I had a slightly frustrating morning. I've just started the second week of a new quarter at school. The first class that I teach on Wednesdays is abnormally quiet. At first, I thought that the silence might be the fact that the students are adjusting to a new classroom/professor/course topic. But the adjustment period should be over by now, and these students are still insanely quiet. As in, silent as the grave. In all of the classes that I have taught, I have never had a class this quiet.
As I dance around the classroom, scribbling all over whiteboards, shouting about Michelangelo at the top of my lungs, these students look back with blank stares and expressionless faces. I almost feel like I'm lecturing in a different language and they can't understand me. They don't even laugh at my jokes (which aren't that funny in the first place, but my second section of the same course thinks that I'm pretty funny). Most importantly, it's hard to perceive if these quiet students understand the subject matter. If I ask if they understand a concept that was introduced, I'm met with blank stares. I have to plead with them to nod their heads if they understand, so I can have at least some kind of acknowledgment that we can move forward.
Anyhow, it's particularly frustrating for me, because I like to have my classes built around discussions. I want to encourage students to think critically about art, to share their ideas, and to sometimes have debates over controversial topics. And it has been so difficult to get these students to say hardly anything.
So what do I do? Give them a harsh "talking to?" Force them to speak by calling on individuals? I can do this if necessary, but I think that it makes the students uncomfortable and slightly resentful. These students already know that their grade for the course is contingent upon their participation in class discussions, but this doesn't seem to serve as much motivation. I suppose I could just give up and lecture to them the whole time (without asking for a single question or opinion), but this seems so boring. And students will just tune me out (or go to sleep) if I drone on endlessly.
Any thoughts? I realize that many readers of this blog are not professors or educators, but I'd still like to hear your opinion. What has worked to help you to participate or encourage participation in a classroom setting?
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8 comments:
In my spanish class in high school, my teacher gave us "pesos" when we answered a question in spanish. we would put our names on them and then hand them in at the end of class. he would re-use them until the paper money was full of names or ripped. we had to get a certain number of pesos and they counted towards our participation grade.
In my women's studies class, we sat is a circle around the room and the whole class was based on whether we had read the book and we were required to say something about it or we lost participation points.
College students are different than 5th graders or YW, but the misery of teaching to a dead class is always the same. I detest the idea of overly forced participation. In my opinion it can make comments more thoughtless and once a comment is made, the student can tune out, already having got credit for participating. Sometimes making comments in a large group can be intimidating. Putting them in smaller groups to share reactions or discuss can be helpful. Or saying, "Turn to the person next to you and tell them what you think." Sometimes these can get the ball rolling. It's amazing how many 'elementary school' ideas can also work for getting the YW to participate. Things like "You have 10 minutes to make a Poster, Create a skit, write a poem, etc." Then share with the group. Even movement around the room can help relax or wake up the group. "Stand up if you've ever been in a situation like this." Or "Find someone else in the room who shares your opinion about this piece of art." Obviously, some of these ideas take more time, but they can be effective for getting more participation and assessing how well they are understanding. And a final, ridiculous and easy idea, that my students used to love. Bring some type of fun object to throw around the room (think koosh ball). When you have a question you want answered, discussed, toss the ball to someone to start the discussion. They pass it on to the next person. And then the next - you could let them know a number ahead of time (pass it on to 4 other people) or just stop the comments and passing when you've heard enough. You're not always the mean professor calling on people since they choose who's next, and as I said, there's something ridiculously fun about throwing things around a classroom. Thanks for letting me be on my educator soapbox for a few minutes. :) Hope some of my ideas help - GOOD LUCK!
M, teaching Michelangelo it's hard to apply techniques of participatory or self-guided learning that might help get them moving. THat's pretty much why i stopped teaching ren art.
In my museums management class the other day i used a business brainstorming technique. I drew the museum as a series of boxes one inside the other, and gave each student postits. The exercise was a brainstorm about elements that we need to consider when developing the display in each part of the museum. Each student had to write on the post it, get up, stick it to the wall, and defend her idea. I used some students to rearrange post its, and for the first part of the 9am class i made them stay standing, until they just looked like zombies standing up so i said they could sit. The result is posted as a photo on my fb profile should you wish to see what we made. But here's an observation: Students are so used to being lectured AT that when you give them the opportunity to be noisy and do something active, they don't fully grasp it! As much as this ought to have been a full fledged "bordello" situation (in the italian sense of the word which probably don't translate), they really just bounced ideas to me, not between each other. Booo.
In my evening ren art hist class i used to make them get up and do a few yoga poses halfway through. They liked this so much that it was done upon request when i stopped doing it.
ps since we're revealing our other secret blogs, the link leads to my teaching blog ;-)
Hey buddy, I think that I like Alex's idea. Whenever I have a horribly quite group and I want to rip out all of my hair by the end of the day because I feel like I have been jumping up and down without so much of a smile, a good "action activity," yes I just made that up, seems to get them used to each other a little bit more.
I hate quiet groups like this, and like you mentioned, when I just get dumbhead blank stares with little feedback as to whether or not they are learning anything.
sigh... good luck!
At what time is your class? Early? I suggest, before you rip your lovely hair or start tap-dancing, that you bring donuts or bagels one morning. It's an investment in mingling, but might break the ice AND the glucose might help them start engaging. I'm sure they enjoy you, but sluggish student brains need lots of stimulation before 10 or 11 AM.
Bring treats bring treats! And throw candy at them for every question they answer.
In my quieter classes, I've done a lot more group work. Sometimes students who are reluctant to open up to the teacher will chatter away with classmates. I don't know if that would work out well with your content, but it might be worth a shot.
Thanks for the comments, friends. And thanks to those who emailed me with suggestions and advice. I like the idea of group activities (which I try to do on a semi-regular basis), and perhaps I'll brainstorm some more activities that I can incorporate into lecture.
The thought to bring food is a good idea, too. I hadn't thought of that one. This class is at 10:00 am, so people usually aren't too hungry at that point. But hey, people always eat donuts and candy, even if they aren't hungry.
The class is at 10:00 am??? I was thinking surely it was 7am or something crazy. I only teach the blogging class at the library, but I also really struggle when I'm not getting much feedback. I know my jokes are lame, but when not even one person laughs it really throws me off. I also suffer from the problem of not knowing people's names, so I can't call on anyone to ask a question. But it's usually so awkward that someone eventually pipes up. You'd think that people who are actually PAYING for a class would be more involved. Silly college students.
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