May 2004

Full issue in PDF format

What I Learned about Teaching from Observing Stand-up Comedians
By Russell Greinke, Central Missouri State University
Two recent articles in The Teaching Professor that compared coaching to teaching inspired me to write down one of my favorite comparisons. Teachers share a strong common ground with stand-up comics and can benefit by taking the similarities into consideration.

A Way to Learn Names
By David Howle, Wayland Baptist University, TX
This article describes a technique for learning student names that I have used with success. It enables me to learn student names the first day of class, and the students hear every name in class and begin the course knowing at least a couple of their classmates.

Effective Learning Begins With the Right Attitudes
By Robert W. Fisher, Lee University, TN
Like all teachers, I am saddened whenever I encounter students whose motivation to study is primarily focused on earning a grade rather than actually learning something. For too many students, the educational experience is not a wonderful adventure in learning but a tedious set of requirements they grudgingly fulfill with the least amount of effort. This approach is detrimental to their academic, professional, and personal fulfillment.

Book Review: New and Noteworthy
A review of “Small Group Instruction in Higher Education: Lessons from the Past, Visions for the Future” Edited by James L. Cooper, Pamela Robinson, and David Ball

Seven Deadly Assumptions About Students
These are assumptions that instructors make about students and learning. “They are deadly because they can sometimes have a lethal effect on students’ achievement, motivation, and desire to stay in school.” (p. 236)

Children, Adults, or Adolescents?
By Vicki Garlock, Warren Wilson College, NC
Effective teaching, advising, and mentoring at the college level depend on knowing our students. While demographic details and indicators of academic potential can be helpful, a broader sense of our students’ lives seems to be essential for meaningful interactions with them. This article looks specifically at the developmental stages and maturational processes associated with the college/university years and the resulting implications for successful teaching.

Turning the Tables: Life as an Undergraduate
By Sharon Hollander, Georgian Court University, NJ
I am an assistant professor at a small, Catholic university. My sister and brother-in-law are adopting a 7-year-old, monolingual Spanish girl from Colombia, and our whole family has been scrambling to pick up Spanish as quickly as possible. I have never studied Spanish. Rather than go to a community school or try my luck with tapes and videos, I decided to take a beginning-level Spanish course on my own campus. The students in the class had no idea who I was, and believe me, my facility with new language did not reveal my real identify.