Teaching Excellence Workshop

1
Teaching Excellence Workshop

• Geoffrey Gamble, President
• Joseph Fedock, Provost
• Gregory Young, Vice Provost for Undergraduate
  Education
• Marvin Lansverk, Chair, Faculty Council
• Jeff Adams, AVP
• Lynn Owens, HHD

2
Our Goals for the Workshop

• Highlight the characteristics of good teaching
• Introduce various instructional and assessment
  strategies to improve student learning
• Help you prepare for next week!
• Introduction to PT and Sponsored
  Programs/Technology Transfer
• Share some wisdom from senior faculty

3
Academic Advising Workshop forNew Faculty

• Details to be announced (but will certainly
  involve food)
• Agenda
• What advising at MSU looks like
• Questions advisors should ask
• CORE 2.0
• Tips for effective advising
• Advising resources across campus
• How the Academic Advising Center and departmental
  advising work together
• Sponsored by the Academic Advising Center
  (University Studies) and the Teaching/Learning
  Committee
• Look for an e-mail announcement

4
What is your level of teaching experience?

• I could probably run this workshop.
• I have as much experience as many associate
  professors.
• I have limited experience as the primary
  instructor.
• My only teaching has been in labs or recitations.
• I have no experience.

5
Introductions

• Name
• Where are you from?
• What department are you in?
• What is your research area?
• Describe the courses you will be teaching this
  year.

6
It is now 945
7
What is your comfort level about your teaching
assignment(s) this year?

• Terrified
• Totally Compfortable

8
Observing Teaching

• Questions to think about while watching
• the strengths and weaknesses of the instruction
• the amount of learning you think is occurring

9
Questions to think about

• Do you want to be remembered?
• How do you want to be remembered?
• Remember your best teacher
• What made them best for you?
• Were they best for everyone?
• Remember your worst teacher
• What made them the worst for you?
• Were they the worst for everyone?

10
What Constitutes Good Teaching (Guide page 2)

• Sensitivity and Concern with Class Level and
  Progress
• Preparation--Organization of the course
• Knowledge of the Subject
• Enthusiasm (for subject and teaching)
• Clarity and Understandability
• Availability and Helpfulness
• Impartiality of Evaluation Quality of
  Examinations

(summary of 31 studies from student and faculty
perspectives)
11
What about Millennials?The five Rs of
engagement

• Relevance
• trying to solve problems they find intriguing,
  beautiful, or important
• Rationale they want to know why
• Relaxed they are less formal
• Rapport connect on personal level
• Research-Based Methods It is all about
  engagement.

12
Coffee Break
0
Well start promptly at 1045 !!
13
Active Learning in Your Classroom
0
To lecture or not to lecture, that is the
question.
14
What is active learning?
0

• Characterized by
• students involved rather than listening
• less emphasis on transmission more on skills

15
What it isnt
0
16
What is active learning?
0

• Characterized by
• students involved rather than listening
• less emphasis on transmission more on skills
• emphasis on higher order thinking skills

17
Taxonomy of Bloom
0
Evaluation
synthesis
Teaching goal
analysis
application
comprehension
knowledge
18
What is active learning?
0

• Characterized by
• students involved rather than listening
• less emphasis on transmission more on skills
• emphasis on higher order thinking skills

• Students engaged in activities (e.g., writing,
  reading, discussing)

• more emphasis on students exploration of their
  own attitudes and values

19
Why we lecture
0

• Its the traditional model of higher education.
• Its what was done to us.
• IT WORKED FOR (MOST OF) US!
• Give a faculty almost any kind of class in any
  subject, large or small, upper or lower division,
  and they will lecture. -Blackburn, 1980

20
Is lecturing evil?
0

• A lecture can
• motivate
• model scholarly behavior
• present current material
• organize material to benefit a particular
  audience
• effectively deliver large amounts of information

21
Six Ways to Discourage Learning in the Lecture
0

• Insufficient "Wait-Time"
• The Rapid-Reward
• The Programmed Answer
• Non-Specific Feedback Questions ("Does anyone
  have any questions?)
• Fixation at a Low-level of Questioning
• The Condescending Response

adapted from AAS Education http//www.aas.org/edu
cation/publications/sixways.html
22
0
23

0
24
0
25
0
26
Why dont they get it ?
0
27
Bad news about lectures ...
0

• Most students do not pay meaningful attention for
  50 minutes without breaks.
• Lectures can encourage students to try to
  process information later.
• Lectures have been shown to result in very low
  levels of student retention.
• Remember Our students are not , for the most
  part, younger versions of us.

28
Taxonomy of AL
0
CSGL
Discussion
Teaching goal
Think-pair-share
Problems/In-class writing
Time for Questions
Lecture
29
Our Mantra

• Its not what the teacher does that matters its
  what the students do!

30
How do you know how its going?

• End of semester student evaluation forms
• Self-created teaching surveys
• 1-5 scale or written answer
• letter to chair
• Video tape yourself
• Peer observation
• Self-created learning surveys
• one minute or muddiest point papers
• NOTE If you ask students opinions, you must
  respond to it publicly.

31
Lunch is being served !!!Please sit with
colleagues from your college.

• We will begin promptly at 100 pm!!

32
Designing an effective syllabus

• Where does your course fit?
• general education course
• first course in a sequence
• required course for majors
• advanced course with prerequisites
• Who are your students?
• What are your specific course goals?
• How will you know if you meet your goals?
• How can you use your syllabus to frame their
  expectations?

See Guide, page 21
33
Syllabus Checklist
See www.montana.edu/teachlearn

• course name and number
• your name, office location, phone number, and
  e-mail
• scheduled office hours
• policies regarding your availability outside of
  office hours including e-mail response
• Use of learning management system (D2L) or other
  e-resources
• required purchases such as textbooks, rulers, and
  protractors

34
Syllabus Checklist

• policy on using or having access to calculators,
  personal digital assistants (PDAs), Internet, and
  so on (required vs. optional)
• detailed description of how grades are determined
• descriptions and goals of assignments and tests
• dates, times, and locations for all tests or
  other out-of-class requirements.
• policy on missed classes or tests

35
Syllabus Checklist

• detailed list of course goals and objectives
• course calendar including exams, drop dates, and
  holidays
• an explanation of how this course fits into
  students overall education and the specific
  university goals
• firm statement on academic honesty (conduct code)