In This Issue Current Issue Archives

October, 2006

The Teaching Professor - October, 2006 - Full Audio MP3
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The Teaching Professor - October, 2006 - FULL Issue PDF
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Enhancing Students’ Readiness to Learn
By Jennifer L. Romack, California State - University, Northridge
Over the years, I have probably said, “Have you done your reading? Is everyone ready?” more times than I care to count. But as the years passed, it became apparent that more and more students weren’t doing their assigned reading and were not ready for class. Out of sheer frustration, I stopped talking during one of my lectures. I turned up the lights, walked to the chalkboard, and wrote in quite large letters, “Are you ready for class today?” I underlined the word “ready,” faced the class, and let about five seconds of silence simmer uncomfortably. Finally I asked the students to respond honestly and anonymously to my question on a sheet of paper. To this day, I have not forgotten how they answered.

Peer Review: Successful from the Start
By E. Shelley Reid, George Mason - University, Virginia
A year ago I was sitting at a conference lunch table with nine other college and high school writing teachers when the discussion turned to peer review: students evaluating each other’s essay drafts. I was surprised when one professor’s comment, “I no longer assign peer review of student essays, because the poor results aren’t worth the class time it takes,” was immediately assented to by six other people at the table. I asked the group what they meant by “poor results.” Most of them agreed it was the quality of students’ comments on each other’s essays—at best vague and unhelpful and often misleading or incorrect.

The Placement of Those Steppingstones
By Joe Ben Hoyle, University of Richmond, Virginia
One of my theories is that education stumbles when either the learning points are not sequenced in a clearly logical order or they are not placed at a proper distance from each other. When troubles arise, look at the placement of those steppingstones.

Finding Organizations for Real-World Projects
By Dusty Bodie and Gundars Kaupins, Boise State University, Idaho
Interest in combining course work with “real-world” projects that involve organizations off campus continues to grow. These projects are often part of or grow out of campus programs such as cooperative education (the combination of classes and work experience), job shadowing (observation of an employee), internships, live cases (students work with organizations on actual problems or needs), and service learning. Success of these experiences depends on professors being able to find organizations willing to collaborate with students in these various ways. The purpose of this article is to describe some ways professors can make those connections.

Students Bring Real-Life Examples to Class
By Karen Welte Gore, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana
As a marketing professor, I often found myself scouring publications, stores, and my cabinets prior to a lecture, to find examples of the concepts in the hopes of bringing these topics to life. Although students seemed to appreciate and learn from these examples, it did create more work for me. Also, since I belong to a different age cohort, I often brought examples that my students would not select. I modified my technique and now require students to read the chapter and bring in an example themselves, before I lecture on the material.

Using Collaborative Groups to Teach Literature and Theory
By Penny Dahlen, Montana State University
I have used collaborative groups in a graduate counseling theories class to increase dialogue on theoretical concepts, integrate current literature, and model lifelong learning. In my teaching, this learning strategy is much more than a technique. It’s a systematic, coherent approach to the entire course. Groups meet for one-third of the course time, do group presentations, and participate in a variety of other class activities.