Category: Best Practices

Teacher and students engaged in discussion
Assessment, Best Practices, Pedagogy, Teaching Advice

The Essential Role of Memory Retrieval in Student Learning

Jessica Smith

Too often, at professional development workshops or on education blogs, there’s an emphasis on designing courses that encourage students to reach the summit of Bloom’s pyramid.  There’s absolutely nothing inadvisable about helping students analyze, evaluate, and explore.  But in our race to the top, we often overlook the importance of remembering, understanding, and even applying (especially in our upper-level courses).  According to cognitive psychologists, this is a mistake that can have damaging effects on student learning.  Without foundational knowledge, it is difficult, if not impossible, for students to demonstrate higher order levels of thinking.  According to cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham:

“Thinking well requires knowing facts, and that’s true not simply because you need something to think about. The very processes that teachers care most about–critical thinking processes such as reasoning and problem-solving–are intimately intertwined with factual knowledge that is stored in long-term memory (not just found in the environment).” (quoted in Lang, 2016, p. 16)

Without a solid understanding of basic concepts, theories, and processes, a student cannot think creatively or critically about a discipline’s body of knowledge.  This academic groundwork allows students to integrate new knowledge in deeper ways and make more sophisticated connections.

Unfortunately, students often make poor choices when they attempt to learn new information.  Have you ever asked your students (maybe after the class did terribly on an exam) how they studied?  Often, students will say things like “I re-read my notes” or “I made flash cards and read them over and over again.”  Research has demonstrated that these are some of the least effective strategies for committing information to long-term memory.  Thus, if we care about our students’ learning, then we must design our courses in ways that actually help students learn, not simply cram and forget.  

Exams are considered by many to be the gold standard of measuring student learning.  However, most instructors are not familiar with the cognitive science literature and, therefore, do not design exams that actually result in student learning.  Better understanding the retrieval effect (sometimes called the testing effect) will help us to create more effective assessments.

How many times have you claimed your “brain is full” or “you can only remember so much”?  Our long-term memories are actually capable of holding quite a lot of information.  Cognitive psychologist Michelle Miller argues “the limiting factor is not storage capacity, but rather the ability to find what you need when you need it.  Long-term memory is rather like having a vast amount of closet space–it is easy to store many items, but it is difficult to retrieve the needed item in a timely fashion” (quoted in Lang, 2016, p. 28).  She explains that each time we recall a piece of information, we strengthen the neural pathways that move the information from our long-term memories to our working memories.  This is key.  The more times we retrieve the information, the better.

Book Small Teaching by James Lang

To encourage your students to practice retrieval, try these strategies from James Lang’s book Small Teaching:

The Retrieval Syllabus.  Most of us distribute our syllabi on the first day of class and never bring it up again, until a student violates a policy or makes a complaint.  Instead of thinking of your syllabus as a contract, envision it as a resource that is continuously referred to throughout the semester.  Fill out the course schedule with details that will help students see how the course will progress, how topics connect to one another, and how knowledge is organized in your discipline.  Then, during class, ask students to look at the document to orient themselves as well as remind them of what has been discussed thus far.

Warm-up Review.  In the first few minutes of class, ask students to write down on a scrap sheet of paper the topics that were covered the class period before or the main themes from the reading.  Ask students to share their “take aways”: What do they think was the most important point?  What struck them?  What piqued their interest?

I’ve done something similar with my students, but I simply asked the class to provide a review orally.  Typically, the same few students are the only ones who reply.  Thus, not everyone is encouraged to practice retrieval, so this method is less effective than asking all students to write down their recap.  This simple exercise has the added benefit of an intellectual “warm-up” — prepping students for learning and participating during class.

Exit Tickets.  Similarly, at the end of class, have students to complete an exit ticket.  For example, you could ask students to write down two things they learned and one question they still have.  This requires retrieval as well as provides valuable information about what students identify as important and what they are struggling with.  This can serve as a great jumping off point for the next class period.

What is absolutely essential for both warm-ups and exit tickets is that students are told not to consult their notes or textbook when responding.  If students look up the answers, they are not practicing retrieval.  It’s also important to explain to students the purpose of these exercises.  You’re not trying to test them or give them busy-work; you’re trying to help them learn more effectively.

Frequent Quizzing.  Frequent, low-stakes quizzes are one of the best ways for students to strengthen their retrieval muscles.  Remember that the more we recall information, the stronger the neural pathways between long-term and working memory.  When creating quizzes, it’s essential that they are not weighted heavily.  The point is to encourage retrieval, not stress students out.  It’s also important to include question types that will be similar to what students can expect on exams.  This allows students to familiarize themselves with those formats so the exam is a test of knowledge instead of exam-taking ability.

If you don’t have enough class time to devote to frequent quizzes, consider using online quizzes, such as through your Learning Management System (LMS).  Most textbook publishers provide gigantic test banks that provide more than enough questions to create multiple quizzes throughout the semester. These banks are designed to be quickly imported into your LMS and quizzes can be automatically-graded, making quiz creation and administration simple.  To ensure students are practicing retrieval, restrict the time limit so they don’t have the leeway to look up every answer in their notes or book (30-60 seconds per multiple choice question is advisable).

Space Out Due Dates.  Students should complete multiple smaller assessments throughout the semester (as opposed to only one midterm and one final exam).  Intersperse lower stakes assessments (e.g. weekly quizzes, practice problems, minute papers) with higher stakes assessments (e.g. exams, research papers, lab reports).  According to James Lang, “the more frequently that your students have to check in and offer some demonstration of their learning, the more often you are giving them retrieval practice” (2016, p. 36).

Providing frequent opportunities for retrieval will not only help your students remember important information, it will also open the door to higher levels of cognition.  I’ve shared simple but powerful ways to help your students learn that do not require extra preparation, overwhelming amounts of grading, or even that much class time.  Want more ideas?  Check out James Lang’s fantastic book Small Teaching and then ask yourself, “what small changes can I make to help my students learn?”

Evolution of a Group Research Project
1-1-1, Assessment, Best Practices, Research, TLT

Faculty Guest Post: Evolution of a Group Research Project

Jessica Smith

Today’s Faculty Guest Post is from Chris Mothorpe, Assistant Professor of Economics.  Chris attended TLT’s 2015 Faculty Technology Institute.  In this post, he reflects on the process of revising and improving a group research project in two of his courses: Urban Economics and Economics of Geography and Transportation.  This is an excerpt from Chris’ own blog.  To read the entire post, please visit: https://sites.google.com/site/chrismothorpe/home/group-research-projects

I am writing this blog post based on my experience conducting research projects in my upper level economic classes over the past three semesters. This post will not discuss the research project in its entirety; instead, it will provide a general overview of the project and then focus on specific challenges I have faced each semester and different strategies I have employed (or I am planning on employing to overcome them).  There are two main challenges I will discuss: 1) group formation; and 2) peer evaluations.

Project Overview

I decided to require a group research project after reading several magazine and newspaper articles discussing what companies are looking for in college graduates.  Atop many of the surveys were not the hard-technical skills taught in the classrooms, but many soft-skills developed in the non-academic, extracurricular setting.  These soft-skills include: 1) leadership; 2) ability to work in a team; 3) written communication skills; 4) problem solving skills; 5) work ethic; 6) verbal communication skills; 7) initiative; 8) interpersonal skills; 9) creativity; and 10) organizational ability.  Conducting a group-based research project provides students the opportunity to practice many of these skills — practice they would otherwise not receive if the class is taught in a more traditional manner.   A second motivating factor is to allow the students the opportunity to apply economic models to real world problems.

I decided to require a group research project after reading several magazine and newspaper articles discussing what companies are looking for in college graduates.  Atop many of the surveys were not the hard-technical skills taught in the classrooms, but many soft-skills developed in the non-academic, extracurricular setting.  These soft-skills include: 1) leadership; 2) ability to work in a team; 3) written communication skills; 4) problem solving skills; 5) work ethic; 6) verbal communication skills; 7) initiative; 8) interpersonal skills; 9) creativity; and 10) organizational ability.  Conducting a group-based research project provides students the opportunity to practice many of these skills — practice they would otherwise not receive if the class is taught in a more traditional manner.   A second motivating factor is to allow the students the opportunity to apply economic models to real world problems.

The stated objectives for the research project are:
  1. Analyze a contemporary economic issue or social issue using economic theory and models
  2. Demonstrate versatile and competent written, oral and digital communication skills
  3. Evaluate communication situations and audiences to make choices about the most effective ways to deliver messages
  4. Appraise written communication skills through self and peer evaluations
  5. Manage diverse teams successfully

The project is set up as a paper submission to the (fictional) Charleston Journal of Economics, which I reside over as Editor.  At the beginning of the semester, I pass out the Fall/Spring 20XX Charleston Journal of Economics (CJE) Request for Papers (RFP), which contains the objectives of the journal, the strategic areas, scoring criteria, formatting requirements, and examples of correctly formatted submissions. Throughout the semester, groups are required to submit portions of their project to the Editor and receive feedback (in the form of a letter from the editor). I have required the research project in the Spring of 2015, the Fall of 2015 and the Spring of 2016.  These three iterations have proven valuable as I continually update the project to improve on its effectiveness and efficiency in delivery.

Group Formation

In the first iteration (Spring 2015) of the research project, I allowed each student to write his/her own paper and choose any topic as long as it was related somehow Urban Economics.  While allowing each student the opportunity to write their own research paper provides the best learning opportunity for the student (since he/she receives individualized feedback), it is much harder (time consuming) on me. I realized that there were three main consequences to allowing students to complete their own project:
  1. Grading fatigue
  2. Increase time until work is returned to students
  3. Grading research projects detracts from other activities such as research

In the second iteration (Fall 2015), I switched from individual research projects to group based projects.  I allowed the groups to form endogenously — students selected their own groups.  Each research group was required to have 3-4 individuals.  The main problem that arose from students selecting their own groups is that the groups were not interdisciplinary in nature.  For example, Group A consisted of three Transportation and Logistics Majors.  One of the comments Group A received on one of their drafts was that their paper lacks a sufficient economic model.  The feedback I received from Group A was that there is not a economic major (or minor) in the group, and as a result no one is familiar with economic models.

In the second iteration, I also began restricting the topic selection by requiring each group’s research question to at least fall within one of the strategic areas of the Charleston Journal of Economics.  The strategic areas are:
  1. Transportation Infrastructure
  2. The Port of Charleston Expansion
  3. Coastal Community Resilience and the Impacts of Sea Level Rise/Climate Change
  4. The Long Savannah Development

In the third iteration (Spring 2016), I attempted to correct for the lack of interdisciplinary majors within a research group by assigning research groups.  To aid in the assignment of research groups, each student completed an Oaks quiz that asked the following questions:

  1. List the strategic areas in order of greater interest to least interest
  2. For your top ranked strategic area, list keywords of interest
  3. For your second ranked strategic area, list keywords of interest
  4. List your major(s)
  5. List your minor(s)
  6. List individuals you would like to work with

Students submitted their responses via an Oaks quiz and then I used their responses to assign groups.  Matches were made based on strategic areas and keywords; however, not all students receive their top ranked strategic area (most did) as I also sought to ensure that each group contained at least one each major or minor.  This mechanism worked well in solving the interdisciplinary problem previously encountered; however, the new problem that arose was that group members wanted a greater say about who was in their group as the “Free-Riding” problem arose in several groups.  The Free-Riding problem occurs when not all members contribute equally to the project, yet all group members receive the same grade.  Of the 8 research groups in the Spring of 2016, at least 4 registered complaints about one of their group members not contributing.

The Free-Rider Problem

I am planning on implementing two strategies to attempt to mitigate the Free-Riding Problem.  First, I plan on introducing a mechanism that will allow students to reveal information about themselves (e.g. work ethic) to other members in the class.  This mechanism is a series of group-based homework problem sets in the first few weeks of class and before the assignment of groups.  Groups will be randomly assigned.  The random assignment of groups will ensure that students are meeting and learning about other members of the class.  After the problem sets, students will again be asked to complete an Oaks quiz, but on their quiz there will be additional questions aimed at revealing their preferences for who they do and do not want to work with.

 

The second strategy is to have students submit peer evaluations of their group members when assignments are due.  A portion of the peer evaluation is a Grade Multiplier.  Each member of the group assigns every other member of the group a multiplier, which gives each group member control over every other group member’s grade.  The purpose of the multiplier is to provide incentive to group members to work hard towards the completion of the project.  In the Spring of 2016, I required the students to submit Peer Evaluations at the end of the semester; however, this did not provide strong incentives to students since at the time of submissions final class grades were almost known.  It was recommended to me, by a student, to conduct the peer evaluations more frequently.

 

Peer Evaluations are a useful tool that provide students with information on their performance over the course of the research project.  Since the goal of the project is to aid students in developing soft skills, the peer evaluations are particularly effective, since they address each student individually.  Herein lies the main problem since each time I require a peer evaluation I cannot write 20-40 individual letters commenting on their performance.  The remainder of this blog post discusses the tools I have developed to create individualized letters based on peer reviews in an (semi) automatic fashion.  Creating letters in this manner allows me to provide individualized feedback to students while at the same time not spending hours drafting letters.

 

The letter-creation process requires the following programs/files:
  1. The Form Letter – Microsoft Word Template
  2. Oaks Quiz and Excel File of Modified Data
  3. Microsoft Word Template File
  4. Microsoft Excel Template File
  5. Microsoft Excel Addin ExcelToWord

The procedure behind the automated process is to have students complete their peer evaluations through an Oaks quiz, text-mine their responses, and populate a form letter with student responses.  Note that this process relies on student responses on the peer evaluation but does leave open the possibility of directly editing the individualized letters.

[TLT Note: On his own blog, Chris provides instructions for using OAKS, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel to facilitate the peer evaluations described above.  He also provides templates and examples. To access this information, please visit  https://sites.google.com/site/chrismothorpe/home/group-research-projects]

In this blog, I have discussed the research project that I conduct in my upper level economics classes, two of the challenges that have arisen, and various strategies I have or will employ to overcome the challenges.  To overcome group formation problems, I am employing an Oaks quiz and group based homework assigned in order to allow students the opportunity to reveal information about themselves to other students in the class as well as myself.  To overcome the “Free-Riding” problem, I am planning on employing a series of peer evaluations, which gives all members in the group some control over the grades of the other group members.

One key to conducting peer evaluations is returning individualized feedback to the student based on their performance.  I have also discussed a set of tools which will enable me to create individualized letters in a timely manner.  Providing timely and individualized feedback also enhances the learning outcomes of the research project since the project is geared towards student practice of their “soft” skills.  Receiving individualized feedback allows students to learn from their experience and develop a stronger set of skills that they can employ in the future.

Keep Calm the semester is about to end
Best Practices, Classrooms, TLT

Important End-of-Semester Information for Faculty

Mendi Benigni

It’s hard to believe the semester is almost over. As you get ready to leave campus and enjoy your summer, there are a few things you need to remember:

1) Final Grades: Remember, Final Grades MUST be keyed into My Charleston/Banner before they are officially recorded. Keeping your grades in OAKS is great for the student but is not counted as the official grade until it is added to Banner during open grading. Be on the lookout for an email from Laetitia Sobiesuo in the Registrar’s Office for more information.  For more information on the OAKS Grade Book visit: Grading/Grade Book

2) Sign up for a Professional Learning Club for next year: A PLC is a group of faculty that meet to collaboratively reflect on and improve their teaching practices. It involves examining the relationship between teaching practices and student outcomes and then evaluating those practices using the students’ work. APPLY BY JUNE 1st, 2016 at https://tlt.cofc.edu/faculty-services/plc/

3) Classroom Software Requirements: If you need special software installed on ANY CLASSROOM OR LAB COMPUTERS remember you must request the installation by the deadlines. You only need to request software that isn’t part of the classroom standard. A list of standard software is available at: http://goo.gl/FrgzVK

When:
Summer Sessions – May 23, 2016
Fall – July 1, 2016
Spring – December 1, 2016

How: complete the online form BEFORE the due dates above — http://goo.gl/yodfJd

Remember – TLT is here all summer to help you in any way we can.  Don’t hesitate to contact us!

Best Practices, iPad, Teaching Advice, TLT

Take Note: Self-Assessment Improves Teaching

Jessica Smith

As the semester winds down, I’ve begun reflecting on the successes and failures of my class.  Which topics led to fruitful discussion?  Which assignments caused students the most trouble?  Which instructions did I constantly have to clarify?  Which activities backfired?  As important as this type of self-reflection is, when I wait until the end of the semester, my memory sometimes fails.  So I’ve established the habit of journaling throughout the semester.  But if you’re like me, your days are full and it’s easy to put self-assessment on the back burner.  How do you find the time?  The answer is to make the process as quick as possible.  Here are some suggestions:

Add Post-Its® to your lecture notes:

If you use paper lecture notes, Maryellen Weimer, the editor of Faculty Focus, suggests attaching sticky notes that contain your teaching to-do list:

“A colleague once shared with me that after class ends, she attaches a small sticky note on the materials from that day, and then imagines she will only have 15 minutes for prep the next time she teaches that material.  She writes her to-do list on the sticky note: find more examples of X, create a better question about Y, add another graphic to the Powerpoint slide about Z, etc.”

This is an incredibly simple way to reflect in the moment before you forget what worked and what didn’t.  This will ensure you know what improvements need to be made when next semester rolls around.

Use a note-taking app on your phone:

Both iPhones and Androids come with apps already installed that allow you to quickly type notes (iPhones come with a “notes” app and Androids tend to come with a “memo” app).  After a particularly successful or terrible class, I will take 1-2 minutes to type what occurred.  Were my instructions unclear?  Did I not allow enough time for group work?  Did that reading spark an enthusiastic discussion?  This takes very little time and could be done while you’re still in the classroom.  If you have to hurry to your next class or meeting, use the voice memo app that also comes standard on iPhones and Androids.  As you’re walking, talk into your phone’s microphone, and record your observations.  By recording my questions, ideas, and concerns after each class, I’m creating a fantastic resource to use when I prepare for the next semester.  Here’s an example of my iPhone notes:

Example of using the iPhone notes app for quick teaching self-reflection notes

 

Use a note-taking app on your tablet:

For those who own tablets, there are a multitude of sophisticated apps that make note-taking quite delightful (just ask my colleague, Mendi, who takes some of the most beautiful notes I’ve ever seen!).  These apps work best if you use a stylus (which you can borrow from TLT).  It takes only moments to open the app and jot down your thoughts about the quality of each week’s classes.  Here are some of TLT’s favorite apps:

Mendi’s recommendation: Notability ($4.99, iOS) combines typing, handwriting, photos, PDFs, and audio recordings to create multi-layered notes.  If you’re a frequent notetaker, it’s worth every penny.

Laura’s recommendation: If you’re an Evernote rockstar like Laura, you can’t get much better than Penultimate (free, iOS).  Its inking technology looks and feels like real pen and ink, and as you write, the page keeps up with you so you never run out of space.  Plus, it syncs with your Evernote account so you have access to your notes from just about anywhere.

Amy’s recommendation: Squid (free, Android) allows you to easily markup PDFs to fill out forms, grade papers, or sign documents. Import images, draw shapes, write on a virtual whiteboard, and add typed text to your handwritten notes.

Other options include:

ColorNote Notepad (free, Android)

Inkpad Notepad (free, Android)

UPAD ($5.99, iOS)

Paper (free, iOS)

Add notes to your Powerpoint slides:

Kathleen Janech, adjunct professor of Biology, adds notes to herself below each Powerpoint slide:

“This way my ideas are right where I need them every year, when I am ready to think about and work on that topic. And if it is something that I realize I need to do weeks in advance, I put a slide note into a lecture earlier in the semester to remind me to work on that.”

For those who aren’t keen on using apps and worry about losing sticky-notes, this is a fantastic way to keep an ongoing record of your teaching observations.  Most presentation software have a designated area for notes, including Google Slides, Keynote, and Haiku Deck.

add notes to Powerpoint by clicking inside the notes area underneath each slide. This area can be expanded or collapsed.

Why bother with all this?

Teaching is a continuous process of exploring, learning, and evolving.  If we fail to prioritize self-reflection, we become stagnant and ineffective.  So do yourself and your students a favor by getting in the habit of routinely evaluating what happens in your classroom.  You don’t have to do it after every class period, or even every week, but don’t wait until the end of the semester.  You’ll forget less if you write it down.  As poet and author Harley King notes: “So much is buried in our lives that we forget what we have learned.”

Best Practices, Pedagogy, Teaching Advice

Strategies for Unmotivated Students

ratcliffcr

As instructional technologists, we often get questions from faculty members about student motivation. What happens when you plan engaging lessons and your students still are not interested or participating in class? This is an area of concern for many faculty members, and unfortunately, there’s no one size fits all solution.

After getting a question about this in one of my recent sessions, I decided that I wanted to find out more about strategies concerning unmotivated students. I found a great article from Jennifer Gonzales at Cult of Pedagogy that addresses this topic and wanted to share it here.

According to Gonzales, current research about what motivates students says that:

  1. Having a positive relationship with one’s teacher can influence a student’s motivation.
  2. Students are more motivated when they are allowed to make choices related to learning and coursework.
  3. Contrary to popular belief, extrinsic rewards actually negatively affect student motivation.
  4. In order to be motivated, students must feel like there is room for improvement in a particular task.
  5. Students are more motivated to learn things that they believe are relevant to their lives.

Based on the research, here are some suggestions for unmotivated students:

  1. Use icebreakers, journals, and one-on-one conversations to build relationships with your students.
  2. Allow students to choose how they’d like to complete assignments when possible. Some students may prefer creating a multimedia project to writing a paper. Can a particular learning goal be met using different modalities? If so, allow students to choose how they’d like to show their knowledge.
  3. Focus on the value of a particular task. Explain how a student’s participation in the task will benefit the student outside of the classroom.
  4. Provide specific feedback on student work rather than generalized statements such as “needs improvement.”
  5. Make connections between classroom content and students’ lives or current events.

Gonzales included many more suggestions and resources for things that you can do to improve student motivation in your classroom, including questions to ask yourself about your own teaching, which can be found here. 
What are some ways that you plan to use these strategies in your classroom?

Best Practices, Collaboration, discussion, Distance Ed, Events, Information Session, Innovative Instruction, instructional technology, Mobile, Pedagogy, social networking, TLT, Training Opportunities

TLT’s Distance Education Resources Blog

Amy Ostrom

TLT has a new resource available exclusively for our faculty who teach, or are interested in, online instruction!

http://blogs.charleston.edu/dereadiness/

There are two paths to choose from depending on your role:

Social-Media-2-1irk9m3-300x300 (1) Social-Media-23ptrpu-300x300

Choose this path if you:

  • Have never taught online before
  • Have taught online at another institution, but not CofC
  • Plan to teach online at CofC in the future

Start learning more about teaching online at CofC!

New to Distance Education

Choose this path if you:

  • Have completed the DE Readiness Course
  • Are currently teaching online at CofC
  • Are looking for resources related to online teaching and support

Explore more about online learning and support!

Currently Teaching Online

Make sure that you follow #CougarsOLI on all social media outlets to stay up to date on information and research pertaining to Online Learning Initiatives at College of Charleston

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Best Practices, Teaching Advice

Seeking Student Feedback Throughout the Semester

ratcliffcr

feedback528x352As the semester comes to an end, many faculty members are anxious to read their students’ evaluations. As instructors, we can use student feedback in a variety of ways to improve our own teaching. We all know that giving our students timely feedback is important, but what about receiving timely feedback from our own students?

I recently ready a blog post by Jennifer Gonazales at Cult of Pedagogy about why instructors should seek their own student feedback instead of waiting for the end of the semester for course evaluations. There are many benefits to asking students to give feedback throughout the semester, including:

  • Increasing student engagement by figuring out what types of activities students enjoy and adding more of these to your courses
  • The ability to adjust instruction to meet students’ needs
  • Self-preservation! As Jennifer writes, “Instead of waiting for the ‘official’ forms to be distributed to students, get ahead of the curve by asking for similar feedback early, while there’s still time to troubleshoot.”

Jennifer’s blog post has many great examples of questions to ask your students, how to actually implement this idea, and most importantly, how to act on the feedback you receive. You can read Jennifer’s post here: 5 Reasons You Should Seek Your OWN Student Feedback

For more strategies on using student feedback, this article on going above and beyond the typical student feedback requirements is a great read, as well: Feedback From Students Becomes a Campus Staple, but Some Go Further

While it’s too late to implement these strategies for the fall semester, it’s the perfect time to reflect on this semester’s teaching and look forward to a new year and a new semester! As you review this semester’s course evaluations, I challenge you to think about how you may be able to incorporate more opportunities for students to share their feedback throughout the next semester.

Best Practices, Pedagogy

Energize In-Class Discussions

Jessica Smith

Last week, I was commiserating with an instructor about her struggle to engage students in discussion during class.  “Sometimes it’s like talking to a brick wall,” she lamented.  Facilitating lively conversations that require students to apply, synthesize, and evaluate their knowledge is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching.  Even the most brilliant lecturer can be stymied by an unresponsive class.  So these are my top tips for improving class discussions:

Plan your discussion prompts in advance.  Thought-provoking questions are challenging to come up with on the fly.  So when planning your lectures and in-class activities, craft prompts as well.  Without prior contemplation, we may resort to asking “any thoughts about that?” and be discouraged by the blank stares we receive.

Use hooks to launch the discussion.  Rather than starting a discussion with a single question, consider building up to that prompt with a hook to pique your students’ interest and start their thinking process.  For example, present a short case study, tell a story, recite a witty quote, show a video clip, or share a current event.  These serve as points of departure that contextualize your questions and give students the opportunity to apply their knowledge.

Ask better questions.  Often because we haven’t given them much thought in advance, our discussion prompts fall flat.  Our questions are too vague, too long-winded, or limited to yes-no answers.  Instead, make sure your questions are succinct, clear, and open-ended.  This may seem obvious, but I often ramble a bit when asking questions forcing students to inquire, “so what’s the question again?”  Some ideas for discussion prompts: 

  • Ask for students’ input: What should ___ have done? What would you do in this case?  Have you had a similar experience in your life?
  • Ask “how” and “why” questions: How might this argument be made more persuasive? Why do you think the author made this argument?  How does ___ compare to ____?
  • Ask evaluative questions: How compelling is the author’s argument?  What are the implications of ____?
  • Ask prediction questions: What will occur next?  What might happen if. . .?
  • Ask justification questions: What evidence led you to conclude that…? What is the reason…?

Give your students a chance to think.  Many of us are uncomfortable with silence, so when students don’t immediately respond to our questions, we continue talking.  It’s easy to forget that students are disciplinary novices who need greater time to ponder than we do.  So when asking a question, pause for a good 30 seconds before probing further.  Don’t surrender and answer the question for your students.  Force yourself to endure the silence.   

Think-pair-share.  Many faculty turn their noses up at strategies implemented in K-12 classrooms, but that’s where a majority of innovative pedagogy comes from.  Think-pair-share is a simple but brilliant way to encourage conversation. First, after presenting your hook and prompt, let students jot down their ideas on scrap pieces of paper.  Then, ask them to turn to their neighbors and share their ideas.  Finally, bring the entire class together and have the pairs report what they discussed.  This gives students the chance to think and talk through their ideas before being put “on the spot” in front of the entire group.

Use positive reinforcement.  When students contribute to class discussion in ways that demonstrate higher-order thinking, acknowledge it.  Saying, “that’s a great question” or “good point” is an effective start, but be more specific with your feedback.  For example, “Sam makes an excellent point. I appreciate how you supported your claim with evidence from the reading.”  This demonstrates to students what a “good” response sounds like, providing a model they can all use.

Ask follow-up questions. When students respond with brief or incomplete answers, don’t miss the opportunity to ask a follow-up question such as, “Could you tell me more?” or “Why do you say that?” or “How did you come to that conclusion?”  You can also pull in other students to contribute: “Let’s help Jamie out, why might we reach the conclusion that. . .?”

End discussions purposefully.  Before moving on to the next lecture topic or question, summarize what was discussed or ask a student to do so.  This helps students to synthesize new information and integrate it with existing knowledge.  You could also consider ending your class with some type of “exit ticket” such as a minute paper or Poll Everywhere poll (which is a free tool for CofC students and faculty).  Exit tickets are a quick and easy method to help students solidify their understanding as well as communicate to the instructor what they still have questions about.

Do you have other suggestions for facilitating engaging class discussions?  Please share!

For help improving discussions in your online course, check out this post written by my colleague, Mendi: https://blogs.charleston.edu/tlt/2015/10/28/tips-for-more-effective-online-discussions/

Best Practices, discussion, TLT

Tips For More Effective Online Discussions

Mendi Benigni

There are many ways in which faculty can extend the classroom conversation online; OAKS Discussion board, VoiceThread, and blogs to name a few.  However, there is an art to getting students to actually think critically and discuss thoughtfully in an online environment.   The document below outlines a few tips to help you get more out of your students in an online discussion.

Download a printable PDF

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Strategies for Effective Team Projects
Best Practices, Collaboration, Teaching Advice

Strategies for Drama-Free Team Projects

Jessica Smith

Effective collaboration is a foundational skill that is taught as early as kindergarten.  By the time students reach college, one would think they would be expert team players.  Unfortunately, any professor can tell you that’s not usually true.  Students struggle to communicate competently, schedule meeting times, and manage conflict.  This often leads to tearful office hour appointments or angry emails about slackers and alliances. So the following is advice based upon my experiences and research I’ve conducted regarding effective group work strategies for the college classroom.

Strategies for Effective Team Projects
Image credit: endlessorigami.com

Determine what type of group work will allow students to achieve the learning outcomes.  Group work is not one size fits all.  There are many forms of collaborative learning and each serves its own purpose.  So first think about what you want students to accomplish from working together, then decide upon a method (such as team-based learning, peer instruction, or project-based learning)

Instructors, not students, should form groups.  When students are allowed to choose their own teammates, they almost always (1) choose their friends and acquaintances or (2) choose people who sit near them.  I don’t blame them; that’s the easy and comfortable option.  But this often results in homogenous groups.  Thus, especially for higher-stakes projects, instructors should strategically form teams that are composed of members who are diverse and who share common blocks of time to meet outside of class.  This can be accomplished by administering surveys that address variables such as personality type, learning style, conflict management style, course-related knowledge and experience, habits, and schedules.

Discuss principles of effective teamwork.  While students have been collaborating with peers for most of their educational careers, many don’t have a scholarly understanding of group dynamics.  I’ve found spending a class period sharing the research on assigning group roles, establishing expectations, and managing conflict has improved my students’ success.  If you don’t have class time to devote to such a discussion, provide your students with resources, such as handouts or links to websites that they can refer to as they work.

Require a team contract.  For higher-stakes assignments, such as semester-long projects, have students write a contract that details expectations and consequences of violating those norms.  During the team’s first meeting, I suggest students brainstorm all the things they hate about group projects then turn those complaints into a list of do’s and don’ts.  I ask students to provide me with a copy of their contract that each team member has signed.  This document can then be used by the group to mediate conflicts.

Establish a policy to deal with social loafing.  I work hard to maintain a “no drama” environment in my classes.  So I have a policy that outlines procedures and consequences for students who violate their team contracts.  This policy has shown students that I will not (and they should not) tolerate slacking off.  Whatever type of policy you create, make sure you require students to provide documentation of the contract violations and to meet with you separately.  This helps to prevent unwarranted complaints or students “ganging up” on a teammate.

Strategies for Effective Team Projects

Require teams to provide you with regular progress reports.  To identify problems early and to ensure students are not procrastinating, I require teams to update me biweekly.  I ask students to identify a member of the team who is responsible for providing me with those updates either face-to-face or via email.  This has helped immensely to address concerns and to steer students in the right direction when they’re faltering.

Ask teams to complete regular assessments of one another.  An interesting meta-analysis published in Teaching of Psychology concluded that peer assessments within groups do not improve learning outcomes.  I hypothesize that the typical way peer evaluations are completed is to blame.  Often, instructors will require students to complete a cumulative assessment of their teammates at the end of the project.  Perhaps they’re asked to distribute points or assign each team member a grade.  But by the time a project is completed, students may have “checked out” and are less motivated to provide a thoughtful assessment (“the project is done; I don’t really care anymore.”).  Also, this type of evaluation doesn’t allow the team to examine their dynamic while they’re collaborating and, therefore, eliminates the opportunity to make improvements.  A potentially better approach is to first instruct students on the principles and importance of constructive feedback then ask them to complete periodic assessments as they work together. Perhaps at the termination of the project, students could write a letter to you reflecting on the evolution of the group.

Encourage students to use technology. One of the biggest complaints students have about group projects is finding time outside of class to meet.  Many students have jobs, internships, and other extracurriculars that make matching schedules frustrating if not impossible.  There are a multitude of technology tools that allow students to collaborate when not in the same physical space.  Google Drive allows students to work together on documents, slides, and spreadsheets on any device that connects to the Internet.  Google Hangouts, Blab, and Skype allow students to videoconference.  And there are many collaborative whiteboard apps, such as Realtime Board.  The availability of free software and apps really limits how often students can claim “we can’t get together.”

I hope these suggestions help you to help your students get the most out of collaborative learning.  If you have other tips for effective group work, please share!

 

References and Resources:

Faculty Focus Special Report: Effective group work strategies for the college classroom: http://www.cincinnatistate.edu/online/faculty-resources/Effective%20Group%20Work%20Strategies%20for%20College%20Classroom.pdf

Major, C. H. (2015, Sept. 21). Choosing the best approach for small group work. Faculty Focus. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/choosing-the-best-approach-for-small-group-work/

Oakley, B., Felder, R. M., Brent, R., & Elhajj, I. (2004). Turning student groups into effective teams. Journal of Student Centered Learning, 2 (1), 9-34.

Tomcho, T. J., & Foeis, R. (2012). Meta-analysis of group learning activities: Empirically based teaching recommendations. Teaching of Psychology, 39 (3), 159-169.

Weimer, M. (2012, Feb. 22). My students don’t like group work. Faculty Focus. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/my-students-dont-like-group-work/