The last few weeks, we have been talking about some really interesting stuff in class. Well, I have been talking, and most of my students have been staring vapidly at blank sheets of paper ears perked to listen for the phrase “this will be on the test.” Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh, but I’m having trouble with discussion participation in the course, and it’s making me crazy.Discussion in a class is a tricky thing; any teacher will tell you that every class has its own personality. One activity might create the most important and meaningful day of an entire course at 2pm, and then go over like a lead balloon at 330pm. The only difference is the class.
In order to encourage discussion participation, I try to establish a welcoming and friendly classroom environment. We spend a few minutes at the beginning of class chatting about our “Yays and Boos,” which are good and bad things that have happened recently. Students share small things (Yay! My DVR recorded my fav show correctly!) to large things (my cousin was in a car accident and is in critical condition). In evals, this is usually one activity from my high school religion teacher.
But more than getting to know other students, I feel that this activity allows me to connect with the students and acclimate them to speaking in class (and having a positive response to their contribution). So classroom climate is a huge part of discussion; if students don’t feel comfortable, they aren’t going to think out of the box, ask questions, or share examples.
The issue with this group of students isn’t comfort; it’s that they aren’t doing the reading. I’ve explained to them why they should, reminded them, and nearly pleaded with them to take an hour a week to complete the (appx 30-40 pages) reading each week, but they aren’t doing it.
Now, instead of activities that engage them with the concepts in the book, encourage critical thinking, and allow them to integrate and cross-apply concepts, I have become a definition peddler. Lectures go like this:
“Can anyone define _____(easy term from book)?” ::pause::
“No?” ::pause::
::students look down, shuffle papers, avoid eye contact, riffle through their backpacks::
“Well, the book uses the term to refer to____ (ridiculously obvious definition to anyone who even skimmed the book)”
And it’s boring. It’s boring for me, and it’s boring for them. If someone in the class HAS read the book, it’s extremely boring for that person. But when I ask discussion questions that I’ve prepared (e.g. the book disparages competition in favor of cooperation; is there any time in which competition is beneficial? What might be missing from the examples the author uses about this?) the students are silent. Because they haven’t read the book, and they don’t know what I’m talking about.
So, how to solve the problem? In Aggieland, there are no participation grades allowed for undergraduate courses, per my boss and above him/her, per the curriculum committee. In fact, they are falling out of favor across academia. People argue that participation grades are arbitrary and based off of a professor’s bad memory of a student at the end of the semester. People also argue that they are an opportunity for a professor to “play favorites.” I see what they’re saying, but how can we hold students accountable for being a part of an active learning community?
(Most) Students are only interested in grades these days, so if I can’t grade a student for doing the reading, what incentive can I offer? There are the ol’ standbys such as pop quizzes, constructing difficult exams, or requiring chapter outlines. All of which I have tried, to varying degrees of success. But what about a positive motivation, a carrot instead of a stick? What’s the reward for reading for class? As an undergrad, I enjoyed classes that caused me to think twice about something, gave me ideas for how to act in life outside the classroom, and allowed me to play with theories. For me, the intellectual rewards kept me reading. I like learning. I am a dork.
But let’s assume that I already have the dorks; the one-two students in each class who CARE about the subject are reading. What can I do about the rest?
This is where I ask you, dear reader, to help me. Did/do you read for your classes in college? What strategies, if any, were effective in motivating you to read? What are some ideas for positive reinforcement that you think may work? I will happily try something new and report back on its effectiveness in a later blog.
As an aside, I have been complain-y in my last few blogs. Next week I will post a positive story about teaching (don’t worry, I already have one in mind ;) ).
-Ms Litia
*Note: Ms. Litia is a pseudonym. It stands for liberal-teaching-in-aggieland. Mostly because I want to be honest and I don’t want to lose my job.
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2 comments:
Start off the semester with the "deal": No "written" pop quizzes as long as there is discussion of the reading in class. They want grades? You could give grades to the class as a whole on the discussions and call them "oral pop quizzes", but perhaps only on days when the discussion was particularly productive and had more than 1 or 2 participants.
Warning: I am not an instructor so I don't know if this would actually work on someone other than myself.
Honestly, the stick works the best. I have one class where the teacher assigns reading & homework problems every night. The next class, he collects that homework, which ensures students read something. And then the following class, we have a quiz about that chapter. So:
Class 1- assign chpt A
Class 2- collect Chpt A homework
Class 3- short quiz on Chpt A
I hate it as a student, but my teacher for a similar class last semester didn't collect homework & my grade on exams suffered, because I didn't read.
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