Why you should have a “real” class on the first day

There is a tendency among some teachers, perhaps fewer and fewer, to use the first day of class to pass out the syllabus and then let the students go. There are good reasons for this tendency: the students probably have five new courses to adjust to, and bombarding them with course content may seem like overkill. In addition, many colleges and universities have lengthy add-drop periods, and you may not want to “waste” a proper class period on students who may drop the course. But many teaching specialists suggest resisting this urge, instead aiming for a more constructive first meeting, even if you end up letting the students out a few minutes early.

The main reason to avoid simply giving students the necessary information and calling it a day, James Lang points out, is that this “sends a message that the course meetings are a requirement that you both would rather not fulfill: you’ll meet when you have to, but at every opportunity to cut things short (first and last days, or days before a break), you’re as eager to avoid seeing them as they are to avoid seeing you.” Indeed, setting expectations, signalling what kind of relationship you’d like to have with the students, and showing enthusiasm for the course are all important parts of a valuable first meeting.

Marilla Svinivki and Wilbert McKeachie advise that teachers should try to capitalize on the excitement and anxiety that often accompanies the first day of class (on the part of both teacher and student) to hook the students, to channel their excitement toward the course material. Similarly, Pat Ashton recommends that teachers go out of their way to show passion and excitement for the course, for the simple reason that “if students see that you are looking forward to teaching this course, then they are likely to look forward to the course.” All of this is difficult to do if you merely read through the syllabus, ask for questions, and dismiss the class.

Lastly, the first day of class is an opportunity to set expectations for the whole term. If you are hoping for plenty of student participation for the course, begin by instigating a discussion on day one. If you are planning to emphasize collaborative learning, why not introduce students to those concepts right away? If your style of lecturing includes plenty of entertaining (but pedagogically sound, of course) multimedia, let students see what they have to look forward to. A successful first meeting with students can pay off throughout the length of your time together.  -DG

Sources: James Lang.  On Course.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2008. 24-6.

Marilla Svinivki and Wilbert J. McKeachie. McKeachie's Teaching Tips.  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2011. 21.

Pat Ashton. "The First Class: Making an Impression." Rosanne M. Cordell, Betsy Lucal, and Robin Morgan, eds. Quick Hits for New Faculty. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 2004. 39-40. 39.

Teach your students how to plagiarize

It can be difficult for students to understand that plagiarism can come in forms other than deliberately copying someone else’s work. Jack Dougherty suggests a clever technique for introducing students to the various forms of plagiarism: give them an assignment where they must plagiarize.

Give your students a paragraph or two from a published text, along with the passage’s citation details. For each of the following instructions, the students must write 1-2 sentences.

“1: Plagiarize the original text by copying portions of it word-for-word.

2: Plagiarize the original text by paraphrasing its structure too closely, without copying it word-for-word.

3: Plagiarize the original text by paraphrasing its structure too closely, and include a citation. Even though you cited it, paraphrasing too closely is still plagiarism.

4: Properly paraphrase from the original text by restating the author’s ideas in different words and phrases, and include a citation to the original source.

5: Properly paraphrase from the original text by restating the author’s ideas in different words and phrases, add a direct quote, and include a citation to the original source.”  -DG

Source: Jack Dougherty. “Avoiding Plagiarism Exercise.” Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present. Trinity College. 18 February 2013. Web. 20 August 2013. http://commons.trincoll.edu/edreform/assignments/avoiding-plagiarism-exercise/

"Today We Will": A road map for each class

Here’s some good advice on in-class management from an excerpt, online at facultyfocus.com,  taken from a white paper published by Magna Publications, “Ten Ways to Engage Your Students on the First Day of Class.” The tip—to regularly make a “Today We Will” list on the board—is a good one, and not just for the first day of class.

The essence of the idea is to write, at the beginning of every class, a list on the board of what you plan to do in class that day. You write “Today We Will…” at the top, and then, underneath, chart the “road map” for that day’s class. It’s a sort of informal contract, a promise that gives your students a firm sense of what to expect at all times. Students who arrive late will know what they’ve missed and what they will be responsible for making up. All students will be able to see, at a glance, where you are in the class period’s overall plan.

For the teacher, the list is a handy reminder of what you planned to cover, keeping you on topic and discouraging long tangents that bring you further away from the topics at hand. Of course, there’s no need for the list to be rigid; you can feel free to erase items if you decide that you won’t have enough time to get to them.

Above all, the habit of a “Today We Will” list contributes to a teacher-student relationship based on clear expectations—a good basis for any pedagogical exchange.  -DG

Source: Jennifer Garrett. “Advice for the First Day of Class: Today We Will.” Faculty Focus. Magna. 12 August 2013. Web. 20 August 2013. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-classroom-management/advice-for-the-first-day-of-class-today-we-will/

After the assignment, a meta-assignment

James Clements, American University of Dubai 

When teaching Creative Non-Fiction, one of the challenges is helping students understand the difficulties of "telling the truth" in narrative prose. As the "truth" behind another author's writing is not accessible to the reader, it can be difficult for a student to really understand the craft involved in shaping a personal experience into a work of non-fiction. To help with this, I often give a two-part assignment: First, I ask the students to write a piece of creative non-fiction themselves, usually on a general but significant topic, such as "The Day That Changed My Life Forever." Once I've collected this assignment, I tell them that the piece will not be marked, as the second part is the "real" assignment. In this second part, I ask them to write an essay in which they should reflect on the decisions they made while writing the first part. I include the following list of questions they might consider:

• Why did you choose to tell the story in this way? Could you have told it in a different way?

• Did you know the “meaning” of the story before you started writing, or did it only become clear during the process? 

• Did you change, exaggerate, or remove anything to make it fit your narrative? If so, why? And what are the larger consequences of these changes?

• If other people appear in your narrative, how do you think they would feel about the way they’ve been depicted? How do you feel about their depiction? In what ways are they distorted or under-represented, and what was the reason for this?

• Do you feel that the narrative truthfully communicates your experience? If so, what is it about the form that communicates the essence of the experience? If not, what feels false about the narrative?

• Do you feel you were honest in writing your narrative? If not, why do you think this is?

• How did it feel to write the story down? Did it make you uncomfortable? Did it feel satisfying? Did it help you “make sense” of the event?

• Did you have any issues with your memory? If so, what did you do about the gaps in your memory when writing?

Students usually respond very positively to this assignment, and it gives them a new way to approach the remainder of the readings on the syllabus.

Model research with "the lifeboat problem"

James Clements, American University of Dubai 

The biggest challenge I face when teaching research methods to first-year students is that they tend to understand research only as "support" for an argument. In other words, they insert research into their papers to back up preconceived opinions, rather than use it to help them form their arguments in the first place.

To help them understand that research should precede the formation of an argument, I often begin the course with the following in-class group assignment, which also helps students get to know each other in the early stages of the course.

I break the class into groups of four or five, and present them with a very basic list of about twelve "types" of people: an elderly grandmother, a captain, a lifeguard, a nurse, teenage twins, and so on. I then ask each group to choose which eight individuals will make it onto a lifeboat.

I let them discuss it for ten minutes or so. Most often, the students ask no questions at all, and simply proceed to make their decisions based on the very limited information at hand. After they've made their choices, I then ask them to explain how they reached their decision. I follow this by asking them how their decisions would have changed if they'd had additional information: ie. one of the twins is pregnant, the captain was not responsible for the accident, and so on. It usually leads them to significantly change their decisions. In the remainder of the class, I ask them to reflect on the ways in which the game parallels the process of forming any moral argument: acquiring additional information changes the parameters of the conversation.

While the exercise is simple, I have found that it helps redefine students' understanding of the purpose of research early on in the course, and sets a precedent for the remainder of the semester.

Have students "find the flaw" in your lecture

Here's a tip from Constance Staley's Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lectern,  that suggests a way to encourage your students to pay attention to your lectures, as well as help students test their critical thinking skills.

Before you begin your lecture, distribute index cards, and announce to the students that you will intentionally insert a piece of misinformation some time within the class period. The students must "Find the Flaw": listen for the inaccuracy and write it down on their index cards when they think they've heard it. After your lecture you can either, a) ask students to research and correct the flaw before the next class, or b) use the students' answers to fuel a discussion in class. In both cases, you've invited the students to take a more active role in the day's material.  -DG

Source: Constance Staly. Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lectern. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2003. 117.

Student answers for student questions

Mel Silberman suggests distributing index cards to your students after a lecture or a class discussion. Have each student write down a question about the material on his or her index card. Collect the cards, shuffle them, and redistribute them to the students. Now ask the students to read their cards and think of answers to their questions. If you have enough time, you can go around the room and have every student give an answer. Otherwise, ask for volunteers or call on students to read their questions aloud and give answers.  -DG

Source: Mel Silberman. "Everyone is a Teacher Here." 101 Ways to Make Training Active. Johannesburg: Pfeiffer & Company, 1995. 174-75  

Encourage attention and discussion with "listening teams"

Here is an easy strategy to encourage students to listen critically to your lectures and to encourage discussion afterward. In both variations, you begin by dividing up students at the beginning of class.

Variation 1: divide students into four teams, each of which has a specific assignment for that day's lecture and discussion. 

1. Questioners - After the lecture is finished, this team has to ask two questions about the material.
2. Nay-Sayers - After the lecture is finished, this team comments on two points with which the team disagrees. 
3. Yea-Sayers - After the lecture is finished, this team comments on two points with which the team agrees. 
4. Explainers - After the lecture is finished, this team has to give two specific examples that explain the lecture. 

After the lecture, allow the teams to confer. Let each team then report to the class the results of their discussions.

Variation 2: divide students into groups of four students each. Each student will play a specific role within his or her group. 

1. Example-Giver - This student listens for examples or applications of key concepts.
2. Questioner - This student asks two clarifying questions about the material presented in the lecture. 
3. Devil's Advocate - This student comments on two points with which he or she disagrees.
4. Team Player - This student points out two areas of agreement with the lecture material.  

The groups confer after the lecture, with each student presenting his or her contributions according to his or her role.  

In both variations, the exercise serves to encourage students to follow the lecture more closely, as well as structure the discussion so as to reinforce the material presented in the lecture.  -DG

Source: Variation 1 from Mel Silberman. 101 Ways to Make Training Active. Johannesburg: Pfeiffer, 1995. 101-103. Variation 2 from Mel Silberman. Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1996.

Gauge student misconceptions early on

Students begin your course with a whole host of prior knowledge about the topic—some of it incorrect or poorly understood. James Lang advises trying to figure out just what your students know—or think they know—early on in the term, in the first or second class period. As Lang notes, much learning research suggests that students will use whatever previous knowledge they have to process the information and ideas you present to them. It's worth knowing, as you begin your course, what ideas the students already have.

Lang suggests making up student information sheets that you distribute to the class. Each student must fill out his or her name, major or possible major, and email address (though you may very well already have these). In addition, "ask each student to write a short paragraph in response to two or three substantive questions about their past experiences with the course topic, or about their understanding of their ideas you will be presenting over the course of the semester." 

In the short term, you can use the exercise to generate a first-day-of-class discussion on the course's subject matter and the students' misconceptions going in. More importantly, you can use the students' answers to help tailor your teaching in the weeks that follow to the specific group of students in front of you.  -DG

Source: James M. Lang. On Course: A Week-By-Week Guide to Your First Semester of College Teaching.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2008. 31-35.

Think about outcomes when making a syllabus

James Lang points out that the usual focus on coverage when preparing a syllabus considers the teacher ("the coverer") and the course materials ("the covered") but neglects the students. Lang recommends that when coming up with a syllabus, you should be "thinking first and foremost about what knowledge or skills students should learn in your course, and then thinking about the best ways for them to learn that knowledge or those skills." This may seem obvious, or too general, but it should guide nearly every decision you make as you put together your syllabus, and your course.  -DG

Source: James M. Lang. On Course: A Week-By-Week Guide to Your First Semester of College Teaching.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2008. 3-4.

First day of class introductions

Creating a friendly and supportive community among your class's students is a worthwhile goal, but it is one that is difficult to achieve quickly. Here, from David Royse, are some "warm-up techniques" to try on the first day of class, to encourage the students to relax with, interact with, and learn from each other.

"Each student: 

• Interviews a fellow student and prepares a 45-second introduction of the person on his or her right or left.
• Informs the class of something very few people would know (e.g., once shook hands with the President). 
• Describes the unique cultural experience or community in which he or she was raised. 
• Shares a wish, hope, or fear about the class. 
• Says, 'To know me, you would have to be familiar with the book ______'. 
• Lists three adjectives that best describe him or her. 
• Jots down a pet peeve or myth.
• Describes any relevant events or experiences that might make him or her an 'expert' on some area (e.g., lived in Belize for two years in conjunction with Peace Corps assignment; spent last four years working midnight to dawn in a bakery)."  -DG

Source: David Royse. Teaching Tips for College and University Instructors: A Practical Guide.  Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2001. 59.

Use Bloom's taxonomy to set assignment objectives

David Royse points his readers to a potentially useful set of guidelines for thinking about what you want to accomplish with your assignments. He quotes from Benjamin Bloom, whose "widely heralded set of educational objectives [...] may provide you with a useful starting place to begin thinking about the assignments you require." 

"Bloom's Cognitive Taxonomy

(Arranged from concrete to abstract and simple to complex levels)

Knowledge  (remembering factual materials): Students must remember, memorize, recognize, describe, and recall. Sample verbs that would be used: define, describe, list, name, cite, recall, state, identify.

Comprehension  (grasping the meaning of materials): Students must interpret, describe, and explain knowledge. Sample verbs that would be used: discuss, explain, interpret, extrapolate, arrange, sort, classify.

Application  (problem solving):   Students must apply facts, rules, and principles to produce some result. Sample verbs that would be used: apply, illustrate, sketch, solve, demonstrate, use.

Analysis  (an understanding of the structure and components of knowledge): Students must be able to break down knowledge and show relationships among the parts. Sample verbs that would be used: analyze, appraise, categorize, contrast, criticize, distinguish, examine, differentiate, compare.

Synthesis  (creating a unique, original product; combining ideas to form a new whole): Students must bring together parts and components of knowledge to form a whole and build relationships for new situations. Sample verbs that would be used: compose, create, construct, formulate, propose, plan, design, organize, prescribe.

Evaluation  (making value decisions about issues; resolving controversies): Students must make judgments about the value of materials for given purposes. Sample verbs that would be used: appraise, argue, assess, attack, compare, evaluate, predict, support, defend, recommend."  -DG

Source: David Royse. Teaching Tips for College and University Instructors: A Practical Guide. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2001. 42-43. Benjamin Bloom. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Vol. 1: Cognitive Domain. New York: McKay, 1956.

The Blank Syllabus

I got this strategy from Chris Walsh, of Boston University, who detailed it in his talk at the 2013 MLA Convention. He calls it the "blank syllabus," but it's not really blank at all. What is left blank are some of the assigned readings. In Chris's words, the students fill these blanks "by completing the first writing assignment, which requires them to choose a reading from the course anthology and to write a paper that advocates for making their selection required reading for the class."

I tried this out last spring in an American literature survey course. I wanted to have the students read one prose piece and one poem for each class period. I chose the prose pieces, but left an empty slot for a poem for each class. Each student's first writing assignment (due in the course's third week) was to find a poem in the class's assigned anthology and argue for its inclusion on the syllabus. After receiving these essays, I filled in the syllabus with the chosen poems; each student was tasked with leading the discussion on the day that his or her poem was discussed.

Walsh notes that this strategy can be modified due to the size of the class--I had under twenty students which made it pretty straightforward. With a larger class, Walsh suggests having the students vote for which selections actually make the syllabus.

In all, I found the strategy very successful, as it involved the students in the course's design from the start of the term, got them to actually spend some time with the anthology apart from the assigned readings, and encouraged them to discover what sort(s) of poetry they might actually prefer to read.  -DG

Source: Click here for a pdf of Walsh's more detailed explanation of his idea. 

A strategy to combat common writing errors ("gateway criteria")

If your students’ papers are filled with spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors, and you don’t wish to spend all of your marking time correcting these basic problems (particularly if you are not teaching English, and you have other content you wish to emphasize in your marking), here’s a strategy from Barbara Walvoord and Virginia Anderson’s Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment. They suggest setting “gateway criteria” for your class, clearly laid out standards that students must meet on each assignment before the paper is even graded. If they are not met, the student is given an F, and asked to revise and resubmit to be graded.

These criteria should be adjusted to the level of the students and made absolutely clear to them beforehand. Walvoord suggests that students can submit drafts a day or more before papers are due, to see if they meet the gateway criteria.  -DG

Source: Weimer, Maryellen, “A Strategy for Grading Student Writing Assignments.” Faculty Focus. Magna. 31 January 2012. Web. 24 July 2013. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/a-strategy-for-grading-student-writing-assignments/. Bas ed on research by Walvoord, B.E. and Anderson, V.J. Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010.

Encourage all students to talk, with poker chips

 In many discussion-heavy classes, only a handful of students dominate the conversation. Here’s a technique, from Bob Burdette, Assistant Professor of Accounting at Salt Lake Community College, to encourage everyone to participate. At the beginning of class, pass out two or three poker chips to each student. Whenever a student answers a question or makes a comment, she turns in one of her chips. When a student is out of chips, she can no longer speak, leaving those students with chips left to answer the remaining questions.  -DG

Source: Bart, Mary. “Classroom Discussion: Professors Share Favorite Strategies for Engaging Students.” Faculty Focus. Magna. 9 July 2012. Web. 24 July 2013. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/classroom-discussion-professors-share-favorite-strategies-for-engaging-students/

Term-long informal writing exercises

Devote the first ten minutes of each class to an informal writing assignment: give the students a prompt and have them write an answer in a specially devoted notebook. You can collect these student writing journals several times throughout the semester to check on your students’ progress and perhaps give them a grade. Some portion of the final class of the semester is devoted to an exercise that asks students to reflect on their writing throughout the term. You have them respond to four prompts:

            1) Go through and choose their strongest response of the term and briefly explain why it is the strongest;

            2) Choose the response that was the hardest to do and briefly explain why;

            3) Choose the response that “does the best job of stating their values and beliefs, and then … discuss how those values and beliefs have affected their ability to understand course content”; and

            4) Compare answers written during the first few weeks of the term with those written near the end of the course and describe the changes they see.  -DG

Source: Weimer, Maryellen. “Informal Writing Assignments: Promoting Learning Through Writing.” Faculty Focus. Magna. 6 November 2012. Web. 22 July 2013. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/informal-writing-assignments-promoting-learning-through-writing/. Based on research by Hudd, S.S., Smart, R.A., and Delohery, A.W. “My understanding has grown, my perspective has switched: Linking informal writing to learning goals.” Teaching Sociology, 39.2 (2011), 179-189.

Collect essay drafts without doubling your marking

Many teachers teach the revision process by having their students turn in each paper twice: first a draft, which is marked up and handed back, and then a revised version. John Sturtridge suggests a strategy that encourages students to take their first drafts seriously while potentially reducing the workload for the teacher. Require students to turn in rough drafts, but offer any student who receives an A grade on the first draft the option of taking that grade without having to revise and resubmit. Sturtridge reports that his students put more of an effort into their drafts, and he does not need to grade two papers for every student.  -DG

Source: Sturtridge, John. “Too Many Papers to Grade? Two Solutions.” Faculty Focus. Magna. 12 July 2013. Web. 21 July 2013. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/too-many-papers-to-grade-two-solutions

Have students respond to marked papers

When you return papers to students, have them 1) correct any grammatical or syntactical problems you have pointed out, either on the paper itself, or on a separate sheet, and 2) respond to any marginal comments you’ve made. Perhaps offer bonus points for thorough responses. This ensures that students actually read your comments, and that they might actually learn from them. -DG

Source: Tollefson, Stephen K. Encouraging Student Writing: A Guide for Instructors. Berkeley: Office of Educational Development, University of California, Berkley, 2002. 9. http://teaching.berkeley.edu/sites/teaching.berkeley.edu/files/encouraging_0.pdf

Paired Reading Responses

With each reading assignment, assign two students to be the designated responders. A day before in-class discussion of the reading, one student must post a brief response to or critique of the reading on the class’s online space. The second student must post a brief response or rebuttal to the first student’s piece. All students are required to read both commentaries before class.  -DG

Source: Filene, Peter. The Joy of Teaching : A Practical Guide for New College Instructors. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 2005, 71.

Advance reading handout

With each reading assignment, hand out a sheet to each of your students that includes an Invitation, a set of Reading Questions, and a set of Discussion Questions. The Invitation sets out why you care about the reading and why you believe your students should care. This can be three or four sentences that orient your students ahead of their reading. The two or three Reading Questions should guide your students as they read, help them identify what’s important, and underline what they should understand by the end. The Discussion Questions prompt students to think about the main issues and implications in the reading, and prepare students to come to class ready to talk about them. You can choose to collect these sheets and/or grade them if you wish.  -DG

Source: Filene, Peter. The Joy of Teaching : A Practical Guide for New College Instructors. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 2005, 65-70.