Some professions offer a greater sense of closure than teaching. Take plumbing, for example. Plumbing problems are hard to miss and not always easy to fix, but once the PVC has been replaced, the flux applied, and the water is back on, the plumber knows
Like a lot of terms in higher education, low-stakes grading doesn’t always refer to the same thing. In some cases it means small assignments that don’t count for much but occur regularly, as quizzes are often used. Low-stakes grading can also mean there’s a de-emphasis
Students can disrupt a class—most of us have experienced that firsthand—but so can teachers. Teacher misbehaviors can also be disruptive. They can get in the way of learning. Sometimes these teacher behaviors are unintentional. Sometimes they are misunderstood by students. Sometimes teachers are tired and
The following conceptions of feedback were offered by a group of students studying to become physical therapists. They were asked to recall a situation during their time in higher education when they felt they’d experienced feedback. Then they were asked a series of questions about
It is the beginning of the semester and faculty and students are excited about their classes. There is something about meeting your new students, a feeling you are transforming the lives of citizens. So, if the students are excited, why then, soon after the semester
“First and last class sessions are the bookends that hold a course together.” I heard or read that somewhere—apologies to the source I can’t acknowledge. It’s a nice way to think about first and last class sessions. In general, teachers probably do better with the
I haven’t found too many pedagogical articles worth a regular re-read. Christa Walck’s “A Teaching Life” is a notable exception. It’s a soul-searching, personal narrative that confronts the difference between what a teaching life can be and what it is.
I’ve been rethinking my views on quizzing. I’m still not in favor of quizzes that rely on low-level questions where the right answer is a memorized detail or a quizzing strategy where the primary motivation is punitive, such as to force students to keep up
We run across excellent online content all the time. Instructional designers are always finding new tools and applications that would be of interest to faculty and course designers. Librarians also frequently have a wealth of information on systems that would benefit those involved in developing
Student portfolios have become popular in higher education due to their variety of uses. They can document a student process, such as how an engineering class built a robot (Gallagher and Poklop, 2014). They can document a student’s work across a program, such as an
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Some professions offer a greater sense of closure than teaching. Take plumbing, for example. Plumbing problems are hard to miss and not always easy to fix, but once the PVC has been replaced, the flux applied, and the water is back on, the plumber knows immediately if the problem has been fixed.
The end of the academic year is upon us and any number of students are leaving our courses, leaking like sieves. They are so not fixed, and we despair. We tried but were obviously unsuccessful. Feelings of futility descend. Perhaps we'd be better off doing something else.
But learning isn't over just because the class has ended. How many of us have had those serendipitous run-ins with students years later? “Dr. Weimer, Dr. Weimer,” someone is yelling at me across the crowded mall. “Remember me?” When I see who it is I want to reply, “How could I forget?” But he is upon me smiling. “Oh, you'll never guess, I'm back in school and this time I'm really ready to learn, and I haven't forgotten how you confronted me about just cruisin' along. I didn't do anything about it then, but I knew you were right. I finally figured it out—studying makes a huge difference.” I want to kiss him. . . a serious plumbing problem finally getting fixed. Yes I know, he's doing the fixing, but I'm thinking we supplied the tools.
Then there's the checkout person at Costco who told me she took my class. I look at her closely but without recognition. She tells me her name, still no memory. She's in my grade book and got a B in the course, but I can't remember a thing about her. I always head for her line, and to my amazement, almost every time she rattles off something she remembers from the class. “You wouldn't let us form our own groups. You said we had to learn how to work with people we didn't know. I'm glad you did that.” “You can never communicate the same thing, the same way, to the same person.” “In this job, you can make people defensive. I know how to avoid that.” I want to kiss her. . .a plumbing fix that's still working.
We don't have accidental encounters with most of the students we've had in classes and so we never know who's gotten fixed and who's still leaking. That's the way it is in a profession that doesn't offer immediate closure. So, we need to carry on, doing our best, trusting our skills, and believing in the process. As it says on my new favorite magnet “Teaching is a work of heart.”
