April 2004

Full April 2004 issue in PDF format

Alternatives to Traditional Adult Approval
By Alicja Jarzab
Many undergraduate and graduate students I work with are anxious at least, and miserable at most, if I don’t tell them directly how they are doing in the course. The truth is that they have been trained to seek adult approval all their lives in order to be motivated and to continue to work hard. Indeed, the research literature confirms that adult approval, especially in the form of praise is often the first thing mentioned when considering ways to increase students’ motivation and affect.

Ownership Increases Levels of Self-Reported Learning
The quest for those techniques that increase the effectiveness of group work continues. In previous issues of the newsletter, we’ve shared work that advocates letting members be selected on the bases of expertise, using peer evaluations to promote productivity both within the group and among them, giving groups authority to “fire” unproductive members as well as a variety of creative tasks like group exam structures. There is no one or even a combination of fail safe techniques, but having a repertoire enables faculty to better design group learning experiences. And the article referenced below proposes yet another technique that can be added to the collection. Moreover, the researcher found that it did make a positive difference in student learning.

Personal Narratives Scholarship Stimulates Thoughtful Analysis
Just this weekend I found an absolutely first-rate, top-of-line, one-to-recommend-with-stars article in a book I had already scoured for potential TP material. I’m reading lots of “old” pedagogical material here lately (the article in question was published in 1999) as I try to write what I believe is a much-needed resource on pedagogical scholarship. I just don’t see how published work on teaching and learning is ever going to be taken seriously if we don’t start looking at it thoughtfully, identifying some of its characteristics, and thinking about standards that can be used to judge it.

Is There a Connection Between Learning Styles and Preferences?
Start with a list of 12 familiar ways to learn course content: reading texts or other printed material, writing term papers, participating in group activities in class, doing major team projects, doing cases, taking multiple choice exams, giving presentations to the class, learning about different theories, doing practical exercises, solving problems, doing library research, or exercising a lot of creativity. Now hypothesize as to which learning style prefers which of these approaches to learning.

Four Types of Unethical Behavior to Avoid
Given the extent of concern faculty voice over matters of cheating and plagiarism, it is wise to remember that ethical responsibilities go in both directions.

Newspapers: An Exciting Way to Learn
By Ike Shibley
Teachers often lament students’ inability to apply course material to practical situations. Students often focus exclusively on the factual content of a course, failing to see interesting examples of the course in the “real” world.

Annoying Behavior Can Impede Learning
Students, especially those 18-22 years old, respond to their teachers as people. With maturity comes an increasing ability to see beyond personal characteristics, but still students regularly identify some aspects of instruction that get in the way of learning. We could argue that these aspects of personal style shouldn’t make a difference, but they do, and to ignore the reality is to compromise all those all good efforts we make on behalf of learning.

‘The Professor Made Us Do It Ourselves’
By Larry Spence
Anxious to demonstrate their work, students crowded around a laptop to show me how their virtual classroom worked.