Higher Education Observer

I come down on the side of keeping one's mouth shut.   https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/12/14/should-professors-talk-about-now-notable-former-students?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=3d4ea1e011-DNU20171214&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-3d4ea1e011-198482621&mc_cid=3d4ea1e011&mc_eid=ab27a3f05f

Good synopsis of the nudging concept--will definitely read the book.  It sounds very similar to Festinger's cognitive dissonance, Cialdini's "click-whirrs," and Vygotsky's range of proximal development.  https://www.eab.com/blogs/student-success-insights/2017/12/nudging?elq_cid=1732171&x_id=003C000001ocYBxIAM&WT.mc_id=%7CSSCC%7CBalert%7CBlog%7CEmail%20Marketing%7C2017Dec18%7CStudentRetentionandSuccess%7CALL%7CNudging&&elqTrackId=be23713539c44a7eb406b8e1d44223c1&elq=1314ca5da20d4c18bcb50c655e84d8ed&elqaid=73415&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=34635#10;?elqTrackId=ac6fea7c46c946c7a52b0a22f170d586

First, to reflect is NOT to communicate.  Reflection is metacognition, not communication.  When we ask students to write a reflection paper, we are asking them to communicate, not reflect.  They are two separate things. Yes, writing can be and is usually an excellent reflective device (not for everyone), but we don't really grade them on the reflection, but on how they write it up.  If they use writing to reflect, the product will not be in a form that necessarily follows rhetorical forms and makes sense to a reader.  If the reflector is too concerned about making sense to another, he/she will miss out on the depth and truthfulness of the reflection. Reflection must first examine the experience fully, then do something with it.  In reflection papers we really want students to evaluate, not reflect, so they are skipping the real steps of reflection. When we think of reflection, we should think of a mirror.  How many of us have looked at every pore...

One more voice in a reputable publication calling for educating young people for technical careers rather than liberal arts education.  If that's all that college is about--getting a job--then it's foolish to send everyone to college.  Trust me, they aren't getting it and are wasting their time.   https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/01/whats-college-good-for/546590/

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2017/12/05/need-theory-learning-opinion?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=df16c5da25-DNU20171205&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-df16c5da25-198482621&mc_cid=df16c5da25&mc_eid=ab27a3f05f and https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/lecture-attention-recall-its-complicated My takeaways: 1.  Learning is individual in many ways, so an instructor should use more than one method for a "unit" or "lesson" or "concept."  2.  Students must be empowered in their first years and continually with understanding the learning process for themselves and using it, and this is must more than their "learning style" (which is not supported by research anyway). 3.  Less is more.  In a world of growing research and knowledge explosion, we have to cull our disciplines down to the most essentials and perhaps restructure the curriculum or process of our fields. 4.  If one works in f...

I have written elsewhere on student evaluations.  This is the first day of final exams for my institution, so I had to remind my students this morning that it is also the last day for them to complete the online evaluations. I could write a volume on this process, and perhaps one day I will, because I plan to write a book entitled Inspirational Teaching in an Age of Assessment.  Student evals have their place.  They can be of value in quality improvement for the individual teacher if the instrument is good and comments are looked at more than numbers.  They also alert administrators (like me) to patterns of problems.  If one student says the professor is a jerk (as has happened to me), I don't care.  If ten do in a year, that means something. There are many things wrong with student evals.  They commodify education, the opinions of 18-year-olds are given too much weight, and they should never be used as the primary method of assessment of an ins...

For anyone who studies higher education trends, I found this interesting, including the comments.  I teach at one of the non-selective institutions and our funding is problematic (I wanted to say atrocious, but I won't). HeeHee. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/11/21/qa-author-book-unequal-higher-ed-landscape?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=df10ecb147-DNU20171121&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-df10ecb147-198482621&mc_cid=df10ecb147&mc_eid=ab27a3f05f

Let me start by saying I have an administrative job in a college and have had them in the past.  Let me also say this "advice" (re: warnings) is from wide experience and reading and not directed at any one institution. First, I do not understand why administrators who are new to an organization think they know more about the institution than those who have spent their professional lives there.  Likewise, I don't understand why they would seek to change "things" (structures, programs, positions, etc.) in the institution until they have spent ample time knowing everything they can about the organization.  Listening is the first job of a new leader. Sure, maybe a few of the organizational members will be crackpots, but most have a clear-eyed view of things from where they sit, and maybe of things as a whole.  A person who has worked at a institution for twenty years should be an asset, not an obstacle. Second, follow (at least some of) that advice from the lo...

My institution's faculty and staff were treated to a very good presentation from a system bigwig on Friday.  He prescribed the following recipe for retention and graduation (this is my version of his prescriptions). 1.  Nine hours of major-related courses in first year. 2.  Growth mindset (not just that the student has a growth mindset but that he/she perceived the faculty believes he/she has a growth mindset) 3.  30 hours finished in first year (can include summer school) 4.  Students' understanding their major choices 5.  Complete required English and Math (because they won't go any further without them).  Mathematician organizations all support that students take the math relevant to their discipline. 6.  Feeling connected to the institution and that they belong (how many students feel that "they just don't belong here" for whatever reasons?) 7.  Give them confidence to interact with faculty and staff. 8.  Ensure they underst...

Yes, that is my title.  It is my firm belief, too.  Read the whole thing before getting mad. And it may seem strange from someone who has worked in higher education for forty years and has three graduate degrees. I don't write this post because I am against higher education or because it hasn't had a place in my life.  It's central to who I am (but not the core).  I love what I do, where I work, the blessing of working with my students and colleagues, and the exploration of ideas. I believe in  higher education's promise for America and for individuals.   But I still believe in the advice in the title, and I will deal with this topic in two parts: First, don't send your kid to COLLEGE. Second, don't SEND your kid to college. First.  College is not for everyone.  It's definitely not for everyone at 18 years of age.  In my 40 years in the classroom and as an administrator, in all types of institutions, I have seen two pheno...

My huge summer project has been to complete this major revision.  It is available on our libguides and at the OER repository for the Georgia System. http://libguides.daltonstate.edu/c.php?g=553845&p=3805340 http://oer.galileo.usg.edu/communication-textbooks/1/   I don't think you will find a better one, unless you are looking for more of a hybrid book (that is, that deals with interpersonal communication and small groups.)

Two weeks ago I posted this: I am taking a two-week course from a well known and reputable organization that credentials online courses (no names, but if you don't know who they are, you should).  When I finish I will have some thoughts.  On the good side, I plan to take the subsequent courses from the organization.  Now I am finished and will finish my reflection on it. I don't want to use the name of the organization.  Anyone familiar  with online education knows who it is; hint--it's out of the University of Maryland, originally. This organization has a certain philosophy and system of online education.  It took me a couple of assignments to "align" myself with its philosophy.  At first I was a little snarky about it.  "I've taught online for 19 years. I was teaching online at the beginning and before online was cool.  I used to create my own courses in Front Page, before there were Learning Management System programs, fo...

Mary Ellen Weimer writes provocative things about teaching.  Here is one of her articles:   https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/contradictions-think-teaching/?utm_campaign=Faculty%20Focus&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=53632571&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8SVQawWI_00ymVPLieJX5Cgat5RfP__g57xSbfRHSGrIo5X7XaOb5dHfllcBx3i6eeM_ERe196B96YA7E-K8jN6uwjWg&_hsmi=53632571 Here she is dealing with one of my favorite topics, faculty resistance to improving teaching even when we know there are better ways.  As one of her sources states, faculty approach faculty development the way our students approach learning in the classroom, although we fuss about how students do that.  I saw myself there.  See my post above on my current online learning experience.   

OK.  Is is getting to the point that anyone who says anything publicly gets death threats?  What exactly is a death threat?  (A generally, "You should die for your viewpoint" or "I know where you live and work and am coming there to kill you soon"?) So, interesting article below from Inside Higher Ed about a common fact, a conclusion about that fact, the publication in popular media about that conclusion, and the response from people who take things too seriously.  Yes, everyone who has ever taken a humanities course knows the Greeks and Romans painted their statues.  But . . . does that mean they weren't racist? (are you serious?)  Does that mean that the beauty of white marble (which would have been normalized by the Renaissance and Baroque artists, not the 18th century) is a white supremacist statement? If racism is only framed as black (African, dark-skinned) vs. white (Northern European, pink skin toned) then the discussion is over.  There ar...

This summer I am engaging in two significant professional development activities. I am going to get certification as a Quality Matters reviewer.  For those who don't know, that is an organization that credentials online courses.  It's about time, since I was an early adopter (1998) of online teaching.  My institution pays for most of it.  Secondly, I am taking four courses with ed2go, which is affiliated with Cengage (Pearson) on teaching English as Second Language.  Right now I am taking two of them concurrently.  They are well done; not exactly graduate level, of course, or even undergrad, but informative and well designed. The assignments are easy, but the readings are at the right level for both a lay person and a professional with advanced degrees, as am I. These are not without costs, but I found them very reasonable.  I had taken an ed2go class on epublishing several years ago.

From my go-to of the day, (along with Christianity Today), Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/06/14/dispute-about-sociology-quiz-question-slave-families-ends-lecturers-termination?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=f0b09ed148-DNU20170614&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-f0b09ed148-198482621&mc_cid=f0b09ed148&mc_eid=ab27a3f05f      (I realize it is better to "hide" the link under a word but I want this to be transparent.) My take on this: 1.  I tend to side with the student, for once, although she is only 51% right overall. 2.  The instructor lost my support when she went to social media.  Cardinal rule of teaching:  Never, ever, ever discuss classroom issues on social media.  It violates privacy, it will bite you on the butt,  it's nobody's business, and it makes the instructor look childish.  Just wrong. 

Good interview of a person I just learned about.  This is the kind of Republican and republican we need.  Not whatever passes for one in Washington now. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/may-web-only/ben-sasse-adolescence-is-gift-but-extended-adolescence-is-t.html

The other day one of my students was talking about his job at Walmart.  He said customers bring their dogs into Walmart all the time. "You mean service dogs, right?" I tried to clarify. "No, just dogs.  I just leave them alone," he answered.  "Are you serious?" I asked. "Walmart just lets them, and we leave them alone.  I'm not getting in trouble over someone's dog." I was flabbergasted.  What are these people thinking?  Why would you think bringing a dog into a grocery store is your right or need? First, I grew up when dogs, except for what was called "seeing-eye dogs" never went anywhere.  Second, dogs are not all house-trained and might go when they feel the urge.  Yuck.  Who gets to clean that up?  Third, children often walk up to dogs they don't know and get friendly--they shouldn't but they do.  As the owner and daily walker of a pitbull, I am extremely vigilant about children who have not been trained ...

Excellent article in Inside Higher Education , which I read more than The Chronicle of Higher Education simply because IHE comes to my box everyday for free, but I also find the articles valuable. https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1806-tread-carefully-with-the-socratic-method?cid=wcontentgrid_hp_9 This writer works in the same system I do and I know his situation.  I also have had the same kind of thing happening. Sometimes when we play "devil's advocate" we are both trying to challenge critical reflection and expressing a viewpoint, or a half-way one.  I had a student skewer me on a student evaluation a few years back because I had the nerve to suggest that being a stripper was not a good career choice for women. What I get from this is the granularity and care we must take with our language.  I am very guilty of letting my subconscious speak.  Sometimes this serves me well with some amazingly creative insights.  Other times I put my foot in it, and I'm ...

Having recently finished leading a (small) book group with colleagues on Mindse t by Carol Dweck, I have a few thoughts--well, more than a few, but I'll just share the most useful, in my thinking. First, I would recommend the work of Angela Duckworth and David Yeager.  This video on YouTube is a good start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUrkU4yjZu4  This is one of many you could find (Angela has done Ted Talks and is the "grit" lady) but I think this one combines them in a coherent way.  I heard David Yeager speak at AASCU last year and he has a lot to say to serious college teachers.  By serious college teachers I mean those who really want to attain student learning outcomes and are willing to set aside ego and biases to achieve that goal. My major take away from Mindset : the myth of easy Learning is supposed to be fun, right?  And everyone can be whatever they want to be, right?  And everyone should have great self-esteem on the basis of jus...

Reading this book because it was recommended by a higher up at the college who wanted to lead a book group on it, and the book group is this week.   I am slow to recommend books like this, but I found it helpful.   It took me a while to get into it, and it’s pretty anecdotal and of course, like all these books presents its ideas as the salvation of the organizational world.   Essentially, it posits five levels for organizations. Stage 1 – Members say, “Life sucks.” Stage 2 – Members say, “My life sucks.” Stage 3 – Some members say, “My life is great.”   Here we have people performing well but only for themselves. Stage 4 – Members say, “We are great,” which is an us-them mentality but is preferable to Stage 3, where everyone is about themselves and their own success.   At this stage the leaders have had epiphanies that show them the organization is bigger than individual members, etc.   Sort of a Jack Mezirow transformative le...

I take a very conservative view of Academic Freedom.  By that I mean that as far as free speech for the faculty member in the classroom, the less the better.  This is odd for me because I am libertarian in regard to free speech, but I also know the issues of power in the classroom and that the classroom has one goal, and that is not to allow the professor to spout off and pontificate. The goal of the classroom is student learning, not indocrination into a faculty member's viewpoints.   There is too much to do in a classroom to spend time on your own tangents.  Does this mean the faculty member is a blank slate, with not opportunities for self-expression?  Of course not.  We should be and are free to state our opinions, as long as we present them as such.  And we all know faculty who state their opinions as facts and as the sum total of the issue.  Admit it.  Just because you agree with someone's viewpoint doesn't mean it isn't their ...

--> The following is an excerpt from a guidebook I am co-authoring with colleagues on implementing High Impact Practices in a classroom.  I wrote this part so I think it's ok to post; our final book is going to be an open resource anyway and under Creative Commons.  This section is under the part on one of the quality matrices, "Periodic and structured opportunities to reflect and integrate learning."  One of the examples of this essential element, provided by the AAC&U literature, is “A capstone course in which students submit a portfolio and explain the relative contributions of the artifacts contained therein that represent the knowledge and proficiencies attained at various points during their program of study.”   Although this is one way to use reflection in a significant way, there are many ways that reflection can be used.   Unfortunately, reflection is a word more talked about than understood and done, as Shakespeare would say, “a cu...

I was reading an interesting (although in need of proofreading) article called "Lecture is Not a Dirty Word."  One of the big reasons faculty don't like faculty or educational development is that they feel that lecturing is characterized as a horrible method in favor of "active learning strategies."  As a colleague says, it's a straw man because presenters often show the hilarious clips of Ben Stein from Ferris Bueller's Day Off (it is quite funny, but in no means the reality of lecturing for most professors I know). One of the thoughts in this article is that students don't want to waste time in class on activities, discussions, etc. that do not help them learn directly and get a good grade.  Oh, woe is us, these writers say--the students should not be so extrinsic and should want to learn for the sake of learning, should be socially constructing knowledge and not just passing a test. To that I say, get real.  None of the faculty members wanted ...

This article appeared in Inside Higher Ed (a favorite publication of mine).  I think it has some valid information. Having started a teaching and learning center myself, I have a lot of opinions on the process.  I also wrote my doctoral dissertation on faculty (educational) development, so I kind of know a little about this. The T and L director (or whatever other title has been given to the lead professional development person) has to be winsome about bringing faculty--from all disciplines, not just the one that the director may represent--into the center.  Part of this winsomeness is balancing evangelism of a particular pedagogy or even trendy practice with appreciation of what the faculty are already doing.  Any time you ask a person to change you must guarantee that the benefit of the change will be greater than the cost. If a teacher who primarily lectures (oh, my, no!) has good results from the students in terms of learning outcomes and test results (or ...

For anyone who stumbles across this blog and cares to know, this is who I am:  Professor of Communication at Dalton State College and Chair of the Department of Communication, which in our case encompasses performing arts (theatre and music), foreign languages (French and Spanish), and communication.  I am also Editor of the Journal for Academic Excellence , a publication of our Center for Academic Excellence (Teaching and Learning or Faculty Development Center).  Follow this link to find it; there are some really good articles in it, but our pipeline has dried up.   Campus Champion for Open Educational Resources and Affordable Learning Georgia and co-author of Exploring Public Speaking:  The Free Dalton State College Public Speaking Book with Dr. Kris Barton (free PDF download, but it's a big file) Immediate Past President of the Georgia Communication Association Former Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs (Interim) 2015 Ed.D. graduate of ...

Yesterday I spoke at a conference (very good one!) on Faculty Creation of Open Educational R e sources because a colleague and I wrote a textbook for a basic public speaking course.  I will be posting about it and my talk in the future (working on lengthy article which I'll post in parts) but I wanted to post this list of references for those who need help with the question of research that has been done on student satisfaction, faculty satisfaction, and achievement of learning outcomes with open educational resources.    • Azevedo , A.  (2013, February 1).  Pay nothing?  Easier said than done.  Chronicle of Higher Education, 59 (21), A18-A19 . • Allen, G., Guzman-Alvarez, A., Smith, A., Gamage , A., Molinaro , M., & Larsen, D. S. (2015). Evaluating the effectiveness of the open-access ChemWiki resource as a replacement for traditional general chemistry textbooks. Chemistry Education Research And Practice , 16 (4), 939 . • Allen, I....