Lilly Series - Empathetic Teaching to Meet Student Needs

By guest blogger and Early LCC Laboratory Instructor, Heidi Jordan.  The Lilly Series is a set of posts based on sessions held at the Lilly Conference for Evidence-Based Teaching, October 2015. 

Rowell used this picture as a visual representation of empathy.

It can be easy to fall into the trap of frustration with the learner when students are not understanding course content or keeping up with the course load. At the Lilly conference, I attended a keynote presentation by Katherine Rowell on The Importance of Teacher Empathy in Student Success. It was an appreciated reminder of how I can use empathy to better meet the needs of our traditional and non-traditional students, helping them to succeed at Lansing Community College. 

We often think of having to water down the curriculum in order to show empathy for our students, however there are ways to do so without expecting your students to do or learn less. Getting to know your students is the first step. What are their personal and academic goals? What are their fears? You can better prepare yourself to meet their needs when you know what those needs are. Building rapport with students can be an important part of helping them feel comfortable in a college classroom setting. You might inject appropriate humor into your lectures to do this, or you might consider adapting a more authentic approach and teaching style. 

Building positive relationships with students can take time but there are practical and simple things that can be done immediately to show empathy and understanding of your student’s needs. Your syllabus could be “warmed,” reviewing the language and adapting it with terms that are easily understood by your students. Emailing or calling students when they miss class can be a personal way to connect with them to let them know it was noticed. Some instructors might even consider encouraging activities outside of the classroom, i.e., peer lunches or study groups in the park. 

Reviewing your tardy and attendance policies, or offering a limited amount of test retakes might be another idea. Many colleges and universities are moving to policies that scaffold their expectations based on the course level and student population. Our work as educators is becoming increasingly complex as our students have increasingly varied needs. Using empathy with our students may be the key to their success. 

If you'd like to learn more about the Lilly Conference, visit the CTE or contact Heidi Jordan at jordanh@star.lcc.edu.

T5 - Tabbed Browsers

Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox all support “tabbed browsing.” Tabs allow users to open new websites without starting separate browser windows and jumping from site to site is accomplished by clicking the tabs. 

Tabbed browsing has one disadvantage; it is easy to inadvertently click the “x” icon on the right of each tab. Closing the tab unintentionally could result in lost work. 

Fortunately, a recently closed tab can be resurrected by pressing the Ctrl+Shift+T combination (hold down the control and shift keys and tap the “T” key). This tip works for all three browsers.

For more information, visit us in the CTE or email John Thommen at thommej@lcc.edu.

Lilly Series - Gone Fishing: How Bass Fishing Can Enhance Your Classroom Teaching

By guest blogger and LCC math professor, Cathy Griffin.  The Lilly Series is a set of posts based on sessions held at the Lilly Conference for Evidence-Based Teaching, October 2015.

Lilly Conference Session facilitated by Jay Rozema- Missouri Valley College

At the Lilly Conference in Traverse City, Professor Rozema said, “Fishing for bass is similar to teaching college.” He then showed video clips of fishermen sharing the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and “to not let past fishing success dictate the bait we use or where we fish.” So, don’t let past teaching success dictate the teaching ‘tools’ we use or the ‘way’ in which we teach. The same techniques don’t always work; we must adapt and always keep a positive attitude. 

Catching bass is similar to teaching students in that we need to ‘hook’ them. We need to keep putting different ‘baits’ out in front of them to ‘lure’ them into learning and make them want to ‘bite into’ the content. He said that if one ‘lure’ doesn’t work, we need to maintain a positive attitude and try different techniques (eg. different color, texture, and kind of bait). 

Bass follow a pattern that is similar to the patterns of student learning. 

Spring (semester start): Bass want to spawn; they are easy to find and easy to catch. At semester start, students are excited and eager to learn since they are motivated to do well. 

Post Spawn/Summer (midterm): Bass are said to be ‘lock-jaw’. They want to feel safe, so they head to deeper water where they can ‘breathe easy’ as there is more oxygen there. Bass are lethargic and not interested in most bait. They are difficult to catch! Students get ‘lock-brain’ about mid-semester during mid-terms. They are easily distracted (Facebook, Snap Chat, parties, football games) and are looking for comfort and safety, often missing the objectives that we are ‘casting’ their way. 

Fall (end of semester): Bass head to shallow water once again chasing shad. They are gorging on food and are very active as they bulk up for winter. Students at semester end are eager once again; they are ‘gorging’ on material as they prepare for the Final Exam and are frantic about the end-of-the-semester. Often you will hear them asking for ‘more’… (extra credit). 

As a result of this, we should put our most important concepts in the beginning of the semester and at the end, considering that is when we will most likely ‘catch’ those bass (students)! 

If you'd like to learn more about the Lilly Conference, visit the CTE or contact Catherine Griffin at griffic@lcc.edu.

Merlot II: An Open Education Repository

At Lansing Community College, instructors are beginning to consider Open Education Resources (OERs) as an alternative to the traditional textbook requirement (Textbook Crisis).  Finding quality materials can be challenging if you start from a simple Google search of your subject matter.  Online repositories that sort and catalog learning materials can save instructors time by narrowing thousands of hits into a few dozen high quality learning objects.

Merlot II offers a repository of materials that are contributed and reviewed by educators worldwide.  The site is administered by The California State University, and has been collecting resources since 1997.  This is a true open resource, with an active and generous following.  Instructors can use the materials without logging in, but free membership includes the opportunity to review posted materials and keep a bookmarked collection of your own favorites.

To provide an example, I did a quick search with the term “business” and turned up a tutorial, “Guide to Financial Statements.”  I can see from the resource summary that the material is highly rated and has been updated recently (June 2015).  In addition to tutorials, the search returned case studies, videos, and animations, which can all be sorted by the date modified or highest rating.  

In the search for Open Education Resources, sites like Merlot can be a great starting point.  If you want to discuss Merlot, OERs, or other educational technologies, email Meg Elias at clarkm1@star.lcc.edu, or stop by the Center for Teaching Excellence, TLC 324.
 

Inside the Teaching Professor: August/September

The Teaching Professor includes summarized articles from various educational publications, as well as original articles from university and college instructors. If you are interested in reviewing articles in this and/or other publications, please stop by the CTE, TLC 324, where you can read in a comfortable setting and enjoy a complimentary cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.

Continuous and Rapid Test (CaRT): A Simple Tool for Assessment and Communication 

In this article, the authors discuss a technique, CaRT, to assess student understanding of course material in almost every class session. Instructors give each student a 3x5 card as they enter class and instruct them to answer the 2 or 3 questions on the overhead/board. These questions pertain to material covered in the preceding class. On the back of the card, students may include any concepts or material that they feel are difficult or confusing. After collecting the cards, the instructor reveals the correct answers to the questions.

Before the next class, the instructor reviews all of the cards taking note of how well students were able to answer the questions, and how well each student was able to understand recently covered material. If only one or two students appear to have some difficulty, the CaRT process allows instructors to either review material with the entire class or to invite those one or two students to review the material during office hours. “CaRT can help teachers feel the ‘pulse’ and progress of the class on a day-to-day basis and help in monitoring attendance. It encourages students to come to class prepared and reduces procrastination.”

Reference:
Dam, Tarun K., and Purnima Bandyopadhyay. "Continuous and Rapid Test (CaRT): A Simple Tool for Assessment and Communication." The Teaching Professor Aug/Sept. 2015: 1. Print.

Teaching Tip - Study Skills Videos

The purpose of LCC’s Operation 100% is for every student to reach their degree, certificate, or transfer goal. Unfortunately, many students don’t arrive in classes fully equipped to meet those goals. Educators have known for a long time that students who “know how to learn” and can self-regulate their learning activities are more successful; faculty can support students who lack such skills by helping them acquire those self-regulating behaviors (VanZile-Tamsen & Livingtson, 1999).

One simple way faculty can help students develop such self-regulating behaviors is directing them to existing videos explaining the study skills students need. Search YouTube for short videos that address a specific skill your students need. For instance, you may want to share a video about overcoming test anxiety or how to effectively read a textbook. You can share them with students in a number of ways:

• Have students watch an appropriate video as part of their homework or at the end of class. Then direct students to use the technique in preparing for the next class. Provide a task that both reviews course content and has students reflect on how they used their new study skill to effectively learn the material.
• If you are hesitant to take up class time, consider creating a custom D2L widget with an embedded study skills video. Remember to change the video regularly.
• While students are entering the room, play a video that could provide them with the study skills relevant to upcoming course work.
• Embed a link to a study skills video in your syllabus. For example, you can provide a link about proofreading or plagiarism if your syllabus emphasizes such issues. Include a question on the syllabus quiz about the video.

While many such videos exist, my favorite online purveyor of college success advice is "The College Info Geek," Thomas Frank. In addition to his YouTube videos, he also tweets advice under the handle @ThomasFranky as well as produces a blog and podcast that can be found at http://collegeinfogeek.com/.

VanZile-Tamsen, C., & Livingston, J. A. (1999). The differential impact of motivation on the self-regulated strategy use of high- and low-achieving college students. Journal of College Student Development, 40(1), 54.

If you would like to share your ideas or learn more about study skills videos, Stop by the Center for Teaching Excellence (Room 324 TLC) or email Leslie Johnson at farrisl@star.lcc.edu.

Change Up Your Presentations with New Fonts

Microsoft products come with a standard set of fonts, and you probably have your favorites.  But did you know that there’s a whole world of different styles out there that are free and easy to use in your documents and presentations?

FontSquirrel is a site that collects high-quality fonts which are available to download for free. 

If you find a font you like on the site:

1.  Check to see that the font is a True Type Font (TFF).  True Type Fonts are more likely to work properly when embedded into Microsoft files. 

2.  Click the Download button below the font. The font files will download as a zip file.

2.  Once the download is finished, double click on the font file and the file will open.  Click on Install at the top of the window.  

You may be presented with files for Regular, Bold, Italics, or other versions of the font.  Each one must be installed separately if you want these options.

3.  The next time you open Word, PowerPoint, or any other Microsoft product, you can choose the new font from the list.

Note:  If you use a custom font and plan to open the file on another computer, you must embed the font in the file.  Directions for this process can be found here.  In my experience, there are some True Type Fonts that will not embed correctly.  It’s best to test the process by embedding the font and opening the file on another computer before you attempt to use your presentation in class.

If you want to learn more about fonts, visit us in the CTE or email Meg Elias at clarkm1@star.lcc.edu.