Level the Playing Field by Reframing the Idea of "Weed-out" Courses

Choosing to attend college and their degree program can be one of the most important decisions for young adults that will dictate their options for careers, academic opportunities, professional development, future earnings, and social experiences. As of July 26^th 2022, 74.5% of all 18- and 19-year-olds are enrolled in a post-secondary school of any type (educationdata.org). According to educationdata.org, 42.8% of the Class of 2020 enrolled in a 4-year institution. This number can be explained as universities filtering-out students based on admissions thresholds and students self-selecting on whether to apply to a four-institution.

However, for many of these incoming students there is another process of sorting them from one another, known as “weeding-out” students, and it can be quite controversial. Some institutions pride themselves on demanding academics where they announce to new students, “Look to your left, and look to your right because one of you will not be here next semester.” Sometimes, it is discipline specific. Departments can have a culture that demarcates students into two categories resulting in high dropout rates: a few who are likely to excel in a specific subject area and a large portion who likely will struggle or fail. Often, this form of academic gatekeeping packages itself as a demanding introductory undergraduate course that measures aptitude in a specific discipline-area.

What is a weed-out course? And what is the academic culture surrounding them?

Informally known as “weed-out” courses, these undergraduate classes tend to be introductory courses and core courses for a major or subject-area. Often these classes have a large rate of students who do not  seek a degree in the same discipline-area. These courses stereotypically are associated with the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. However, other majors have their own version gatekeeping courses.  From my own experience, the music theory sequence is often utilized as a type of gatekeeping for the music major. Regardless of the subject matter, heavily demanding introductory courses known as “weed-out courses” discourage students who struggle with the subject matter, are overwhelmed by the time-commitment, and are frustrated by receiving low grades.

Who are we “weeding-out?”

It begs the question, “who are we “weeding-out?”” If our goal is to have an education that champions diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), we must also recognize that the notion of “weeding out” students from majors can be highly problematic since it disproportionately affects first-generation students, women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups. These courses are still common for American colleges and universities despite the rising advancement of diversity and inclusion initiatives. In several studies, student performance and their parents’ education can be determining factors of whether a student continues in a STEM field, particularly for women and first-generation students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the 6-year graduation rate in 2016 was 60-percent for this group. Only 41-percent completed their programs within 4-years. These numbers are even lower for students in this group who identify as Hispanic, Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian/Alaska Native.

Leveling the playing field in the Classroom

If we are to champion DEI and academic excellence, while also encouraging student retention, then it is essential to change the mind-set of a demanding introductory courses from being a “weed-out” course to an opportunity for each student to have the chance to “level their playing field.” This means we actively provide the resources and support necessary for students to succeed. Within our courses, this can include assessing prior knowledge and skills, providing a list of institutional support services, defining expectations for participation, checking-in with our students, and training them to be self-sufficient through self-reflective practices.  

A first-step would be to assess your students’ prior knowledge and skills, so you, their academic advisors, and the university can proceed in providing a support system tailored to an individual student’s needs.  (For more information on diagnostic assessment, please read our previous blog post Assessing Your Students’ Prior Knowledge.) After that diagnostic assessment, it is essential to support students in a multi-faceted approach. Connect them with TWU’s institutional resources listed below, if appropriate.

• TWU Academic Advising
• TWU Get Coaching
• Write Site
• Science Learning Resource Center
• Dr. Don Edwards Mathematics & technology Success Center
• TWU Disability Services for Students
• TWU CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services)
• Pioneer Center for Student Excellence
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Outreach
• TWU Career Connections
• Office of Student Life

In the classroom, you can support students by creating clear expectations, scaffolding your subject matter, promoting a sense of community, and developing a variety of formative assessments that can guide a student’s learning by allowing them to submit multiple drafts or revisions. Through well-thought formative assessments, you can guide your students’ learning and allow them to continue to grow. Finally, always make sure to check-in with your students to intervene early. If you begin to see a dip in grades, quality of work, or attendance, do not wait to follow-up. Early intervention is more effective and easier than to wait until the final weeks of the semester to course-correct. This is a chance to teach students how to overcome their academic challenges rather than allowing the difficulty to define and stunt their potential. 

Closing Thoughts

By intervening early on, an instructor can give a student the chance to continue and thrive in their major or career plan.

If you are interested in discussing more on classroom support for students, please feel free to reach out to the Center for Faculty Excellence!

Dayton L. Kinney, Ph.D.

Coordinator of Teaching, Learning, & Academic Excellence
Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)
Texas Woman’s University
Stoddard Hall – Room 305A
940.898.3427
dkinney@twu.edu

 

Reference List

Burdman, P. (2022). To Keep Students in STEM fields, Let’s Weed Out the Weed-Out Math Classes. Scientific American.

Cohen, A. (2021). Don’t let a college weed-out class ruin your career plans. Boston Herald.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). Indicator 23: Postsecondary Graduation Rates. Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups.

Singh Chawla, D. (2020). Weed-out Classes in Sciences May be a State of Mind. New York Times.

Thompson, M. E. (2021). Who’s getting pulled in weed-out courses for STEM majors?. Brookings: Brown Center Chalkboard.

U.S. Department of Education. (2016). Key Data Highlights Focusing on Race and Ethnicity and Promising Practices. Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education.

Assessing Your Students’ Prior Knowledge

Student assessment is an essential component to teaching and understanding how students are processing their learning, so you may evaluate your learning designs. It allows you to track your class’s performance, while also providing evidence of that progress. Finally, it is presented as a task that challenges students to apply or demonstrate their new knowledge.

However, in order to appropriately track your students’ progress there must be an understanding of where your students are beginning from in regards to previous knowledge, experience, and skill readiness. This is considered a diagnostic assessment. This type of assessment measures a student’s baseline about the subject material and is essential for targeting gaps, uncovering misconceptions, understanding the diversity in the classroom, and creating interdisciplinary connections. Below we will be discussing the benefits, and how to implement prior knowledge checks through diagnostic assessments.

Starting Points and Early Intervention

Our students are as diverse as our society, and they come from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds, school systems, and opportunities. The benefit of a diagnostic assessment is that it allows the instructor to have insight into each student’s starting point for the course. You might find that your entire class is new to the subject material, or they may already have some level of familiarity with the course material. A diagnostic assessment can deliver essential information from the first week of class that can include identifying students who might need additional help in skill sets, studying, or covering knowledge gaps. This valuable information gives you a chance to adapt your teaching plans. It can also provide you with a chance to strategize opportunities for students to catch-up. Helpful strategies can include recommending review sessions, tutoring, remedial work, or skill mentoring support. The goal is for your students to have the chance to meet future learning objectives.
Here at TWU, students have additional support for study skills and skill mentoring, including: academic advising (TWU Academic Advising), academic coaching (TWU Get Coaching), writing (Write Site), studying science (Science Learning Resource Center), and mathematics & technology tutoring (Dr. Don Edwards Mathematics & technology Success Center).

Methods to Assess Prior Knowledge

When assessing prior knowledge, it is important to ensure that students are assessed uniformly and are not assigned a grade based on their diagnostic assessment. Your options can include an assessment quiz, a student survey, concept maps, portfolios, and concept inventories.
Some of these examples may be more familiar to you than others. Out of this list, assessment quizzes are likely to be the most familiar to you. Timed assessment quizzes are great at recreating a formative or summative assessment that you will likely implement during a semester, but without the pressure of a grade.  You may even consider using a review or practice quiz for the final. In my own courses, I have had students retake and compare their two results at the end of the semester to reflect on their own progress. You can poll or survey students on their prior experience separately or in conjunction with an assessment quiz. You could have older students who have had experience in your subject material, but could be rusty with problem sets or putting that knowledge into practice.
If you would rather stay away from a diagnostic assessment designed around a comprehensive quiz or student survey, you may consider concept inventories or concept maps. Concept inventories are multiple choice or short answer tests that target only the fundamentals within a subject. Their main purpose is to uncover systemic misconceptions or overlooked nuances by focusing on specific fundamentals.  
For a final example, portfolio reviews are great to track students’ academic growth, especially for papers, creative work, research, or projects. By keeping a student portfolio from the first-year through senior year, instructors are able note gaps and fine-tune individual feedback based on what they can see and where they hope students are by the end of a course. This can be standard for courses in the performing arts, but can also be applied to scientific research, journalism, computer programming, English, education, and more.

Closing Thoughts

Using diagnostic assessments is a first step into ensuring that we support students and making sure that you have the necessary information to teach the course well. Just be sure to communicate that no grade will be assigned regardless of the method that you choose. Finally, if you are not certain of how to proceed after a diagnostic assessment, make sure to reach out to us at the Center for Faculty Excellence, where we can help you with resources and strategies.

Dayton L. Kinney, Ph.D.

Coordinator of Teaching, Learning, & Academic Excellence
Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)
Texas Woman’s University
Stoddard Hall – Room 305A
940.898.3427
dkinney@twu.edu

 

Reference List

Burdman, P. (2022). To Keep Students in STEM fields, Let’s Weed Out the Weed-Out Math Classes. Scientific American.

Carnegie Mellon University. (2022). Assessing Prior Knowledge. Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation.

Cohen, A. (2021). Don’t let a college weed-out class ruin your career plans. Boston Herald.

Cornell University. (2022). Assessing Prior Knowledge. Center for Teaching Innovation.

Morrison, N. (2015). The Surprising Truths About How Students Choose Their Majors. Forbes.

Novak, J. & Cañas, A. The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them. Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.

Singh Chawla, D. (2020). Weed-out Classes in Sciences May be a State of Mind. New York Times.

Thompson, M. E. (2021). Who’s getting pulled in weed-out courses for STEM majors?. Brookings: Brown Center Chalkboard.

Yale University. (2021). Building Upon Students’ Prior Knowledge and Skills. Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning.

Icebreakers for the 21st Century Classroom: Part 2, Online and Hybrid Learning

In last week’s Icebreakers for the 21^st Century Classroom: Part 1, we explored some viable icebreakers for in-person courses. These ranged from name tags to fun games, which allowed students to interact face-to-face and learn about their peers. But, what happens when everything is online or some students are remoting into a class with in-person classmates? Many of us who were new to teaching online or hybrid courses had to grapple with this new scenario of creating an active community virtually.

Thankfully, this is not as alien to us as it might first appear. We are all aware of social media applications, fan pages, and online groups and thus know that creating successful online communities is possible. For quite some time now, many people even have friends who they have only known from online interactions. This suggests that our online courses can still achieve creating a sense of community, especially when we are teaching a younger demographic.

As you would begin fostering a sense of community for an in-person classroom, it is advisable to start developing your course’s online community-building through icebreakers. Icebreakers for the 21^st Century Classroom: Part 2, Online and Hybrid Learning will be exploring different activities below for synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid courses.

Icebreakers for Synchronous Online Courses

• Breakout Rooms
• Polling
• Green screen background changes
• Interactive white boards

Icebreakers can be adapted to online environments quite well, and, out of all of the online learning environments, synchronous courses are the most similar to in-person teaching. During the COVID pandemic, some students reported that they felt isolated from each other, but icebreakers can help overcome that sense of isolation by establishing an online community. Your goal in any learning environment is to help foster a sense of kinship to facilitate student engagement. Breakout rooms are accessible and readily available over Zoom and instructors are able to set the number of groups and participants per group. You can turn these breakout rooms into musical chairs by ending a breakout session and then creating new randomized breakout rooms with different individuals every 5 or 10 minutes. Students will enjoy the chance to greet and socialize as if they were in-person.

Another type of online engagement can be polling students. Ask a question to the group and have them respond. Their responses can be answered in the chat, through a pre-designed poll, or by emoji reactions. A third option can be a fun video background change. Prompt students by asking them to share a photo of where they would like to travel to, share the cover of their favorite book, or a picture of their hometown. This can be a fun way to start-off multiple classes for students to warm-up. Finally, through interactive virtual whiteboards students can interact with each other in a “hands-on” manner by drawing an answer prompted by you. These questions can range from their current mood to a short review question such as recreating a diagram or drawing a representation of a literary phrase. Students will laugh and enjoy interacting with an in-class interpretive game of Telestrations. 

Icebreakers for Asynchronous Online Courses

• Fun Online Forum Prompts
• Word Clouds
• Living Group Work Contract

Icebreakers for asynchronous online courses may at first seem impossible to create a community that is engaged; however, there are many potential activities that can meet the need of introductions and having your students interact with one another. Outside of the classroom, we often participate asynchronously with each other online, whether it is on Facebook, Twitter, Tik-Tok, or the comment section of a news article. It is no longer as unfamiliar as it would have been for some of us ten to fifteen years ago. Your learning management system can function similarly for students. For example, in Canvas you may utilize discussion forums, where students can answer fun question prompts and interact with one another. Ensure that questions are open-ended with the requirement for students to respond and discuss with classmates.  If you are interested in something beyond an online forum, word clouds are a great approach to learn about each other collectively. After providing a prompt, ask students to engage with it by inputting a single word that they feel can be associated with that prompt into a word cloud generator. By the end, that word cloud should be diverse, and students can later reflect on the words in the cloud through online discussion or a homework assignment. Finally, if you decide to have group work during your asynchronous course, it would be a good idea to incorporate a living group work contract that your students help develop. Google documents allows students the ability to write, edit, and comment collaboratively in real-time, so it can be a great tool to facilitate this icebreaker. Students will be able to engage with one another and place their mark on developing rules in the course.

Icebreakers for a Hybrid Class (Both In-person and Online Students)

• This or That?
• What’s in Common Challenge?
• Where were you?

Finally, some of us have students joining the classroom physically and virtually. Any of the previous icebreakers will work, but will need to be pared down and made accessible for those virtually joining the classroom. In these situations, structure the icebreaker to use technology for both in-person and virtual students. Polling, word clouds, and share-out questions focusing on introductions and quick answers are a great way to bridge the interaction gap between both sets of students. Some easy games include This or That?, What’s in Common?, and Where were you?. These open-ended questions have students state a preference between two choices, find a commonality, or share stories of where they were during different years and dates. These are easy conversation starters, which both virtual and in-person students will enjoy.

Closing Thoughts

Icebreakers can be used in any teaching environment with a few adjustments, depending on your goal for the icebreaker and the size of your course. Some activities may fit better with in-person classrooms than with online environments and vice versa.  Choosing the appropriate activity requires to be aware of student needs, your desired outcomes for the activity, and its classroom feasibility.

If you are interested in further exploring icebreaker activities and tools, reach out to the Center for Faculty Excellence for additional resources and one-on-one consultations. We are happy to help!

Please feel free to share in the comments below an icebreaker that you have enjoyed using in your classroom.

Dayton L. Kinney, Ph.D.

Coordinator of Teaching, Learning, & Academic Excellence
Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)
Texas Woman’s University
Stoddard Hall – Room 305A
940.898.3427
dkinney@twu.edu

 

Reference List

(2022). Icebreakers. Cornell University Center for Teaching Innovation.

(2022). The Best Ice-breakers Games for Large Groups. SurfOffice.

Bagley, D. (2020). 65 Icebreaker questions for online meetings. Michigan State University Extension.

Barber, K. (2021). 9 Virtual Icebreaker Games for Remote Teams & Meetings. Conceptboard.

Dr. KB. (2022). Connecting Before We Can Physically Connect: Online Icebreakers to Use for the First Dayof Class. Faculty Focus.

Fraser, K. Bosanquet, A., & Harvey, M. Contemporary Approaches to University Teaching [MOOC]. Canvas. 

Jaggars, S.S., & Xu, D. (2016). How do online course design features influence student performance?. Computers & Education, 95, 270-284.

Mrvova, K. (2021). 35 Best Icebreakers for Your Virtual and Hybrid Meetings. Slido.

Waltje, J. & Evans, A. (2019). The First Days of Class: Building Authenticity and Community. Faculty Focus.

Weimer, M. (2017). First Day of Class Activities that Create a Climate for Learning. Faculty Focus.

Whenham, T. 11 Icebreakers for College Students in HyFlex Classrooms. Fierce Education.

Icebreakers for the 21st Century Classroom: Part 1, In-Person

Icebreakers are an invaluable tool for the start of the semester when you are introducing new students, faculty, or staff to one another. Icebreakers are also great to continue building rapport at the beginning of a class or meeting as the semester progresses. Their benefits include creating fun introductions, alleviating group nervousness, preparing for collaborative work, and energizing a classroom to dive into actively participating in their learning.

For many instructors, it can be quite daunting to know how to implement an icebreaker that needs to be repackaged for a variety of learning environments, while creating an inclusively equitable space. Our classes can range from small seminars to large lecture halls. They can be in-person, online, or a hybrid with some combination of synchronous and asynchronous work.

Thankfully, ice-breakers can still be used effectively in all of these formats, but some activities are more easily suited for some modes of student engagement over others. This two-part blog will focus on icebreakers. Part 1 will focus on in-person icebreaker activities for both large and small class sizes, while Part 2 will focus on icebreakers for online and hybrid learning environments

Icebreakers that Work Universally for All Learning Environments

• Name Tags
• Photo
• Mood Barometer via Polling
• Coffee Breaks

Many icebreakers can work universally with some minor or major adjustments.  Nametags, photos, mood barometers, and “coffee breaks” generally work in every environment because of their low stakes and practicality. For in-person and online, name tags are great for everyone to be addressed easily by both their preferred names and pronouns. They help the instructor to remember names more easily, while students can refer to each other more comfortably. Students may even take the opportunity to decorate their nametags for fun. Photos are also a great addition to name tags because often those student photos on our rosters never quite match the student in-person. Students can take their own selfies with name tags and add them to the course site with additional information. Students can also upload the photo to their Zoom account, so the virtual meeting can feel less like an empty void, if cameras are off.  Mood barometers are great to use at the start of class to see how students are feeling or whether they understand the course material. This can be implemented though raising hands, polling, using emoji reactions, etc. Finally, having short coffee breaks are great for everyone to freely mingle, particularly for courses that meet for longer hours. Coffee breaks might not be ideal for a first meet-and-greet, but it can be used throughout the course to create a comradery and open-communication throughout the semester.

Icebreakers for Smaller In-person Groups

• Charades
• Two truths and a lie
• Fact Hunt

Beyond nametags, photos, mood barometers, and coffee breaks, there is a slew of icebreakers that can create more high-energy engagement for those students, who appreciate more exciting activities. You may want your students to have an icebreaker that is not being duplicated by another class. For smaller groups, icebreakers have the luxury that they can be more complex in their instructions or require more energy from their participants. Some great examples include charades, two truths and a lie, and fact hunt. These three examples share some commonalities that they are games that involve more time, active engagement, and social deduction. Students have fun while competing and collaborating with one another. Charades involve a person acting out simple words or common phrases without speaking while the rest of the group attempts to guess the answer. To make it competitive, divide the class into two teams. Two truths and a lie allows students to state three things about themselves where two of those statements are true and the third is a lie. Everyone must guess which statement is false. The goal is for everyone to learn something new about each other, while using critical thinking to determine the lie. Lastly, fact hunt is similar to a scavenger hunt, but, instead of searching for physical items, the goal is to match a person to a fact. This requires the instructor to compile a list of miscellaneous facts ahead of time that can include “never left the state,” “high school athlete,” “traveled outside the country,” “speaks more than one language,” “never left the state,” “prefers vegetables over sweets,” etc. Students must meet as many other classmates within the time limit and make match the facts with names of classmates. Another option would be to have students send you interesting facts ahead of time to personalize the game.

Icebreakers for Larger In-person Groups without Breaking into Smaller Groups

• Share their name, pronouns, and one interesting fact with the entire class
• People Bingo
• Answer the following question out loud:
• Who would be your dream dinner guest, living or otherwise?
• Favorite Band / Singer
• What superhero would win in a fight? And why?
• Speed Meeting              

For larger groups, even simple introductions can take much longer because of the amount students in the course. There are a few ways to approach this. One potential solution would be to divide the large class into smaller groups for icebreakers. This would allow students to know some of their classmates, but not everyone. Another approach would be to utilize nametags as discussed above. A third solution would be to lean into the larger size and potential time commitment. Some great ideas for this third option can include a share-out, people bingo, answering a no stakes question aloud, and speed meeting. For a class share-out, the entire class can state their names, pronouns, and one interesting fact one-by-one. If you are more interested in providing a game for students, people bingo allows people to learn from each other as well. Another icebreaker well-suited for large groups includes answering fun questions out loud. It is a great low-pressure way to have students acclimate to their larger classroom setting. Questions can range from naming their favorite musician to identifying and explaining which superhero would win in a hero versus hero showdown. Finally, speed meeting permits students to quickly introduce themselves one-on-one quickly. For larger group settings, there can be a greater emphasis on either individual meet-and-greets or introductions to the entire class. Either choice has its own strengths.

Closing Thoughts

For in-person meetings, there are many traditional and unique options for icebreakers. They often involve simple games or activities that we are familiar with. They can be used as a standalone introductions or in combination with other in-classroom activities to provide momentum at the start of every class.  Successful icebreakers are ones that makes the class become involved in starting a community of learners. However, as mentioned in the opening paragraph, conceptualizing icebreakers for online and hybrid courses provides its own seemingly daunting challenges. In next week’s Icebreakers for the 21^st Century Classroom: Part 2, Online and Hybrid Learning, we will explore some options for icebreaking opportunities for our synchronous and asynchronous students.

If you are interested in further exploring icebreaker activities and tools, reach out to the Center for Faculty Excellence for additional resources and one-on-one consultations. We are happy to help!

Please feel free to share in the comments below an icebreaker that you have enjoyed using in your classroom.

Dayton L. Kinney, Ph.D.

Coordinator of Teaching, Learning, & Academic Excellence
Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)
Texas Woman’s University
Stoddard Hall – Room 305A
940.898.3427
dkinney@twu.edu

 

Reference List

(2022). Icebreakers. Cornell University Center for Teaching Innovation.

(2022). The Best Ice-breakers Games for Large Groups. SurfOffice.

Fraser, K. Bosanquet, A., & Harvey, M. Contemporary Approaches to University Teaching [MOOC]. Canvas. 

Waltje, J. & Evans, A. (2019). The First Days of Class: Building Authenticity and Community. Faculty Focus.

Weimer, M. (2017). First Day of Class Activities that Create a Climate for Learning. Faculty Focus.

Beginning the First Day of the Semester Right

 

We all anticipate that first day, which can bring a range of emotions from excitement to nervousness. But, regardless whether you have been teaching for years or are a newly minted instructor, that first impression on Day 1 with your students can set the tone for your course, while needing to serve multiple functions. It must be a combination of an introduction to the course, a review of institutional policies, a meet-and-greet, and a fully realized lesson in the subject matter for a group of students who are experiencing a similar range of emotion as yourself. Thus, first days are a tall order for educators and students alike, but they can be planned in a manner that meets all of their functions, while still creating an atmosphere where learning and classroom community can take center stage. Below is a First Day Teaching Checklist to help you succeed on the first day of the semester.

Introduce Yourself and the Course

The first day is the first impression of you as an instructor, of your course, and of your academic department. Dress professionally, but your first impression should focus more on your actions within your course, which includes interpersonal connections, your contribution to the subject, fostering an authentic classroom community, and making those interdisciplinary real-world connections. 

Your introduction to students should begin before class time commences. Arrive early to welcome your students to class. Focus on treating students with a warm welcome like you would with a professional colleague: ask questions, share stories, or have them begin filling out notecards about themselves. Welcoming your students gives a chance to ease any first day tension that you or your students might be experiencing. This is also a good time to choose how you would like to be referred to when speaking. You might choose to use your standard salutation, your first name, or your job title. There is no right answer, but your choice can reflect the level of formality that you expect in your classroom.

Once class begins, introduce your course. Your goal is to ensure as many students stay enrolled in your course. Students typically register for their courses for a multitude of reasons that can include: degree requirements, intriguing subject matter, scheduling needs, balances a demanding workload, holding the place in their schedule for another course, etc. That first day is how students are going to sample your course and make the decision about staying for the semester. Therefore, your introduction should be a two sentence elevator pitch summary of what students can expect to learn for the semester. It should then be followed by noting your course topic’s contemporary and interdisciplinary significance because students may not be aware of the pedagogical value of your course. Finally, explaining what you can prepare them for in regards to a career, new skills, and major/minor degree preparation grants students a chance to see the extrinsic motivations to register for your course before they experience the intrinsic value of learning the subject for its own sake. You may even pique the interest of a student who becomes interested in your field.

Ice-breakers and Learning Names

Ideally, prior to class you will have prepared three items. First, you should have reviewed your student roster. Second, you would also have noted preferred names, pronunciation, and pronouns, if that information is made available to you. Finally, you should have also developed some form of an activity, called an icebreaker, for your students to participate in that will allow for everyone to learn about each other.

Icebreakers are an essential community building process because it allows students to create peer-to-peer connections, while you learn more about them. These low-stakes activities are great for students to meet other students with similar interests or new perspectives, especially when most of your students do not know one another. It also allows everyone’s preferred names and pronouns to be introduced equitably in a safe space. By ensuring that your classroom becomes a safe and authentic environment for everyone, you will be fostering a support system. This will aid in your course’s student retention and matriculation. Students will look forward to attending a class with friends and will support each other with studying or peer-editing assignments.

Syllabus and its Details

Make sure you share a finished syllabus with your students as a hard copy, which will help establish professionalism and assurance that their education will be taken seriously. For your classroom, your syllabus is your contract between you and your students for the course’s obligations and expectations.  Therefore, it needs to be shared with students on the first day of class. Otherwise, your students do not know what to expect and your course preparation may appear to be unfinished. The syllabus should follow your institution’s template and cover items that include attendance, grading, weekly assignments, assessment, and illness. TWU’s syllabus template can be located here.

During class, only highlight the major sections and anything unique that students should be alerted to. Instead of losing valuable class time from reading the entire document to them, ensure that each student reads and signs a copy of the syllabus to be submitted to you next class. Also, you should consider assigning an announced syllabus quiz at the next class meeting. This will help ensure that there are immediate stakes for students to prioritize reviewing the syllabus and your course’s policy. Finally, make sure to post a copy of your syllabus to your learning management system because loose sheets of paper tend to be misplaced and your students will want a copy of your syllabus to refer to as the semester progresses.

Teaching the Course Content

Jumping into the subject matter on Day 1 is a great opportunity for students to experience how your course will operate, especially for those students who are new. There are many ways to teach during the shortened lesson time. One approach for the remaining allotted time would be to use the lesson as an introductory sampling of what is to come. Perhaps you can provide some examples of where the course will be in a few weeks and frame the first day’s content as the foundation for those more complex topics.

Another approach would be to engage in using learning activities that can assess your students’ prior knowledge on the subject matter. You may start with an assessment quiz or a hands-on group activity. In fact, creating small groups for larger topic discussions is a great way to continue developing that supportive peer network, while also diving into the course materials. No matter how you choose to proceed, it is essential that you start teaching on the first day as it ties together your introduction, the syllabus, and your icebreaker by actively allowing your students the chance to experience your teaching, the course’s expectations, and their collective roles in your class.

Closing Thoughts

Successful first days are important to begin the semester well because they set the foundation for students on how their class functions. Through preparing your introduction, an ice breaker, a syllabus assessment, and a lesson plan, you will be well along your way to having a successful semester of teaching.

If you are interested in discussing more classroom strategies, please feel free to reach out to the Center for Faculty Excellence, where we may assist you. Have a wonderful start to your year!

 

Dayton L. Kinney, Ph.D.

Coordinator of Teaching, Learning, & Academic Excellence
Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)
Texas Woman’s University
Stoddard Hall – Room 305A
940.898.3427
dkinney@twu.edu

Reference List

Fraser, K. Bosanquet, A., & Harvey, M. Contemporary Approaches to University Teaching [MOOC]. Canvas. 

Vick, J., Furlong, J., & Lurie, R. (2016). The Academic Job Search Handbook. (Fifth Edition). University of Pennsylvania Press. 

Waltje, J. & Evans, A. (2019). The First Days of Class: Building Authenticity and Community. Faculty Focus.

Weimer, M. (2018). The First Day of Class: A Once-a-Semester Opportunity. Faculty Focus.

Whitaker, M. (2019). How to Start off Right in Your New Job. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Making Coursework Relevant

Helping students connect their studies to the world around them creates a long-lasting impression, that allows the material to become a permanent part of their personal knowledge. When learning becomes intentional, students excel and so do instructors. One of the biggest challenges many instructors face in the classroom is trying to create a learning experience that not only adequately addresses the material, but also connects to the students existing knowledge about the world they live in. There are many challenges to this, such as the diverse life experiences of many students in one class and that fact that sometimes your subject matter might not be a priority as it relates to the knowledge needed for a student's particular major. I remember experiencing this quite often while teaching Intro to Sociology. While it is a subject that applies to all areas of life, it was sometimes a challenge translating this fact to students who were computer science majors or those going into the medical field. 

Below I've compiled a list of tips to help guide instructors through the process of making their coursework more relevant in the lives of their students.     

Help students personally connect with the material. When students are able to create a meaningful connection with classroom material to a specific event or issue in their personal lives, learning happens on a deeper level. Critical thinking and problem-solving flow with ease since the student has a vested interest in thinking through various scenarios. This applies to math, science and everything in between. In high school, I remember thinking health classes were useless until an instructor shows us a video of a person whose body had become a burden in their senior years and one that was vital and in shape. I realized quickly that my health and personal fitness was important to my future.  

Apply theory to practice. In many courses that deal heavily in theory, teaching a lesson that somehow makes what the students are learning a practical skill can be quite rewarding for students. For instance, in a computer science class you could drone on for an hour discussing how computer work and what each piece of hardware is responsible for without any student buy in. Or you could show students the cost to fix a computer, where they might find the parts and how convenient it is to be able to solve your own technology related problems. The instructor has now made the importance of knowing what each piece of hardware is for a practical solution in their everyday lives.  

Link course content in various ways. There are so many resources on various platforms across the web that can further enhance your course material when linked in the most optimal places. This is especially helpful when explaining how to do a specific task related to writing or research. Many instructors link their assignment instructions to APA, ASA or MLA formatting sites and tools. This way students can answer their own questions and become a bit more self-sufficient with each lesson and external link. Linking course content is also helpful for tutorials, videos, sample exams and internal college resources too.     

Tie content to students' long-term goals. Let's face it, these days a good college education is less about the pursuit of knowledge just for the sake of it and more about how that education will positively contribute to a students' overall career. When an instructor can show students how the information or the skillset acquired in a course can be used throughout their professional careers, students tend to be a lot more engaged. One of most common student complaints, as it relates to undergraduate general courses, is that they are both a waste of time and money. In this hyper goal-focused culture, if an instructor is clever enough to expand the course to include some real-world themes and practical uses for the future, many students might change their minds about whether their freshman college courses were worth the time and energy. 

Overall, the idea is to continue to evolve our courses in an effort to do our part in preparing students for the classroom and beyond. While of course it is not the sole responsibility of the instructor to be sure students are getting the most out of their course, it never hurts to go that extra mile to be sure our courses are both useful and relevant.

 

Jameelah Ra'oof MIS, MS 

Coordinator of Teaching, Learning & Academic Excellence

Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)

Texas Woman's University 

Stoddard Hall - Room 305A 

940.898.3427       

Thriving in Higher Ed

It is often said by many instructors that they spend a lot of their time just getting by. Some have developed a reactionary routine based on a "binge and bust" mentality. We become reactive to updating courses, planning lessons and  selecting resources. "Just In Time" teaching can be exciting and magical when everything works out. However, it is not enough to survive but to be an effective and well-rounded instructor, we must aim to  thrive. There are several methods and tips that have become increasingly more popular as it pertains to getting ahead of the curve. Let's discuss!

Maximizing online learning, especially post-pandemic, can significantly impact the quality of instruction you are offering students. At the beginning of the pandemic, much of our online instruction was built on a survival approach. The goal was to simply create some semblance of instruction while wading the uncharted waters of remote teaching. At this point, it would behoove instructors, departments and universities to strongly consider beefing up their online teaching efforts to ensure they are always ahead of the game should another social crisis leave us relying too heavily on the Internet. 

If the pandemic hasn't proved anything else, its definitely proved that higher ed has the ability to pivot towards advanced technology faster than what is normally expected. If instructors are able to purchase and use the most cutting edge tech tools before they become antiquated, thriving would become easier. There is nothing like having the proper tools to get the job done efficiently and with ease. Don't use a hammer when you actually need a screwdriver. The right tools are a gamechanger.

Instructors might also benefit from scheduling a full day free for recalibrating or reevaluating some integral teaching practices. This might include, whether or not classroom projects are the most efficient use of time or considering a new plan that can be used for the next three or four semesters. Taking time to reassess some long relied upon practices and whether they still serve us, will save us time and energy for many years to come. 

Focus on the next logical step towards completion of a long overdue project. Many instructors are teaching and simultaneously writing or researching for publication. In an effort to not be overwhelmed, it is important to focus on what can be done today and what the next plan of action must be in order to move forward. For example, it's very hard to truly focus on the classroom when there are other projects overdue. Find a way to schedule some time each day to work on the long-term project so that when it's time to prepare and teach a course, that nagging feeling of a project unattended to has subsided, allowing you the mental space to truly engage your course activities and your students. 

Lastly, be proactive about what your time constraints are in every area of your career and home life. It is very hard to thrive when we are not honest about how much time is needed to complete a specific task. Be clear about the resources needed upfront, especially whether this might hinder your progress if not addressed. 

Teaching in survival mode can be enough when it is necessary but positioning ourselves to thrive by making time to research, plan and adjust our current practices can be so much more rewarding. It's the difference between floating with the current and swimming against it. While floating can sometimes be nice, should the currents become turbulent, we want to be prepared to take charge and swim to shore. The shore, of course, being our plans and practices put in place to help guide us through both times of high stress and those times of ease and flow. 

If you have some interesting ways that you use in order to thrive in higher ed, feel free to share in the comment section below.

Jameelah Ra'oof MIS, MS 

Coordinator of Teaching, Learning & Academic Excellence

Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)

Texas Woman's University 

Stoddard Hall - Room 305A 

940.898.3427    

         

      

      

The Importance of Ongoing Teacher Training

The professional world is always evolving and therefore, so should educational institutions. After all, we have been tasked with the responsibility of preparing our students with the tools and knowledge necessary for them to be a valuable asset to any organization they eventually become a part of. Below I've compiled a list of some important reasons why continued teacher training is so important, for not only the instructor but also for the institutions and students they serve.   

We don't know what we don't know. This has been said time and time again, yet we still need reminding that the limitations of our exposure to innovative concepts and ideas impact what we believe to be possible in our teaching. It's like trying to describe a color you've never seen. 

Non-traditional students require more from us. Each semester the criteria for what comprises the "average" student tends to expand. We no longer have a classroom full of single students with no kids and/or no jobs or part-time jobs, who can dedicate large amounts of time to their education while no other areas of their lives are impacted. We must always be working to meet the needs of the students we have and not the students we would like to have.     

A wealth of resources is always readily available. Since the onset of the democratization of information that has been occurring for the past 20 years, information has never been easier to access from reputable sources on any topic we might choose. Ongoing teacher training is no longer limited to professional development activities scheduled and facilitated only by our departments. We can join a plethora of professional development sites and complete training for free or very little money. The best part is that most programs are self-paced.    

Students deserve the best education their money can buy. For me, there is no greater disservice than to have students sit in a series of antiquated courses with lack-luster teaching approaches and then send them off into a cutting edge job market. We continue to develop ourselves and the courses we teach so that our students will enjoy solid success during their academic career and beyond.

A great opportunity to network. Throughout our teaching careers we are often looking for accountability buddies, subject matter experts for research projects and professional confidants. What better place to connect than in a professional development program. You know the person you are connecting with is likely as driven as you are in their professional growth and can be relied upon for various colleague related endeavors.

While teacher training can sometimes become repetitive and time-consuming, the possibility that you may attain a new skillset, a new connection or a better understanding of "why" you teach in the first place, far outweighs any perceived drawbacks. What are some of the reasons you continue to engage in professional development? Feel free to share in the comment section below. 

Jameelah Ra'oof MIS, MS 

Coordinator of Teaching, Learning & Academic Excellence

Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)

Texas Woman's University 

Stoddard Hall - Room 305A 

940.898.3427    

        

Tips for Developing A Course From Scratch

Developing a course from scratch can be a very daunting task without the proper plan and guidance. Often the excitement of developing each aspect of the course is overshadowed by the amount of work it will entail. But fear not, I've compiled a very comprehensive list of some areas to consider, some decisions you probably should make and a few specific tasks that might impact your approach for the better. This list is in no particular order.      

Consider the baseline level of knowledge a person should have when taking your course. Sometimes instructors are so caught up with the subject matter and the excitement of creating a new course that they fail to acknowledge that not everyone will be their target audience. Some are beginners in the subject matter, some intermediate and some advanced. It is nearly impossible to design a course that encompasses level appropriate rigor that is all inclusive. Know your intended audience.   

Consider your teaching style and how that might impact your delivery. Often, we are so focused on the students and how they will receive our course, that we pay little attention to our own teaching style and how that might impact the delivery of the course material. Our teaching style can range anywhere from being a full lecturer, to hands-on, visual, employing many active learning activities, to a full-on flipped classroom. It is so important to remember that if we are delivering a course in our most comfortable teaching style, this will benefit the ease in which the information is conveyed and our level of clarity.      

How diverse are the learning styles of your students? Student learning styles can vary so much that it pays to consider a multi-layered approach to delivery, such as audio recordings, videos, books, articles, etc. There should always be available, more than one way to retrieve and consume data for your courses. In this contemporary digital world, creating several options has never been easier to do.  

What specifically do you intend for students to learn? When creating a new course, it goes without saying that comprehensive learning objectives must be one of your primary tasks. Knowing exactly what you would like students to learn not only creates clarity, but it also helps to keep you on task when preparing lectures, implementing classroom activities, developing assessments and even through the process of selecting your course material.     

Decide whether the course will be online, F2F or hybrid. The manner of course delivery greatly impacts all other aspects of the course. For example, if it’s a f2f course you may spend more time on developing active learning activities as opposed to creating videos for Canvas. Both can work in either platform, but the goal is to place valuable resources in the areas where they might be most impactful. The platform can also influence whether or not students can or cannot take the course, some courses historically do better when delivered in a specific platform, it’s important to know what is already working in your department.      

Create an outline specific to the course schedule. Developing a course for an 8-week time slot as opposed to a 16-week time slot, is much more than a matter of getting rid of half the material, or even worst, trying to squeeze 16 weeks of instruction into 8 weeks. Striking a balance between what is necessary and what will keep your course in alignment with the learning objectives is a much easier task when considered before the course is created. 

Research other courses similar to yours. Whenever you're in doubt, it never hurts to carve out a few hours for researching various colleges and whether or not your new course is already being offered in some form or fashion. While we like to think that our new course is a novel idea only thought of by us, this is usually not the case. You may find some cool ideas and also avoid some pitfalls you might have not otherwise seen.   

Do a beta test, (or get feedback from other instructors). It may not always be possible to beta test a course, but another good practice is to share the course design with a colleague. Remember to remain open to suggestions. Keep in mind that suggestions are just that, suggestions. If you can use their feedback do so, if it’s not in alignment with the core values of the course, feel free to leave it behind. Treat the first semester you teach the course as a trial run, take lots of notes, give the students surveys for honest feedback and stay open to consistently adjusting your new course for the better.     

While this list seems full, items like deciding how students will be assessed, leaving room for change over time or making considerations for equity and inclusion, are also very integral aspects of developing any course from scratch. If there are practices you already have in place in other courses you teach that are working, don't reinvent the wheel just for the sake of it. Building a course on a great foundation should always be the primary goal. Once a solid foundation is established, updating information over time should be a breeze. 

Please feel free to share any useful practices you implement when creating a course from scratch in the comment section below.    

Jameelah Ra'oof MIS, MS 

Coordinator of Teaching, Learning & Academic Excellence

Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)

Texas Woman's University 

Stoddard Hall - Room 305A 

940.898.3427