Teach me to be a better teacher
April 15, 2013 10:25 AM Subscribe
Looking for specific information how how to effectively teach a memorization-driven class as well as general pedagogical resources for teaching at the college level.
I've recently started teaching undergraduate specialty coursework as an adjunct and I love it. I LOVE IT. I get consistently high reviews from my students, and the department is pleased with my work. If I could teach full-time I would do it in a heartbeat, and I'm actively looking for additional opportunities to do so.
Nobody ever taught me how to teach a class, I'm basically making it up as I go along based on what I thought was good or poor instruction in my undergrad/graduate classes. Right now it seems to be working, I think because I try to focus the material on how it applies to practice in the real world. I've looked for pedagogical resources or classes to take to learn more about effective teaching, and outside of some books on Amazon, I'm not finding any kind of formal instruction. Even in PhD programs, it seems a lot of the teaching instruction is "learn by doing" as a TA (which is kindof terrifying). I'd appreciate recommendations on how to improve.
I recently heard that there might be an opportunity to teach another class for the department, but it's one of those core classes that have little direct application to practice... specifically Anatomy and Physiology in the speech sciences. I don't even know where to start. I can certainly bridge the gap between material and application by talking about - say - the impact of a schizencephaly in a case study, but at it's heart A&P is all about rote memorization.
I honestly don't even remember my A&P class... where do you even start? Are all the lectures just: "the hyoid bone is connected to the... well no other bones actually". And then there's my own anxiety to overcome: I can talk for hours about autism or standardized testing or language development, but I don't use or even remember most of this information, how on earth can I teach it?? In addition to my speech sciences A&P, I had taken general A&P as an undergrad, as well as in high school; both were lab dissection driven - which I felt was incredibly helpful. This course is not.
I know I'm not the only person who feels this way, I've heard that traditionally this is a difficult class to find instructors for because of this exact reason. Help me be REALLY GREAT at this (or even just start to be competent).
I've recently started teaching undergraduate specialty coursework as an adjunct and I love it. I LOVE IT. I get consistently high reviews from my students, and the department is pleased with my work. If I could teach full-time I would do it in a heartbeat, and I'm actively looking for additional opportunities to do so.
Nobody ever taught me how to teach a class, I'm basically making it up as I go along based on what I thought was good or poor instruction in my undergrad/graduate classes. Right now it seems to be working, I think because I try to focus the material on how it applies to practice in the real world. I've looked for pedagogical resources or classes to take to learn more about effective teaching, and outside of some books on Amazon, I'm not finding any kind of formal instruction. Even in PhD programs, it seems a lot of the teaching instruction is "learn by doing" as a TA (which is kindof terrifying). I'd appreciate recommendations on how to improve.
I recently heard that there might be an opportunity to teach another class for the department, but it's one of those core classes that have little direct application to practice... specifically Anatomy and Physiology in the speech sciences. I don't even know where to start. I can certainly bridge the gap between material and application by talking about - say - the impact of a schizencephaly in a case study, but at it's heart A&P is all about rote memorization.
I honestly don't even remember my A&P class... where do you even start? Are all the lectures just: "the hyoid bone is connected to the... well no other bones actually". And then there's my own anxiety to overcome: I can talk for hours about autism or standardized testing or language development, but I don't use or even remember most of this information, how on earth can I teach it?? In addition to my speech sciences A&P, I had taken general A&P as an undergrad, as well as in high school; both were lab dissection driven - which I felt was incredibly helpful. This course is not.
I know I'm not the only person who feels this way, I've heard that traditionally this is a difficult class to find instructors for because of this exact reason. Help me be REALLY GREAT at this (or even just start to be competent).
I can think of lots of resources, but they are all for the teaching of literature (my own field). That said, a huge proportion of pedagogy scholarship might be based there, but their methods would work in any number of disciplines, because much of their research is about how students learn, how teachers can convey information in understandable ways, how different teaching and learning styles coexist within the classroom, and learning to teach classes full of students coming from wildly divergent educational backgrounds.
Do you have access to JStor or something similar? I'm doing a quick browse, and there are several journals dedicated to similar issues in STEM disciplines. That might be a good place to look.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:26 AM on April 15, 2013
Do you have access to JStor or something similar? I'm doing a quick browse, and there are several journals dedicated to similar issues in STEM disciplines. That might be a good place to look.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:26 AM on April 15, 2013
Best answer: I taught a similar course (neuroanatomy). Rote memorization is at the core, much like my A&P course (and the one you're talking about here.) Neither had a lab component, which was a real shame. I don't know what the customs are in your institution for slides/presentation materials (e.g. where I am, you post your slides the day before, and students bring them with you to class, then get really angry when you deviate from them :) But, here's a few things that made classes a little more tolerable: my A&P professor had all the notes available ahead of time, but had blanks in the notes (e.g. "The _____ forms the hard palate.") I would try to do them ahead of time, which forced me to read, and then I could work on conceptual stuff during lecture. But overall, students had to come to class to fill in the blanks. At the very least, it ensured they showed up and freed them up from having to scribble everything down quickly.
When I taught neuro, I was handed a course from the prof. who was on sabbatical. I was very up front with the students from day one that this was a memorization course to prepare them for learning about aphasia, TBI, etc. It didn't really mesh with my teaching style though. The one lecture I liked the best was on the basal ganglia because I told the students to follow along with the slides from the prof, but spend the entire class on one diagram, explaining how the connections worked. Some students hated that, others said it was the best lecture of the course. You'll want highly structured materials, and then you can branch off of that to explain how things work together and give some anecdotal stories about that one guy who cracked his temporal bone (!) and was effectively deaf in his right ear for six months and had LMN damage to his CN VII because he crashed his tractor during a snowstorm while drunk (and then I would ask them what was the name of the foramen that CN VII passes through, and I would make sure that was on the exam :)
What I wish I had known and know now is that it's possible to adapt the material to different learning styles. For example, you might get some ideas from looking at sites for Universal Design for Learning. Some students are good at rote memorization, some like coloring in anatomy coloring books (I highly recommend them), some like watching videos, some need to see it, some need to hear it. If you can think of a few different ways to present the material, you'll hit a wider swath of the learning styles in your classroom.
Of course, I'll be watching this thread closely. My suggestions aren't pedagogical in nature, but maybe they'll spark some ideas. Good luck!
posted by absquatulate at 12:31 PM on April 15, 2013
When I taught neuro, I was handed a course from the prof. who was on sabbatical. I was very up front with the students from day one that this was a memorization course to prepare them for learning about aphasia, TBI, etc. It didn't really mesh with my teaching style though. The one lecture I liked the best was on the basal ganglia because I told the students to follow along with the slides from the prof, but spend the entire class on one diagram, explaining how the connections worked. Some students hated that, others said it was the best lecture of the course. You'll want highly structured materials, and then you can branch off of that to explain how things work together and give some anecdotal stories about that one guy who cracked his temporal bone (!) and was effectively deaf in his right ear for six months and had LMN damage to his CN VII because he crashed his tractor during a snowstorm while drunk (and then I would ask them what was the name of the foramen that CN VII passes through, and I would make sure that was on the exam :)
What I wish I had known and know now is that it's possible to adapt the material to different learning styles. For example, you might get some ideas from looking at sites for Universal Design for Learning. Some students are good at rote memorization, some like coloring in anatomy coloring books (I highly recommend them), some like watching videos, some need to see it, some need to hear it. If you can think of a few different ways to present the material, you'll hit a wider swath of the learning styles in your classroom.
Of course, I'll be watching this thread closely. My suggestions aren't pedagogical in nature, but maybe they'll spark some ideas. Good luck!
posted by absquatulate at 12:31 PM on April 15, 2013
Best answer: For general course improvement, I highly recommend both Student Engagement Techniques and Classroom Assessment Techniques. They're useful for all sorts of different areas of content. My favorite book on how to prepare a class and to think about the best way to teach is Fink's Creating Significant Learning Experiences.
posted by bizzyb at 1:51 PM on April 15, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by bizzyb at 1:51 PM on April 15, 2013 [4 favorites]
Speaking as a current student. With this kind of stuff, for me what works best is first understanding something about the function of a structure at a given level of explanation, before trying to memorize lists of what feel like unrelated processes or structures. So maybe use the text to decide on the level of explanation for a particular system (eg tissue, organ, system; probably organ or system), and give 1) some basic context about how the larger overall system works, and then 2) just enough detail about the underlying biochem to grasp the processes. (Explain that you will not necessarily be getting into catalysts or whatever.)
Also, students will have had to have some exposure to chemistry or biology as prereqs, right? If not, maybe direct them to a good review text a couple of weeks in advance of the class (via email). Ask colleagues for recommendations.
In class, repeat, repeat, repeat. Use mechanistic metaphors where applicable (your text will likely offer up useful ones, re plumbing and the like) and clear, simple language whenever possible.
I'm not usually a visual learner, but have often found myself seeking out visual representations of bio processes. There are a number of anatomy/physiology learning apps out there that may help some. Of course not all students will have access to smartphones, but decent online resources can be found.
Not bio-related, but: the prof who gave me an A in stats* gave firm instructions on study skills at the beginning and end of each class. He'd say, "Do ALL the problems. Every one, at least twice. Do that and I promise you won't have issues on the exam", or "Stay on top of your exercises week by week. Cramming will doom you. Stay on top of things, and you'll do well". He delivered these as imperatives, or secret magic tricks, even, with such charismatic authority we couldn't help but comply. He made sure we got the message that effort -> reward. This gave us confidence that success was within reach. So once you've reminded yourself of best practices for this kind of material (chunking, review within however many hours, review again at x days, I can't remember what they are), pass these on as your own 'magic tricks'.
*along with many others. So many, I think the poor guy's probably suspect in his department. Truth is he's got a gift for grasping the beginner's mind and anticipating likely stumbling blocks, and a talent for choosing the most useful metaphors. You have to understand that I was seriously math-phobic prior to the course, & hadn't done more than work out a restaurant bill in over ten years. p of me getting an A was less than .001.
posted by nelljie at 2:01 PM on April 15, 2013
Also, students will have had to have some exposure to chemistry or biology as prereqs, right? If not, maybe direct them to a good review text a couple of weeks in advance of the class (via email). Ask colleagues for recommendations.
In class, repeat, repeat, repeat. Use mechanistic metaphors where applicable (your text will likely offer up useful ones, re plumbing and the like) and clear, simple language whenever possible.
I'm not usually a visual learner, but have often found myself seeking out visual representations of bio processes. There are a number of anatomy/physiology learning apps out there that may help some. Of course not all students will have access to smartphones, but decent online resources can be found.
Not bio-related, but: the prof who gave me an A in stats* gave firm instructions on study skills at the beginning and end of each class. He'd say, "Do ALL the problems. Every one, at least twice. Do that and I promise you won't have issues on the exam", or "Stay on top of your exercises week by week. Cramming will doom you. Stay on top of things, and you'll do well". He delivered these as imperatives, or secret magic tricks, even, with such charismatic authority we couldn't help but comply. He made sure we got the message that effort -> reward. This gave us confidence that success was within reach. So once you've reminded yourself of best practices for this kind of material (chunking, review within however many hours, review again at x days, I can't remember what they are), pass these on as your own 'magic tricks'.
*along with many others. So many, I think the poor guy's probably suspect in his department. Truth is he's got a gift for grasping the beginner's mind and anticipating likely stumbling blocks, and a talent for choosing the most useful metaphors. You have to understand that I was seriously math-phobic prior to the course, & hadn't done more than work out a restaurant bill in over ten years. p of me getting an A was less than .001.
posted by nelljie at 2:01 PM on April 15, 2013
If your goal really is memorization, you have to go corny. Songs, mnemonics, I even had a teacher do sort of a guided hypnosis to help us memorize things — all of which I really appreciated. Sometimes you just need to KNOW part of the material, and in instances like that, go with the tricks. (For example, I learned a ton about phrasing and natural usage in an advanced Spanish class. But it sure helped that I still remembered the "por or para" song I was taught in seventh grade.) I've had high-level math teachers do similar things; we did the sort of "where have we been, where are we now, where are we going" intro to a concept, really deconstructed that concept and considered the material, and then...broke into a call-and-response song to help us have immediate recall of the information.
posted by Charity Garfein at 8:45 PM on April 15, 2013
posted by Charity Garfein at 8:45 PM on April 15, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
When I went through EMT class, I loved it because interspersed with the 214 bones, the nerves, how to take Blood Pressure, our instructor, a retired NYFD Paramedic was FILLED with amazing anecdotes.
So start there.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:57 AM on April 15, 2013