1 / 15

Set the Hook to Reel-Students-In on the First Day

Set the Hook to Reel-Students-In on the First Day. Mari Miller Burns Iowa Lakes Community College DMACC Teaching and Learning Conference 13 April 2013. To know where you end, you must know where to start. Literature Review.

libra
Download Presentation

Set the Hook to Reel-Students-In on the First Day

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Set the Hook to Reel-Students-In on the First Day Mari Miller Burns Iowa Lakes Community College DMACC Teaching and Learning Conference 13 April 2013

  2. To know where you end, you must know where to start.

  3. Literature Review • “It [the first day] should be as challenging and pedagogically sound as any other class day” (Anderson, Mcguire, & Cory, 2011, p. 303) • “If you want them to participate during the semester, get them to participate on the first day” (Smith & Earl, 2005, p. 249) • “It [reciprocal interview activity] sets up the expectation that we are somehow all invested in contributing to and defining the type of learning environment in which we function” (Case, et al., 2008, p. 213)

  4. Literature Review • “Students create impressions of the course, the professor, and their classmates” (Higgins, 2001, p. 2) • “The first class meeting of any course is more important than many faculty realize. It sets the tone for what is to follow and can greatly influence students’ opinions about the course and the instructor for the remainder of the semester” (Perlman & McCann, 1999, p. 277)

  5. Students’ Expectations According to Perlman & McCann (1999): • 72% preferred general overview of requirements and expectations, exam information, grading, requirements for receiving a good grade, and knowledge of the instructor’s background and teaching style • 8% believed that beginning course content was a suitable activity on the first day • 9% disliked and 7% liked first-day icebreakers • Students did not want to be kept for the entire class time • Preferred to learn about class structure and policies such as grading and attendance and to not reveal personal information (Hanslee, Burgess, & Buskist, 2006)

  6. Get students engaged through: • Talking • Writing • Critical thinking • Problem-solving • Creating • Collaborating • Leading (Anderson, et al. 294)

  7. “Making connections” not “Giving directions” (Anderson, et al 2011; Kreizinger 2006)

  8. Opening Day Activities • Birthday Paradox: Adapted from Bennet (2004) as cited in Anderson, et al. (2011) for a Statistics Class http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_problem • A Stranger Among Us: Adapted from LoSchiavo, Buckingham, & Yurak (2002) as cited in Anderson, et al. (2011) for a Social-Psychology Class

  9. Student Feedback • “I still remember that first day when you talked in a British accent and took off your dress.” • “The first day of class is so boring ‘cause all we do is go over the syllabus in ALL of my classes.” • “We did stuff like this [opening day activities] at my high school and I loved it b/c I got to meet my classmates the very first day.”

  10. To know where you end, you must know where to start.

  11. References • Anderson, D. M., Mcguire, F. A., & Cory, L. (2011). The first day: it happens      only once. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(3), 293-303. • Case, K., Bartsch, R., McEnery, L., Hall, S., Hermann, A., & Foster, D. (2008).      Establishing a comfortable classroom from day one. College Teaching, Fall, 210-214. • Foster, D. A., & Hermann, A. D. (2011). Linking the first week of class to      end-of-term satisfaction: using a reciprocal interview activity to create      an active and comfortable classroom. College Teaching, 59, 111-116. • Henslee, A. M., Burgess, D. R., & Buskist, W. (2006). Student preferences for      first day of class activities. Teaching of Psychology, 33, 189-191. • Hermann, A. D., Foster, D. A., & Hardin, E. E. (2010). Does the first week of      class matter? A quasi-experimental investigation of student satisfaction. Teaching of Psychology, 37, 79-84. • Higgins, P. (2001). Excitement on the first day? College Teaching, 49, 2. • Kreizinger, J. (2006). Critical connections for the first day of class. The Teaching Professor, 20, 1-3. • LoSchiavo, F. M., Buckingham, J. T., & Yurak, T. J. (2002). First day      demonstration for social psychology courses. Teaching of Psychology, 29,      216-219. • Perlman, B., & McCann, L. I. (1999). Student perspectives on the first day of      class. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 277-279. • Smith, R., & Earl, D. (2005). Getting started: A first day activity in      philosophical thinking. Teaching Philosophy, 28, 249-260.

More Related