CONNECTING WITH STUDENTS Effective Teaching and Learning Department

Outcomes Describe the characteristics of adult learners in the Baker College classroom Articulate the role of the instructor in the classroom Define the importance of motivation in a college classroom Identify ways that faculty can both motivate and de-motivate students Provide learning activities that both engage and enhance motivation in adult learners and use higher-order thinking skills

Activity K-W-L K What we KNOW W What we WANT to know L What we LEARNED Donna Ogle (1986) Provide each participant with the handout and explain to them that the purpose of this opening activity is to activate prior knowledge. It serves as a model for active thinking during reading where students can apply higher-order thinking strategies which help them construct meaning and help them monitor their progress toward their goals. The three column form can be modified from “we” to “I”. With all participants, brainstorm ideas and record them either on the white board or newsprint. Complete each column (K – what you already know; W – what you want to know). Stress to participants that they need to revisit this sheet in order to complete the third column (L – what I learned) at the end of the session. Make sure you don’t skip this step in the process even if there is only time to share one significant learning experience.

Characteristics of Adult Learners Are more self directed Come to the classroom with rich life experiences Expect to be treated as adults Are not in the classroom to compete Generally they know what they want and where they are going. Although just because some of them may know what they want out of a career, doesn’t mean that they know how to act in the “new” classroom where the shift has gone teaching to learning. Instructors act as a facilitator rather than the presenter of learning. The adult learner’s previous experience was probably teacher-directed and now we are expecting them do much more of the learning themselves. The “new” classroom strategies consist of active learning and cooperative learning activities, which may need to be explained to adult learners because this is not the way they are used to learning. Most adult students are not in the classroom to compete, are there to succeed and improve themselves. Therefore, as an instructor of adults, minimize competition and increase cooperation to foster student success.

Characteristics of Adult Learners May have been away from a formal classroom for an extended time May be their first collegiate experience May experience significant anxiety as they begin their studies May not (anxiety) be noticeable early in the term New adult learners may experience anxiety as they pursue a certificate or degree in higher education. Since the average adult learner at Baker College is 28 (as mentioned in the Baker and Our Students module), it is understandable. The learner’s adult sophistication may disguise their fears. As an effective instructor, it is important to cultivate trust and openness because without proper support, this anxiety may undermine the student’s ability to succeed. Focus on their needs and when in doubt, ask them.

Characteristics of Effective Teachers Form groups of 3-4. Obtain a sheet from the facilitator and brainstorm responses with your group. Be prepared to report out with your group. Point out that in the preceding slides adult learner characteristics were discussed. Now we transition to examining characteristics/qualities of effective teachers. Ask half of the group to brainstorm a list of characteristics they believe effective teachers possess and record them on a sheet of paper or newsprint. If they need help in getting started, suggest the following: knows the content/subject area; possesses professional teaching skills and strategies; knows and likes students; etc. Ask the other half to brainstorm a list of characteristics that students look for in good teachers. Suggest responses that include their own perspective when they were students. Some examples to get them started: being organized and in control; knowing the latest trends and technology; preparing professional material and handouts; etc.

The Teacher as a Person Care about their students and demonstrate caring by: Practicing focused and sympathetic listening Understanding student concerns and questions Knowing students both formally and informally Studies exploring what makes a good teacher show the importance of caring in the eyes of students and teachers. A caring teacher connects with students. Characteristics of caring include qualities such as patience, trust, honesty and courage. Be sure to point out whether or not the group came up with some of these qualities in the previous brainstorming activity. Effective teachers show students they care not only about what happens in the classroom but about student’s lives in general. They initiate two-way communication. Students value teachers’ understanding of their concerns and questions. Through appropriate self-disclosure, teachers become human in the eyes of students. Caring teachers use every opportunity to keep the lines of communication open and they know their students individually.

The Teacher as a Person Establishes rapport and credibility with students by emphasizing, modeling, and practicing fairness and respect On an index card, have participants generate strategies used to practice fairness and respect. Give them just enough time to jot down a few thoughts—then allow them a few minutes to discuss their ideas with a partner. Ask participants to not look at the next slide. At the end of 3-5 minutes, ask for volunteers to share their ideas.

Practice Fairness and Respect Treat students as people Avoid ridicule and prevent situations in which students lose respect in front of their peers Practice gender, racial, and ethnic fairness Be consistent and provide opportunities for student input Provide students opportunities to participate and to succeed Ask participants for some of their items from previous activity, if the items on the slide aren’t shared, be sure to point them out. An effective teacher establishes rapport and credibility with students by emphasizing, modeling and practicing fairness and respect. Point out to participants the importance of modeling expected behavior.

Effective Teaching Related to Social Interaction Behave in a friendly manner while maintaining professionalism Work with students as opposed to doing things to or for them Give students responsibility and respect Allow students to participate in decision making Pay attention to what students say Have a good sense of humor Effective teachers consistently behave in a friendly and personal manner while maintaining appropriate teacher-student role structure. Teachers who are considered effective allow students to participate in decision making. Ask participants for examples. You may want to suggest having a class meeting to discuss issues that may arise during the course. Effective teachers have a good sense of humor and are willing to be self-revealing.

Effective Teachers Self-Reflect Practice self-evaluation and self-critique as learning tools Portray themselves as students of learning Improve lessons and seek out new approaches to better meet the needs of their learners Complete the self-reflection worksheet Effective teachers continuously practice self-evaluation and self-critique as learning tools. Through reflective practice, teachers monitor their teaching because they want to be better. Reflective practice can initially result in confusion for the teacher; the process requires open-mindedness, honesty, and sufficient time to change teaching behaviors. Share a copy of the Charlotte Danielson self –reflection model with participants. Point out that this is a tool that they can use to self evaluate/reflect on their lessons.

Why Motivate? “The struggle is not in how to motivate students to learn. The struggle is in creating lessons and classroom environments that focus and attract students’ intrinsic motivation; thus increasing the likelihood students will actively engage in the learning.” Rogers, Ludington, & Graham, 1997, p.2 Focus is on what is current in education now, that is, creating a positive, safe environment for learning.

Factors Affecting Motivation Instructor Classroom environment Other students Family/support network of student External conflicts such as work The more pressures placed upon the student, the more they begin to doubt their abilities and their motivation and determination to succeed tends to decrease.

Issues with Extrinsic Motivators Produce only short-term changes in behavior Tend to overpower intrinsic motivators Decrease the focus on desired behaviors Reduce complex thinking, risk-taking Lower self-esteem and student self-efficacy over time Advise instructors not to stop using these kinds of rewards completely until you have another method firmly in place—change is difficult for both students and instructors. Extrinsic rewards will overpower intrinsic for a short period of time, or as long as the extrinsic is perceived to be more powerful or desirable. The intrinsic motivator will always be more powerful in the long run. Extrinsic rewards do reduce risk-taking because they are focused on the grade and they don’t want to be creative or think “outside the box” if they fear they will be marked down for it.

Intrinsic Motivation Often jumpstarted by an external factor, then internalized Ultimately more powerful that external motivators Longer lasting Often more difficult to define or explain to others Intrinsic motivators are often what pull students through the most difficult classes, the ones that they don’t think they will pass but that they work hardest to pass. Not every student can tap into this kind of motivation all the time.

Brainstorming Activity Form a group of 4 or 5 On the sheet provided, identify as many classroom motivating and de-motivating behaviors Be sure to identify the perpetrator of the behavior – instructor or student. You have 5 minutes Be prepared to share your top 5 behaviors with the class Introduce this activity as a way to tell new instructors what not to do in a classroom. After the five minutes are up, have participants create a positive for every negative. Negative Ways for Instructors to Impact Student Motivation: Sarcasm, insincere listening, failure to meet basic needs, vague or infrequent feedback, failure to account for learning styles, failure to provide accurate examples or models, bribes, content and tasks that are ill-defined or repetitive, “busy” work

Good reasons to lecture… Provide information Highlight similarities and differences Communicate enthusiasm for the content Model behavior Share personal insights Organize the content Mini lectures work best (15 minutes at a time) It is important to recognize that a number of powerful forces keep teachers front and center. Lectures can (Cashin, 1985): Provide new information that may not be found in print; model how a discipline deals with a question of evidence or critical analysis (metacognitive behavior—thinking out loud when problem solving); story telling adds drama to concepts. The choice between lecture and active learning is not a case of too much of it. Usually the problem is too much of it. Most of us are so busy “covering the material” that we miss the chance to “uncover it” with our students. We need to give students more time to dig beneath the surface, to grapple with the subject matter, and to make their own sense out of things.

What Teachers Would Rather Not Know During lecture… Students are not attending to what is being said 40% of the time (Pollio, 1984) Students retain 70% of the information in the first 10 minutes, 20% in the last 10 minutes (McKeachie, 1986) College teachers in many disciplines argue that a lecture approach is key for learning. Teachers worry that if they do not lecture, students will leave at semester’s end without a notebook full of key concepts and up-to-date information. It is not being suggested that lecture should be tossed out the window, rather it should be used with a greater variety of teaching strategies so that students will share in the work of teaching and learning.

Strategy 1: Promote Active Learning Provide opportunities for students to: talk and listen, read, write and reflect through problem solving exercises, informal small groups, simulations, case studies, role playing, etc. All require students to apply what they are learning. Promoting Active Learning Strategies for the College Classroom - Chet Meyers, Thomas B. Jones Now that we have talked about motivating and de-motivating behaviors that can occur in the classroom, let’s talk about some things that instructors can do to engage learners, enhance motivation, and use higher order thinking skills. Recall from slide #4, the “new” classroom has shifted from teaching to learning and with an emphasis on active learning. Active learning is understood to stand in contrast to traditional classroom styles where teachers do most of the work and students remain passive.

Classes that include active learning… Are more collaborative Are student centered Accommodate diverse learning styles Are a more hospitable place Active learning draws on various experiences from students’ everyday lives. It frequently involves students in cooperative efforts, discussing, developing, and analyzing the contributions of others. In an active classroom, passive students can assume a larger role in the learning. The classroom climate is more hospitable, a place for a variety of student perspectives.

Strategy 2: Class Meeting-Agenda Check in & get started Call on assigned student to recap the prior session Call on a “book questioner” (clarifying any questions or points raised) Assign another student to recap this session Offer an anticipatory summary of activities for the current session Proceed with the planned activities Wrap up with the student-led recap Assign a book questioner for the next session Adjourn This is a strategy that can be implemented rather easily and gives students responsibility in the learning process. The check in (attendance, housekeeping issues) should be brief. During the recap of the prior session, stress important information as needed. The anticipatory set can take the form of “Tonight we will cover…” The “book questioner” is responsible for locating information (page number, chart, graph, etc.) in the assigned reading (text) to clarify questions or points raised. During the wrap up, the instructor and other students provide support. Using these techniques in each session leads to better understanding as well as increases participation and active learning.

Strategy 3. Informal Small Groups Designing small group activities is an easy way to begin creating an active-learning classroom. Small groups are appropriate for many active-learning tasks such as lecture summaries, clarification of reading assignments, and problem solving. There is nothing magical about putting students together. Small group activities are educationally sound as long as they are carefully designed with realistic goals, guide students’ behavior and create a positive atmosphere in which students will share their ideas and learn from each other. With the group, brainstorm ideas on what makes small groups an effective teaching and learning strategy—what are some basic considerations for positive results? Record these ideas on the whiteboard. After brainstorming ideas, provide participants with handout of small group guidelines.

Circular Response Discussion Each person has up to a minute to talk about an issue or question that the group has decided to discuss– no interruptions allowed. Speakers must incorporate into their remarks some reference to the preceding speaker’s message. Each person must strive to show how their remarks spring from the comments of the previous speaker. The topic – How will you use active learning to connect with the students in your class? Source: Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. Stephen Brookfield (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995) This activity/strategy is another method easily used to promote participation, continuity and to give people some experience of the effort required in respectful listening. The topic has been chosen to transition into higher order thinking. Be sure to debrief as the important part is what happens in each group.

Activity K-W-L K What we KNOW W What we WANT to know L What we LEARNED Return to worksheet from the first activity to complete the last column K What we KNOW W What we WANT to know L What we LEARNED Return to the first activity (K-W-L) and have participants complete the last column – “What I LEARNED”. Ask participants to share one “What I Learned” idea.

Questions?