Hi, Jim and listmembers.
I like many of the suggestions in this posting. I've tried some of them,
for example, having students submit tests using only a code number, but the
extra time it takes me to convert code names to class names when I record
grades became a problem because of large numbers of students in my classes.
I have not given up my attendance requirements for class. I feel a
responsibility to be sure that all students learn a certain amount of
information during the semester. If some students stay away from class and
DON'T learn that information, there's almost no way to fix that problem
prior to the end of the semester.
I saw another interesting list of teaching tips on an agenda of an upcoming
CIT workshop. I'd like to share that list here.
Be All You Can Be - Teach!
Instructor: Tara Gray, Director of the Teaching Academy
New Mexico State University
Rating: Introductory
Room: TBA
Cost: $75.00
Description:
Every teacher should take specific, concrete steps to flourish in the
classroom; however,
these steps are not the same for everyone. In this workshop, Tara Gray
presents her own
twelve steps based on twenty years of full-time teaching. Her steps include:
Content
Step 1 Answer the key questions of course design.
Step 2 Teach to one sentence every day.
Step 3 Limit lectures to 15 minutes.
Step 4 Let your readings share the lectern.
Students
Step 5 Hold students accountable daily.
Step 6 Push your studentsbut not overboard.
Step 7 Learn to love them.
Step 8 Take responsibility for your class.
You: Sharpen Your Saw
Step 9 Use the first few minutes after class each day to write down the
changes you
will make the next time you teach the dayıs material.
Step 10 Use mid-term evaluations to start a dialog with your class.
Step 11 Get yourself to ³class.²
Step 12 Write your own steps for teaching success.
Dr. J. Nepkie
Professor of Music
And Music Industry
Music Department
State University College
Oneonta, NY 13820
tele: (607) 436 3425
fax: 607 436 2718
[log in to unmask]
> From: Jim Greenberg <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Teaching Breakfast List <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2006 07:50:13 -0500
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Conversation: A Teaching Manifesto - posted to TB list by Jim Greenberg
> Subject: A Teaching Manifesto - posted to TB list by Jim Greenberg
>
> Tbers,
>
> The posting below offers some interesting approaches to teaching
> undergraduates. It is by Jaldum Ozaktas of Bilkent University in
> Ankara, Turkey. While not everyone will agree with all these
> suggestions they do offer much food for thought. Also, please
> remember that your comments are welcome. Send them to
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> A TEACHING MANIFESTO
> (A personal view on undergraduate university education)
>
> 1. Let students decide what is best for them.
> a. Give students maximum freedom in determining how they learn the
> course material. --> 1b 1c
>
> b. Do not put constraints on the way they study by giving homework.
> Instead, suggest or provide useful problems or study material and
> provide solutions. --> 1a 4c
>
> c. Do not force or blackmail them into coming to class through
> devices such as sign-up registers, pop-quizzes, unavailability of
> class material in print, etc. Design the course such that students
> who prefer so can follow the course without attending any lectures.
> --> 1a
> 2e 5c 5e
>
> 2. Acknowledge your subjectivity
> a. Do not let subjective criteria, especially personal opinion,
> influence students' grades. Avoid as much as possible forms of
> evaluation where the degree of subjectivity is high. --> 2b 2f
>
> b. To eliminate bias, grade examinations without reference to the
> name or person of the students. (For instance, let them identify
> themselves by their student numbers rather than their names.) --> 2a
> 2f 3b
>
> c. Allow objections to grading of examinations (in writing, again
> without reference to the name and person of the student). Give them
> due consideration, but maintain consistency with how other students'
> answers have been graded. --> 3b
>
> d. To the extent that this is possible, recommendation letters must
> be based on objective criteria. Even if the student has personal
> characteristics which make it difficult to work with her or him, do
> not mention them so long as they are independent from her or his
> technical competence and sense of responsibility.
>
> e. Acknowledge the possibility that you are a poor lecturer and that
> students do not benefit from coming to class. Do not do anything to
> force them to. --> 1c 2f 3b
>
> f. To make it possible for students to criticize you openly without
> fear of harassment, completely separate the grading process from the
> name and person of the student. --> 2a 2b 2e 3b
>
> g. Be democratic in giving decisions regarding the course, such as
> setting the time of lectures, examinations, subject to the condition
> that the teaching and evaluative objectives of the course are
> fulfilled and chaos is avoided. --> 5a
>
> 3. Treat students as you treat other people
> a. Treat the students as you would treat the same persons if you met
> them outside the university. --> 3b
>
> b. To enable them to also treat you so, eliminate potential sources
> of pressure. Completely separate the grading process from the name
> and person of the students. --> 2b 2c 2e 2f 3a
>
> 4. Encourage sense of community
> a. Encourage communal studying. --> 4b 4c 4d
>
> b. Do not make the students feel as if they are competing with each
> other. Rather, design the grading scheme such that they measure
> against a predefined standard (which may be slowly adjusted over the
> years). --> 4a 4c
>
> c. Do not give take-home examinations or employ other grading methods
> when it is the case that independent work cannot be enforced and
> students are torn between honesty towards the instructor and loyalty
> towards their friends etc. --> 1b 4a 4b 4d 4e
>
> d. Do not ignore the social and cultural setting in which education
> takes place. --> 4a 4c
>
> e. Avoid unreasonable precautions to avoid cheating. --> 4c
>
> 5. Be precise, predictable, and reliable
> a. State the content, requirements, and procedures of the course on
> the first day, and do not change them unless an overwhelming majority
> of students agree so. --> 2g 5d
>
> b. State material included in exams clearly. If a book or set of
> notes is used, clearly indicate which sections are included or
> excluded from the course. --> 5c
>
> c. All material that students are responsible for in the examinations
> must be provided in fixed form (on paper or other suitable media).
> --> 1c 5b
>
> d. Do not change the time or date of examinations or other
> appointments with short notice. --> 5a 5e
>
> e. Do not administer any form of examination (e.g. quizzes, orals)
> with short (or no) notice. --> 1c 5d
>
> f. Predefine the grading scheme of examinations with rigor and care. --> 5g
>
> g. Grade the question as stated on the question sheet, not as you
> intended it. --> 5f
>
> h. Keep the distribution of grades consistent with that of other
> courses offered in the same department or school.
> ------------------------------------------------------
> (C) Copyright Haldun M. Ozaktas - January 1994
> Bilkent University School of Engineering; TR-06533 Bilkent, Ankara; Turkey.
> Fax: (90-312) 266-4126. Email: [log in to unmask]
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