Teaching Tips: A Primer for First Time Teachers

Texas Tech University Rawls College of Business Presentation to Doctoral Practicum November 13, 2006 Bob McDonald, Assistant Professor Area of Marketing

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.

Albert Einstein

General

 Teaching objectives  Credibility  Competence  Preparation  Make a visible effort  Be fair  Be consistent  Do what you say  Care  Be yourself  Civility in the classroom  Strive for excellence

Teaching Objectives

 Disseminate knowledge  Facilitate learning  Student development  critical thinking skills  ethical standards  personal responsibility  time and project management skills

Credibility

 You are the instructor.

 You

have

positional authority.

 Don’t lose it.

 Don’t hold it too tightly.

 Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable.

 You must

earn

“more.”  “More” comes with experience and

effort

.

Competence

 Training  You have a graduate degree.

 You know more than the students.

 You’ve read the book.

 Scholarship   Bring scholarly research to the classroom.

“Street Cred”  Bring experience to the classroom.

Preparation



Never

enter the classroom unprepared.

 At the very least, prep the lesson the night before class.

 Ideally, go over it at least once the day of the lecture.

 After you have taught the course several times, preparation gets easier.

Make a

Visible

Effort

 Effective teaching requires a great deal of effort. Don’t be afraid to

show your work

!

 Make sure students know what you have done.

 “Last night as I was preparing this lecture…  “It takes me two days to create a good multiple choice exam…”

Be Fair

 Students don’t mind tough teachers.

 They respect tough teachers.

 However, they do want to be treated fairly.

 Treat everyone the same. No teacher’s pets.

 Don’t be afraid to push the envelop, but don’t give ridiculously hard exams.

Be Consistent

 Students can deal with almost anything, if they know what to expect.

 Never change the syllabus during the semester.  Unless disastrous, wait until next semester to change course requirements.

 Follow the rules you established.

  Hold firm on deadlines.

Don’t make exceptions.

Do what you say

 Don’t make promises you cannot keep.

 Meet deadlines. (Grades, notes, instructions)  Always hold office hours.

 If you cannot, give plenty of notice and offer alternative hours that week.

 Never miss a meeting with a student.

Care

 The teacher/student relationship does not preclude normal human emotions and interaction.

 It is okay to be a human being.

 Let students know how important they are to you.

 Get to know them.  Be careful about getting too close.

 Appropriateness.

Be Yourself

 Don’t try to copy someone else’s style. It won’t work.

 Learn from other teachers, and borrow what you think will work for you, but don’t copy.

 Students can sense when you are out of your element, or trying to be phony.

 It is just easier to be yourself.

Civility in the Classroom



Always

treat students with respect.

 Say “please” and “thank you.”  Don’t be afraid to apologize.



Always

expect and

insist

that students treat you with respect.

 Maintain a professional atmosphere. This is a business school. A business atmosphere should prevail.

 Be careful of pulling in the reins too tightly.

Strive for Excellence

 Always look for ways to improve course.

 Ask students for suggestions.

 They often have good ideas.

 At the very least, update lectures periodically.

 Ask other professors for ideas.

 TLTC http://dev.tltc.ttu.edu/Redesign/index.asp

 Read books/articles on teaching.

 Learn from mistakes.

Specific

 Motivation  Grading  Cheating  Office Hours  Extending Yourself  Letters of Recommendation  Application  Experimentation  Mid-Semester Wakeup  Career Preparation  Feedback  Follow Up  Resources

Motivating Students

 First you must get and hold their attention  Be different  Music, quiz show, vocabulary coach  Frequent change  Discussion, stories, pictures, formative quizzes, guest speakers  Active Learning  Have to be enthusiastic yourself 

Make it real

 Make it

accessible

Grading

 Be very clear in syllabus.

 Be fair.

 Be consistent.

 Decide distribution early.

 Curve vs. No Curve.

 Set high standards.

 Let students know where they stand.

 Confidentiality. (Legal requirement.)  Posting  Parents

Cheating I

 Fact of life (40%)  Exams  Mix question/answer order.

 Change questions between sections.

 Spread students out.

 Have a second set of eyes.

 Revise questions every semester.

 Make announcement at start of exam.

 Humor Vs. Serious Tone  “Don’t worry about your friend.”

Cheating II

 Papers (Plagiarism)  Internet  Google search for quotes  Company web pages  Paper writing services  Fraternity file cabinets  Roommates/Buddies  Change cases each semester.

Cheating III

 Cheating is unfair to honest students.

 Verbally warn students.

 Be clear in syllabus.

 Be

ridiculously

clear.

 Give examples.

 Don’t allow opportunity for excuses.

 Make announcement at start of exam.

Cheating IV

 Once you catch a cheater  Be very strict  Be consistent  Punish proportionately  Lower grade. (5% hit)  Zero on exam or assignment.

 Fail class.

 Academic discipline.

 Balance your efforts with hassle factor.

Office Hours

 Convenient for you.

 Availability important.

 Always hold office hours per schedule.

 Give notice of cancellation.

 Make up hours.

 Vigilantly guard

your

time.

 Don’t allow drop by visits.

 Close & lock door if necessary.

 Students must be trained to honor hours.

 Tell them how important your time is to you.

Extending Yourself

 Sometimes giving just a little bit extra can make a big difference.

 See students by appointment if they cannot make office hours. (Protect

your

time.)  Answer email quickly, especially exam day.

 Spend time learning names.

 Information Sheets  Open-door on exam day.

 Review before exam.

 Giving extra can help to protect

your

time.

Letters of Recommendation

 Can take a lot of time.

 Very important for students.

 Decide on standards.

 Minimum grades.

 How well do you know student?

 Insist on minimum notice: One week/two months?

 Resume.

 Language. Boilerplate.

 Timeliness: meet deadlines.

Application

 Business is applied, but most students have little business experience.

 You must frame the information to help students understand and remember.

 Real examples help to create a frame of reference for students who have never worked.

 Use current events or history in lectures.

 Cases.

 Projects: real, simulated, created.

 Group work.

Experimentation

(Research Opportunities)  Never assume that your class is perfect.

 Always look for better ways to teach.

 Be careful about changing too much, but don’t be afraid to try new things.

 Ease new ideas into the class.

 Be mindful of consequences to you in terms of time to prepare and implement.

 Examples: # exams; # cases; videos; service learning; scholarly papers.

Mid-Semester Wake-up

 Sometime in the middle of the semester, do something unusual to break up the monotony.

 Examples  Show video  Field trip  In class group work  Quiz show  Guest speaker

Career Preparation

 Application of subject.

 What we don’t teach in B-school.

 Ethics.

 Challenges.

 Work ethic.

 Career planning/management.

 Balance with rest of life.

Feedback

 Actively seek students’ feedback.

 Be open to constructive criticism.

 Just like research reviewers, other eyes help improve the quality.

 It’s about the work, not your ego.

 None of us is perfect. We all make mistakes. We can all improve.

 Incorporate changes whenever possible.

 Make students aware of how much you value their opinion.

Follow-up

 Keeping in touch with students can be rewarding.

 It recharges you.

 It can help you to develop a network.

 You never stop teaching.

 Be mindful of your time and energy. May have to be selective.

Resources

 Teaching, Learning, & Technology Center (TLTC) http://dev.tltc.ttu.edu/Redesign/index.asp

 TEACH Program http://www.tltc.ttu.edu/teach/  Journals  Colleagues  Conferences