Entry the Eleventh or: How I Miss My Freshman Year.

I'd like to start this post by saying thank God for some variation in the reading. I don't dislike First Day to Final Grade or Teaching Tips, but I feel that much of the material covered in those books are things that I have already experienced through teaching. I really enjoyed Rebekah Nathan's My Freshman Year, and thought it offered an interesting look into the world or undergraduate life.

I'm Shocked!

For me the most surprising aspect of this book was the student's idea of a "perfect" class. All of the material leading up to this point in the book was pretty shocking and I found myself sitting on my couch, jaw agape, saying "no way!" I couldn't believe how little students seemed to care about the academic aspect of college. On page 102 Nathan offers some student responses to the question "why stay in college?" Their answers ranged from things like "Who wants to be in the real world anyway?" to "No, college is too fun. Granted classes get in the way a bit but it's all worth the experience! I'm having a blast."

These responses reflect the notion that the biggest attraction to college, according to Nathan, is the college culture. It seems that students are more concerned with social activity and forming relationships than they are with completing a degree and accumulating knowledge to aid them later in life. It's interesting to me that students feel that the interpersonal and social experiences they have during college are the most important things they can learn.

I think this stems from young people's desire to be independent but I also think it has something to do with the notion of social status and how it can effect career options. I think students feel that popularity and social exchanges teach them how the world works, which is true to an extent, but they forget that knowledge is the ultimate decider in what is possible for them as young professionals.

Getting back to the idea of the "perfect" class, the book details a college course titled "Sexuality" in which the focus is on social interaction. Very little of the class deals with standard academic practices. Instead the instructor encourages students to form relationships and get to know people on a deeper level. According to Nathan, the reason that many students feel that this is a "perfect" course is because it reinforces the beliefs and values of the students. As stated above, students generally feel that social interaction is the most important aspect of college life, and a course that is consistent with those feelings will undoubtedly be very popular.

You Want My Advice?

It was interesting to look at undergraduates now that I have switched roles and become a teacher. As an undergrad student I never took the time to think about how I was dealing with college life or how I was able to balance working 30 hours a week and taking 18 credits. After reading this book I was able to go back and look at my time in college. I dissected my personal experiences and thought about how I must have appeared to professors. Now that I am dealing with undergraduates on a daily basis, it's nice to be able to relate my own college experience to what they must be dealing with.

If ever a new college instructor asked for my advice I would probably tell them two things. First, that as much as we hope students will be forever changed by our classes, it is seldom the case. Second, that the first item is okay as long as you don't lose sight of why you are teaching in the first place.

The first response deals with the fact that much of the time students view class as a distraction from their social lives. This isn't meant to say that all students hate coming to class, because some happily anticipate in-class time, but for the most part young students, especially in General Education classes, don't take the material seriously. Nathan talks about a student poll related to the percentage of learning in class compared to out of class and the results indicated that 65 percent of student learning occurs outside of the classroom. This information can be a great help to new instructors who haven't experienced teaching college students.

I think it is important to remember that students generally don't think about classes unless there is something due. I'd like to point out that I am in no way advocating for a teachers to become lax in their teaching styles because students possess an apathetic attitude some of the time. However, I do feel that understanding the way students compartmentalize college life based on what they feel are the most important aspects is paramount to being successful in the classroom.

The second piece of advice is directly related to the first. As a teacher it is easy to become bored with teaching if students aren't actively engaging in the course material. It's hard to stand up in front of a group of students who appear not to care about anything you are saying, but that doesn't mean that no one is paying attention. The best thing to do is remind oneself why they want to teach in the first place. Holding onto your goals as a teacher in conjunction with making an effort to understand ones students will help immensely.

Ch Ch Cha Changes! (like the David Bowie song)

I don't know if I would say this book has changed my perspective on undergraduate students. I think what it did was remind me of what college was like for me. Looking back at my college experience has helped me better understand why my students do some of the things they do. I too turned in papers late, asked for extensions, didn't show up for class, and placed more emphasis on personal relationships, but somehow I made it through. I have faith that my students will find a rhythm that works for them, and the ones who don't will be forced to make some tough decisions.

I suppose there were a few things that seemed like new information to me, but they mostly dealt with international students and how they view American students. All in all I feel that this book has helped me relate to my students, which is something I'm eternally grateful for. If ever I need a reminder of the toils of undergraduate life I know I can reach for My Freshman Year.

Entry the Tenth or: "dude you gotta try meta-learning, it's like learning...but like, meta."

I have to say, I’m pretty stoked about this semester coming to a close. It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed it thus far, I just need a chance to regroup and get my mind right. I was happy to see that our reading assignments in Teaching Tips have come to an end, again it’s not that I didn’t enjoy it (well…some of it), I’m just reading for new material. This week’s reading actually did a lot for me. I found a few things that I really liked.

• The first nugget of knowledge imparted to me was the section on increasing students’ self-awareness on pages 303-304. The section begins by talking about meta-cognition and how it is important for students’ future learning. Meta-cognition is simplified into the phrase “thinking about thinking,” which I like and feel would be easy for a student to comprehend. I personally believe that every student should be aware of their own learning style so that they can get the most from every course they take and continue to learn outside of the classroom. This concept is fairly difficult to “teach” because it varies from person to person, but I would like to focus on it at the beginning of the semester so that students can have the advantage when assignments get harder and test roll around.

• The next nugget come from pages 305-309 in Teaching Tips and focuses on course specific strategies. There is a list of strategies on page 307 that I like but, unfortunately, I would only be able to use two of the items on the list. Those two items are previewing the textbook structure and being clear about domain-specific terminology. I have been thinking about these two activities for the course that I am designing. I think that previewing the text book and the way it is structured at the beginning of the semester is a great idea and will help students prepare mentally for the reading they will be required to do. As far as terminology is concerned, the course that I’m designing is filled with terms that are domain specific, so I really like the idea of being clear as to the meaning of those terms. I think students do better when they feel like they understand the terminology of a subject and that in turn sparks higher order responses to discussion questions, term paper prompt, and journal entries (all of which are included in my course design).

• The last nugget I discovered is on pages 329-330 in Teaching Tips and talks about encouraging the free pursuit of learning. The text book gives a few ways that a teacher can violate the standards of teaching (encouraging learning); first is failure to prepare for class, and second is failure to remain current in both content and methods. I really like this section because I feel that students should be limitless when it comes to learning. Often times teachers fail to encourage learning because their courses are out of date, which I see as the greater sin of the two violations, and students get nothing from the course.
  

• I feel like this probably happens more in GenEd courses and hard science courses because the information doesn’t change as often or isn’t as malleable as some other more abstract subjects. The goal then should be encouraging students to look for new and exciting content, which will also help them feel like they are contributing to the overall course design. In the course I am designing I encourage students to bring in metal music that is new or exciting to them so that everyone can go beyond the course and begin to appreciate the material talked about in class in a very practical way. Viva learning.