I was quite struck by Thursday’s class discussion of the principles and skills necessary for effective teaching. The lot mentioned by the groups in class –flexibility with one’s course schedule, the ability to improvise, a focus on measuring learning gains, taking a “true” interest in one’s students, and remaining passionate about the subject – are all characteristics I’ve tried to incorporate into my own teaching over the past few semesters.
Upon further reflection of what it takes to be the most effective instructor possible, I also pondered how I can ensure my students are truly grasping the concepts I teach. As an instructor, I can give my all in conveying the essentials of composition – but what will that truly matter to the disconnected student? It is easy for a student to appear engaged during a lecture or class activity -- to appear as though he or she is receiving the transmittal of concepts I’ve put forth in the classroom -- when in fact he or she is thinking about what’s for dinner in the student dining hall that evening. The fact is, much of the time, students are simply uninterested in the topic of composition, and the result is an unengaged student who learns little in the course of a semester.
The matter of disinterested student is further aggravated by a matter Dr. Kemp mentions in his short essay “The Principles of Instruction.” He explains that those who teach English composition courses are more often than not viewing the information through an entirely different context than for those that he or she instructs: “The contexts of the teacher, who is "transmitting" the knowledge, are necessarily quite different from those of the student, who is "receiving" the knowledge” (Kemp par. 2). The pipeline of knowledge transmittal, therefore, is often muddled at best. This jumbled message and lack of a shared context, therefore, often erases the already disengaged student's incentive to put forth further effort in the composition classroom.
So, as neophyte instructors, what can we do to engage this student? I feel Dr. Kemp’s suggestion to refrain from “teaching by talking” is an astute alternative. No matter how engaging we might personally find the material, it seems that the classroom lecture is a set-up for inevitable failure in the composition classroom. While some instructors might still see the value of this teaching method, Dr. Kemp’s suggestion of opening up the “pipeline” by presenting the material in such a way that students can negotiate the course material themselves and consequently “do” rather than “listen” seems a practical option for reaching students with somewhat limited context and interest in the course. This, more specifically, means leading sessions of task-based, real-world problem-solving with composition applications. It means guided discussion, peer review of paper drafts, and engaging students in new media. Opening up the pipeline, in essence, means reaching students in fresh and varied ways; it means engaging the modern student with a kind of hands-on learning that may ultimately act as the Dran-O for the pipeline we must attempt to unclog.
Works Cited
Kemp, Fred. The Principles of Instruction. History and Theory of College Composition, 2010.
Erin, I like what you've laid out here. However, I'd like to have you clarify the "leading sessions of task-based, real-world problem-solving with composition applications" quote.
ReplyDeleteGuided discussions are awesome, and I've based almost my entire teaching system on getting constant feedback from the students and having them answer and explain rather than me. It takes a lot of bouncing around and energy on my part to keep them engaged, but once I lock them in they usually take over the class (obviously with a little steering by the instructor when they begin to stray from the topic).
Never underestimate the power of peer review and editing. In fact, I feel this is one of the strongest tools in our teaching shed. As we discussed slightly yesterday, having them read equally bad papers (theirs), they begin to see their mistakes. Not to mention, a little academic competition never killed anyone. These guys are at the peak age of their vanity: use it against them for good rather than looks.
The new media–urrrggghhh–I need to start embracing it. But I still have reservations to bringing it into the classroom. I'm one of those old school guys and recognize I need to change but...
I regret that I missed Tuesday's class. I was looking forward to the discussion of effective teaching principals and skills. I completely agree with your argument that we should be creative in the classroom, and not fall back on the lecture tradition. However, given the assumption that an instructor does use every available resource to teach effectively, it also has to be acknowledged that no one can make someone learn. No matter how effective an instructor is, the burden of learning still lies with the student. I think the students sometimes forget that it is the instructor's responsibility to teach effectively, but it is the student's responsibility to learn.
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