Teaching and Learning News

Dr. Malgorzata Dubiel is the University Teaching Fellow and a Senior Lecturer for the Faculty of Science.  She is a recipient of the 3M National Fellowship and SFU Teaching Excellence Award.

• Clearly explain your expectations, both in writing (handout, WebCT, etc.) and verbally, during the first class and then repeat relevant points when needed (after midterms?).
• Try to include all students in the lecture, even in a large class. Eye contact, even brief, is important – try to look at as many students in turn as you can. In a large class, talk to and look at the last rows most of the time rather than just at the first one or two.
• Students will understand and remember a new concept better if you start with a question. Think of a good (interesting, relevant; maybe unexpected?) question and give the students a little time to reflect on it before you answer it (or have them answer it if appropriate).
• Be yourself. We all had great teachers that we’ve admired and who inspired us, but their style or personality may be very different from ours.  Find your own way to be like them.

Have a strategy you would like to add? Post a comment and share your experiences below.

Howard Rheingold has published a list of tactics that he employs to get his students to make the break between the online/connected world and the world of the seminar.  His seminars are about social media, but the distractions of Facebook impinge on that as much as any teaching moment.

He has, for example, a “moment of silence” strategy. He also encourages designated note-takers, who use laptops, rather than letting everyone use them.  He does all of this with an eye to being reflexive and conscious about our use of technology in the classroom rather than blind to it.

– Dr. Richard Smith, University Teaching Fellow and Professor, Faculty of Communication, Art, and Technology

Have you developed similar constructive strategies for incorporating technology into your classroom? How do you encourage students to attend and engage in class?

Dr. Carolyn Mamchur is  the University Teaching Fellow and Professor in the Faculty of Education. Mamchur suggests the following five instructional strategies when working with students:

• Invite students to be part of the creation of a rubric. It gives them direct access to your thinking about evaluation and gives them a sense of power in being evaluated according to items they value.
• Take a few moments in the beginning of the class to “acclimatize” the group to your environment. It could be a quick review or outline of what you are planning that day, a question to think about, a personal story, an invitation to share an event – they have to leave one environment and enter yours;it takes a few minutes to settle psychologically.
• Give advanced organizers so that introverted students have time to think before having to answer questions orally “Today I will ask you these three questions ….”
• Give students time to “talk” to one another in small groups (the person next to you in a large auditorium) at least every half hour of lecture time to permit extroverted students a chance to discuss and ground ideas.
• Help students explore a topic before they begin to write to make sure they have clarity around purpose and personal commitment to a subject before beginning. Too often they start writing and researching without actually knowing what it is they are looking for.

Have you you experimented with a similar strategy in your classes? Post a comment and share your experiences.