Notes on Teaching and Learning

Last month, in the first installment of this series, we considered two reasons to teach controversial topic and three frameworks with which to do so. This month we will focus on how instructors can develop a classroom environment conducive to productive engagement with controversial issues. This post will address how to create the appropriate classroom environment and how to prepare to draft ground rules for engagement with controversial topics. 

Creating an Environment

An instructor plays a significant role in determining how conducive a classroom environment is to productive engagement with controversial topics. Some of the ways to create a good environment for productive disagreement include:  

• Establish rapport with students by finding ways to demonstrate that you care about them.
• Use discussion beginning on the first day, so students will be comfortable speaking in class. (Or, take the time to explain why you are using discussion for this topic.)
• Expose students (via readings or discussion questions) to a variety of perspectives on an issue to prepare them for the conversation. 

Clearing the Ground for Ground Rules

Ground rules (or guidelines) for engaging with controversial topics are an important way to create shared expectations and norms, which can be a lifeline in difficult contexts. That said, guidelines don’t work well in a vacuum. Instructors need to set the stage for them to maximize their effectiveness. To help students understand the context for ground rules, instructors should clarify the following for their students:

• What types of learning interactions will be common in this class?
• Why do we use these types of learning interactions? 
  • For example, in the book Discussion as a Way of Teaching, Brookfield and Preskill identify four purposes of discussion:
    1. “to help participants reach a more critically informed understanding about the topic or topics under consideration”
    2. “to enhance participants’ self-awareness and their capacity for self-critique” 
    3. “to foster an appreciation among participants for the diversity of opinion that invariably emerges when viewpoints are exchanged openly and honestly”
    4. “to act as a catalyst to helping people take informed action in the world.” (pg. 6)

• What goals of the course ought to inform your ground rules?
  • Are you equipping students to enter a particular profession or context?
• What are the limits of ground rules?
  • Have a conversation about guidelines will not preemptively remove all of the challenges of engaging with controversial topics. 

Implementing these strategies will go a long way toward creating a classroom environment conducive to engaging with controversial issues. Next month, we’ll explore some tips for drafting ground rules for that engagement.

References

Brookfield, Stephen D., and Stephen Preskill. Discussion as a Way of Teaching Tools and Techniques for Democratic Classrooms. Hoboken: Wiley, 2012.

 “Guidelines for Classroom Interactions.” Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. University of Michigan. Accessed October 18, 2019. http://www.crlt.umich.edu/examples-discussion-guidelines.

“Teaching Controversial Issues.” Center for Teaching Excellence. Duquense University. Accessed October 18, 2019. https://www.duq.edu/about/centers-and-institutes/center-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-and-learning/teaching-controversial-topics.

“If your goal is to engage students in critical thinking… you need to present interesting challenges to solve, rather than simply explaining how other smart people have already solved those challenges.” – Therese Huston

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) are both student-centered teaching pedagogies that encourage active learning and critical thinking through investigation. Both methods offer students interesting problems to consider. And research shows that both PBL and IBL are effective models of learning. 

So, what’s the difference between the two?

According to Banchi and Bell [4], there are four different levels of inquiry.

1. Confirmation Inquiry: Students confirm a principle through an activity when the results are known in advance.
2. Structured Inquiry: Students investigate a teacher-presented question through a prescribed procedure. 
3. Guided Inquiry: Students investigate a teacher-presented question using student designed or selected procedures.
4. Open Inquiry: Students investigate questions that are student formulated through student designed or selected procedures.

Most academics define Inquiry-Based-Learning as a pedagogy that is based on one of these levels. So IBL can be as methodical as guiding students through a procedure to discover a known result or as free-form as encouraging students to formulate original questions. For example, in a Physics laboratory, suppose the topic is Newton’s Second Law of Motion. The lab instructions could define a procedure to record the mass and impact force of various objects. Multiplying the mass by the acceleration due to gravity, the students should recover the force they recorded, thus confirming Newton’s Second Law.

Problem-Based-Learning can be classified as guided inquiry where the teacher-presented question is an unsolved, real-world problem. For example, in a Middle Eastern Studies course, the main problem posed by the instructor could be “Propose a solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.” This question will motivate the study of the history of the region, the theological differences between Judaism and Islam, and current events. At the end of the semester, students would be expected to present and justify their solution. 

Therefore, using the definition above, PBL is a type of IBL.

PBL is great because it motivates course content and maximizes learning via investigation, explanation, and resolution of real and meaningful problems. At any level, inquiry can be an effective method of learning because it is student-centered and encourages the development of practical skills and higher-level thinking. 

As you plan for your next class, I invite you to reflect on your method of content delivery. Is it motivated? How? Would your students benefit from a day based on inquiry?

References.

1. Inquiry Based Learning. University of Notre Dame Notes on Teaching and Learning. https://sites.nd.edu/kaneb/2014/11/10/inquiry-based-learning/.
2. Problem-Based Learning. Cornell University Center for Teaching Innovation. https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/engaging-students/problem-based-learning.
3. Hmelo-Silver, Cindy E.; Duncan, Ravit Golan; Chinn, Clark A. (2007). “Scaffolding and Achievement in Problem-Based and Inquiry Learning: A Response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006)”. Educational Psychologist. 42 (2): 99–107. doi:10.1080/00461520701263368.
4. Banchi, H., & Bell R. (2008). The many levels of inquiry. Science and Children.

Now that we’re four weeks into the semester, you may be wondering: how can you effectively help students who are struggling to keep up in your course? This issue can be broadly categorized into two major components: (1) identifying at-risk students (ideally early in the semester), and (2) intervening with those students to increase their academic performance. The former is a fairly established area of research [1,2,3,4], while the latter is an emerging topic. There is not much research, however, that attempts to combine the two and close the learning analytics loop [5].

Recent work conducted at the University of Notre Dame has been shown to boost student success, by using an integrated closed-loop learning analytics scheme that consists of multiple steps broken into three main phases, as follows: (1) capture gradebook data in real time, (2) analyze that data to identify a trigger for potentially non-thriving students, (3) intervene with those students to boost their performance [5]. The general idea of this technique is to close the loop by allowing later steps to inform earlier ones in real-time during a semester and iteratively year to year, thereby improving the course from data-driven insights.

This new technique effectively takes the burden of identifying and helping non-thriving students off individual instructors in larger, multi-section courses. Instead, the real-time data-driven analytics do much of the detail-oriented work at identifying non-thriving behavior, and templated bottom-up interventions are provided to students to boost their academic performance. 

Even if you do not have the appropriate resources or class size to implement the above techniques, the general structure can be followed: (1) As a domain expert, do your best to decide on a gradebook trigger which you believe will identify the majority of non-thriving students (e.g., if a student has missed one or more of the first four assignments). (2) Intervene with those students early on in the semester, either directly (say, an email expressing concern and an invitation to meet with you or come to office hours) or via their academic advisor. The goal with this step is not to scare the student into doing better, but rather to get at the root of the issue (e.g., they just forgot, there was a grading mistake, they are struggling academically, they have home- or campus-related stress, etc.) This bottom-up method of intervening helps get at the root of the problem, allowing you to provide the student with the appropriate resources to boost their performance (e.g., strategies for managing their workload, scheduled meetings with the instructor or advisor, referrals to the rector, a care consultant, a peer advisor, a counselor, etc.) (3) Track those students throughout the semester and assess the effectiveness of your trigger and/or intervention, and update it as needed for future semesters.

Hopefully this strategy can help you minimize the damage for students who fall behind early in the semester this year and years to come.   

References

[1] Arnold, K. E., and Pistilli M. D. (2012). “Course Signals at Purdue: Using Learning Analytics to Increase Student Success.” 2nd International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge

[2] Moon, S. et al. (2013). “High-Impact Educational Practices as Promoting Student Retention and Success.” 9th Annual National Symposium C-IDEA

[3] Murtaugh, P. A., Burns, L. D., Schuster, J. (1999). “Predicting the Retention of the University Students.” Research in Higher Education, 40, 3

[4] Wolff, A. et al. (2013). “Improving Retention: Predicting At-Risk Students by Analyzing Clicking Behavior in a Virtual Learning Environment.” 3rd International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge

[5] Syed, M. et al. (2019). “Integrated Closed-Loop Learning Analytics Scheme in a First Year Experience Course.” International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge

Submitted by:

Carson Running

Ph.D. Candidate, Aerospace Engineering

University of Notre Dame

This week’s blogpost is twofold. It reminds you that this is a great time to solicit early-semester feedback from your students, and serves as the first in a four-part series on teaching controversial topics. 

Gathering Early-Semester Feedback

You are likely approaching the point in the semester at which you begin to develop a rhythm. Before that rhythm becomes too much of a routine and time slips away, take advantage of the chance to solicit early-semester feedback from your students. 

The Kaneb Center has several resources to help you do so. Our blog archive has many short posts on collecting early-semester feedback, including why and how to do so, what type of questions to ask, how to evaluate the results, and how to use them.

This handout summarizes the rationale for soliciting early-semester feedback, strategies for doing so, and resources for further reference. 

The Kaneb Center is also happy to review your questions and administer Qualtrics surveys for you. 

Finally, you are invited to attend our workshop on soliciting early-semester feedback this week on Wednesday, September 18. 

Teaching Controversial Topics

Instructors often steer clear of controversial topics because they are not confident of their ability to handle them well. This is understandable, given the many ways that engaging with such topics can go awry. But there are also two reasons it is worth engaging these topics anyway: 

• First, controversial topics are likely to interest students. One of the most effective ways to engage students in course material is to bridge to it from something they are already care about. Controversial issues pique student interest almost by definition, since they are sensitive, emotionally charged, or the subject of strong disagreement. 

• Second, the college classroom can be an excellent venue for students to learn how to engage more productively with controversial topics. Students who hold unreflective views about these topics will benefit from the opportunity to reflect critically on their positions in conversation–whether face to face or mediated by course texts–with those who disagree with them. This critical reflection may also help students develop ethical reasoning skills which will serve them well as they navigate controversial issues for the rest of their lives. 

However, the specific way that the college classroom fosters more productive engagement with controversial issues will depend at least in part on the framework you adopt as the instructor. Three pedagogical frameworks for engaging with controversial issues are prominent in higher education today: 

• Liberation Pedagogy: Because the classroom is enmeshed in the world’s problems, students should relate their experiences to those problems so they can gain a new understanding of their relationship to the world. (cf. Paulo Freire, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed)

• Civic Humanism: Teachers should aim to develop moral and civic virtues in their students, to prepare them to be responsible citizens. (cf. Derek Bok, Our Underachieving Colleges) 

• Academic Detachment: Teachers should analyze controversial topics in a detached fashion because the purpose of academia is to evaluate competing arguments rather than to determine what course of action to take. (cf. Stanley Fish, “Tip to Professors: Just Do Your Job”)

Before you teach a controversial topic, reflect on which of these frameworks you will adopt. You may also prefer to glean aspects from multiple frameworks and develop your own personal framework. In next month’s post we’ll consider how instructors can develop a classroom environment conducive to productive engagement with controversial issues. 

References

“Teaching Controversial Topics.” Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. Yale University. Accessed September 13, 2019. https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/teaching/ideas-teaching/teaching-controversial-topics.

“Why Teach Controversial Issues?” Teaching Quality at Flinders. Flinders University. Accessed September 13, 2019. https://www.flinders.edu.au/teaching/quality/teaching-methods/teaching-controversial-issues/why-teach-controversial-issues.cfm.

The title of this blog serves as a reminder of the goal I have for each new class I teach – making an attempt to know first names of my students by the first day of class. Why? Because students learn better when they recognize and understand that I am not just another authority figure in their life, but instead, someone who cares about their success both inside and outside of the classroom. By attempting to use students’ names, I recognize the dignity and existence of each student. This helps foster a relationship of respect, trust, approachability, and relatability between myself and each student. This sort of relationship creates a mutual respect which encourages students to attend lecture and participate, even if just out of respect of me. It also softens the barrier of student outreach regarding issues inside and outside of the classroom. Beyond the student-professor relationship, “When the professor engages the student in personal conversation, recognizes her by name, and seems to include her in the domain of attention, the subject matter seems more accessible. The nonverbal message goes out that the student is a part of the community of people who can do mathematics, statistics, chemistry, or whatever the subject is [1].” My attempts, then, serve to increase peer respect, and eventually, learning.

Okay, so it seems like learning/using the names of students is important [2,3], but how can you do it? There are a number of practical tips that are often suggested for learning student names, such as: making flash cards with names and roster pictures, name tents, seating charts, etc. [4,5] The important thing is to show that you have attempted to learn the names before the first day, even if you haven’t mastered them [2]. Don’t be afraid to ask for a student’s name. Be explicit that you are trying to learn everyone’s name and give it your best shot. Using names often, such as greeting students as they walk into class, or when you pass out the first documents, helps a good deal.

Now back to the question of why attempt this on the first day:  research clearly shows that students’ perception of you as an instructor is heavily influenced by the first class period [6]. Why would we not put in the time up front to learn (or at least indicate that we are trying to learn) students’ names? Doing so sets the tone right away for the semester and communicates your intentions as the instructor (i.e., success for each and every student inside and outside of your classroom). I was shocked that one of the reoccurring themes on my mid- and end-of-semester feedback forms was how I attempted to use everyone’s name on the first day of class. Time and time again, students have indicated to me that this action established a unique relationship, from which an enjoyable and fruitful semester of learning was organically created. Give it a try – dedicate some of your pre-class time to learning student names – the payoff, I expect, will be rich.

References

[1] Willemsen, E.W. (1995). “So What is the Problem?: Difficulties at the Gate.” Student Success in Quantitative Gateway Courses, 61.

[2] Cooper, K.M. et al. (2017). “What’s in a Name? The Importance of Students Perceiving That an Instructor Knows Their Names in a High-Enrollment Biology Classroom.” CBE – Life Sciences Education, 16.

[3] Murdoch, Y.D. et al. (2018). “Learning Students’ Given Names Benefits EMI Classes.” English in Education, 52.

[4] Glenz, T. (2014). “The Importance of Learning Students’ Names.” Journal on Best Teaching Practices, 1.

[5] University Center for the Advancement of Teaching. The Ohio State University. “20 Tips for Learning Student Names.”

[6] Cavanagh, S. R. (2016) “The Spark of Learning : Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion.” Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

Submitted by:

Carson Running

Ph.D. Candidate, Aerospace Engineering

University of Notre Dame

Congratulations! You have made it to the end of another semester in one piece. You deserve to catch your breath and enjoy some time-off. In addition to getting some rest, we encourage you to set yourself up for future success by taking advantage of the Kaneb Center resources.  To help you hone your pedagogical prowess over the next few months, consider:

Reading Groups. The Kaneb Center purchases books on teaching and learning for small informal reading groups. Faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars are all welcome and invited to sign up for a prearranged group or to propose their own group. These groups are a great place to gather new ideas on teaching and to meet colleagues from across the university who are interested in teaching and learning. Learn more and sign up by Monday, May 20 at 10:00 am.

Graduate Courses on University Teaching and Learning. Enrollment is open for short, credit-bearing summer graduate courses on university teaching and learning in various fields. They are taught by experienced Notre Dame faculty. Courses must meet minimum enrollments at least a month prior to the start date in order to run.  Contact the individual course instructor or krudenga@nd.edu with further questions. Visit University of Notre Dame Summer Session for more info. Tuition support is available for graduate students. Submit a summer tuition scholarship application online.

Individual Consultations. Schedule a one-on-one consultation with a member of the Kaneb Center staff to discuss any teaching needs. We are happy to help you review CIFs, discuss your course plans for the fall, develop new types of assessments or other learning activities, consider the integration of technology into your course, or discuss any other pedagogical questions or concerns.

Kaneb Center Library. The Kaneb Center library holds hundreds of books, videos, and other materials on a variety of teaching and learning topics. Visit our library and check out some great selections for your summer reading!

From all of us at the Kaneb Center, we wish you a happy, restorative, and productive summer!