May 18, 2010

1. Master Teacher’s Tips for SuccessRon RocklandProfessor and Chair, Engineering TechnologyMaster Teacher May 18, 2010

2. Overview • Discuss best practices in the classroom • What works, how it works, and “ranking of importance” • Open discussion on how you would approach these practices • Deal with top 25 teaching practices ranked by group of Master Teachers • Modify for this presentation

3. The big 3 E’s in sales Education– knowledge of product Enthusiasm– really like your product Empathy- understand your customer

4. The big 3 E’s in teaching Education– knowledge of subject Enthusiasm– really like teaching Empathy- understand your students

5. http://willscullypower.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/top-10.jpghttp://willscullypower.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/top-10.jpg

6. X Facilitator of Learning Lecturer or Professor

7. 1. Active Learning • Consider it number 1 practice • GET STUDENTS INVOLVED Total lecture or PowerPoint Active Learning

8. 1a. Aspects of Active Learning • Break up lecture with active learning tasks • 1 to 2 minute team exercises or individual • Pretend you don’t know • Ask the class (be careful about the hog) • Students should feel part of the teaching process • Don’t worry about not covering all material if you have active learning tasks • Importance is student learning, not you teaching

9. 1b. Dealing with the Hog • Same person always answering the question • Don’t ask the entire class • Ask who knows, and then pick • Have people write down individually, then share as a group, then pick a spokesperson from the group • Avoid being picked on • E-clickers – everyone participates

10. 2. Agenda • Start the class the way you would start a presentation • What are you going to cover • Why are you covering it • End with a summary • Especially for an evening class

11. 3. Show you care • Contact students who are absent • Especially the first day or consistent • Answer email within 24 hours • Even to respond that you got it • Be available beyond the class or office hours • Email, Moodle, etc

12. 4. Value Added • Why should I come to your class? • Various Methods • Problems • Real world solutions or uses • War stories • Different perspective on the material

13. 5. One Minute Summary • Useful at end of class, to be used at beginning of next class • What three items didn’t you understand, what three items did you understand? • Use as starting point of next lecture (didn’t understand) • Use as decompression just before class ends

14. 6. Flexibility with Syllabus • Goal is student understanding • It isn’t a race • What are the key course outcomes • Not dividing a textbook by 15 • State as if it were student centered, not course centered • Don’t compromise the original syllabus/plan for exams, project due dates • Be consistent

15. 7. Avoid Death by PowerPoint • Ten minute rule • What else? • Board work • Videos • Team participation • Individual participation • As you get better, you use less PowerPoint • Especially for technical class

16. 8. Grading • Assign exams, homework, quizzes, etc when you can get grading within one week • Be consistent with grading • Often, I go back and forth with exams, to have consistent grades for same errors • Develop a rubric • Let students know how you grade everything, and how you do the final grade • Don’t have any surprises • Tests as feedback – lot’s of red and words

17. 9. Plan each lecture • Have more material than you can deal with • Don’t want dead time at the end • Review past work to see if you need review in beginning • Usually, I assign 1-2 problems the first few minutes • Homework • Does it aid in student’s understanding, or busy work • How long would you take to do it (x5)

18. 10. Timeliness • Be in class on time, and end on time • You are a role model for the students • Look at watch to get a sense when class is ending • Think about hybrid parts (i.e. Moodle and/or Wimba) when you can’t be in class • Trip, etc. • Expectation for student’s timeliness?

19. It doesn’t stop with a top 10

20. Teaching Philosophy (J. Geller) • You cannot be a good teacher unless you really know the material you are teaching. • You cannot be a good teacher, unless you are uncompromisingly honest. • You cannot be a good teacher, unless you respect your students. • Good teachers observe their students. • Good teachers are never ``boring-predictable.''

21. Teaching Philosophy (J. Geller) – cont. • Good teachers comment on the relative importance of material and on the relative difficulty of material. • Good teachers give their students chances to ``jump back on the train.'' • A good teacher encourages his students by praising them even if they say something wrong in class, simply for the courage of saying it.

22. Teaching Philosophy (J. Geller) – cont. • A good teacher never risks embarrassing a student. • Last but certainly not least, a good teacher should make a considerable effort to know the names of all my students at latest by the time of the midterms.

23. Open Ended Questions • Real world solutions aren’t always exact • Can be more than one solution that can work • Give students assignments and/or labs that are open ended • Allows them to explore and learn more effectively

24. Continuous Improvement • Prevents instructor from getting bored • What is the list? • Textbook • Software • Websites • New topics • Guest speakers • Projects

25. Additional Learning • Tape lectures, or parts of it • Learning Objects • Use Relay and PowerPoint or other applications • Upload to Itunes or OpenCourseware • http://ocw.njit.edu/nce/index.php • Facilitator vs. Lecturer and Gatherer vs. Creator

26. Inserting Humor • Many topics can be dry • Especially engineering • Sometimes I even use self-deprecating • Be careful – can offend

27. Your List?