One Instructor's Method for Class Participation

Contributed by Craig Derscheid, Instructor of Speech and Journalism/Film

I feel this is a very important part of the classroom environment. I tell my students that this is a way to let me know what they are thinking about and maybe just to ask questions. But what is the right amount of participation?

Sometimes you have students who love to dominate the discussion. I tell my students that after they have made three comments each, they can take a break and let the other students give me their insight through discussion. But what happens sometimes is that you may have complete silence.

At that point, I will call on specific students to get involved in the discussion.

In my film classes, students are not necessarily giving right or wrong answers but using the terms we talk about in class to analyze the film. This is a little easier than if they have to give a right or wrong answer. If I can't get the students to speak up at all, I remind them as I stated at the beginning of the semester I need to have them participate in discussions. If we can't get a good discussion going, I will have them write a one page type written paper about what we should be discussing and give them 10 points for writing an accurate analysis of the film just viewed. This works sometimes but not always to help them to participate.

These are just a few thoughts on getting students to participate in class discussion, which, for my teaching style, is very important. Do you have problems with participation? What are your helpful tips for us to learn from?

Teaching with The Mindset List

A couple of weeks ago in A210 we listened in on a free Mediasite webinar about The Mindset List, a "globally reported and utilized guide to the intelligent if unprepared adolescent consciousness."

The Mindset List, which Beloit College has been updating for over a decade, is now a book, and the authors, Tom McBride and Ron Nief, led us through an hour long discussion of putting the list to use in the modern classroom.

There were a number of eye-opening statements from McBride & Nief, including the following:

• It's not that the students don't know, but that they haven't had the same experiences
• The students assume that the technology is there and possible, because it always has been!
• Time magazine published its issue "Welcome to Cyberspace" the year most of our students were born--for them, it has always been a reality
• Dealing with technology in the classroom and teaching responsible use of technology in higher education is a recursive process
• Students need to understand that there's a difference between instant information and instant right answers

I got some great ideas for approaching students, and for using new strategies in the classroom. Some of the ideas grew from things I already do--like using design elements in my presentations (photos, media) instead of too much text. But there were a lot of things I plan to try this semester and semesters to come, including:

• Defining what "being prepared" means in my classroom
• Flipping my classroom so that I use lecture capture to record lectures for students to watch as homework and use my face-to-face classroom time for "lab" work, which in English usually means drafting, consulting/peer review, and revision time

I also plan to continue to mine current technology and social media trends for things I can apply to my classroom for the students' benefit.

Overall, the webinar was a success, but it made me curious to pick your brains and ask: What do you do to reach your modern students, and what do you think you might start doing differently?