Thread by @PezeshkiCharles

A thread for all new professors, struggling to generate material to fill those 50 minute lecture slots. #AcademicChatter

Who I am? A university prof, teaching (w grad school) for 36 years, and a pioneer in problem-based learning in engineering education. (1)

When I started teaching, I assumed that I was supposed to fill the hour between the bells with material, which students, of course, were supposed to understand, and then work problems.

I quickly found out they didn't understand. (2)

It was like they weren't even listening to me. Before lecture, I would furiously scribble notes out of the text, and then during that hour, furiously scribble same notes on the board.

I DID learn a lot about the material I was supposed to teach. Students, not so much... (3)

I would run onto concept after concept I was supposed to already know, then frantically cram because I was so afraid of standing in front of a class and being a fraud.

I was a reasonable communicator, but it became obvious that students were retaining little of my lectures. (4)

I was also known as being really funny. So, over time, students would sign up for my sections, instead of other profs teaching the same material.

I had a great stand-up routine, and students roundly praised me, well, for my stand-up routine. (5)

About six years into this, I co-taught a class with a competent fellow prof. 60 students signed up for my section, while about 20 signed up for his.

I had already received a college teaching award -- but this was a lot of extra work. (6)

We gave the same tests. We handed out the same assignments. And when we looked at each others' grade books.... they were essentially the same.

Clearly students were more entertained by my class. But they were learning at similar levels. (7)

After looking at this, and thinking, I walked into the classroom.

"For the last seven years, I've been lecturing, and you have been taking notes. That ends today."

This was a long time ago, but there was still some stuff on active learning out there. (8)

Instead, I would pair them up, talk for about twenty minutes from the same scribbled notes, and then let them explain the material to each other, and call them to the board. (9)

That was the start of my transformation. First, I taught at the FRONT of the room. As time went on, I taught from the BACK of the room.

And then I evolved another step -- the most important one. (10)

I realized that, for the most part, my students didn't listen to me at all! Well, unless I was telling jokes. I then realized that it was my job to create conditions and situations where the students would be forced to learn the material because they needed it. (11)

I call this "Teaching while not IN the room at all!" I would still think of funky things for the students to pair (or triple) to study, but I'd toss out documentation requirements. The students would have to learn the material to complete the documents required. (12)

Instead of a quiet classroom, I now had a noisy classroom. My facilitation was mostly about information structure and presentation. But the students themselves had to grok the main subjects. (13)

In our Internet-saturated world, this is now easier than ever. You can, if you want, come up with a list of slides on the Internet, or URLs, that have the info you're attempting to impart. (14)

Or now, a typical "lecture" day for me involves doing nothing but storing HOW the information is connected in my head -- THE key thing the students don't have -- in a string of keywords.

And then have the students Google the keywords. (15)

They'll inevitably find stuff you missed. Couple that with documentation standards, and have them on-the-fly explain to each other the info, and figure out how to put it in the document. I use Sticky Notes, and prompt phases of individual discovery with group synthesis. (16)

This has the effect of also increasing the students' sociability -- they have to attempt to communicate advanced concepts to each other.

I also am super-sensitive to their lack of vocabulary. If I use a big word, I'll explain it. (17)

That makes class prep. (assuming you're familiar with the material) take about 5 minutes. The thing the students really need from you is the CONTEXT for the knowledge. They don't know much, and they have to tie it to something they already know. (18)

The advanced version of this is what I call "World Creation". I do this extensively in my Industrial Design Clinic -- where students work on real problems for sponsors. And sponsors pay real money. (19)

I now create scripts for the sponsors to use with the students (really meta-scripts) that help the sponsors refuse certain information requests to drive student learning. The sponsors create what I call an "authentic audience." (20)

Few students are bothered by looking stupid in front of a professor. Sadly, it's what WE DO. But they hate looking stupid in front of an external audience. (21)

For young profs. without the social network I have, here are the basics.

1. Five-ten slides per class (five is far better than ten) with some form of narrative creation, if you have to create material
(22)

No more than 20 minutes of you talking (broken up in 7 minute intervals or smaller) and 30-40 minutes of them talking to each other. (23)

Lots of encouragement to BE smart, and use external resources. The Internet has put the world at your fingertips. Use it-- don't recreate it. (24)

Encourage all half-way answers. Students are forming their conceptual understandings by dialogue with their friends. Make them feel SAFE as they struggle. (25)

Summarize every class in the last five minutes, so they can look at the material they generate and note the most important parts. Remember that they can't contextualize or weight information. That comes later after mastery. (26)

REFLECT on your own feelings of guilt. They're passed down to you from your professors. "They're not getting their money's worth unless you cover..."

They're not getting their money's worth unless they learn! (27)

Kick back and relax, and become comfortable with saying "Hmmm.. I didn't know that!" You get to learn too (especially at the beginning of your career)! (28)

Make attendance pretty mandatory. I don't take attendance, but if a student doesn't show up, I walk up to them and ask them why they haven't been here for the last day or two.

I know ALL their names. They start showing up! (29)

Use templates for documentation. These come in handy for LOTS of classes. Easy peasy! I use what I call "canonical forms." Canonical forms also lend themselves to using the same rubrics over and over. Even LESS work! (30)

Have friends work with friends, mostly, and then mix it up. Over time, everyone in the class will know everyone, and then they have a larger, expanded social network as a resource.

And you'll have to do LESS work, and they'll learn more! (31)

Teaching IS fun. Listening to yourself is fun in the beginning, but it's stupid. You're there to educate. Never lose sight of that, and modify what you do to optimize that.

Feel free to RT this if it works for you! (32)

All this is really about developing empathy and the more complex knowledge structures that follow from that. For those interested in that, check out my blog, and maybe start here:

empathy.guru/what-is-empathy

@karenerrichetti

@karenerrichetti One last thing -- forgot to post it.

You know that YOU have achieved teaching mastery when students learn from you when you're not IN THE ROOM at all. They're playing your meta-messages in their heads as they sort material.

Grant them the agency to be able to do that!