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As you read this newsletter the 2009-10 academic year will have started. For me this fall is a special milestone since it was exactly 40 years ago in September 1969 that I began my journey as a university student at a small public university in northern New England. My entrance as a 1st year student followed a summer that was marked by Woodstock, the US placing
a man on moon, escalation of the war in South East Asia and a time for great hope and positive feelings with respect to the American Dream. As I reflect back on this important watershed in my life I am struck by the magnitude of the subsequent changes, many of which were unforeseen, that occurred in the ensuing 40 years. In 1969 personal computers, the internet,
Google, mobile phones, and digital libraries did not exist. Simple calculators (the kind that are now given away for free) were just coming into being thanks to the space race. The educational mission of the university
then, as now, was to provide students with the knowledge, skills and appreciations to equip them to be successful as citizens and professionals
– a difficult task amidst rapid change. Despite the very different world I live in 40 years later, my undergraduate education has served me well and I doubt that I ever envisioned that I would be doing the engaging intellectual work that now makes up my day.
So, what did I really learn those many years ago? The truth is very little, at least as measured by course content. My recollection of courses is best summarized by my ability to recall final letter grades and GPAs. I barely, if at all, remember what courses I took, and for nearly all courses have no recollection of who taught the class or what we covered. There are two exceptions that are illustrative, the first involves a course in human sexuality
and the second a course in ecology.
I took the human sexuality course in my senior year since
enrollment was in high demand and not until I was a senior did I
have enough priority points to be able to enroll. As an 18-year
old male the topic was one that had great interest and relevance
and I entered the class with high expectations. The course was
taught using a contract approach (i.e., as a student I selected
what amount of work/engagement I would do and if I
did it adequately the grade was automatically given). I
contracted for a B, since as a 4th year student I had required
major courses and was doing independent research. My
recollection is that for a B I had to take at least one
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formal exam, participate in a peer discussion group and write a
paper. In order to do well on the test I needed to attend the twice
weekly evening lectures. The lectures were in a new large lecture
hall that seated several hundred. Since this was before PowerPoint
the lectures were presented using a series of 35mm slides. The only
thing that I can remember about the course was that periodically
during the lecture presentations (with no apparent purpose) the
instructor would show a risqué slide from Playboy. I received the
contracted grade of B since I did well on the multiple choice test,
wrote a paper in one night and submitted documentation that our peer
discussion group met. Since the peer discussion groups were not
overseen, the discussion group consisted of several of my friends
who were in the course. We generally met in someone’s room or a
local pub. I tell this story not because it illustrates bad teaching
but rather as a counter-point to the ecology class.
...I was challenged to think and there was an impact that has lasted for 40 years, not due to the subject matter but the pedagogies...
The ecology course was a required course of my major and it was taught by a newly
hired professor. For me ecology was a new and emerging field and we used E. P. Odum’s classical ecology text. It was a challenging course and required
many hours of effort on my part. Unlike the human sexuality course, it used innovative pedagogies
in the laboratory that went beyond
traditional teaching and learning
approaches, although the lecture part of the course used a traditional didactic format. In many ways my experience as a student in this course shaped my understanding
of what defines
good teaching and effective
learning.
The challenge for all instructors is to identify and analyze the aspects in the courses that truly impacted your own learning and adopt and adapt those aspects to the courses that you are teaching this fall and spring
An example of the teaching/learning innovations was the population
density laboratory. I can still recall arriving at lab on a Tuesday
afternoon with the 15 other students. Upon entering the lab we found
a child’s swimming pool filled with grain and the following
statement on the board “The purpose of this lab is to determine the
population density of meal worms in the swimming pool. You may use
any equipment that is present in the lab.
Good luck”. The role of the graduate laboratory teaching assistant
was limited to answering
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questions and helping us to use the simple equipment that was
provided, she or he was not allowed to give us a protocol. This type
of inquiry lab reflects the process of science and helped to
reinforce my love for science and the
development of essential skills that would serve me for the next 30
years as a research scientist.
In looking at the two cases we see many dissimilarities. In the
human sexuality case, despite the engaging nature of the topic
matter, there was no enduring learning and I sleep walked though the
course without ever being engaged. In the ecology course I was
challenged to think and there was an impact that has lasted for 40
years, not due to the subject matter but the pedagogies
and this directly flowed from the
active learning. Today if I wanted a
protocol for determining population density in a closed environment
I could google "population density closed environment". At every
university in today’s world it is
possible to find courses that look
like my two examples with respect to
student engagement and learning impact. The challenge for all
instructors is to identify and analyze the aspects in the courses
that truly impacted your own learning and adopt and adapt those
aspects to the courses that you are teaching this fall and spring.
Since 1969 the world has changed tremendously and we now have at our disposal tools and resources for teaching and student learning that were not present or envisioned in 1969. These include course learning platforms (ELMS), digital libraries, clickers, You-tube, social networks, mobile learning devices, and multi-authoring tools, to name a few. In addition we now know much more about how students learn and what makes for good pedagogy and increased student learning. One important understanding that has only more recently become widespread is that teaching is an improvable skill and can be enhanced not only by practice but through a scholarly approach of study, research and assessment. The Center for Teaching Excellence is a resource for all faculty and graduate teaching assistants who want to teach more effectively and with higher impact. We invite you to attend the CTE workshops that we will be offering this fall or to make an appointment to stop by and chat. Our experience is that an hour spent with us will save you many hours of teaching time and result in higher student learning. Have a happy and successful semester.
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