Blog #5

Testing - I like the examples in the book related to tests should not just be a means for assigning grades and should be used to assess what the instructor hoped to achieve. I feel writing an exam is a skill and should not be taken lightly. In the future when I write an exam, I plan, for the most part, assess what the students have learned and if I will need to go back and reteach something if the students did not get it. Although tests are a way to assess learning, this is not the only way. I understand that many students do not test well, so oral reports, papers, and other assignments can and should be used. When teaching in the future, I am planning on not having many exams in a semester (maybe 1 or 2), but assess in activities, homework, and outside class projects. If possible, I also like having one-on-one conversations with students to assess learning. An excellent site on how to write tests to assess learning is from Indiana University (http://www.indiana.edu/~best/write_better_tests.shtml). This site breaks down a variety of testing options to get the most from your exams. I feel if a professor is going to administer an exam, it should be of top quality. True/False, essay, and multiple choice suggestions are provided.

Online Testing - I have used and plan on continuing to use online testing. As I mentioned in the above paragraph, I do not believe in administering a great deal of "formal tests" to assess learning. The 1-2 test a semester should not affect a student's grade too much since 75-80 percent of their grade will come from other sources. I understand that there are security and integrity issues related to online testing. I guess, I do not get too worked up worrying if a student is cheating or not on an online exam. Is that wrong? I hope not, since I like to look at the "big picture", and if a student needs to "cheat" to pass one of my classes, there must be other issues they are dealing with.

Constructing an exam - The strategy that was shared in the book that I really like is to pass out several questions a week before the test and tell the students that these are the sorts of questions I will use in the exam. Great idea, especially since students tend to study more efficiently for essay-type exams. Students then can study the 7-8 main essay topics, and be tested on 3-4. I would not use this on an online exam, but an exam in class, would be perfect. The only negative about this type of exam is the amount of time it would take to correct them. True-False exams are easy, but do not truly assess learning (in my opinion). If I would (but I don't plan to) use true and false questions, I would ask the students to state what the question is false. Lastly, when grading the essay exam, I like the tip of having a scale so student's know who their answers will be graded. I think I would include the scale in the course syllabus when describing the exams. This would help to prevent some confusion by students when they receive their exams back. The Center for Assessment and Evaluation of Student Learning proves an excellent sheet on why it is important to test students (http://www.indiana.edu/~best/write_better_tests.shtml). Although the information appears to be geared more toward the elementary and high school level, the understanding of why assessment is important can be carried onto the post-secondary level.

Blog #4

Grading Papers - I liked this section of the reading because I rarely find instructors doing this for their classes. In fact, when I taught my college level class last summer, I did not do this, and I should have. I guess I thought I explained what should be included in their papers, which most students included and received a high grade. There were however a couple students that did not get the grade they thought they earned. Maybe if the grading criteria for papers were spelled out more in detail, those couple students maybe would have done better or at least would have a better understanding up front what they need to do to earn an "A" on their paper. I noticed that my couple students did better during their second paper (since they understood the expectations). I will do a better job with this issue by putting the paper grading criteria in my syllabus.

Providing Feedback - This is extremely important for students. It was amazing how much the students I had last summer in my class appreciated the feedback. With all the comments I received from the students regarding feedback, I believe not all professors are giving students feedback. I feel if students are putting in the time to complete an assignment a professor assigned, the least a professor should do is take the time to read and provide feedback. I will continue to provide feedback to the students, which in my opinion is the ethically right thing to do. As the book mentioned too, I need to remember to also include the positive comments and not only the things that are confusing or not correct.

Allowing Paper Revisions - The first thing that came to my mind was, "no way". This may be a little selfish, but I found it difficult to keep up with the regular assignments students turned in. I do not have time look though the paper again. Now, honestly, I can see how it would benefit some students if they did not fully understand the assignment or major concepts. I think if a student would talk to me outside of class and gave a good reason why they should re-write their paper, I think I would allow it. Is that fair? I am not sure, but I think it would be the right thing to do. The book mentioned that students should be aware that their grade could go down on a revised paper. That would be a major issue if the student's paper was worse. Regarding grades, I like how the book mentioned the importance of handing back papers at the end of class versus the beginning. If a professor can prevent a negative student attitude or "protest", that is best.

Cheating - I believe cheating is extremely common in college. I was somewhat surprised that the book mentioned 75-98% of college students cheated in high school. That seems a little high, but with the Internet and other ways to gather information quickly, cheating is maybe on the rise (as the book mentioned). With the high demand for grades, many students feel they need to get these high grades at any cost. The book mentioned that many colleges have "rules" on how to handle cheating. Does NDSU have such rules? McKeachie did not give a great deal of advice related to how to handle cheating, only the basics such as following policy, not embarrassing the student, and talking to the student outside of class to maybe assess underlying issues. I feel classroom management ideas such as discussing "cheating" with the class, walking around the room, and maybe sitting in the back of the room so the instructor can "watch" the students. Collegecheating.com provides some basic tips to discourage, detect, and prevent cheating (http://collegecheating.com/). Mikaela Bjorklung and Claes-Goran Wenestam from Finland found that cheating among undergraduates is common and mainly is a problem of ethic character. The study can be found at: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00001364.htm

I also like giving different exams (same questions, but different order). I had one professor that submitted our papers to an online site to assess for plagiarism. I am somewhat surprised more professors do not do this. If I would submit papers to this site, and possible plagiarism is identified, then that would warrant a discussion with the student, and not an automatic grade reduction.

Blog Entry #3

I feel that many good points were brought to light in the readings. One of the first paragraphs mentioned something along the line that this is not the only class the student has. I remember thinking that as a undergraduate student and would be somewhat disappointed when a professor would give an overly aggressive amount of work for one class. I tried to keep that in mind when I taught a 2 credit class this summer. I liked how the chapter addressed "fairness" when it comes to grading. I am a strong believer that students should not spend a great deal of their energy focusing on grades and should channel their energy on learning. When setting up a course, I feel a professor needs to ask the question, "is this fair". When I created my syllabus, I took a great deal of time to be sure assignments were spread out and the point values were appropriate for the amount of work required. I liked the examples of how to phrase question to the class to assess learning and to check to see if they are reading the assignments. It is important to be sure questions are open ended rather than simple "yes or no". It is also important to keep in mind that the materials assigned to a student needs to be worth the time it takes to read it. I feel some professors assign all this reading, but never ask about it, or ever reference it. I can see where a student would think, "why bother". I remember teaching in the public school system and having silence. As mentioned in the readings, 5-10 seconds of silence would seem like forever. I would make myself wait, and usually, someone would at least attempt to answer the question, especially if I rephrased it. I thought the idea of group testing was an interesting one. I do not think I would ever use this technique in class or at least give a score. Often times however, I find that students are extremely interested in how they did on a certain test. By doing the group activity, so they know what the answers are would help them gauge how well they did. My fear using this as a way of assessment of grade would not truly reflect knowledge gained. If a student scores a 65% on the written test, but was in a group with student who really knew the materials, and the group grade was 98%. The student would then average a "B" in stead of getting a "D". I do understand that some people do not do well on tests and would do much better with an oral exam versus a written one. I just get "paranoid" of students getting a grade they did not earn. Barbara Gross Davis provides some good suggestions on grading and things to keep in mind. I like the section where she describes ways to limit students complaints about grading. I plan on using many of her suggestions in my future courses. The information suggested can be found at: http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/grading.htm.

Blog #2 - Additional Thoughts

I liked the information related to facilitating a discussion. Typically, I find that many graduate level classes do this nicely, but undergrad classes tend to be more traditional. I liked having students sit in a circle during discussions versus straight rows. This tends to be more comfortable for most students. I feel however that maybe some students would be somewhat uncomfortable sitting in a circle since this might be new. Hopefully the uncomfortableness is short lived and helps to facilitate learning. If possible, I rather create an atmosphere that helps to facilitate learning. I also liked how the book focused on the importance of small group activities. I use to have students work in groups all the time when I taught in a small high school. This helped students get to know other students and helped them learn skills that should prove to be beneficial later in life. The importance of open-ended question is also critical. Instead of asking students "Did you like the readings", ask, "what did you like about the reading materials". This should help to facilitate more discussion during the class. Lastly, I enjoyed the section in the book that discussed "Why some students do not talk". I related this to myself. I sometimes feel uncomfortable talking in a large class in fear I might take over the conversation or cut someone else off when they are trying to speak. I need to learn to be able to discuss things in class without fear of the above mentioned things. I have had students in my classes I taught before and I tried to pair them up, or provide activities to help build their confidence and allow them to talk in class. There can be a number of reasons students do not talk in class, but hopefully by building confidence and taking "baby steps" the student will feel free to share. I liked the idea of having debates. I feel debates allow student to share their opinion and also hear another point of view. I tried having a debate in a high school class, but it did not go real well. The students took the information personally and it was not as educational as I hoped it to be. I would like to try a debate in a college setting where the students should be more mature and be able to handle such an educational experience. The guidance of the instructor and clear "ground rules", this should prove to be a fun way to learn. Topics could include second hand smoke, physician assisted suicide, or the drinking age. I found a nice debate rubric online that I could use the the college setting (http://mh034.k12.sd.us/classroom_debate_rubric.htm). Another rubric (that is not so good because it is too subjective) can be found at: http://712educators.about.com/cs/rubrics/l/blrubricdebate.htm

Blog Entry #2

I liked the suggestions provided in Chapter 3. Having 1-2 goals set for each class period is an excellent idea. It reminds me when working with media, I always learned to be sure to get 1-2 main points across during an interview. When my students walk out of my classroom, I hope they can remember at least one major theme, idea, or concept for the class. Lesson plans was something that I did not enjoy doing when I taught in the public school system, but remembered that those lesson plans helped to keep me focused and on task. To be honest, I never thought college professors wrote lesson plans, but if they are as helpful to me in the college setting as they were in high school, I better get use to doing them. Incorporating writing into the class is important. It is amazing to me the number of students who struggle with writing. Writing assignments can help students organize their thoughts and put down ideas on paper. If students are expected to complete writing assignments, I feel it is important to provide feedback to the students. I liked the suggestions on time management. Class needs to start on time and a professor needs to be sure to prioritize information to be sure information or goals of the class period are taught. Alicia McKenzie provides some good classroom time management tips (http://www.utoronto.ca/tatp/timemanagement.pdf). The three main focus areas she describes include basic principles of classroom time management, assessing time demands, and writing the lesson plans. The last couple topics I liked in the book was the importance of having a united front and always being professional and not criticizing other professors. The tips on how to answer and handle situations should prove to be beneficial. I liked how it was noted to not embarrass students if there are issues (such as a student being late for class everyday), but rather catch the student after class and find out what the issue is.

Blog Entry #1 - Additional Thoughts

Teaching tips from McKeachie made me think of things to keep in mind before I teach my next course. It seems the majority of classes use some type of textbook. I like using textbooks, but like having recent articles from professional journals to supplement the textbook. A big issue tends to be the cost of such textbooks. With that in mind, I believe that if students need to purchase a textbook, they need to get some use out of it and maybe be able to use it in other classes or in their professional career. The New York State Consumer Protection Board put together many tips/suggestions for faculty before ordering textbooks. The document can be found at: http://www.nysconsumer.gov/pdf/facultytextbooks.pdf. The syllabus needs to be taken seriously. I feel the syllabus needs to be as specific as possible and leave little room for "gray areas". A couple nice sites to get tips and suggestions regarding writing a college level class syllabus are:
www.oberlin.edu/stuorg/exco/instructors/syllabus_tips.doc
http://www.contracosta.edu/AdjunctFaculty/syll-how.htm
http://eduserv.ku.ac.th/eduserv/cademic/seminar/How%20to%20Write%20a%20Syllabus.pdf (nice PowerPoint).

Lastly, I feel it is important to be sure students participate in an appropriate amount of learning outside of the scheduled class time. Hands-on activities along with reading outside of class should help support classroom discussions. I will need to keep this in mind when creating a syllabus.

Blog Entry #1

The tips provided in Chapter #2 (First Day) should prove to be very beneficial. Planning ahead and being prepared are important. Getting the class list is a great idea. I taught a class last summer and was able to get the class list. It would have been nice to find out their majors and year of school beforehand so the class could have been tailored somewhat to their needs. Knowing where the classroom is and how to use all the equipment is important. If a professor is late or cannot use the computer or other supplies, credibility can be lost early on. I like how Southern Utah University has some tips for first year professors. The sheet is titles Ecology 101, but can be used in other disciplines. The tips can be found at: http://www.indiana.edu/~halllab/GradRes/Wilson&Hampton_BESA.pdf

I believe it is important to dress professionally so students take the professor seriously. The class I taught was online, so I could wear pajamas if I wanted, but I feel when I do teach "live", I would feel better if I dressed a step above my students. I had a professor recently who dressed in jeans everyday, and I thought that was odd. Since the class I taught was an online class, student communicated with me by email. Lucky for me, the communication did not get out of hand. Students also had my cell phone number, but I did not give them guidelines related to when to call. I only received two calls from students regarding computer trouble while taking an exam. I now realize how important it would be in the future to provide clear guidelines to prevent over use and possible boundary issues.