College Teaching

A few days before the observation – What to observe (preparation for my own peace of mind)
I wrote to two of the three professors recommended by the GMU Center of Teaching Excellence (CTE) asking if I could attend one of their classes. The CTE noted that they are known to be good teachers and one recently received an excellent teaching award. One Professor who responded to my request is teaching a computer science (CS) course, in the synthesis of ethics and law for computing professionals. She welcomed me and gave a”heads-up” that this is not a technical course, which I anticipated based on the course title and that the professor is a lawyer. What I did not know was she earned an undergraduate degree in CS, so the course she designed and taught for the last several years bring both worlds to her students.

What to observe? I reviewed Peter Filenes’ book, Joy of Teaching, Chapter 1 – Understanding Yourself as a Teacher. Filene lists five characteristics that a good teacher may display: they are enthusiastic, clear, organized, stimulating, and they care about their students. I downloaded a CTE classroom observation form to guide my observation that has five parts: content and organization, communication and rapport, critical thinking skills, and rapport with students. Comparing and correlating the two, I decided that I will observe the class along the following five dimensions:

– Enthusiasm – ability to engage students’ interest on a topic under discussion
– Clarity – ability to convey ideas (with or without technology aids) with clarity
– Organization – ability to structure the delivery modes (teaching methods) so that main concepts, key points, relevant examples are conveyed in an appropriate level of detail and useful sequence
– Stimulating – ability to motivate students’ critical thinking or problem solving skills
– Care about students – ability to build rapport with students, identify and reengage stragglers, suggest resources to use out of class for students having difficulty, or those looking to excel and learn a bit more

At the event – What did I observe? (Prof. Smith – analysis of what you learn)
The class was held in a small auditorium type classroom, tables in rows and raised in steps comfortably accommodating approximately 25 students in attendance. Only 10% are female (3 young ladies). The teacher arrived and proceeded to stand behind her desk next to the lectern, scanning and making direct eye contact with the students. She noted a few are missing and remarked that they may still be on spring break. The topic of the day was privacy and security and the lecture mode applied throughout.

For the first segment of her lecture, she posed a big question “what is privacy?” and “why do we care?”The later I decoded it as the “so what?” or “significance” part used to engage the students in teaching/learning dialogue as suggested by Bain and Filene. But her assertion “we do have privacy rights”, juxtaposed with the stated fact that “the word privacy is not in the constitution” directly intrigued me. She led the students’ thinking through the first amendment, second, and so forth to show how each support the idea of privacy. She sat on her desk as she spoke and used her hand gestures masterfully to keep the audience’s attention as she discussed one amendment at a time. Filene suggestion to “Move to different sides of the stages and walk up the aisles” (p. 52) was not applied here, and did not seem to matter either. She projected her eyes toward the end of the auditorium, far enough that I thought she looked up the ceiling at times. She modulated her voice, varied her tone, and used her hands as a means to give at least fleeting physicality to the abstract concepts in play and help students keep track of the flow of the argument. Students moved along with her, short questions cracked, brief answers opened, between teacher and students, back and forth. Now I ponder during that immersive learning moment, did they recognize that their critical thinking skills intentionally being stimulated and trained or were they like a tennis student who was so busy returning balls that they were unaware of their coaches teaching plan and execution?

It appeared she organized the lecture in an outline as she glanced at it when switching themes (e.g. what is privacy, types of privacy, issues relating to privacy, tension between privacy and security). She signaled a new theme with a question, an example, a vignette (e.g., about key stroke monitoring), or story (e.g., related to students’ real life). Her style is oriented toward hearing and speaking and critical thinking; she delighted her students solely via audio faculty and dramatization accompanied by her expressive gestures. Her ability to explain complex concepts in plain English is admirable, however, being a strong visual learner, I don’t know if I could “get” it quickly if the concepts, which were familiar to me because of my years of security experience, had been presented to me then for the first time. For example, when describing how public and private keys are used to prove non-repudiation, I had to have a diagram or sketch accompanying my words as that is how I learned the concepts. I sat in a graduate level course at GMU a few years ago, and the Professor with charts and projector labored a good half hour walking though the concepts.

Days after the event – What did I learn? (Prof. Smith – how you might integrate what you have learned into your own practice)
I learned that situating students in a familiar learning context, at the beginning of the class prior to launching into a new class lecture, is highly desirable. She asked the students about their recent experience in a mock trial and interviewing witnesses. She clarified the choices students had regarding posting essays on the Blackboard and provided guidance as how to comment their peers’ essays. She motivated and challenged students in the improvement of their revisions stating: “my philosophy is no matter how good your draft is you can do better”. A result of her setting the written communication bar high is her students not only recognize the importance of making improvements, but know why they need to and by comparing their evolving drafts can measure how much change has taken place and better their learning. She “put her money where her words are” by telling the students that their summary of change, along with their revisions, will be personally graded by her and not by the TA. Even students at this level have an understanding that time is a precious resource and her commitment of time. Only when no more questions of past assignments were raised did the professor began to discuss an agenda for the day and look out a few weeks ahead.

I learned about the delicate balance of “telling” and “volunteering” what to learn to the undergraduates. For example, she thoroughly guided the students as how to read and interpret questions and cases in their text, but polled them for which questions or cases they are interested in taking on. The detailed instructions regarding how to learn as well as the particulars of her expectations in the students’ learning described in the previous paragraph were new to me. Being in the work place for more than three decades, I observed that “telling” colleagues or subordinates how to carry out the tasks should be kept to the minimum. But as I reflect this, I think even adults and professionals can benefit from learning how to approach a task, otherwise the syndromes of “bring me another rock” keep recurring.

I agreed with Bain and Filene that “outstanding teachers, both lecturers and non-lecturers employed the same set of techniques in their classes” and the professor I observed exhibited those five keys to success. Although I happened to attend the class on the lecture day, there are other modes of learning shown in her schedule. A draft of my teaching philosophy stated, “as a new comer to the education enterprise, I will experiment with various types of learning environment, ranging from simulation exercises to role playing to debate…” and in this class there will be mock trials conducted. I have already been given permission to attend one of these which I believe will be very enlightening.

During the past couple of weeks, I have observed two of my colleagues teach.  I observed Rob Como in an English 111 (College Composition I) and Laura Casal in an English 111/009 (College Composition I with Individualized Instruction).  My experienced colleagues, both of whom have been teaching for over 20 years, demonstrated certain strategies and techniques that echo both some of what I do in my classroom and also some of what we have been reading about.  I found some of the demonstrated activities to be useful for my classes as well.

In Rob’s class, his students were reviewing and practicing MLA in-text citation format for their upcoming research paper assignment.  He began the class with a brief pop quiz on the material they were supposed to read the night before.  They then briefly reviewed the answers to the quiz, and he discussed any questions the students had.  After that, he briefly reviewed what they had been previously discussing in class last time, asking students to respond to his questions and prompts about the rules and purposes of in-text citations—to both engage them in the discussion and to check for their comprehension of what they had been doing.  When students got stuck or seemed confused, rather than correcting the student, he would ask other students what they thought to engage the class at all times.  After a few minutes of this discussion, he passed out an in-class assignment sheet for an activity in which students would use example sentences and sources to complete them with the correct in-text citation format.  He had students begin the activity on their own for a few minutes, and when most students had finished, he had them get into small groups to discuss their answers.  After this, he reviewed the activity with the whole class and responded to student questions.  At the end of class, he asked the students to explain the top five most important things they should know about in-text citations, and he wrote their answers on the white board.  This last activity helped to summarize and reinforce what the students had been learning that day in class.

Throughout the class, I noticed that Rob had a comfortable and friendly rapport with his students.  The class had about 25 students in it, and he knew all of their names and called on students frequently throughout the class in a way that was non-intimidating.  He didn’t show judgment of students but rather encouraged them and joked around with them at times.  His students seemed to like him, and they seemed to be comfortable speaking in class and presenting their ideas.

On another day, I observed Laura Casal’s English 111/009 class.  Laura’s students were also working on the research paper unit, but that day they were working on developing and supporting arguments and positions.  Laura had described to me ahead of time what they would be doing that day to give me some background to the assignment.  She had divided the class up into groups and each group had taken a position on an issue so that different groups had opposing viewpoints on the same issue.  The two groups who presented that day were arguing for and against the legalization of medical marijuana.  Each group had previously met to discuss the issue, develop main points to support their position and then do some research to help support those points.  Each group also had to prepare to refute the strongest arguments of the opposing view.  The groups went in turn, with each member discussing one of the main points or refutation of opposing views.  If the student didn’t provide enough clear or specific explanation or support for the point, Laura prompted them to clarify and elaborate with help from their group members if necessary.  So, it was a somewhat laid back and interactive presentation rather than a high-stakes, high-pressure one.  After each group presented their arguments, she also asked the rest of the class for their thoughts, responses, and feedback.

As in Rob’s class, Laura also had clearly established a comfortable rapport and relationship with her students.  She called on them by name and addressed them with respect, but also pushed them to think through and support their responses specifically and thoroughly, yet she was not judgmental or discouraging regarding their answers, even when they fell short or needed improvement.  Rather than telling them they were wrong, she encouraged them to elaborate more and explain it more specifically.  The class was also very interactive, and she was sitting with the students in a student desk for much of it.

In both classes, Laura and Rob did not stand at the front of the class and lecture for the majority of the class.  In fact, there wasn’t much in the way of lecturing in either case.  They acted less as the “sage on the stage” and more as “guides on the side.”  Neither of them relied on the “banking model” of education but rather acted as facilitators for student learning.  In both cases they also used activities that were highly interactive and collaborative rather than having students sit passively or work solely on their own.  They also made a point to summarize and recap what they had been discussing and to also check for student understanding toward the end of the class.

Because I teach the same courses that I observed, and because each of them employed useful activities to teach material that I also teach, I will seriously consider trying out at least one activity that each of them used that day, and, of course, they both gave me hard copies of assignments and welcomed me to use them if I wanted.  In the case of Laura’s debate activity, as I discussed with her afterward, it is a good way to get students to actively think through the process of developing solid arguments and support that considers the audiences and what views others may hold that they may need to refute.  A collaborative activity like this not only encourages students to work together, but in the group process some students will end up helping and teaching others—which can benefit both the teacher and learner.

One thing that Rob did that I use to some extent but that I have wanted to use more is the short wrap-up/informal assessment activity at the end of class when he informally quizzes the class on what they have learned.  Not only does this offer feedback on ones teaching, but it is also short, informal, and not a high-pressure, graded quiz.  I try to do something like this, but I would like to be able to do at least a couple of minutes of informal assessment and review at the end of every class.  I will need to be sure to save time at the end for a short activity like this each time—which is can be a challenge when there is so much to do and so little time.

In both cases, Rob and Laura are good models for a teacher’s interaction with and respect for students that creates a positive and comfortable learning environment.  One thing that I plan to do more of is calling on students.  In the past, I have usually avoided putting students on the spot because I have thought that it can be intimidating for many students and make them uncomfortable, but these examples show that it is more about how one calls on students, and it can be done in a non-intimidating way.  Overall, I found the observations to be very beneficial, and I intend to observe a couple of other colleagues teach at least once a semester.

I sat in on a class taught by a colleague of mine at Northern Virginia Community College for my teaching observation. The class was Differential Equations taught by Joe Agnich. Joe and I have discussed teaching philosophies, syllabi, etc. in the past, so I knew going in that he and I had similar outlooks with respect to teaching mathematics. I found his class to be interesting, well organized, appropriate to the capabilities of his students. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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