Teaching tips

The Low Maintenance Pop Quiz

Most of my formal teaching is in large (60-140 students) classes that are required for students with a major in the Department of Animal Science. While some of the students are, mercifully, there because they want to learn, many of the students are there just because it is a required class. An assortment of motivational tools is necessary to keep them in class and paying attention. One such tool is the unannounced or "pop" quiz. Historically, students do not care for such exercises. Part of the objection comes from good students who must be gone periodically and believe that their grade is compromised by missed quizzes. Unannounced quizzes should be a benefit to students who are regular attendees and who pay attention during class. The only penalized students should be those who are chronically absent.

The approach I take is to have frequent, small quizzes at the end of class periods. Almost all of the quizzes address a major point presented during that class. Therefore, they reward students who can discern which items I consider to be important. The other unique aspect is that I set a ceiling of 100 points for the semester in the unannounced quiz category and give them enough quizzes so that they can reach the 100 points even if they miss at two or three quizzes. This way the student who misses class for a field trip or a university sponsored event is not penalized as long as said student is regular in attendance the rest of the semester. The pop quiz category is usually worth only 10% or less of the final grade.

It is always interesting to ask whether they desire a quiz at the end of a class period during the second or third week of the semester. Usually at least half of the class realizes that they should desire a quiz any time that they are in class. Even if they only earn part of the points on that quiz, any points they earn are to their benefit. When they catch on to that fact, the pop quizzes quit feeling like a penalty to them. From then on, many students look around the room at the beginning of a class period and say, if attendance is thin, "looks like a good day for a pop quiz". They also enjoy guessing what the nature of the quiz will be so that they can see if the item they considered to be important is the same one that I considered to be important. It is also important to keep a positive attitude about pop quizzes myself. To that end, I am careful to never give a pop quiz that will require more than 15 minutes for me to grade the entire class.

I review, at the end of each semester, the relationship between number of pop quizzes taken and the final grade in the class. Inevitably, all of the A grades are earned by students who have taken all, or almost all, of the pop quizzes. That is also true for most of the students in the B category. However, there are usually one or two students who have spotty attendance but still earn a B. It is almost always true that the students who miss more than half of the quizzes earn a D or F (or decide to drop by the 12th week drop deadline). I suffer most for those students who attend regularly but still cannot manage a grade higher than a D.

It would be easy to conclude that attending class regularly means high grades and that is, no doubt, true in some cases. However, I remind myself that cause and effect are seldom so neat. It may be that attending class makes one a good student but it might also be true that good students attend class more frequently. In either case, there is an obvious relationship and I report that relationship to the students the next time I teach the course.

David S. Buchanan

Department of Animal Science

Oklahoma State University

Growing Students

My ideas about science education are similar to the way a farmer views his/her seeds. A farmer's jobs include planting seeds and providing them with a nourishing environment to grow. Nevertheless, he/she can only influence the seed's environment; the seed must grow on its own. We may feed students all the information we like, but what really counts is what they will (or won't) be able to do with that information. How do we get students to "grow"? Even the etymology of the word "education" (related to the Latin "educere", meaning "to bring out") supports that true education involves as much thinking (an inside out process) as it does absorbing information (an outside in process). In short, only through critical thought can students grow to be active participants in the processes of science and life.

So how can we get students to think critically in the classroom? First, in presenting any material it helps to describe precisely how we know what we know. What is our evidence? Could the evidence be interpreted differently? Second, students should be challenged to consider alternative theories and methods. This reinforces that science (like life) is a dynamic process and involves disagreements and social interactions. Third, it is important to emphasize how critical thinking and general skepticism are important for everyone in society in making judgments about scientific discoveries, environmental policies, new technologies, etc. Finally, it is important to embrace intellectual freedom by challenging students to think on their own. They don't have to agree with everything we say, nor should we want them to.

In the modern world where information is at everyone's fingertips, it will not be the memorizers and regurgitators who succeed, but instead those individuals who know where to find information, how to put it together, and how to think critically enough to apply knowledge effectively. Only when students are critically thinking can they grow to their greatest potential. And we, as "farmers", should care deeply about our seeds since our futures are intimately tied to their yield.

Jeffrey S. Coker

Graduate Student

North Carolina State University

Mid-Semester Informal Early Feedback

I believe that one of the key factors for my success as an instructor over the last six years has been my utilization of mid-semester informal early feedback (IEF). IEF allows instructors to gauge students' perceptions of what aspects of the course they believe are going well and what areas need improvement.

My implementation of IEF is one method through which I express to students my commitment to their learning experience. In the fifth or sixth week of the course, often after the first exam, I ask students to fill out a short, anonymous assessment examining the strengths and weaknesses of the course. The form contains both quantitative and qualitative questions regarding specific areas such as the effectiveness of instruction and more general open-ended questions. During the following class session, I provide students with a summary of their responses and highlight the predominant themes, touching on both their positive and negative comments. I thank them for their positive statements and respond to their negative statements either by explaining why specific changes cannot be made (i.e., why a course that meets once a week for a two-hour block cannot be changed in the middle of a semester to meet twice a week for one-hour sessions) or by providing a plan of action regarding how I will address their concerns. For example, in one course, a number of students stated that they would prefer to access lecture outlines as Microsoft Word documents rather than Powerpoint documents. In response, I began to provide lecture outlines in both formats. This was a simple accommodation, taking only a few more minutes each week, but at the end of the semester, students' evaluations revealed that they appreciated the steps I took to respond to their feedback.

At times, students' comments appear almost humorous, but are nevertheless important. For example, one semester when teaching in a large, very steep lecture room, I noticed that students at the back/top of the class often dozed off during the lecture. Although at first I was hurt by the idea that they found my presentations so boring, students' comments on the IEF revealed that the top portion of the room was significantly hotter than the area near the computer where I spent most of my time, making it much easier for them to dose off part-way through lecture. This problem was also easily remedied with a call to the campus operations department. As a result, during the second part of the semester, I had many more students staying awake through the entire lecture period. Other suggestions have been more critical but often also simple to remedy. In the same class, students asked for more examples from movies and daily life to better illustrate the connection between course content and its practical application. As a result, I spent a few more minutes each week considering possible real-life examples and scanning the university's media database for relevant video clips. Furthermore, I also began to include the students in this process by asking them to provide relevant examples during lectures.

In sum, informal early feedback benefits both instructors and students. IEF allows instructors to become aware of and address problematic issues during the course of the semester rather than after the semester has ended. Furthermore, students feel that their opinions are welcome and valued. Finally, research has shown that mid-semester feedback benefits the overall course experience by improving communication between instructors and students and promoting a friendlier teaching and learning environment.

AniYazedjian

Graduate Student

University of Illinois

Office Arrangement

Over my seven semesters as a teaching assistant for a sophomore-level soil science course, I found that even the simplest ideas and gestures often have considerable impacts on student learning. For example, out of my neurotic tendency to redecorate and rearrange my office, I discovered that merely the arrangement of my office furniture had a marked impact on the number of students that stopped by my office with questions. In the semesters where my desk looked straight out the door, I had considerably more students come to me for help (or sometimes just to chat) than I did when I was more hidden from view of passersby. I believe that often students want to ask for assistance, but are too shy to approach their instructors directly or are hesitant to bother them if they seem too busy; as students, particularly younger students, can find even the most seemingly approachable professors and TAs intimidating. When my desk faced the door, I could see these students out of the corner of my eye hovering and hesitating in the hallway, timidly peeking into my office while trying to build up the courage to interrupt me. I could then alleviate their fear of being the first to speak and make contact by looking up from my work, smiling, acknowledging them by name, and inviting them to have a seat next to my desk, so that I could attempt to address their questions and/or concerns. In semesters where my desk was situated where I couldn't see into the hallway, I know I missed talking with students who came by my office and really needed help, but left because their confidence in themselves and their questions waned when they were required to step into the room and attempt to locate me among the sea of file cabinets.

Although the importance of office arrangement on student learning is a topic that significantly pales in contrast to many other issues we must face in higher education, arranging our offices so that students in the hallway can see us and we can see them may be a simple way to encourage increased student/instructor interactions and potentially improve student satisfaction and achievement within our courses.

Jamie Patton

Graduate Student

Oklahoma State University

Tips for Beginning Faculty

Robert Boice (1992) has done research on the attributes of new faculty members who quickly establish successful careers. These attributes are as follows: faculty members spend quality time on teaching but not quantity time (they do not obsess); spend significant time publishing papers and pursuing grants early in their careers; network three to four hours a week with mentors and colleagues; and spend time on things outside of work other than their jobs. This is an excellent approach!

I compiled this list of tips when I was asked to speak to new faculty at LSU about how to succeed on the tenure track. I have expanded and evolved these tips with the help of many wise people and with the sometimes harsh reality of experience. Though they are geared primarily toward faculty at Research I institutions, I have included information useful for everyone teaching at the college level.

1. Don't be a perfectionist! The academic career ladder is strewn with the wrecked careers of perfectionists! (see #2 for details).

2. Live by the 80/20 rule: you get 80% of a project finished in 20% of the total time it takes to complete that project, but the last 20% of the project takes 80% of the time.

In academia, you can "80" most things. You will have to; because being on the tenure track is like trying to juggle 100 balls at once when you can really only handle 50.

3. Keep your mouth shut in faculty meetings until you know the identity of the village idiot and the identity of the respected sage (every faculty has at least one of each). You want to be aligned with the sage and not the idiot.

Corollary: avoid statements like "At My Dissertation University, we did..." unless you are directly asked. Established faculty tend to dismiss things that happened to you while you were a graduate student.

4. Figure out the rules of tenure (written and unwritten) as fast as you can...then decide which rules you will play by and which you won't. Remember that tenure decisions tend to concentrate on what can be counted, for example, numbers of papers, books, or number of grant dollars. If you are not sure of the rules of tenure, ask your chair/head, the departmental promotion and tenure committee, and your colleagues. You will probably get different answers and you may get vague answers. Keep asking until you understand. Use your promotion and tenure committee and your annual evaluations to keep tabs on your progress. Make sure that you are intimately acquainted with your university's written promotion and tenure policies and procedures. When you go up for tenure, there should be no surprises.

5. Stay positive around and about your colleagues and peers (don't make enemies).

Corollary: Remember that e-mail is not secure.

Corollary 2: Remember that you can make enemies simply by drawing breath, even if you are positive around and about your colleagues and peers. Jealousy and pettiness are as much a part of the academic landscape as publishing and committees. Luckily the former influences many fewer people than the latter.

6. Establish a team of mentors and use their wisdom at regular intervals, especially with regard to promotion and tenure issues. Try to choose people with whom you interact well and respect. Remember that individual faculty have different strengths, and it is useful to talk to the resident expert in that particular area. Also try to get mentors from outside your discipline, and even from outside your college. Sometimes these folks can provide a fresh perspective on an issue. Don't be afraid to ask for advice; remember that faculty love to talk, and it's always an ego boost to be asked for your opinion.

If you are an academic (especially a woman), the following book will be the best $14 you ever spent: Ms. Mentor's Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia, by Emily Toth. Here you can learn about the truths and trickeries of the academy through such chapters as the first year on the job, and slouching toward tenure. Ms. Mentor also has a monthly column at http://www.chronicle.com/jobs (click on Ms. Mentor under Career Network Library), where you can submit questions and missives involving all facets of academia.

7. Make use of the resources available to you on campus. Most campuses have a center for faculty development, in which you can receive excellent information and assistance about things such as teaching, research, writing proposals, establishing multidisciplinary teams, electronic means of receiving requests for proposals, etc.

8. Make your office your own personal oasis. According to Gelb (1998), you can improve your mood, creativity, and productivity by enlivening all your senses in your work environment. To create your own "Renaissance Room" or "Creativity Center," think about the furniture (comfortable, ergonomically correct), the walls (mine are a warm yellow color), lighting, sound (so that you can listen to Mozart, National Public Radio, or a song that a student raves about by a group you've never heard of; a small fountain creates a calming sound), aesthetics (paintings, photographs, plants, lava lamps), smell (candles, potpourri, incense), and air quality (air purifier, heater, fan, humidifier or dehumidifier). My students constantly tell me that they feel at home in my office; I reply that I do too, and I'd better, since I spend more time in my office than in any other room in my life!

9. Block out time for writing every week, and treat this time with as much reverence as you would a meeting with the chancellor. In order to get tenure, you must publish your work in refereed journals. Try to adopt strategies to encourage yourself to write continually. For example: "Resolve to write one lousy page a day," or "Make sure that you always have at least one publication in process (in review or in press)."

10. SAY NO! Revel in saying no. If you are good (and willing), you will quickly be overloaded with committees and meetings. Remember that refereed journal articles and/or books (and grant money in some cases) will get you tenure and not much else. When you choose committee work, try to pick high profile (state, national), low intensity work that you're interested in, or very short term, low time, low energy commitments that look good on a vita. If you are an assistant professor, don't be a graduate coordinator or undergraduate coordinator (time sink), and don't be on a controversial committee (where you could make decisions that might alienate people).

11. Make friends with rejection (papers, proposals) and feeling overwhelmed. About 10% of federal grants are funded (the percentage is even lower for your first submission, so if you're rejected, revise according to reviewer comments and resubmit!), and state Board of Regents funding rates can be anywhere from 5% to almost 100%. Remember that there is a difference between a critical review and a bad review (the latter occurs when the reviewer takes personal shots to bolster his/her own ego). Ignore the bad ones, heed the critical ones, and remember that everyone goes through this.

12. There is some room within the tenure system such that you can work the system to your strengths. For example, in academia, "a career built on teaching is a career built on sand" (Toth, 1998). However, if you make teaching a scholarly activity by publishing refereed papers (in the NACTA Journal for example) and receiving grant money for teaching research, you're on more solid ground.

13. Guard your time like a donkey guards a chicken coop! Your most precious commodity as a faculty member is your time, and your objective is to maximize the time you spend doing the things that will get you tenure. While tips 9, 10, 14 and 15 say this in different ways, the concept bears explicit and vigorous repetition! Delegate as much as you can to your office staff, graduate students, and student workers. These folks can take care of things like ordering equipment, faxing and copying, inventory, grading homework, packaging and sending off recommendation letters and proposals, etc. Be available to your students during office hours, but not all the time. Guard your time.

14. Don't put your life on hold until after tenure. Most tenured faculty have said that the work habits that one establishes pre-tenure won't change in one's post tenure years (That's not 100% true, but the sentiment is still a good one). Take regular vacations; mental health days count as sick days; stop and smell the roses; take up a hobby (see #15 and #16).

15. Keep your life balanced! Academia can easily take all your time and will if you let it. Have a life outside of work. There are many strategies for handling this. Some people rarely bring work home so that their home lives are not "contaminated" by their work lives. Others work a set number of hours per week (45, for example) and stop when they hit this limit. Still others set aside times during the week that are always, absolutely their own (devoted to self, spouse, family, friends, etc.).

16. Make a list of all the things you do to relax. Place this list in a prominent place in your office and in your house. Regularly do things on the list. Add five items that you might be interested in or always thought you might like to do, and do them too.

Here's a list of hobbies that folks I've known have taken up: acting, archery, bird watching, clowning, dancing, gardening, joining a game club, reading trash novels, regular trips to nature, recreational sports leagues, running marathons, photography, sign language, triathlons, walking, yoga.

Remember that the first five to six years of a tenure track career are the hardest and most time intensive.

Editor's Note:

The first four teaching tips for this issue are provided by some of the award winners at the 49th NACTA Conference.

References

Boice, R. 1992. The new faculty member, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.

Gelb, M. 1998. How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven steps to genius every day, New York, Delacorte Press.

Toth, E. 1998. Ms. Mentor's impeccable advice for women in academia, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press.

David S. Buchanan

Department of Animal Science

Oklahoma State University

Jeffrey S. Coker

Graduate Student

North Carolina State University

Ani Yazedjian

Graduate Student

University of Illinois

Jamie Patton

Graduate Student

Oklahoma State University

Marybeth Lima

Associate Professor

Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering

149 E.B. Doran Building

Louisiana State University

Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4505.

Copyright North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Sep 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved