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February 2006

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From:
Jim Greenberg <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Teaching Breakfast List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 17 Feb 2006 14:59:08 -0500
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Tbers,



  CONTEMPLATIONS AFTER FORTY YEARS OF TEACHING

By Professor Rolf E. Hummel
University of Florida - College of Engineering (Dept. of Material
Science & Engineering)

The other day I ran into my good old friend David Bloomquist. He told
me during our curb-side chat that is now the director of the
"University Center for Excellence in Teaching". Eventually, after
having shown me his spacious office, he handed me a coffee mug and an
executive ballpoint pen, both with the insignia of the Center. Then,
after having "bribed" me this way, Dave asked me to please write a
contribution for his newsletter "The Pedagogator" because he knew
that I had been graced so far with 12 teaching awards (among them the
university-wide teacher of the year, the Florida Blue Key teaching
award, several college of engineering awards, and the TIP
award-twice). Dave felt that I surely had a few words to say about my
past experiences that would be of help to new professors. Further, he
suggested that I could possibly comment on some of the new teaching
methods that are currently discussed and occasionally even
implemented. I am glad to comply with his request even though I have
to admit that I practice no spectacular new techniques. But my
students like what I have been doing as expressed in numerous
enthusiastic teacher evaluations. What I do is simply the following:

1) I prepare at least one hour per period for classes which I have
given before and about 5-7 hours for each new class. This preparation
allows me to teach without reading from or referring to notes.

2) I arrive in the classroom at the right time, or even a few minutes
earlier to have the chance to chat with my students or answer any
questions they may have.

3) I start my class with a one or two minute review of the previous lecture.

4) I am a great supporter of the old fashioned blackboard. The larger
it is, the better. I write as much as possible on this board, and
highlight important parts with colored chalk and/or put a box around
important equations. (I do not like so much the new whiteboards
because one has to always remember to cap the markers before they dry
out. And those markers available in the lecture room often do not
work anyway, so you have to bring your own.

5) I start at the upper, left-hand corner of the blackboard. I do not
erase anything during the entire hour. At the end of the lecture I
have reached the lower, right-hand corner of the blackboard.
Admittedly, this takes some advanced planning and practice, but can
be eventually accomplished by everybody.

6) I attempt to write large and legibly enough so that my
"hieroglyphics" can be read from the last row. After class I often
walk to the back of the lecture room to see if I succeeded in doing
so.

7) During the last three minutes of the lecture I repeat briefly what
was discussed that day by showing with a pointer the relevant graphs
or equations on the board and mention how they were arrived at. This
lets the students see the larger context in which the individual
steps have been developed.

8) I attempt not to block the blackboard with my body so that
virtually everybody can see what is written on the board; at least
most of the time. This is accomplished by stepping aside after
writing.

9) When drawing a graph on the board, I carefully label the axes by
saying what they represent and describe a curve while drawing it. If
there is more than one curve in a given graph, I distinguish them
with different colors and write on each curve what parameters they
represent.

10) To each class I bring a bunch of "show-and-tell" items, such as a
transformer, a computer chip, a computer hard drive, a laser tube, a
silicon crystal, several magnets, a transistor, a shape memory alloy
etc., so that students have hands-on experience of the subjects I am
talking about. Occasionally, I show movies that depict manufacturing
processes of what was explained before in theory.

11) I encourage questions during class and answer them in a
respectful manner (even the supposedly 'stupid questions'). If I do
not know the answer immediately, I admit so (which makes a student
feel good) and promise to answer it next time.

12) I feel that overloading the students with information during
class does not serve them properly. Often less information, but that
in more depth, is pedagogically better. After all, the students can
learn supplemental information from their textbooks.

13) I am a supporter of the Monday/Wednesday/Friday rhythm rather
than the two or three hour-long lecture on one day. Students need
digestion between lectures and catching up with their homework.

14) I try to speak loud and distinctly so that everybody should be
able to hear and understand me. I aim my voice toward the last
student row. Foreign students particularly appreciate this.

15) I address my students by looking at them during the lecture, that
is, I keep eye contact. This way I can see if some students drift
away, requiring me to change the pace.

16) I take a class picture during one of the first lectures and ask
the students to write their names next to their image. This gives me
the chance to memorize their names and to address them with their
names during lectures and in my office. (I admit memorizing names
becomes increasingly difficult with age).

17) Student like my "war stories," that is, practical examples in
which the subjects just taught have been used (or not been used with
negative consequences). This loosens up the flow of information and
demonstrates the relevance of the often theoretical-appearing
subjects. In other words, a proper balance between theory and
practical aspects needs to be maintained.

18) I am not a friend of projected transparencies because they are
frequently removed before the students are capable of fully
comprehending what they want to teach. Still, occasionally even I use
overhead projectors when putting the respective information on the
board would require too much time or when the students have the same
graph in their textbook and I need to point out certain details on
the image. Flashing slides in five second intervals on a screen turns
students quickly away from paying attention. In other words, each
transparency needs to stay on the screen long enough so that all
details they contain can be fully explained and understood. On the
same line, I am not a friend of PowerPoint presentations in the
classroom. They have their merit in seminars and conferences where a
substantial amount of information needs to be transmitted in a
relatively short time.

19) Before an exam, I hand out tests from previous years, whose
answers we discuss in the class immediately before the upcoming
midterm or final.

20) I allow my students to prepare for the test a one-page,
hand-written, personal "crib sheet" on which they may write all the
equations and graphs they consider to be important. They have to
turn-in this sheet along with their tests. This promotes academic
honesty and gives those students some confidence who otherwise "draw
a complete blank" during tests. Interestingly enough, most students
admit that once they have written a crib sheet they don't need it any
more during the test since they are now well prepared for the exam
and they feel confident that they can turn to their sheet when need
arises. Needless to say, my tests do not allow mere regurgitation of
crammed information, but usually require some thinking. For this
reason, my exams are often labeled as "difficult," ("because asking a
student to think is unfair").

21) Most of all, however, I consider my students to be my friends. I
am kind to them and am available most of the time for questions and
for airing concerns. My door is virtually always open. I teach all
classes myself, I write the tests and grade them myself and use
teaching assistants only for looking over the homework, which I
assign, (because one can only learn by "doing" and not so much by
just listening). As a former student once wrote in retrospect: "Dr.
Hummel does not only teach class, he adopts it."

In summary, I love teaching and showing my enthusiasm about the
subject matter. This spark flies over to my students and makes them
enthusiastic too.

These points may sound, for some readers, old-fashioned. So be it.
But why should we abandon techniques that have been proven to be
successful over many decades? I feel that we should use whatever
produces the best educational results. For some instructors, the
impersonal PowerPoint presentation, etc., works. For others it is the
personally addressed, spoken word that reaches the minds and souls of
the students.

Most importantly however: It is often said that classroom teaching at
university does not help a professor in obtaining tenure and
promotion. What really counts is research money and publications.
Those colleagues and administrators who think like this should keep
in mind that the future of or nation depends strongly on what and how
we are educating the younger generation.

Having this in mind, I strongly feel that proper, compassionate and
enthusiastic teaching (in the classroom and the research lab) is the
most important mission of a university.

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