As
a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, Dr. Janine
Caira collects specimens from around the world to share with
her Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology classes. It’s
not surprising to learn that someone who maintains a large collection
of specimens places a high value on being organized. Dr. Caira’s
advice to new faculty is to do a lot of organizing when you
have large quantities of information to present. She works
hard to organize the primary literature for her classes, helping
her students get the most up to date information on the latest
developments in her field of science. Dr. Caira explains that
being organized in your teaching shows your commitment to your
students. Here are her comments on the importance of prompt
feedback to students: “I think what happens to a lot of
people is you’re so overwhelmed, you give an exam, and
you don’t turn it back in a timely fashion because you
don’t think you have the time. But in the end, you have
to grade the exam. Why not make it a priority?” It’s
also important to set out the specifics in your syllabus and
be able to stick to them, she explains, “But it means you
have to spend that little bit of time beforehand getting the
whole thing sort of set up. You have to organize at the beginning.”
On the importance of clarity in the syllabus, Dr. Caira advises,
“Students get frustrated when it changes over time. Bottom
line, if they don’t know what’s expected of them they
don’t like it. So I think if that’s clear it’s
better for everybody.”
As
a professor of psychology who teaches introductory level psychology
classes, Dr. David Miller has observed that there is a potential
for small disasters in a very large class. Dr. Miller, who uses
the latest multimedia technology in his teaching, must also
solve some old-fashioned teaching problems, especially in dealing
with large classes of less experienced students. “In teaching
large classes, a lot is going to go wrong. It’s usually
not your fault,” he advises. Dr. Miller encourages new
faculty to set their course policies and then to maintain those
policies throughout the semester. “People may not make
explicit or think clearly enough about what their course policies
are regarding things like make-up exams, things like that. So
work all that out before you begin and don’t change it
within the course of the semester. Modify it between semesters.”
As a professor who teaches a lot of freshman students, Dr. Miller
advises keeping a perspective on the needs and experiences of
your students. “As bad as things might look, they’re
probably not that bad in reality. Students at the freshman level
have no clue as to what a major Research One university is like,
coming out of high school.” Dr. Miller observes that a
lot of freshmen level complaints may be related to these beginning
students’ adjustment to the new academic expectations of
university level study. Course requirements that seem to create
problems for freshmen students do not cause the same concerns
for sophomores, juniors, and seniors, Dr. Miller notes. In large
introductory classes, “You’re going to have a lot
of very ill-prepared students in there. You’ve got to decide
at what level you’re going to teach, and then stick to
it,” he advises. “The bottom line is: have patience,
relax, maintain a sense of humor, and teach a scholarly course.”
Dr.
Thomas Terry, professor of molecular and cell biology, teaches
General Biology for majors and non-majors, as well as General
Microbiology and Biology of Human Health and Disease. “All
of these are large courses,” he explains. “The challenge
is how to keep things fair for a large number of people, being
sensitive to the exceptions and the problems that come up for
individuals.” In these large and diverse classes, Dr. Terry
observes that the students always share a common interest. “
Probably the single item that’s of greatest concern to
students is exams and grades. And I’ve found that with
a large class the issue of how to give make-up exams is important.”
Dr. Terry finds that scheduling make-up exams right into his
syllabus is helpful. “With a class that’s this large
it’s just an inevitable fact of nature that you’re
going to have people who are sick, people who have problems.
So I believe in make-up exams as an opportunity. I make it
very clear that I want advance warning, if possible. I hardly
ever turn people down. And having make-up exams gives me the
opportunity to occasionally deal with a student who really had
a bad day and wants a chance to redeem himself. So I can let
them take a make-up and I can average the two grades and give
them a chance.” This experienced professor anticipates
cyclical variations in student attendance and plans exams accordingly.
“I always schedule my exams for Friday, because Friday
is the day when people have the greatest temptation not to come
to class. It’s nice to have the exam over before the weekend,
so you can relax.” If you’re a student who is sick
on exam day, this professor of human health and biology has
your needs in mind when he sets his course policies on make-up
exams. Dr. Terry explains, “Since about half the reasons
that people miss exams are due to illness, and typically speaking
an illness is over in about a week, I do the make-up a week
later. It’s not the Monday after the exam, but the Monday
after that.” How specific does he get about his make-up
exam policy? Dr. Terry brings up his syllabus on the web and
explains, “At the beginning of the semester I draw their
attention to the make-up schedule. If you miss an exam, for
any reason, and you have my permission to take the make-up,
here’s a place and a time and a room.” Dr. Terry finds
the advance planning pays off. He explains, “It turns out
that just a simple matter like that takes an enormous amount
of pressure off all of us.”
Dr.
Robert Gallo, professor of physiology and neurobiology, has
allowed experience to teach him the value of carefully pacing
his lecture content. “When I first started to teach, my
first lecture ever, I had no sense of how much material could
fit into a class,” Dr. Gallo recalls. Organization and
preparation are important in effective teaching, Dr. Gallo advises.
When planning your lecture, he believes, “You’ve got
to go in there and know what’s going to happen.” Dr.
Gallo chooses explanatory material with care. “I always
try to make it relevant to their lives, so it’s not just
the facts. It’s not something that’s just a subject
to study; it’s something that they can relate to.”
As a new professor, Dr. Gallo was videotaped while teaching,
which led him to new insights into becoming an even better teacher.
“When I saw myself writing on the blackboard, I couldn’t
even read it. I realized you have to organize the way you put
things on the board.” In responding to questions from
the class, Dr. Gallo advises new faculty to take a straightforward
approach. “If you don’t know the answer, just tell
the student you don’t know. I look up the answer, then
I come back with the answer rather than stand up there trying
to talk my way through it.” Investing time in organization
and preparation can lead new faculty to more effective teaching,
Dr. Gallo advises, “It’s just fun, a good feeling
when you walk out and you know you clicked.”
Across
the disciplines, these experienced professors who have been
honored as effective teachers all put a high value on being
organized. They consider their course requirements and policies
carefully, setting them out clearly in the syllabus. They make
plans and stick to them. They give prompt feedback to their
students. They put a lot of preparation into their lectures,
linking facts to real life examples that relate to students’
lives. UConn Teaching Fellows believe that new faculty can find
their way to effectiveness in teaching through organization
and preparation, and that the journey to becoming an exemplary
teacher is exciting and rewarding.
