WHAT THE BEST COLLEGE TEACHERS DO
“What the Best College Teachers Do” is a Summer Institute given by Dr. Ken Bain. He wrote
the book with the same title. The purpose of this Institute is to give college teachers an
opportunity to develop and/or enhance effective teaching techniques to foster deep learning. The
Institute meets the goals of Methodist University’s professional development program in that it
increases: 1) “the teaching of in-field content knowledge; 2) pedagogical abilities; 3) academic
assessment techniques; and 4) strategies for using technology in the teaching –learning
environment.”
As the training progressed the students were continuously encouraged to apply the information
shared to their own disciplines and create examples of implementing what was learned in the
courses they taught. Dr. Bain was assisted by several outstanding college teachers who
represented several disciplines and provided many examples of ways to effectively teach in
various subject areas. A variety of assessment tools were introduced, including student selfassessments, students assessing each other and a variety of assessment tools for teachers to use.
Rather than “how to” use technology, this Institute introduced many ways to integrate
technology into teaching to assist faculty to create a natural, critical learning environment that
fosters deep learning and develops critical thinking skills. A summary of the three days follows,
with many examples of effective teaching for deep learning.
Day One: 6/20/12
Creating a natural, critical learning environment is the goal which the best college teachers set.
What does it mean to learn in social work? Teachers asked this question of their own discipline
and sought to answer it over the three days.
“For the things we must learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them”—Aristotle
Learning by doing, putting theory into practice, practicing skills to reinforce them, using
concepts in practice—all elements of learning by doing.
“We don’t learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.”—John Dewey
Critiquing performance, what works, what doesn’t, how can I improve? Life lessons,
competencies and practice behaviors.
The class shared reflections on the two quotes.
Body memory – students retain what they learn in their bodies.
How do we define learning? On some levels, it is defined as the ability to remember
information. Bloom’s Taxonomy comes into play: knowledge, understanding, application,
analysis, synthesis, evaluation. Beggs added theorize. Memorizing in isolation without context
does not work. Remembering in context does work. Bloom’s Taxonomy was examined as
integrated scale. Students learn most effectively doing all activities at the same time.
Deep learning – what is it and how can it be assessed?
Dr. Bain played a video of his grandson, Adam, at 22 months (he memorized the song so he
knew the answers to the math problem) and at 3 ½ years (he could actually calculate the math
problem).
Develop exercises to challenge students to think critically. Students were given a text to read,
with questions to follow. Students took different approaches to reading the text. Some students
tried to remember it; others looked at the meaning behind the text and its implications,
applications, etc., to distinguish between inference and conclusion. The second group was made
up of deep learners.
What is the biggest question that your course will help students address? Deep learning takes
place when they want to answer questions or solve problems that they have come to regard as
important, intriguing and beautiful. In a formal education environment the learner is not usually
in charge of the questions. How we fill the gap between teacher and student is most important.
Why doesn’t every student take a deep learning approach to her/his learning? A surface learner
is driven by fear, survival. Surface learners try to remember as much as they can.
Strategic learners have a basic desire is to shine, get good grades, go to law school or medical
school. That is their primary aim. They are not risk-takers; they will not take electives that
could spoil their GPA. They learn procedurally and not conceptually. They are not likely to
become adaptive experts, but to become routine experts. Routine experts know the routines of
their field. Adaptive experts know routines but also have the ability and attitude to recognize
and relish the opportunity and necessity for invention. Conditioning creates surface and strategic
learners.
Assessment is a key factor in the conditioning process. Grades started at Oxford in 1780; they
started here in 1890. Edward Deci spoke to the intrinsic and extrinsic motivator. Intrinsic
decreases when extrinsic is introduced. Dr. Bain shared a story about his niece and astronomy.
At age five, she was fascinated by the stars. In college she hated astronomy. Later in life, she
became an astronomer—reconnecting with the love she had at age five. There’s a five year old
in each of our students. We must find and release that five- year old. Falling in love with
learning—how can I make this happen for my students? As a teacher, I must look at my own
school, with research in hand, and ask what we are doing to foster surface and strategic learning.
What can we do to foster deep learning?
12:20PM – Even if students take a deep approach, it is not guaranteed they will achieve a deep
result. It is difficult for us to achieve a deep understanding of something completely new
because of how the brain works. My learning began in the crib. We begin by noticing patterns
and build little schemas and schemata to show us how the world works. We use these models
and identify new sensory input. Our instinct is to hold onto our models, rather than look for new
models. An example was offered of physics classes in 1980 at Arizona State University where a
pre-test was administered to determine students’ perception of motion. The results showed that
they embraced the point of view of Aristotle. A demonstration of Newton’s theory of motion
was then provided as part of the course. The post-test was administered at the end of the course
to see if students had embraced Newtonian physics. Students wrapped their pre-conceived
notions around the new input and did not make the distinctions. We must create an environment
where deep learning is likely to take place. Some elements of a deep learning environment are:
1. Put learners in a situation in which their existing model does not work—intellectual
challenge, expectation of failure.
2. The learner has to care.
3. The learner has to have some emotional comfort in dealing with challenges to one’s beliefs.
We were instructed to think about a course we teach. What are some major mental models that
students are likely to bring that we want them to question and change? How can we create an
expectation of failure for them about which they will care enough to think about changing their
model?
Carol Dweck says people will have one of two mindsets: intelligence and abilities are fixed for
life; you can improve and expand abilities. These conceptions will have an enormous impact on
one’s life. Those who think they are superior (fixed) can’t face failure and won’t try new things.
Melisa Kamins – students who received different feedback from parents, teachers (person
oriented and task oriented), had different views of themselves: fixed view-person oriented,
flexible view-task oriented.
Lisa Blackwell studied poor Bronx middle school students. Two groups received one hour of
study techniques each week for six weeks. The experimental group received two weeks of
studying the brain. They read articles, looked at MRIs, were shown that the brain changes when
learning takes place. The control group received two weeks of memorizing formulas. The
experimental group developed a flexible view, changed their attitude toward math and their
performance increased. The lesson learned from Albert Durow’s self-efficacy snake experiment
is that you know how to do something and believe you can do it.
Claude Steele addressed the stereotype threat. If you are in a group about which there is a
pervasive negative social stereotype, the mere existence of that stereotype will affect your
performance even if you reject that stereotype. Minimally, it bothers you and causes you to do
poorly.
Margaret Shea performed an experiment with Asian-American women, GRE and higher math.
There were three groups: one reminded of gender, one reminded of ethnicity, one reminded of
nothing. The group with the ethnic reminder performed best, followed by the control, followed
by the gender group.
Physics experiment – Fifteen minutes of writing about self vs. being given a topic. The freewriting group performed better. Students take on problems and questions. This can make them
care.
Formulating the right question is a key element in facilitating deep learning. Melissa Harris
Perry teaches politics. Her real question was: What impact did Reconstruction have on
subsequent politics? The question she actually asked was: What happened with Katrina? She
organized a course called “Disaster: Katrina and American Politics.” She then asked: When did
the disaster begin? The answer was: 1866, during Reconstruction.
To what adventure are we inviting our students? What conversations can students join? How do
these conversations change over time? What kinds of questions can they ask? What kinds of
arguments can they advance? What data can they identify as relevant? With whom can they
hold these conversations? Can they hold these conversations with other students, policy makers,
scholars?
2:30PM – Charlie Cannon – Collaboration and Engagement: The invitation, the trigger, the
coda. Charlie teaches design. The Innovation Studio is an interdisciplinary initiative. Project
based learning engages students in a Natural Critical learning environment. 1. Begin with an
intriguing question. How can we produce 80% of the power consumed in New York? 2. Place
the question in a larger context. Gather input on neighborhood, fuel, distribution. 3. Engage
students to argue for an answer. Discuss fuels. 4. Help students answer the question. Their
answer was a community-based power plant.
We were assigned the task of creating an Invitation to one of the courses we teach. The
Invitation: Good morning! Welcome to Social Work Policy I. This semester you have the
opportunity to make history. You may recall from Introduction to Social Work and Helping
Processes that our profession’s commitment to excellence is reflected in many ways. The
National Association of Social Work Code of Ethics informs our practice. The Council on
Social Work Education insures that our education meets high standards. Our clients will provide
ongoing feedback as we work with them. We are a proud profession—educated, trained and
required to demonstrate mastery of the competencies and practice behaviors of social work.
However, here in North Carolina we have a dilemma. There are people in our state who are not
educated, trained and able to demonstrate mastery of practice behaviors, who call themselves
social workers. Today I offer you the opportunity to be a part of changing this unfortunate
situation. This is an issue very dear to me and I invite you to join me in working toward
protecting the clients we serve by protecting the title of social worker for those trained and
educated. As future social workers I trust you can see that this is important to our field. This is a
joint effort. Together we will find, analyze and gather information to determine what we need to
do to protect the social work profession. If we discover sufficient relevant material we can write
it up together and present it to our elected officials, submit it to a journal and share it with
anyone able to impact this issue.
The examples evoke excitement and enthusiasm. The concept of invitation can be incorporated
into the course descriptions.
The Trigger: The site visit helps create group.
The Coda:
4:00 PM – Ann Woodworth teaches drama. She began her session with warm up exercises—
clapping and the hokey-pokey. The classroom is a stage. “Teach” and “perform” are action
words. Students are our audience. Teachers need to present; we are the lead. Eighty-six per
cent of our communication is non-verbal, 7% is tone of voice, and 7% is content. Ann
demonstrated her point by saying the same thing three different ways. Teachers are responsible
for setting the environment and performing effectively. The event of teaching and performing
takes action, stamina, and energy. What do I do to warm up for my teaching? Focus outside
self. It is all about the students. Am I doing homework to be the effective teacher I want to be?
Drama is conflict, two opposing forces. It is necessary in order for something to happen. It is
the root of discussion. While teaching, there is always something in conflict, something
presenting itself as about to happen. When teaching, keep hitting notes that tell the audience
there is more to come. Bring consciousness into teaching. Follow through. The voice has to
stay clear. Timing: giving time for the idea to land. Play to the back row. Scan from side to
side. I am telling a story about social work. Present the material as though it is the first time for
you, as it is for the students. Release the idea. Vocally punch the last word. Intention – I want
to win. I want to accomplish something. What is it? I have to define it. What is my objective,
goal? Define intention specifically. My goals and objectives can be different than Social Work
goals and objectives. What action am I taking to accomplish my intention?
What questions assignments, activities, am I offering and are they accomplishing what I want?
Am I providing the stimuli for my students to learn?
Create an identity list: single nouns that are roles I play…
DAY TWO: 6/21/12
Jeanette Norden – Promoting intellectual and personal development. Intellectual development—
growth we foster in our students. Students can manipulate information and critical thinking.
How do we create a safe environment in which intellectual development can occur? We bring
our enthusiasm and knowledge. Each time we walk into the classroom we have to bring vitality
to it, an attitude of “I don’t know it all” but what a journey this will be! Be excited!
Respect for students—an intellectual respect. This is a critical element in creating a safe learning
environment. We must listen to our students. In her medical school class, students are urged to
tell a story, bring in their life experiences, current events. Formation of underlying paradigms
creates a foundation for the knowledge they must learn.
TEACH LESS BETTER. Teach to a foundation of knowledge that allows students to develop
underlying understanding and a knowledge base in the field. Weave between critical reasoning
and analysis. Ungraded exercises allow the students to try and fail and try again. Hold the
standard high (exams) as long as you give them plenty of practice to handle the material. In
medical school, Jeanette asks students to justify their answers to avoid right answers for wrong
reasons. Use exams to help students learn.
Personal Development—in medical school, Jeanette set up personal hours to nurture students’
bedside manner. Look inward, learn to be reflective. She gives students three cards on which
they must write: the name of a loved one, a talent, their dream. She randomly takes a card and
states that what is on it is lost for life. Students have to learn to identify with their patients.
Jeanette finds this to be a life changing exercise. People come to class to tell students their
stories so students learn to hear what patients and families need.
Ask—why do you think so? Faculty and students are on a journey together, just at different
places. Teachers must model personal development. Teachers must foster the personal
development of students. Teachers must be prepared to take a holistic approach to students.
Jeanette presented the example of a poor, Black, obese woman with leg numbness, turned away
from a hospital. Another example she offered was of the South American history teacher who
made a statement about people disappearing in Brazil and Argentina but did not look at why.
Get students to think beyond what you are teaching them.
Cultivate personal development in social work. Poverty exercises, introspective paper, client
speakers, exploring one’s values, and goals. What do I want out of life?—look at it in five years.
Examine the social welfare state—looking at who is on welfare and what welfare programs are.
How do you relate to people who do not look like you, think like you, or agree with you? Values
exercises allow students to recognize and acknowledge prejudices. Field visits to spend time
with populations in need are also valuable. The gifts I see in you…
Examples: breathing exercises, gratitude exercises (letter of gratitude, read to person), Buddha
moment—overflowing cup. Bio example—do you want to know or not? Vertical critical
thinking (should we?) vs. horizontal critical thinking (how to?) Students are encouraged to
record their personal learning goal. Ask students what they get out of class, from professor.
What has the class meant to them outside the classroom? Wheelchair exercise. Hand exercise.
Andy Kaufman – Engaging students. His students experienced teaching a poem by Pushkin in a
juvenile corrections center. “Books Behind Bars” was a course created after the experience.
Students planned the curriculum. After each session, the students shared experiences--what
worked, what didn’t work. The midterm was a self-evaluation.
In studying the poem the juveniles were told to dig into Pushkin’s background and interweave
their findings in the discussion. What does it mean to you? How does it make you feel?
Product of poet, have you done something for your own sake rather than for praise? Does this
remind you of a time in your life or an event? The college students were instructed to validate
who the juveniles were. Juveniles will talk about themselves in the context of literature before
they will if you ask them directly. The juveniles could rewrite the poem in modern language and
interpret. The results were relationship building, service learning and humanness.
What does it mean to do my discipline? What’s the point of Social Work? How can we model
Social Work and humanness. Educate and train the next generation of exceptional social work
practitioners. Social Workers must now themselves, develop critical thinking skills, values and
ethics, demonstrate mastery of competencies and practice behaviors. Think about a course I
teach. Develop a learning experience in which students learn by doing or teaching or preparing
to teach, serving a higher course of justice. Some examples are: Policy I--Title Protection,
preparing a Needs Assessment at Walker Spivey—Research Methods. Have students plan class
activities.
Ann Norden – Engaging Students. This drama teacher led us in new exercises—breathing,
fireball, gestures, mouth and vocal exercises, and gestures. She advised that we move around the
room more, use our hands, and fill the space. Keep your voice up until the end of the lecture.
Keep creating a sense of possibility.
Release—simple thing, very useful re: physical effectiveness, a gesture or something at the end
of a sentence that frames what I am saying, a kind of punctuation.
Vocal techniques—variables: rate, pitch, volume, tone. Breathe from diaphragm, articulate.
Punch—hit the nouns and verbs.
Jim Long-Promoting Academic Integrity and (Nearly) Cheating-free classes. Seventy five to
80% of students report having cheated at least once. Jim cited the example of Chinese civil
service exam cheating; situations create the opportunity to cheat—contextual factors. What
learning environments induce cheating?
1. Motivation is extrinsic
2. Orientation toward performance instead of mastery
3. Infrequent, high stakes assessment
4. Low self-efficacy
5. Weak interpersonal environment
6. Cheating perceived as common and approved by peers.
(Nearly) cheating—free learning environments. Our goal is to reduce the incentive and
opportunity for students to cheat. Build learning environments which foster intrinsic motivation,
emphasize mastery over performance, give students the tools and conviction to succeed, and use
grounded assessments.
Concluding Thoughts
1. Cheating is not an epidemic.
2. Cheating happens for understandable reasons within a specific learning environment.
3. We can modify that environment to minimize cheating.
4. The best changes we can make to reduce cheating are the very same ones that will increase
learning.
Honor Code—Don McCabe researches cheating. Schools with an Honor Code may have a high
rate of cheating when there is no dialogue about the code. He recommends using research papers
to teach what works and what does not work. Wikipedia and plagiarism were discussed.
A question I can ask my students: Am I a candidate to become one of the next generation of
exceptional generalist social work practitioners? How can film be used more effectively in
Policy I and II? How can I use culture to engage students?
Respectfully submitted,
Carla A. Fagan, Ph.D., ACSW