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Table of Contents: Add active learning to large classes Using the Web to teach science Tips for designing a WIM course Tips on leading stimulating discussions Alternatives to large group discussions
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These tips have been gleaned from interviews with former Cornell University graduate teaching assistants and from Writing in the Majors' files. Many of the tips can be applied to a variety of teaching situations. Tips unique to Cornell University will be most relevant to WIM instructors at Cornell University. Tips unique to Cornell University
At the end of the semester, some instructors articulated their teaching triumphs and disappointments in their WIM courses in short summaries. Jae Wise, WIM biology coordinator at Cornell, also reported on WIM courses taught in the Fall of 1998. Read these summaries to gain insight as to what contributes to a successful writing intensive course.
Tips unique to Cornell University
GENERAL TIPS Remember what it is like to be an undergraduate Consider the demands on your students when you set up your expectations for the course. Their workload is high, and, as hard as it is to believe, they have other commitments than just your course. A syllabus is always tentative Being flexible to change a syllabus as the semester progresses contributes to the success of a course. This is partly because the course that we imagine in our brain may be very different from its reality. To keep tabs on if the nature of the writing assignments, level of difficulty of the readings and workload is working for your students, keep a constant dialog going with them as to their perceptions of the course. Written mid-semester evaluations are also an important way for students to express their thoughts. One mechanism to allow for changing the syllabus is to schedule open sessions. On one hand this may be a scary thing to do because you may feel that an "open" spot on your syllabus indicates lack of planning on your part. Instead, this will allow you some freedom to modify your plans such as expanding the time spent on a particular topic. Keep your own teaching journal Many instructors think that the process of keeping a class journal helps students organize their thoughts on course material. As an instructor, you can do this too. One instructor wrote about her course after every class period. She recorded what did and didn't work for future reference. She also used her journal to work through solutions for the problems she was dealing with in the various aspects of her course.
READINGS Beware of overloading on assigned readings DO NOT OVERLOAD ON READINGS! We all are very enthusiastic about what we teach, and want to cram in as much as we can - especially by assigning lots of readings. But, often there isn't enough class time to discuss each reading sufficiently. This results in frustrated students. Plus, if an assigned reading is ignored in class, students get the message that keeping up with the readings isn't important. Most of the syllabi included on this website list many more readings than were ever really discussed in class and instructors often omitted readings during the course of the semester. What's the ideal amount of reading to assign? Obviously the answer depends on your group of students and the difficulty/length of the readings. But, here are few guidelines that may be helpful:
Choose readings just past the students' grasp Students enjoy working to understand the material. In addition, slightly challenging readings will more likely be fodder for discussion than readings that are easy to understand. The students will gain a richer perspective on a topic if you provide them with diverse readings including the primary research literature, popular science and newspaper articles. Most instructors found that providing thought-provoking study questions really helped students focus on the readings. Collecting the students responses to the questions, before section, either through email or before lecture, insured that students answered the questions. Instructors also liked reading the responses before class to gauge how well the students understood the readings.
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS Give students models of good writing Provide students with several examples of writing that you think represent good writing. Be careful to not just give one example because this will convey the message that there is only one way to write effectively. One potential source of good writing is to keep a file of students papers from year to year. Or, have students bring in examples of what they think represents good writing to fuel a discussion. Design assignments to allow discovery Too often writing has been used as a mechanism for evaluation rather than a tool to promote discovery and critical thinking. Design your assignments so that students use writing for a variety of purposes such as solving problems, organizing material, and presenting their views. Include writing that doesn't get graded such as in-class writing, journals, and thought paragraphs (see Writing Assignments). Devote class time to having students write (see Writing Assignments). Students will put more time into pieces of writing that they feel instructors are reading carefully. To let students know that you do value their writing, read their papers all the way through before commenting on them. Make your comments as clear as possible, and write a summary statement at the end of each paper pointing out the strengths and the weaknesses. See Responses to student writing for more complete tips.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES Devote first class period to an icebreaker It is important to set the tone of your course on the first day. If you tell your students that they will be spending the semester actively learning by writing and talking with each other, but they spend the first class period listening to you talk, then you are sending them a mixed message. Devote the first class period getting to know them and them getting to know each other. One first day activity that has been successful is to create a map of the world on the blackboard. To do this, have each student go up to the board and draw a piece of the world where they were born, and where they hope to go someday. As each student goes up to the board, a different part of the world will emerge. This activity will introduce students to each other, give each student a chance to speak, and will get students up and in the front of the room. Provide students opportunities to explain the material to each other The process of explaining material to peers is a powerful teaching tool that encourages students to develop a deep understanding of the material and to identify subject areas that need clarification. Set up situations where students become "experts" in a particular area. Then allow the student to explain to either a small or large group of students what they have learned. Provide students with lots of guidance if they are leading a discussion section. Early in the semester, provide them with an example of what makes good discussion leading. Then, meet with students before the discussion to discuss strategies. Some instructors have found that grading students on their discussion leading helped increase the amount of effort that students put into it. If your course meets either mid-morning or late afternoon, snacks may really boost the morale of your class. One idea is to have a sign-up sheet at the beginning of the year for students to take turns in bringing in food.
TIPS UNIQUE TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY Keep discussion topics/readings in the neighborhood of the topics discussed in lecture Your students, the faculty member you are working with, and yourself will be much more satisfied if you link your discussion course as closely as possible to the lecture course. The benefit will be that discussions will complement and enhance lectures. If your course doesn't link tightly to the lecture course you will find that students will be quite frustrated and that you will be too strapped for time to cover both lecture and discussion topics during discussion meetings. Communicate with your professor often to aid you in linking your course to lecture. Get a copy of the professor's syllabus as early as possible to help you design a course that complements lecture. In your reading list include readings that include data that the professor will present in lecture. Reserve a room for your section early Check with the course secretary as soon as possible to see if a room has been reserved for your course. If a room is reserved, check to see if it is during a time that you want to hold class. If you don't know the room, go visit it. Make sure that it is amenable for discussions - a room with seats bolted down in rows would be awful! Choose and collect readings for your course well before the semester starts. Then take the readings down to Media Services at the bookstore to be made into a reader. This preorganization will save you lots of hassles later in the semester!
Comments, questions or new links? Contact Anne at astork@cisunix.unh.edu |
