What the Best College Teachers Do Chapter 5: How do they conduct class?

1. What the Best College Teachers DoChapter 5: How do they conduct class? MAJ John R. Bacon 9 JUL 12

2. Who is Ken Bain?

3. Background/Introduction? • There are two sides to the teaching debate: • “lectures never work” • Those who are passionately devoted to lecturing • Research shows: • Lecturing can engage students • Must be helpful and encouraging • How do we distinguish successful from unsuccessful lecturing? • 7 Unifying Principles • 5 Essential Elements of a Natural Critical Environment

4. 7 Unifying Principles 1. Create a Natural Critical Learning Environment • “natural” – atmosphere in which students can form habits, skills, attitudes and encounter questions • “critical” – think critically and reason from evidence; ask probing questions • The best teaching creates a sense that everyone is working together to solve a problem • Listening quietly during a lecture • Working together on a problem in a group • These help to comprise the 5 Essential Elements of a Natural Critical Environment

5. 5 Essential Elements of a NCLE • A Natural Critical Learning Environment (NCLE) consists of: • An intriguing question or problem • Guidance in helping students understand the significance of the question • Engages in some higher-order intellectual activity • Get students to do everything EXCEPT ONLY to listen and remember • Helps students answer questions • Answer their own questions • Leaves the student with a question • Safe, yet challenging condition (try, fail, receive feedback, and try again) – learn by doing AND failing • Common problem?

6. 7 Unifying Principles 2. Get the students’ attention and keep it • Provocative question or problem • Case studies • Goal-based scenarios 3. Start with the students rather than the discipline • Student-centered vs. teacher/discipline centered • College life, military…. • Seek commitments • Raise your hands “up” • Are you a drill sergeant?

7. 7 Unifying Principles 5. Help students learn outside of class • Homework • AI • Get creative 6. Engage students in disciplinary thinking • Offer explanations, analogies, questions that help them understand fundamental concepts • Learn then reason or Learn and reason 7. Create diverse learning experiences • “The brain loves diversity” – Jeanette Norden • Visual information vs. auditory input • Sequentially vs. global • Method: repetition, innovation, and surprises

8. Employing the Craft of Teaching • Ability to talk • Speak well…enunciate, be clear and concise, but goes well beyond this • Gestures, eye contact, walking • Tone, rhythm/pace, pre-game rituals • Warm vs. Cool language • Goldi-locks and the 3 Bears • Giving explanations • What is a function? • “Sandwich approach” • Ability to get students to talk

9. Employing the Craft of Teaching • Ability to get students to talk • Small groups • Things to consider • Ask to discuss vs. provoking discussion • Finishing homework to complete an assignment vs. preparing for future intellectual struggle

10. Summary “Great teachers are not simply great speakers or discussion leaders; they are, more fundamentally, special kinds of scholars and thinkers, leading intellectual lives that focus on learning, both theirs and their students’. Their attention to the details of performance stems from a concern for the learners, and their focus is on the nature and processes of learning rather than on the performance of the instructor.” (Bain, 134)

11. Questions? “Leadership is born of concern and nurtured through practice.” – unknown