a student. Instead, frame it as what it is: a chance to develop their argument. How many drafts should you allow? That’s up to you. My advice is to allow or require at least one revision.

Even STEM Classes Can Benefit from More Writing

Writing is important to any discipline, as anyone who has drafted a grant or had to give a public lecture understands. Yet, writing is too often attached only to English courses, or at best, the humanities. While the suggestions I have provided above would work for any discipline, the links below provide resources that include discipline specific information related to the importance of writing in the classroom and specific strategies that can be used to effectively implement writing into your course.

Further Reading:

Writing Across the Curriculum Page at Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (Includes extensive bibliographies for further reading): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/671/01/

Example of a Writing Across the Curriculum program: http://www.wac.pitt.edu/

Mahler. Mozart. Mendelssohn. What can they teach us about teaching? You may have a flash of genius for a particular course or lesson plan, but most artful teaching requires planning, revision, and contextualizing the lesson or course into the overall curriculum. Much like the composition of the great musical symphonies. Fortunately, most composers do not have to go into the composition blind – and neither do you as a teacher. When structuring the first movement of the symphony, many composers follow the sonata form: exposition, development, and recapitulation. This can also be a useful way to structure your lesson plans:

Exposition

The exposition of a sonata introduces the major themes of the movement. It sets the stage for everything to follow and provides direction for the piece, and often contains the most memorable melody. In the classroom, it is helpful to start by introducing the major themes of the class. Start with the learning goals that you want to accomplish in the class and the major questions you hope to answer. Make sure that these are clear and memorable to the students, and use them to direct the remainder of the class. This means keeping the number of goals manageable and realistic to achieve in the time available.

Development

Following the exposition, the composer begins the development of the major themes. The material is complexified and nuanced, building on the basic musical ideas set out from the beginning of the piece. Importantly, the themes set up in the exposition guide what happens in the development section. Likewise, as you teach, be sure that the course material relates to your learning goals. Plan the lessons around the main questions in 10-15 minute mini-modules or “chunks,” using active learning techniques to break up lectures and engage students. Research shows that this is the approximate attention span of college students, so using the structure of the exposition (learning goals) allows you to stay on message and accomplish what you set out to do in the class without losing students’ attention.

Recapitulation

The sonata movement ends with the recapitulation, or recap of the exposition section. It reiterates and reaffirms the primary themes, bringing the movement full circle – back to where it began. After developing each of the main course ideas, just like the sonata, you should return to the beginning and assess whether the learning goals were achieved. Consider asking students to write down the most important thing they learned or what questions remain after the class. Remind students of the main takeaways and highlight what was accomplished during the session.

Moving from a Movement to a Symphony

Whether it is one movement of a symphony or a single class of the semester, it is important to consider how the part fits into the larger whole. Composers will often draw on the themes introduced in the first movement throughout the rest of the symphony; instructors should also draw on themes introduced at the beginning of the course throughout the rest of the semester. Consider how each class fits into the overall theme and the broader learning goals you have for the course. Structuring your course in this manner will help you organize your materials and ensure that your objectives are met.

Want to learn more about structuring and designing effective courses?

The Kaneb Center is currently offering a workshop series on the Fundamentals of Course Design, and offers private, individual consultations to those who are revising an old course or planning a new one. Contact us today for assistance in composing your next course!

Additional Resources

• “Learning Goals/Outcomes” – UC-Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning
• What the Best College Teachers Do – Ken Bain
• Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses – L. Dee Fink
• Understanding by Design – Grant P. Wiggins