- Greeted students as they came in
- This is something I have learned from the French, with which I agree. It's not nearly as common in the US, but it does make for a more pleasant setting, so I have tried to match the courtesy.
- Abrupt start of the class, with little time for students to settle
- This is true. This is mostly a cultural difference between myself and the French. As an American, I feel that the designated starting time for the class is absolute; at the moment that the clock ticks to that time, students should be at their desk, ready to begin class. The period between classes is when they should complete any socializing that they feel is necessary. That said, I will try to be a little more tolerant. :-)
- Did not introduce Jérémie at the start of class
- This is correct, I managed to forgot (which, in a way, is a good thing; it means I was able to forget that I was being observed, and behave naturally.) However, I did finally remember about halfway through to introduce him. (Sorry about that!)
- Students were using cellphones and computers in class to look at facebook, etc.
- This is something I have been trying more to enforce. In the past, I allowed students to do whatever they wanted with computers or phones. This year I have generally been asking them to put them away during class. I neglected to in this class. I am being more resolute about that in the future.
- A rather long video for the case
- This is true. I selected a rather long video since I was assuming that the students would not be prepared for class, and would need an introduction to the topic. Jérémie suggested that I provide the video before the class; however, I feel that this would suffer the same problem as the reading-- the students would not do it. I have tried to remedy this somewhat by finding shorter videos that still cover the basics of the topic, which seems to be working.
- Circulated listening and commented as students deliberated the case
- I don't always succeed at this; it is one area where my introversion really hurts. I find it hard to put myself out front that way, preferring to respond when asked. However, I know this is a better way to do it. I need to find a way to manage it more regularly that still allows me to conserve my energy.
- A rather long lecture section toward the end
- Again, this is true; it was about 20 minutes long. This was the section were I gave the students more information that they weren't going to get from the text, and some observations from my personal experience in the topic. Jérémie did comment that although this would generally be considered to be too long, he felt that it was nonetheless interesting and engaging; and that the students also seemed to be getting more interested as it went on. As such, it probably doesn't need much addressing, although I do try to generally keep this section somewhat shorter. The topic was a bit too complex to do that with in this case. :-)
- Rather remarkable management of time, with no visible method of timekeeping
- I wish I could take credit for this, but I think it is more that my checking of time was subtle enough to escape Jérémie's notice. I do try to keep my clock-watching non-obvious. :-) That said, I do have a good idea of how long each part of the class should take, and can generally keep it on track. Usually my classes are finished sometime between 5 minutes before to 2 minutes after scheduled time. It also helps that my sense of time duration seems to be pretty good. :-)
- A lack of a summary at the end
- This was an excellent point, and one I immediately addressed (I had three more class sessions after the one Jérémie saw). For the last 2-3 minutes, I have the students volunteer what they have learned, and have only a couple of times needed to note a point or two they missed. This was an excellent suggestion!
Please let me know if I have forgotten anything, Jérémie! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!
1. Abrupt start of the class: I agree you should not start to talk at 8h02 about concepts/theory/content. A compromise could be that you start the class lightly with a quiz or exercise to let them get into a learning mood. For example, you could simply start with a question (that would be an appetizer). That would also train students to be on time and at the same time, it does not require high levels of cognitive engagement while it helps build it up.
ReplyDelete2. It depends on the video but since attention switches every 4th minute, this could be a good benchmark.
Asking them to read in advance is a skill we need to train. Unfortunately IESEG students are not trained to read before coming to class unless it is graded or part of the prerequisite to take part in an activity. This works like an external motivation trigger but I am afraid that if the school does not change as a whole, it is harder to do. It is important to explain why they need to prepare. I ask my students to read some material in advance and if they do not, they cannot take part to an activity. I also put pressure on them by underlying the harm to their team and/or the group when they come unprepared (those who did the pre exercise versus those who did not = collective responsibility) but it is not a magic bullet. As I said, they would need more time to learn between courses. But I generally agree that by asking a series of shorter exercises or videos or whatever, we increase the probability they will actually do it.
3. In terms of timing, lecturing 20 minutes towards the end might be the moment where the peak of attention is the lowest. I suggest to integrate “mini-lectures” all the way and only use rephrasing/summarizing/recap exercise at the end (no new complex material).
4. Having the students summarizing their own learning is the best strategy (in terms of memory storage but also engagement)
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