Transcript Surviving the First Day of Class Dr. Karyn Z. Sproles, Director of Faculty Development USI New Faculty Orientation 22 August 2008

Surviving the First Day of Class
Dr. Karyn Z. Sproles,
Director of Faculty Development
USI New Faculty Orientation
22 August 2008
Creating
a
Syllabus
A
syllabus must be distributed in
every class
 Check with your department for
sample syllabuses and
departmental policies
 Remember: students will make
assumptions based on previous
experience (e.g., High School)
unless you tell them otherwise
 Review syllabus outline

Ken Bain, Director, The Center for Teaching
Excellence & Advancing University Learning,
Montclair State University (Mercer, New York)
http://www.montclair.edu/center/promisingsyll
abushr/default.htm

James M. Lang. The Chronicle of Higher
Education: Chronicle Careers. Monday, August
28, 2006.
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2006/08/20060
82801c/printable.html
 Explain
to students what they can expect to
know or be able to do by the end of the
semester—This is the course’s promise
 Describe
the activities (readings,
assignments, service learning projects) that
will help students fulfill the course’s promise
 Begin
discussing how student learning will be
demonstrated & evaluated throughout the
course
1
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
minute papers
What’s the muddiest point?
Summarize X (a concept, lecture, reading) in one
sentence for a specific audience (classmate,
community partner, high school student)
Draw a picture of X (concept, lecture, reading)
One thing you learned today/One thing you feel
you need to know more about
Make a connection: e.g., between X (concept,
lecture, reading) and your service learning
project
Student Incivility
In Advice for New Faculty Members,
Robert Boice defines Student incivility
as ranging from being inattentive to
being disruptive
Boice identifies classroom incivilities
as a key problems for new faculty
members
Boice shares his research on the topic
in chapter 8 (pp. 81-98).

Boice on Student Incivility
Boice concludes that faculty typically—and
unwittingly—instigate incivility by appearing
distant, uncaring, or disapproving (p. 87).
Negative comments, not smiling, lecturing
in a fast and non-interactive manner—
common characteristics of instructors who
might actually be shy or nervous—tend to be
seen by students as arrogance and lack of
interest in teaching.

Boice:
“Something that seemed more obvious to me
than to teachers or students was the crucial
nature of the patterning of [classroom
incivilities] over a semester. [Classroom
incivility] usually gets set in its course during
the first few days of classes. Not until teachers’
negativities confirmed students’ skepticism did
incivilities become salient and problematic.”
(Advice for New Faculty Members p. 87)
Avoiding a Climate of Incivility
 Arrive
in class early
 Chat with students
 Maintain a positive attitude
 Make your expectations clear
 Don't humiliate or criticize—make corrections
that allow students to save face
 Respond to challenges without getting
defensive

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Make a joke (but not at the student's expense)
See it as a hint that it's time for a break
Ask for clarification: do we need to review?