8 tips for developing more effective lesson plans for college teaching

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by Julie Dodd

I feel like I’ve sat in on classes across the communications curriculum, as I’ve just finished reading a collection of lesson plans from the graduate students in Mass Communication Teaching.

I’ve been a part of group discussions, watched PowerPoint presentations, been assigned to a small group to compare print and digital versions of magazines, and looked for media examples to illustrate concepts discussed in class.

I’ve thought about the history of communication before iPads, televisions and newspapers. I’ve considered how best to tell a story. I’ve debated what media ethics should mean to reporters.

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Consider different learning styles when you plan your teaching

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by Jessica Marsh
Master’s student, University of Florida

A learning style is defined as the preferred, or best, method for an individual to gain knowledge. It is important to realize that though a student (or yourself) may have a preferred method of learning, learning styles are not fixed. This means that learning styles can be developed and improved over time. So if you took the quiz below and learned you were primarily an auditory learner you can still work on developing skills to become a better visual, or tactile learner.

Learning styles are unique like fingerprints. They vary from individual to individual and from subject to subject. You may use a different learning style when attempting to learn Algebra than you do attempting to learn Chemistry. Similarly learning styles can vary based on what you are being asked to do with the information (synthesize, memorize, apply, construct, etc.). When constructing assignments and presentations, it’s important to

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Tips for promoting effective discussions in your college classroom

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by Summer Best
MAMC student, University of Florida

Using discussion as a teaching tool has been shown to be a popular and effective way to reach students academically on many learning levels. The technique allows teachers to pose problems, listen, and challenge, while promoting learning by doing and practice in thinking through problems.

Benefits of Using Discussion

In McKeachie’s Teaching Tips, authors Wilbert J. McKeachie and Marilla Svinicki note several of the following benefits discussion can provide:

  • It helps participants evaluate the logic and evidence of several viewpoints on a topic.
  • It offers opportunities to formulate applications of principles.
  • It develops motivation for future and collaborative learning; provides a catalyst for continued discussion.
  • It allows students to participate in the conversation – as opposed to sitting and listening to lecture.
  • It helps us offer opportunities to make informed, reasoned next actions in a new context.
  • It offers an opportunity to break apart an idea or an ideal and put the concept back together with thoughtfulness and respect for each contributor in the discussion.

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Strategies for improving student learning by promoting intrinsic motivation

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by Steve Waters
MAMC student, University of Florida

For my presentation, I discussed motivation types among students and some best practices for encouraging intrinsic motivation in the classroom.

One popular theory when thinking of motivation is the attribution theory, which basically states that when a student seeks explanation for unexpected outcomes, they make attributions about probable causes. You can find a well-written overview from Purdue on attribution theory here:

http://education.purduecal.edu/Vockell/EdPsyBook/Edpsy5/edpsy5_attribution.htm

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How to Write a Multiple Choice Test: Dos and Don’ts

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by Holly Cowart
Ph.D. student, University of Florida

The advantages of multiple choice testing include ease of grading and student familiarity with the format. The disadvantages include the fact that students can guess the correct answers and often aren’t tested on higher-order thinking. The time required to develop a good multiple choice test may not be justified in a small course.

DO’s for creating multiple choice exams

  • Randomize correct answers
  • Use parallel construction (in stem and choices)
  • Adapt, not adopt questions
  • Use application
  • Put most of the words in the stem, not the answer
  • Make the stem clear
  • Provide plausible answer choices
  • Write concise answer options (or at least similar in length)
  • Put your answers in logical order
  • Pretest your questions – Wilbert McKeachie recommends having a skilled test-taker who doesn’t know the material take your test

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Strategies for creating university course syllabi

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by Julie Dodd

An important part of successful teaching is being able to design an effective course. The foundation of course design is the course syllabus.

In Mass Communication Teaching (MMC 6930), each class member determines an undergraduate communications course to create a syllabus for. Decisions for developing the syllabus include:

understandingbydesignWhat are the Student Learning Outcomes (SLO). Curriculum design and learning theory support determining the big-picture outcomes for the course and letting those guide the course structure and week-by-week instruction and assignments. A very helpful book for this big-picture to small-picture planning is Understanding by Design (Wiggins and McTighe).

How will student learning be assessed. “McKeachie’s Teaching Tips” recommends using several assessment strategies to enable students who have a variety of learning styles to demonstrate what they have learned. Assessment can include quizzes and exams, major papers or projects, team projects, and class participation.

How will the class be structured. A typical course at the University of Florida is three credits and meets three hours each week. The decision is whether the class will meet three times a week for an hour each time, once a week for three hours, or twice a week, meeting for one hour one day and two hours on the other day.

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Student evaluations play major role in assessment of teachers in higher education

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by Julie Dodd

Evaluation is part of the education process for both students and instructors.

Student evaluations are a major part of evaluating teaching at most colleges and universities.

At UF, students complete Faculty Course Evaluations every semester. The evaluations are to be completed during the last two weeks of the semester. Instructors have access to their evaluations after UF releases student grades after the semester has ended.

The students are asked 15 questions and rate the instructor on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score. (See questions in sidebar.)

Faculty Course Evaluation questions University of FloridaIn addition, students can provide responses to these open-ended questions:

  • Qualities of instructor which contributed to success of the course.
  • Qualities of instructor which hindered success of the course.
  • Opinions of course, including printed materials.
  • Additional comments to improve overall quality of the course.
  • Any other comments.

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Change is reality for media education and higher education

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NYT story about online educationby Julie Dodd

The need for change is a theme in much of what is being said about and written about higher education.

The need for change was a theme of President Machen’s State of the University Address to the UF Senate on Aug. 22.

Machen was quoted in this New York Times story about how online education is changing.

The need for change was the theme of the College of Journalism and Communications’ Faculty Kickoff before school started.

For those who are college faculty members and for those who are considering careers in higher education, it’s important to be thinking about what change is and what change means for institutions and individuals.

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Presentation for teaching assistants focused on strategies for developing syllabus and having good start to school year

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University of Florida orientation for teaching assistants

New teaching assistants listen to a panel of faculty members and administrators talk about “Classroom Challenges.” Photo by Julie Dodd

by Julie Dodd

More than 400 teach assistants attended a second day of orientation as they get ready to take on teaching duties when classes start at the University of Florida next week. The orientation is sponsored by the Graduate School and the Teaching Center.

I was one of the invited speakers. My topic was “A Positive Start to Your Teaching: Your Syllabus and the First Week of Classes.” [You can download a PDF handout of the slides I used for my presentation — dodd_2013_ta-orientation]

UF Teaching Assistant HandbookI divided my presentation into several parts:

* Advice about what they should be doing now to get ready for the start of class. That discussion included meeting with their supervisor, getting copies of course materials, and mapping out their own schedule for the semester (including office hours).

* A discussion of how a well-designed syllabus can assist teachers and students. Most of these new teaching assistants won’t be developing the syllabi they will be using this fall, but they need to know what the course policies and procedures are. Thinking more long-term, those who are interested in going into a career of teaching in higher education need to know how to create a syllabus.

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8 ideas to remember about classroom discipline

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by Anthony Eseke
Ph.D. student, University of Florida

1.     Just as bayberries symbolize discipline and instruction because the berries are held together even in their hundreds, so too discipline connects all the dots of classroom management and pedagogy.

2.     Discipline should be restorative not punitive.

3.     Aspire toward referent power where classroom discipline becomes a product of students’ identification with, respect, and attraction to the personality of the instructor.

4.     Try to understand why students behave the way they do.

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