“Social Homeworking”

The following article underscores two elements of concern with students in College.
http://phibetacons.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTg4M2M0YTUwMzAzN2E4MjcyMzEyOThjOGI2Njc1N2U=

They have learned these habits in high school:
One problem is that they don’t spend enough time preparing for class.

• The 2006 High School Survey of Student Engagement found that
  55 percent of high school students spent less than one hour per week
  “Reading/studying for class.” Only 10 percent exceeded ten hours per
  week.
• The 2006 National Survey of Student Engagement found that
  18 percent of seniors in college logged only one to five hours per week
  “Preparing for class.” Twenty-six percent stood at six to ten hours per
  week. Professors estimate that 25 hours per week is the minimum for
  success.
• The University of Michigan reported in 2004 that
  homework time for 15-17-year-olds reached only 24 minutes on weekend
  days and 50 minutes on weekends. Weekday TV time was one hour, 55
  minutes.
• In 2004, the Horatio Alger Association found that 60 percent of teenagers logged five hours of homework per week or less.

The other concern is that they spend an abundant amount of time in “social networking.” (9 hours)

Is there a way to change these habits when they get to College? How about through “social homeworking”? Most of us teachers have grown up in a time when homework was a very individualistic thing. Perhaps our parents helped us, or we wouldn’t have gotten through high school with our assignments and projects all done.

At College, students are looking for social bonds and need accountability. Much of the homework students do for class could be done in groups without losing any of its power. It might actually help them focus on the task instead of being distracted by the socializing alternatives. Here are a couple of ideas:

1. Reading groups: Urge students to meet together to read the material for the next class period. By reading in groups (silently or out loud), it gives them a chance to ask each other questions and keep each other on task.
2. Research projects: Create one complex assignment instead of several simple ones, and have them meet together several times to divide responsibilities, report on progress, and formulate the final submission of the project.

I realize that group projects have always had their own challenges and don’t suggest this will be easy. But might it encourage them to actually spend more time preparing if they are actually spending more time socializing with others in the class?

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Evaluation Time

Below is a revision of a posting I made last year to explain the course evaluations. You should have received by email the PDF files of your evaluations for the year. This posting will explain what the different elements mean.

Components

There are three parts to the evaluations.

1. Listed Questions - The 38 questions that are asked to the students are ranked on a scale from 1-5 by them. We analyze for you the average score (on a scale from 1-10, with 10 being highest.) We also break it down so that you can see a percentage of the students who agree (somewhat or strongly) or disagree (somewhat or strongly). Use these numbers to see how students overall felt about the different areas that we asked about, such as assignments, textbooks, difficulty, personality, mission statement fit, and other areas.
2. Categorized Scores – The bottom of the first page puts several questions together to give you an overview of your performance in a course (and overall as an instructor) in the following categories: organization, size & sequence, textbooks, benefit, CCCB mission fit (these cover the course itself) and personality, knowledge, communication, management, and overall (these cover the instructor). In case you’re interested, here is the formula for each category (* signifies score is reversed):

Organization=1+5+13+9*+14*
Size=2+6+10
Textbook=3+7+11+15
Benefit=4+8+12+16
Mission=17+18+19+20
Personality=21+25+28+32
Knowledge=22+26+29+33
Communication=23+30+34
Management=24+27+35+35
Overall=36+37+38

The first column of scores represent the calculated category score for the specific course listed at the top of the page. The second column of scores is the average of all courses offered that particular semester. The third column of scores is the average of all your scores offered that particular semester. (If you only offered one course for the semester, it should be the same as the first column!)

Use these scores to see how students are comparing your courses to other courses at the College, or how they perceive your performance in one area in one course compared to all of your courses. This can help you see which courses could use some attention to get you up to the level that students see you in all the other courses and the other courses you teach. For instance, you may find that your instructor score for organization is below the average of all courses. That might tell you you should talk to me or another teacher about how to get more organized in your courses. On the other hand, if your instructor score for organization is comparable to everyone else’s, but one course has a particularly low score (and another one has a high score), you could look for ideas from the well-evaluated course to apply to the lower ranked course.

3. Comments – The most powerful (and sometimes painful) section of these evaluations are the specific comments that students wrote. They are anonymized (although, I can determine the author if necessary). With the students typing these online and this section required, some of the comments are less than descriptive. Others are possibly too much so. They are uncorrected or edited, although meaningless comments (some students like to type asdfkljas; just to fill up the blank) have been deleted.

Limitations

1. Under-experienced – These student evaluations are not made by experienced teachers. Many of them have taken less than 10 courses in their whole college career. Don’t read them as experts in the field of education (or theology or ministry, for that matter). For example, someone may complain that the tests were unfair because they asked for too many details. You shouldn’t be persuaded by that comment alone. However, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to ask someone else (a more experienced student or another teacher) for their input, to see if they agree.
2. Self-centered – These evaluations are done at the end of the semester, right before the students see their grades. They are very self-interested at this point. Their opinions reflect only their personal take on something. This is both a limitation and a benefit (see below). Don’t assume that just because one person thought something, everyone in the class agreed.
3. Middle-deprived – The comments are usually very minimal for most people. A few people write a lot of comments (both positive and negative). Just because one person writes a scathing review of the class doesn’t mean that everyone else in the course shares that opinion. Similarly, one gushing comment that says “This is the best class anyone could ever take and my ministry will never be the same because of it” doesn’t mean that the course is perfect and has no need for improvement. You should expect that the people who wrote “good” probably had positives and negatives to say but didn’t feel like explaining it all. Realize that there are unrepresented voices in the course who may have talked to you in person but didn’t write anything on the evaluation.

Benefits

1. Broadening your view – I have always appreciated how course evaluations help me see myself through more eyes than just my own. Face it, I’m biased when looking at myself! And other professors may be more objective, but they don’t come to my classes. I don’t know a better way to find out the opinion of objective people other than asking them to tell me after the class is over. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best I can give you. Even if you think a comment was unfair or inaccurate, it is good to at least know the thought is floating around out there.
2. Getting inside their head – In a related matter, I have longed to know what my students really think about the course, my approach to it, and even the experience of being in the class. Tests don’t really tell me that. But what they type when they are all alone may reveal more of their true thoughts than I could ever get. With the generation we are teaching now, they share EVERYTHING online. You might not like it when they tell you something, but at least now you know what is in their head.




3. Finding what sticks – A year after the course is over, what will people remember about your course? I propose that what they write on their comment is what they will remember. Therefore, the comments tell you what is sticking with the students. Did they learn more than what they say in their comments? Sure. But impression is a big deal. It will affect whether this student will come back to another class you teach, ask you for insight or help in the future, and what they will tell other people about you and the class. If that’s positive, I want to know what it was. If it’s negative, I want to know what it was.

We will discuss these course evaluations and I will give you a printed copy at your performance review.

If students fail, have teachers failed?

If the issue of grading is fresh in your mind (especially as students are complaining about their dissatisfaction with grades), perhaps you should read the following article: “If students fail, fire the teacher.” I am confident that it will give you food for thought considering the theory of giving grades at the College level.
http://www.mindingthecampus.com/forum/2008/05/if_students_fail_fire_the_teac.html

I am not going to attempt to justify either Norfolk State University or Steven Aird, in this particular case. But I have a larger question to ask.

If 90% of your students have truly earned the grade of F or D, what should you learn from that fact?

Here are a few proposed answers:

1. The students aren’t prepared to do the teacher’s definition of college level work.
2. The students want good grades for little work.
3. The teachers have unrealistic expectations for what college level work today is.
4. The definitions of “college-level work” and “prepared” are unclear in the 21st century.
5. The teacher has not adequately motivated or prepared the student to succeed.

Maybe there are more. I know that the same explanation can’t lie behind every failed grade given. What do you think? Feel free to click the comment button to add your own thoughts to the discussion.

Attention and Inattention in the Classroom

Some of you might think the “Mind of a Dean” has been far too quiet in the last several months. Others of you may be glad of that fact. However, a lack of words doesn’t mean there have been a lack of thoughts. The Mind of a Dean has been actively considering many thoughts and formulating words to help express them.

But sometimes it’s nice when the words of others help reflect our thoughts. As you consider your policies for classroom etiquette, the following article in The American Prospect might help you grasp the struggles students have to focus on paying attention in class.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=a_crisis_of_attention_and_intention

I found the details of the Ivy League school easily replaceable in our context by the importance of attention to the things of God, Bible, and ministry. For instance, in Senior Bible Seminar this year, I told the students that no laptops would be allowed to be open during class, because I wanted eye contact and interaction. The students responded well without complaining.

In some classes, that might be an unnecessary request, but in this course, it was essential.

One of our sister colleges has the following policy on notebook computers for its faculty to consider: “Computers can be a powerful aid to learning or a terrible distraction. It is up to you to decide whether or not students are permitted to use notebook computers in your class.”

Most of our discussion of notebook computers has to do with misuse. But the article I referred to above talks more about the real problem, which is lack of attention. And I think that if students are paying attention, the notebook can be a tremendous asset to the student’s learning.

So the question for discussion is this, “What do you do in class to grab and keep the attention of your students?”