I had a consultation with a faculty member today on how to help students develop thesis statements. We ended up talking about how her semester is going overall, and she expressed tremendous frustration with one of her classes.
She frequently uses many writing across the curriculum techniques — in-class writing, small groups, staged assignments, etc. But nothing seems to be working. Students don’t answer basic questions that she poses and won’t participate in discussions. It feels like they are not engaged with the material or the course on any level, and some are openly resistant.
I have worked with this professor before and can attest that she is a very talented teacher. She hasn’t encountered this problem with her other classes.
I found myself at a loss as to how help her. She’s doing everything “right” and nothing seems to work. What suggestions, words of encouragement, or advice would you give this professor?
[Disclosure: I'm not an instructor.]
There are so many possibilities. I’m not sure I will phrase this ideally, but with the economy causing more students to go to their 2nd and 3rd choice colleges, be wary of the increasing number of students we will see come through the door who are not of the true CUNY ilk. Because I’ve taken classes out of order, I’ve seen what I think is some sort of trend for more students to be demanding of being served their education and not actually having to participate in it. I saw very weird energies in freshmen classes where the registrar blocks out freshmen schedules, in effect creating a 13th grade and the students have almost identical schedules; I sat in on one such class and had never felt such negative energy! I was told a particularly troubling story of a class that complained to a professor conducting an observation/evaluation that they weren’t being spoon fed the exam materials, and the evaluating professor then gave a substandard evaluation to the instructor.
I would look at outside factors, in the event that a preset schedule from the registrar’s office has them exhausted by the time they reach that class… Are 20 of them coming from Calculus or Biology? Apparently early classes (pre 9:30am) are just going to be low energy…
But the reason I wanted to comment on this was that I am having an unusual experience this semester in my most interesting class: I am supposed to speak up a good bit, but I am so fascinated by what everyone has to say that I am absolutely compelled to listen. It’s a class that concerns world events, and with the diverse student body that Baruch has to offer, I’m sure anyone reading this can imagine how much of an incredible experience it is for me, and how this white boy from Long Island soaks it all up. [Don't get me wrong, I'm colorful for a white boy from LI and I talk plenty and I get told my time is up often enough.] I can see everyone is paying attention, and I frequently think they’re soaking in all that good education, too. I think the Professor would prefer more participation – how do you participate more when you feel like the proverbial sponge?
Whether or not this applies often to other classes, I find it interesting that as ethnically diverse as Baruch is, there is a common sense approach to life that CUNY students share that generally surfaces as something in the range of a “liberal” view of the world. To some degree, I think I perceive a certain lack of diversity in world and political views that contributes to many discussions being more narrow in scope and with that, there is perhaps less exploration of worthy contradictory/conflicting ideas.
Please know that I know I have generalized here and I don’t mean my comments to apply in any way to the student body as a whole.
When faced with lethargy I try to connect my lesson plan for the day with the students’ interest of the day. For example, if the discussion is about supply chains I might pick up a bottle of water a student has brought into class and guide the students through a discussion of how that bottle of water came to be at that point at that time and why.
Another example that works well is to use the college as a base for a discussion of lesson. Here I find something at the college that the students know well and connect that to my objectives.
Stories, stories, stories, especially when told by students, also seem to work well.
Over the last two semesters I’ve been trying the idea of the One Minute Paper (I stole the idea from somewhere). At the end of class I ask the students to take one minute and briefly write about the one thing they learned and the one thing about which they are still confused. I then use these papers to start the next class. This connects me with thoughts of the students and connects the classes. It also prompts the student to review the class.
You could also play the kazoo and dance a jig.
Jim
Rob: re: your comment about stacked student schedules (“I saw very weird energies in freshmen classes where the registrar blocks out freshmen schedules, in effect creating a 13th grade and the students have almost identical schedules”). I think you might be referring to the Learning Communities program at Baruch, a very popular model used in many CUNY schools. There are a lot of positive benefits to this blocked scheduling approach, but it *can* unintentionally cement a negative classroom environment across many different subjects. But your critique could also apply to students who have just taken on too much, LC or no LC. When I find out that a student is registered for 18 credits AND trying to hold down a job, it seems no wonder that they can’t/don’t want to contribute.
Diana: Reading your post reminded me of the many ways in which teaching really can be like performing. Sometimes, it just doesn’t “work”– and who can figure out why? That’s a night-to-night phenomenon though (why didn’t they laugh!?), and if this talented prof finds her whole semester has been out of joint, something to shake the class up seems like it’s necessary to save her sanity. Incentives for speaking during discussions? An assignment on the most shocking article she can find? A guest speaker? A change of the dynamic, like the set-up of the classroom? Kazoos, jigs, all of the above?
I once had a guest speaker come to a particularly recalcitrant class. He was amazing: funny, dynamic, tons of energy. It was a huge ego-soother for me to see that the class responded to him the same way they had to me. Almost no one spoke up. But, after my guest speaker left and I asked the students that they thought of him, they all raved. So, you never know. The group-mood might prevent them from speaking up, but they might be quietly very engaged. This, I guess, backs up James’s idea for writing as a response if they aren’t participating as speakers…