Comments on: Why are they having difficulty ‘participating’?

By: Why they don’t ask questions at cac.ophony.org

Why they don’t ask questions at cac.ophony.org — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:11:17 +0000

[...] communication, and curiously, the discussion went into the direction of something that I wrote in one of my past postings at cac.ophony.org, which was about Asian people’s general tendencies to be less active in [...]

By: Support Issues Saving For College

Support Issues Saving For College — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:56:22 +0000

Juggling Retirement and College Savings…

Most parents want to pay for their children’s college education, or at the very least help pay for college. While it would be great for your children to be able to start like after college without student loans to pay off, the cost to parents may be t…

By: James Drogan

James Drogan — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 00:07:24 +0000

In the past three years, over 23 course sections I have worked with some 500 students, perhaps 25-30 percent of whom were ESL. My classes favor robust, lively discussion in which all are expected to participate. Respect for the individual is a must, constructive criticism is encouraged, and the students are not expected to allow the teacher get away with banalities, sowing the seeds of confusion, and plain errors.

But many are constrained from assuming an activist postion because of their prior educational experiences (head down, take notes, no questions to the professor) or their capabilites with the English language (hear English, translate, think, translate, speak English — oops the conversation has gone to another topic).

I make allowances for this precondition. No student who makes a good faith effort will be failed because of the precondition.

This leads me to the power of distance learning. In the classroom the student pushes the submit button and then the words tumble out; in distance learning the words tumble out, can be read, rewritten, read again, and then the submit button is pushed. I have found this to be powerful mechanism for getting the otherwise uninvolved, involved. And when they become involved they bring insights and experiences to the learning that we would otherwise miss. Everyone benefits from this sort of deployment in the classroom.

More about my experience can be found in Connect, Communicate, Learn (http://jmsdrgn.squarespace.com/storage/Connect Communicate Learn.pdf).

By: Yukiko

Yukiko — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 22:37:51 +0000

Thanks a lot, everyone, for your interesting comments. I was (and am) hoping that sharing my experience and what I felt about it would lead to our thinking and talking about those cultural aspects of communication, so I am definitely happy.

Ryan, I have similar experience. Although my (teaching) trainer once told me not to put only certain students ‘on the spot’ in a whole class discussion, it does sometimes work to encourage some of the more shy students to start talking.

Mikhail, Thank you for the link. It was very interesting. There is so much more to explore…

By: Mikhail

Mikhail — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 16:39:03 +0000

This is great stuff. Take a look at this post from last November by Chihping, one of our former WFs.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 20:24:03 +0000

I’ve actually found teaching over the years that students of all backgrounds are often not tempermentally shy so much as they are used to getting direction from the professor. When I first started teaching I think I tended not to call on people unless they raised their hands, thinking that I was saving those whose worst fear was talking in class. I later realized that a lot of students are more than willing to do so as long as they are prompted directly. Like the students Yukiko discussed, I think a lot of (especially younger) students just are not used to being asked to take the conversational initiative. I wonder if anyone’s studied how these dynamics play out in NYC high schools.

By: Diane, EOC

Diane, EOC — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 15:53:14 +0000

Yukiko’s personal experiences and observations of cultural differences for Japanese is enlightening. Whether a student or an instructor, we learn from each other and understanding cultural contexts is critical for communicating effectively and creating a supportive learning environment.

For me, curiosity and respect for cultural norms and differences are important elements in creating a climate in which everyone is able to learn. Perhaps it’s about setting up some groundrules up front which encourage students to step out of their comfort zones and take some small risks.

In any event, “active” listening and questioning are great ways to participate in class and social settings.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 01:02:47 +0000

I generally agree with Yukiko’s impressions and suggestions. On the one hand, we have to understand the cultural backgrounds of students; on the other, we ultimately have to maintain the same standards for everyone. College students realize this and accept it, too. Indeed, they want to know what they need to do to succeed in their courses and in the professional realm after graduation. That of course entails developing strong oral communication skills.

What gets me is the psychology instructor who awarded class participation points to a student for plugging in a flash drive. It’s one thing to be thankful for the assist but another to give credit for an act unrelated to the course. (Maybe I’m upset because I once helped a prof do lawn work and all I got out of it was a measly sandwich and a glass of water.) I’m hoping the psychologist was just being facetious!