Transcript Blossoms on STEM Expectations

Sponsored by UMD’s Center for Teaching Excellence
Cultivating Understanding of Student
and Faculty Classroom Expectations
2011-2012 Lilly Graduate Fellows:
Presenters: Elise Larsen, Karl Schmitt
Andrea Andrew, Abdel-Hameed Badawy, Mara Dougherty, Katie Marie Hrapczynski, Matthew Walker Miller,
Breanne Robertson, Artesha Taylor Sharma
Co-Investigators: Spencer Benson, Sabrina Kramer, Alexis Williams
• Student expectations for a course?
• Teaching techniques?
• Technologies and tools?
• Different Assessments?
• Student expectations for instructors?
• Types of Communication?
• Do these student expectations match
faculty’s impressions?
• How can we identify similarities and
discrepancies?
• How do we address these?
• Motivation and Introduction
• Summary of (Pilot) Tool & Responses
• Audience Choice of Two Data-sets
• Misconceptions Students think Faculty Have
• Conclusions & Discussion
Tool Requirements:
• Address areas of concern raised previously•
•
•
•
Learning Activities
Learning Assessments
Technology
Instructor Communication
• Broad Applicability
• Appropriate length
• Sufficiently Informative
• Flexibility
Pilot Student Survey


Instructor Survey
27 Instructors; 25 courses
816 students enrolled in STEM
courses
Class Distribution
23%
28%
29%
Sophmore
Junior
Senior
288 instructors across all
disciplines at UMDCP
Major Distribution
Position Distribution
27%
29%
20%
Freshman

73%
44%
27%
Tenure & Tenure-Track
STEM
Non-STEM
Other Instructors
Graduate Students / TAs
1. Learning Activities
Classroom Discussion, Readings, Chalk-/White-Boards, Study Guides, Demonstrations
2. Learning Assessment
Exam types, Projects, Papers, Homework, Class Participation
3. Technology
PowerPoint, ELMS, e-Texts, Clickers, Social Media
4. Instructor Communication
Types of Communication/Availability- Office Hours, Classroom, Non-Office Hours, Naming
Afterwards:
Misconceptions Students think Faculty have…..
1. Learning Activities
Classroom Discussion, Readings, Chalk-/White-Boards, Study Guides, Demonstrations
2. Learning Assessment
Exam types, Projects, Papers, Homework, Class Participation
3. Technology
PowerPoint, ELMS, e-Texts, Clickers, Social Media
4. Instructor Communication
Types of Communication/Availability- Office Hours, Classroom, Non-Office Hours, Names
Activities
Assessment
Technology
Instructor
Afterwards:
Misconceptions Students think Faculty have…..
1. Study Guides
2. Discussions
3. Readings
4. Demonstrations
5. Chalk-/White-board
33%
33%
0%
1
33%
0%
2
3
4
5
Expectation of Learning Components
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Study Guides
Discussions
Students
Readings
Demonstrations Chalkboard/WB
Faculty Perception
Spring 2012
Expectation of Learning Activity Components by Class
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Study Guides
Discussions
Freshman
Readings
Sophomore
Demonstrations Chalkboard/WB
Junior
Senior
Spring 2012
25% 1.
Learning Activities
25% 2.
Learning Assessment
Classroom Discussion, Readings, Chalk-/White-Boards, Study Guides, Demonstrations
Exam types, Projects, Papers, Homework, Class Participation
25% 3.
Technology
PowerPoint, ELMS, e-Texts, Clickers, Social Media
25% 4.
Instructor Communication
Types of Communication/Availability- Office Hours, Classroom, Non-Office Hours, Naming
Activities
Assessment
Technology
Instructor
Afterwards:
Misconceptions Students think Faculty have…..
1. Multiple Choice Exams
2. Essay-Based Exams
3. Individual Projects
4. Group Projects
5. Written Papers
6. Homework
7. Class Participation
50%
0%
0%
1
2
3
50%
0%
0%
4
5
0%
6
7
Expectations of Learning Assessment Components
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Multiple
choice
Exams
Essay-based Individual
Exams
projects
Student
Written
papers
Group
Projects
Faculty Perception
Homework
Student
participation
Spring 2012
Expectations of Learning Assessment Components by Class
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Multiple
Choice
Exams
Essay-Based
Exams
Freshman
Individual
Projects
Group
Projects
Sophomore
Written
Papers
Junior
Homework
Class
Participation
Senior
Spring 2012
25% 1.
Learning Activities
25% 2.
Learning Assessment
Classroom Discussion, Readings, Chalk-/White-Boards, Study Guides, Demonstrations
Exam types, Projects, Papers, Homework, Class Participation
25% 3.
Technology
PowerPoint, ELMS, e-Texts, Clickers, Social Media
25% 4.
Instructor Communication
Types of Communication/Availability- Office Hours, Classroom, Non-Office Hours, Naming
Activities
Assessment
Technology
Instructor
Afterwards:
Misconceptions Students think Faculty have…..
50%
1. PowerPoint
2. Learning Management
System (ELMS, etc)
3. E-Textbooks
4. Social Media
5. Clickers
50%
0%
1
2
3
0%
0%
4
5
Expectations of Technology Components
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Powerpoint
Learning
Management
System
Student
e-Textbooks
Social Media
Faculty Perception
Clickers
Spring 2012
Expectations of Technology Components by Class
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Powerpoint
Learning
Management
System
Freshman
e-Textbooks
Sophomore
Social Media
Junior
Senior
Clickers
Spring 2012
25% 1.
Learning Activities
25% 2.
Learning Assessment
Classroom Discussion, Readings, Chalk-/White-Boards, Study Guides, Demonstrations
Exam types, Projects, Papers, Homework, Class Participation
25% 3.
Technology
PowerPoint, ELMS, e-Texts, Clickers, Social Media
25% 4.
Instructor Communication
Types of Communication/Availability- Office Hours, Classroom, Non-Office Hours, Naming
Activities
Assessment
Technology
Instructor
Afterwards:
Misconceptions Students think Faculty have…..
1. Office Hours
2. Interaction with
Students in Class
3. Accessibility Outside
Office Hours
4. Know Student Names
25%
1
25%
25%
2
3
25%
4
Expectations for Each Instructor Component
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Office Hours
Interaction with
Students in Class
Student
Accessible Outside
Office Hours
Faculty Perception
Know Student
Names
Spring 2012
Expectations for Each Instructor Component by Class
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Office Hours
Interaction with
Students in Class
Freshman
Sophomore
Accessibility
Outside Office
Hours
Junior
Senior
Know Student
Names
Spring 2012
25% 1.
Learning Activities
25% 2.
Learning Assessment
Classroom Discussion, Readings, Chalk-/White-Boards, Study Guides, Demonstrations
Exam types, Projects, Papers, Homework, Class Participation
25% 3.
Technology
PowerPoint, ELMS, e-Texts, Clickers, Social Media
25% 4.
Instructor Communication
Types of Communication/Availability- Office Hours, Classroom, Non-Office Hours, Naming
Activities
Assessment
Technology
Instructor
Afterwards:
Misconceptions Students think Faculty have…..
• Open-Ended Question:
• “What misconceptions do you think faculty have
about students?”
• 473 student responses
• What themes do you think were voiced in
their responses?
• We identified the following themes in student
responses:
• Dominate Themes (>100):
-Student time commitments
-Student effort, attitude
• Tertiary Themes (<30):
- Students goals and grades
- Prerequisites
- Major or class specific comments
- Cheating
• Secondary Themes (~40):
-Effectiveness of pedagogy
-Pace and student
comprehension
- Teaching tools
- Student-instructor communication
- Other
- No Misconceptions
Student time commitments (130 responses)
“I think professors frequently underestimate the average workload
of a full-time student”
“[Some faculty believe] That we are only in THEIR class and don't
take any other time-consuming courses or have jobs “
“They forget not all the students are traditional college students
some work a lot and have responsibilities beyond school”
Student effort & attitude (145 responses)
“[Faculty believe] That students are lazy and try to take the easy way
out whenever possible”
“[Faculty believe] That our grades on exams directly correlate to how
we feel about the course material..i.e. a bad exam grade means
the student does not care”
“[Faculty believe] That if they don't show up to office hours/review
sessions then they do not care about their grades”
“[Faculty believe] That we only want to get a good grade and typically
aren't very interested in learning. Or that we should know
everything we are told to learn, even when that includes minor
details that aren't emphasized in lecture”
Pedagogy (49 responses)
Faculty believe “That students prefer an excessive amount of "easy"
questions on exams in comparison to a shorter amount of more
difficult questions. “
“When teaching a large class, it is easy to overlook the fact that
there are individuals in your class with individual needs. Also, I
feel that chemistry professors in particular have trouble explaining
concepts to students. They assume that it makes sense to the
students because it makes sense to them.”
Faculty believe “That PowerPoints are an effective teaching method.
They are good for presentation of material, not retention. A
presenter is not synonymous with a teacher.”
Many students touched on several themes:
“[Faculty believe] That we don't want to learn -- if we show up to
class, we are there to learn -- it is not hard to "skip" a class. In that
vein, if we are in class, please -- do not baby us, do not mock us
for asking questions, and do not waste your time or ours going
into information that is irrelevant. Good lectures are key to a good
class, whether or not the course material is interesting.”
“I think they think that if we are using our lap tops we are on
facebook but that is not always true. I also think they think we
don't do the reading but in reality many people do, its just that
there is so much reading that it might take a few reminders of
which reading we are talking about before the faculty should jump
to the conclusion that no body did the reading.”
• Students and instructors do not always agree on
expectations
• Many students feel that instructors do not value
student time, attitude and effort.
• This tool provides an opportunity early in the
semester for instructors and students to
communicate about expectations in the classroom
• UMCP Center for Teaching Excellence
• Spencer Benson, Sabrina Kramer, Alexis Williams
• Instructors and students who participated in the
surveys
• Faculty who distributed the student survey