An International Forum for Innovative Teaching
CONTENTS
1 Commentary
Stan Kajs, Ph.D.
2 Ignite Their Passion:
Getting Students to
Engage in your Class
Kori A. Gregg
4 Using Cooperative
Learning to Create a
Student-Centered
Learning Environment
Dr. Theodore Panitz
5 Integrating Literature
with Technology
Dr. Elaine Razzano
7 Confronting Diversity
Alfred G. Mueller II, Ph. D.
9 Storytelling as a Method
of Conveying Lessons:
Reflections on the Use
of Emotions inTeaching
and Learning
Lesley D. Harman, Ph.D.
11 Meet the Authors
C
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Vo l u m e
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1
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The Image of the
Successful Professor
in Our Time
Stan Kajs, Ph.D., TSP Editor
Welcome to the first issue of The Successful
Professor! Thank you for subscribing to this new
forum for professors who, from different
disciplines and with different pedagogical viewpoints, share their successful teaching strategies
and techniques. I am confident that you will
be impressed, as I have been, by the articles we
have included in this journal. The articles you
read (including those in the Sample Issue) should
prove useful to all of us. In addition, the articles
speak much about the authors themselves as
professors. Perhaps the overriding qualities you
will observe are the authors’passion for teaching and their willingness to share their passion.
The tone and tenor of their articles reveal that
they love what they do. This devotion pervades
their messages and underscores their dedication
to the teaching profession and to the students
in their care. Another quality is their willingness
to take risks in searching out teaching techniques
that connect with their students. They persist
until they find what works to enrich the life of
the intellect, the imagination, and the spirit—
both for their students and themselves.
What I see developing from the articles in
this first volume are the beginning definition of
successful college and university teaching and
an image of the successful professor. Perhaps in
the pointillism style of the post-Impressionist
painter George Seurat, which uses meticulous
dots, the composite image of the successful
professor will begin to emerge with each issue,
each author contributing a dot, beginning with
the Sample Issue. If you have not read this issue
available to all on our website, I recommend you
do so. The authors there begin painting the canvas
and set the standard for all articles to follow.
Dr. Nichola D. Gutgold from Penn State
•
I s s u e
1
•
J a n u a r y
2 0 0 2
Berks-Leigh Valley College advices us on how to
create a positive and interactive classroom atmosphere. Dr. Calvin S. Kalman from Concordia
University in Montreal, Canada shares his success
in teaching students to solve quantitative problems
through process writing. Professor William Peirce,
of Prince George’s Community College in
Maryland, presents an effective assignment and
convincing explanation to help students develop
critical thinking skills. Advocating the integration
of technology in teaching, Dr. Susan E. Gibson
from the University of Alberta explains the benefits
of a computer-based virtual field trip she designed
for her education students. In the style of a literary
narrative, Dr. Robert Matthews from Yuba College
in Maryville, California, shares his experience in
his music theory course on how to organiz complex
material from the students’ perspective. Though all
the authors speak from their own discipline and
experiences, we may apply their suggestions and
recommendation to other subject and courses.
The authors in this first issue continue the
process of painting the image of the successful
professor. Our wish is that your use of these
teaching strategies, techniques, and/or assignments
in your courses will help your students learn and
will increase your love of teaching. And we can
learn from these successful professors and from
those in upcoming issues. With their advice in
mind and the teaching strategies they advocate,
we may be able to capture those elusive teaching
moments that test our knowledge and skills. For,
as we know from experience, a teaching opportunity lost is difficult to recapture. After you read
these articles, we would appreciate your comments;
for without your readership, little sharing can
take place.
•••••••••••••••
The Commentary in the second issue due for distribution
in March 2002 will be authored by Dr. Sherry Morreale,
Associate Director of the National Communication
Association Washington, D.C, and Dr. Donald H. Wulff,
Director of the Center of Instructional Development
and Research and Assistant Dean of the Graduate School
at the University of Washington in Seattle. Their topic
is the importance of communicating clearly, logically,
and cogently in oral language. They will present important
considerations for professors in any discipline to help
their students achieve competency in oral communication.
Ignite Their Passion:
Getting Students to
Engage in Your Class
The Successful Professor
(ISSN 03087) is published
6 times a year by
Kori A. Gregg
Lead Instructor – Accounting & Business
Administration
Butler County Community College
Wichita, Kansas
kgregg@butler.buccc.cc.ks.us
Simek Publishing LLC
PO Box 1606
Millersville, MD 21108
a reality? Probably it took some hard work, some
good planning, and a large dose of persistence. But
was there something else there that motivated you
to continue on until you met with success? The
answer should be a resounding “YES”! It took
passion—that excitement that burns in all of us
when we are pursuing something that stirs our
emotions and heightens our perceptions. Passion
is available to everyone, its limits are boundless,
and it should finds its way into every class that
you teach.
“Just Get By” Community College
If you are a teacher, this article is for you.
Whether you are full-time faculty teaching 15
credit hours, a part-time adjunct teaching one
class, a university professor, or a community
college instructor, no doubt you have been faced
with a daunting task – getting students to engage
in your class. Now, some of you might be teaching college algebra, or music appreciation, or,
like me, accounting—subjects that, let’s face it,
are not at the top of most of our students’
“classes-to-die-for” lists. While these subjects
might make our hearts race, students may not
share that same appreciation. By employing a
few simple techniques in my classroom, I have
been able to capture the hearts of my students
and to engage them as never before. I believe
that you can get students not only to engage in
your class but also to “love” your class.
So why should we as teachers even care
whether our students engage in, or for that matter,
even like our classes? Many of you may feel
that your professional duty to is provide the
information necessary to educate your students. It is not, however, your responsibility to
get them to like it. In a sense that is certainly
true. But how many of you have ever been successful at something, anything, in your life?
What did that success take from you to make it
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for Subscription Rates,
Disclaimer, and Copyright
Notice.
Stanley J. Kajs,
Editor/Publisher.
Contact us at
editor@thesuccessfulprofessor.com
••••••••••••
Would you like to share your
teaching successes with your
colleages from other colleges
and universities? If so, then
submit an article describing
your most effective teaching
strategy or technique to
The Successful Professor.
Visit our website to view the
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www.thesuccessfulprofessor.com
How many of you have ventured down the halls
at your institution and glanced in on a class as
you passed by? Ever see students slumped in their
chairs, heads resting on their hands, or students
working on homework for another class, or worse
yet, asleep? I have. Sometimes I feel as if I am
teaching at “Just Get By” Community College.
These students are completely disengaged from
the classroom. They are unmotivated, unresponsive, and bored. But these same students I see on
the weekends racing motorcycles, volunteering
at a community center, or training for a sporting
event. They are not the same individuals that I
see during the week, dragging their feet to class.
They are positive, upbeat, and motivated individuals. So why the difference? The difference is
that they are engaging in activities that exhilarate
them, activities that they find value in, activities
that ignite their passions. Even if these students
were sick, they would be out there anyway, engaging in what they love. Would it not be marvelous
if we could get them to feel the same about our
class? Not only is that possible, but it can also be
a reality if you use some simple tools that I have
developed for my classes. Instructors can use two
simple strategies in their classroom to engage
students and win their hearts: (1) capture their
passion and (2) give them a vision.
No Limits
Most students come to our classes waiting for us
to motivate them. Students have unlimited talents,
but they often come to us with no justification
for using those talents and with no attitude to
succeed and to commit themselves to our classes.
We as instructors cannot simply provide students
with a list of tasks that must be accomplished
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VOLUME I • ISSUE 1
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Ignite Their Passion
continued from pg. 2 ..........
before they will satisfactorily pass our
class. We must also provide them with the
merit for doing these tasks. If we do not,
we will set them up for mediocrity. No one
likes to do any task without knowing why
he or she is doing it. That is the important
reason we instructors should pr ovide our
students with a vision, not only of where we
are going, but a vision of who they can
become because of our class. Many instructors do a great job of explaining reasons the
subject matter is important and ways it will
help them to succeed in their careers. But
how many of us have heard students’comments after algebra classes that they will
never use that information again? In order
for students to become truly engaged in our
classes, they must develop a vision that is
personal to them—a vision that not only
reveals the merit of our classes, but also
reveals it in a way that will capture their
passion. No one will be fully immersed in
an activity that does not engage his or her
heart.
One of the most useful strategies that we
as educators can use in our classes is to
capture students’enthusiasm right from the
start. The very first task that I ask my students to participate in is what I call my “No
Limits” question. I have my students write
down what it is they would do with their lives
if they had no limits or boundaries. I encourage
them to resist thinking about constraints on
their lives and instead focus on what they
are passionate about. This activity provides
me with some important information about
my students. Initially, it provides me with a
gauge to determine how well their goals are
aligned with my subject matter. More importantly, however, as I read through their
responses, I am able to ascertain where their
passions lie and to use that information
throughout the semester. I now have in my
arsenal information about each student tha t
I can use to draw them personally into my
class and into my subject matter. I am now
able to weave those students’ “wish lists”
into examples in class, into questions on
exams, and, more importantly, into conversations with my students. The most powerful
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tool that we can use is to acknowledge a
student personally. We should remember
that the majority of students will never be
passionate about our subject matter, but if
we can weave our subject matter into their
passions, they will become engaged.
Mission “Im”Possible
While engaging the students’passion is important, that alone is not enough. We must also
provide our students with a map of where
we are headed. We must allow students to
explore the possibilities that our class holds
for them and to allow them to personalize
their goals for the class as well. A class activity
that I have found works well for this is my
“Cool Mission” activity. My students often
talk with me about their dreams. They will
sit in my office and say “Wouldn’t it be cool
if I could ...” So I began what I call The Cool
Mission. Using the previous activity of No
Limits as a springboard, I have my students
come up with a personal mission statement.
I encourage them to think about what their
mission in life is, how they would want to
be remembered, and what kinds of characteristics they would like to foster in themselves. Once they complete this personal
mission statement, the students as a group
mission statement into the class mission
statement. This particular activity is best done
over the course of several class sessions.
What this activity provides for the students
is an opportunity to come up with their own
ideas on ways my class will benefit them.
Rather than the instructor telling students how
beneficial the class will be for them, it allows
the students to make the decision. It becomes
personal to them, a vision that they have created for themselves. Now rather than being told
of the benefits, they will personalize them.
Conclusion
These techniques at first glance may seem
obvious, even basic. But so often educators,
particularly those who have been teaching
for many years, lose sight of the excitement
that they can bring to the classroom. My
challenge to you is to step back and reexamine your teaching strategies. Look to see
what activities you are providing your students that foster an environment of passion
and vision. Remember that the disconnected student is the disengaged student. Find a
technique that works for you to connect
with your students, to create enthusiasm
about your class and capture their passion.
Help them to develop a vision, not only for
your class, but for their lives as well. You
will find a renewed sense of commitment
and excitement from your students, one
that will certainly have them engaged for
the rest of the semester.
•••••••••••••••
come up with a cool mission for their class
as a whole. This task is accomplished by
helping students process reasons they think
this particular class will benefit them. Once
the class has agreed on a mission, I ask each
student to incorporate his or her personal
VOLUME I • ISSUE 1
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Using Cooperative
Learning to Create a
Student-Centered
Learning Environment
Dr. Theodore (Ted) Panitz
Professor of Mathematics and
Engineering
Cape Cod Community College
West Barnstable, Massachusetts
tpanitz@capecod.mass.edu
Introduction
Some math professors maintain that students
initially must see a presentation of content
material from the professor before they start
the process of internalizing the concepts.
They claim that students have to see examples
of someone working out math problems or
constructing computer programs or even
solving word problems to begin to understand
the underlying concepts. However, students
can learn the math effectively through cooperative learning techniques—an approch
that sets very high expectations for students
and one that requires them to take responsibility for their own learning. I use cooperative learning 100% of the time in all my
classes, including mathematics, engineering
and developmental mathematics. This approach
is based on the premise that students can
indeed accomplish the course objectives with
minimal intervention from the instructor.
Methodology
In my math courses, I encourage students to
try understanding the material on their own:
first by reading the text, then by working
out problems together with their peers, and
finally with the teacher intervening only when
absolutely necessary.
Setting the tone for the class. Before the
semester begins, I send my students a letter
in which I include a humorous introduction
to the class and to cooperative learning, a
course syllabus, and a writing assignment
in the form of a math autobiography. I ask
them to read the first chapter and start working
on the text problems. The first chapter includes
review materials from the prerequisite course.
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My intent is to emphasize their responsibility in the learning process well before the
class starts and to demonstrate my own interest
in helping them become independent learners.
Presenting the expectations. I provide
students a class syllabus specifying exactly
which reading and problems they are responsible for completing on a given day. The
syllabus may be revised during the semester
as I observe class progress. I also ask the
students to attempt to solve as many problems
as possible prior to class. They have student
manuals which provide worked-out solutions
for all the odd problems as well as for the
text examples.
Working in groups. At the beginning of
class, I distribute work sheets that contain
problems or questions that would have formerly been presented in a lecture or demonstrated
during the class using a lecture/discussion
format. The students progress from simple
to complex problems. They work in pairs or
larger groups, usually with 4 people to a table,
to complete the worksheets. Sometimes I
place problems on the board in sequence
and ask students to present their solutions to
the class or ask students to work directly out
of the text together. We use a workbook text
which encourages students to write in it.
Observing student progress. I circulate,
observing each group’s progress and making
suggestions about how they might go about
finding the answers to their questions. I do
not directly answer questions initially but
encourage students to use their text and other
students in the class as resources. Those
students who did not do the reading and
practice beforehand have an opportunity to
do so now.
Sharing solutions. If enough students
appear to be having difficulty or generally
are making fundamental mistakes, I will
ask for volunteers to put their solutions on
the board and explain and defend what they
did. This technique might be considered
“showing them” what to do, but the advantage is that the explanation comes from the
students, not from me as the expert imposing
my solution on them. After the demonstration,
the students then go back to work and try
to resolve their questions. If they are still
confused, I will then facilitate a whole class
discussion and try to elicit the source of their
confusion. The focus is still on the students,
not on me as the person who can solve all
their problems and explain everything to
their satisfaction.
Evaluating student learning. I often
give group quizzes as a form of review after
we have covered several sections within a
chapter. First, they work individually, and
then they compare answers and try to reach
agreement on the answers. At this point I
become aware of which students need extr a
help outside of class and encour age them to
seek it. On occasion I have postponed tests
because I have observed enough unprepared
students to know that a test would be a disaster.
Coddling? I do not think so. Sometimes,
with all the pressures students are under
today, many are not ready to demonstrate
their knowledge through a test at a time
specified for our convenience. This is not to
say that my courses are open ended; they
are not. But within the syllabus I have some
scheduling flexibility, which the students
appreciate. Finally I give students an in-class
test which is completed individually to
maintain accountability of each student. I
use a mastery approach whereby students
have an opportunity to correct their mistakes
during the exam before a final grade is calculated. Here again I walk around the room,
observing their progress. When they complete their tests, I check it immediately and
circle any incorrect answer, without indicating what mistake they made. They then
have an opportunity to make corrections.
Should they score below an 80% after corrections, they need to take a new test outside
of class.
Using other techniques. I use Jigsaws,
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VOLUME I • ISSUE 1
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Using Cooperative Learning
continued from pg. 4 ..........
Math Olympics, “Make up Your Own Tests,”
Paired Reading and Writing, and Group
Reviews so that my classes never become
completely routine. In class the students cover
more material than I could ever have hoped
to lecture on and understand the material in
a way that makes sense to them because they
have developed their own solutions.
Class size. My class enrollment is around
25 students, but I have used this approach
with classes as large as 50 and with adult
groups of 100 in seminars. Obviousl y, the
larger the class the more difficult to know
the students. I would probably need to adapt
the above procedure for larger classes by
using in-class TA’s.
Testimonials
At the end of each semester, I ask the students
to evaluate their progress in the course,
identify any changes they have made in their
approach to learning mathematics or their
attitude about mathematics. I specifically
ask them to provide me with feedback on
their reactions to my cooperative learning
strategy. Students remark that the classes
fly by and that they are exhausted at the
end of class, but they feel good about what
they have accomplished. By the end of the
semester, the better students have learned
how to become more independent learners.
Math phobia has all but disappeared; students
actually begin to like math, and finally, the
less motivated students have learned more
math than they ever expected. The following
responses are representative of the many
evaluations I have received over the years:
Student #1: “Before your classes I disliked
math. I was always getting aggravated and
scared by it. Working together with those
around me in a group has been a great help
in understanding the material and the many
different ways in which a problem can be
tackled and solved.”
Student #2: “During this semester I have
not only learned new tricks for doing algebra,
but I have also enjoyed the exchange of ideas
with other students. Each of us brought a
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different approach to learning and everyone
was willing to share. I would like to say thank
you Ted for rekindling my love of math.
By erasing my unfounded fears you have
given me back my confidence in an area I
was sure I was going to fail.”
Caveat
These procedures have evolved over a long
period of time through a process of trial and
error. I recommend that new teachers not
initiate an extensive cooperative learning
system without first participating in training
programs and conferences dealing with
cooperative learning techniques. Teachers
need time to develop a comfort level and
\a degree of confidence with cooperative
processes. A good approach to incorporating
cooperative learning in math classes is to
initiate one or two new techniques eac h
semester until a full repertoire of activities
is available from which to choose.
Conclusion
Cooperative learning techniques, when used
extensively in college classes, generate many
advantages for the students and teachers:
Students’critical thinking skills are enhanced;
motivation levels are increased as students
become familiar with working with their
peers, leading to a new found enjoyment of
their classes; achievement levels increase
and thus anxiety is reduced and student self
esteem increases; cooperative structures
address different student learning styles,
including verbal, visual, and kinesthetic. And
finally, professors and students come to know
each other better as individuals and learners,
motivating both to pursue the high expectations established at the beginning of the course.
•••••••••••••••
Integrating Literature
with Technology
Dr. Elaine Razzano
Associate Professor of English
Lyndon State College
Lyndonville, Vermont
razzanoe@mail.lsc.vsc.edu
Take a look at any journal that addresses
education issues. You will probably find at
least one article about the use of computer
technology in academic courses. What you
probably will not see, though, are articles
that encourage the reverse: incorporating
liberal arts or sciences into computer technology courses, particularly those that teach
website design. Using academic content
knowledge in such a way provides a context
for students to apply their technological
expertise in an immediate and relevant
manner. From another perspective, though,
I see this approach as a painless way for
students to learn that academic subjects can
be enjoyable as well as enlightening. That
was my personal mission when I took on the
task of teaching literature to Graphic Arts
and IDM (Interactive Digital Media) majors.
What I learned from this experience may be
useful for faculty who teach in other academic
disciplines.
Virtual Arts and Sciences
The Interactive Digital Media program at our
college was designed to use the various digital
media—audio, video, and graphic images—
as a bridge between the traditional liberal
arts, sciences, and professional programs.
IDM 302: Virtual Arts and Sciences is one
of the courses that specifically interweaves
academic courses with those that are primarily
technical. Every spring semester an instructor
from either the liberal arts or sciences teaches
this course, which means that the curriculum
varies, depending on who teaches it.
As the only member of our English
Department who was willing (or naïve)
enough to teach this course, I envisioned
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VOLUME I • ISSUE 1
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Integrating Literature With Technology
continued from pg. 5 ..........
that it would combine literature and hypermedia to develop students’ abilities to read,
research, and write effectively, skills that
are often cited by future employers.
Hypermedia or “hypertext,” the term Janet
Murray uses in Hamlet on the Holodeck, is
a set of documents of any kind— images,
text, charts, tables, video clips—connected
to one another by links” (55). In this type
of digital environment my students created
their projects. These projects now appear on
a class website and can be used as a resource
for students and educators who want to learn
more about a particular piece of literature.
Students who took IDM 302 had
already taken two prerequisite courses: one
that taught them the various software for
creating interactive, multimedia projects and
the other,web design and development. In fact,
these students were either IDM or Graphic Arts
majors. Throughout Virtual Arts and Sciences,
students read and discussed mostly short
stories, such as Poe’s “The Pit and the
Pendulum,” Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl
Creek Bridge,” Buzzati’s “The Falling Girl,”
and Junichiro’s “The Tattooer.” Three projects
were required for the semester, but students
had the option to work on only one story or
to choose three different ones. They also could
choose to work collaboratively or independently. Out of eleven students, two groups
formed, with four students in one, two in
another. The remainder of the students worked
individually. All but three students (the group
of two and a student working independently)
selected “The Pit and the Pendulum” as their
choice for a project. Although all the stories
were rich in detail, this particular story
intrigued students because of its macabre tone
and setting and its wealth of visual and audio
possibilities.
Activities and Projects
After the first few classes that consisted of
background readings in hypermedia, such
as excerpts from Turkle, Birkerts, and Stoll
and an examination of various educational
websites, we discussed how to evaluate the
quality of information online. I then gave
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my students a broad range (history, music,
art, film) of websites, with encouragement
to find their own to use as resources for the
first story. Hereafter, for every story on the
syllabus, each student brought in five or
more website addresses that could be used
in researching information pertaining to that
particular story. Students were then ready
for their first project, which challenged them
to create the opening page for a comprehensive website for a story that we had read and
discussed. Their opening page was to include
graphics, a short introduction, and outlined
links to additional branches of their site. They
also had to submit a typed project plan that
consisted of their focus—historical context,
author’s background, multidisciplinary—and
a method of accomplishing the objective of
the project such as text, graphics, audio, or
other.
Each project had two due dates: one for
their written plan and one for their actual
presentation. However, before going “public,”
that is, presenting their projects to their
classmates, the class designed a scoring rubric
that they would use to assess each other’s
presentation. (Collaborative groups received
one grade for their team.) Once they received
their scores, students also wrote a reflective
essay in which they commented on what
they liked about their projects and presentations and what they would do differently
next time. Each of the three projects followed
a similar pattern of reflection and analysis.
A Sample Project
In the process of creating their literary-based
projects, students used a variety of programs
and file formats: Dreamweaver, Adobe
Illustrator 9, Flash 5, SoundEdit, Macromedia
Director, and/or Macromedia Flash. By way
of example, I’ll describe for you one of the
three projects that the group of two students
created.
Based on “The Things They Carried,” a
Vietnam War story by Tim O’Brien, this project
was a combination of slide show, music,
and informational links to other sites. The
creators of this website scanned some black
and white picture postcards of the Vietnam
War era that I had brought back from a visit
to Vietnam and put together a simple slide
show of images and captions, relating them
to the story. For background music they
chose a song from the 1970’s —“For What
It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield. From
their “splash page” (a page that acts primarily as an entrance to the rest of the website),
they provided a link to their informational
page, where there were further links to in-depth
Vietnam War sites (such as those pertaining
to music, society, politics), information on
the author’s writings and on the construction
of the website itself: name and e-mail address
of designers, name of host institution, and date
when the page was created or last updated.
Concluding Suggestions
Although IDM 302 is a specially designed
course with prerequisites, some of the same
activities I used are applicable to other academic disciplines that use computer technology as a learning tool. In reflecting on
the challenges and successes of the projects, I have a few suggestions for anyone
who attempts a similar course:
• Have students do annotated bibliographies for any sites that might
be useful for their project. Doing this
encourages them to thoroughly investigate
the site and its links.
• Make sure that students proofread all
text, whether they have written it or adopted it as a link. They need to learn that even
reputable websites can have spelling, grammar, and usage errors. I found that even
though I had suggested corrections, not all
students followed through with my advice.
For example, one student’s opening page
spelled Edgar Allan Poe’s name two different ways (Allan and Allen) on the same
line.
• Give students realistic deadlines.
Researching a topic takes time, but integrating it into an informational w ebsite
doubles or triples the time needed.
• Have students keep process journals of
their projects and write a reflective essay
upon completing the projects. Writing is a
logical activity; it helps students think critically about a process and its outcomes.
It certainly helps if the person teaching
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Integrating Literature with Technology
continued from pg. 6 ..........
the course is versed in the various multimedia software programs, although it is not
necessary in a course such as this one that
has prerequisites. However, at times I felt
helpless, primarily when students were
having trouble with a certain program or
procedure. Had I understood the software
they were using, I could have saved them
some time and frustration.
Despite the challenges of such a course,
its most exciting characteristic is its multidisciplinarity. In the process of making
visible links in their w eb pages to history,
music, science, or even math, students are
also making mental connections. Through
their projects and reflective writings, they
learn that the liberal arts and sciences can
be a valuable complement to technical or
professional programs. As one student wrote
in the end-of-course self-evaluation: “I found
out that literature gave me some great creative
ideas. I never really thought about using art
or music or history to understand the literature better. So this class wasn’t as boring as
I was afraid it would be.”
Mission accomplished.
References
Birkerts, S. (1994). The Gutenberg elegies:
The fate of reading in an electronic age.
Boston, MA: Faber and Faber.
Murray, J. (1999). Hamlet on the holodeck.
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Stoll, C. (1995). Silicon snake oil: Second
thoughts on the information highway.
NewYork: Doubleday.
Turkle, S. (1997). Life on the screen:
Identity in the age of the internet.
NewYork: Touchstone.
The Successful Professor
TM
Confronting Diversity
Alfred G. Mueller II, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Speech
Communication
Pennsylvania State University
Mont Alto, Pennsylvania
agm6@psu.edu
Perhaps no other word in today’s lexicon
has garnered more attention from academics,
politicians, business leaders, and service
professionals than diversity. Using the numbers
of different ethnic groups represented on our
campuses, we judge these places as being
diverse. So potent are the connotations surrounding diversity that both major political
parties spent the summer of 2000 vying to
be judged the more diverse. And the desire
to be perceived as diverse has so gripped
corporate America that many organizations
have spent the last decade instituting programs
that address the issue in their workforces
(Rynes & Rosen, 1995, 1994).
Those who teach management classes
can attest first-hand to the fact that management programs increasingly are employing
multi-ethnic project groups to reinforce diversity issues across their curricula (Bilimoria,
1998) and to promote an appreciation for
diversity as an asset (Day, 2000). Although
this instructional strategy is transferable to
other types of courses, it is not always practical
to do so when factoring in institutional exigencies, pedagogical constraints, and professor
preferences. Yet because professors desire
to inculcate in students an appreciation for
a variety of opinions and insights, many—
if not most—retain at least some component
of diversity instruction. Unfortunately, such
components in isolation may relegate diversity issues to simple skill-based training,
e.g., finding a number of different qualified
sources or using inclusive vocabulary, rather
than to student awareness training, i.e., student
knowledge of and sensitivity to diversity
(Carnevale & Stone, 1995).
The following assignment emerged from
the recognition that in training students in
both skill and awareness one can achieve
diversity at virtually any institution and given
any pedagogical constraints. At its base, the
assignment sets students up to fail a contemporary version of a literacy test, which prompts
them to react both emotionally and intellectually to the situation. After such a dramatic
incident, students are much more receptive
to issues of diversity because they experience
the feeling of being marginalized.
Assignment
Step I. Students should be presented with
a chance to offer their own definitions of
what diversity means to them. This portion
of the assignment works well whether students
are asked to present immediate oral feedback
or are given an opportunity to prepare a brief
definition on paper. Student responses typically vary widely, ranging from articulating
institutional concerns about ethnic representation to more cynical critiques of “political
correctness” in American society. Professors
should, therefore, be prepared to discuss
and probe a range of viewpoints, emulating
diversity awareness for students to model.
As part of this probing, professors should
encourage students to consider the feeling of
being marginalized.
Step II. When the number of discussants
begins to wane, the professors should propose
that students take a quiz on diversity.
Depending on the class temperament and
personal preference, the professors may cite
the lack of participation as necessitating a
“pop quiz.” Alternatively, one may present
the quiz as a way for students to acquire a
better appreciation for such an abstract concept. The quiz is a contemporary version of
a literacy test, a device used throughout the
South in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries to deprive African-Americans of
the right to vote. In essence, a literacy test
was designed to be so difficult as to be
impossible to pass. The version of the literacy
test advanced here (Figure 1) consists of a
series of questions based on the original,
pre-Amendment version of the United States
Constitution. I use the copy from Faulkner’s
(1957) American Social and Political History
textbook. Because this version of the
continued on pg. 8 ..............
VOLUME I • ISSUE 1
7
Confronting Diversity
continued from pg. 7 ..........
Constitution is rarely found in print today,
students are less likely to be aware of its provisions.
I prefer to use the Constitution because
of the nature of the courses I teach—introductory level, general education courses
required of all baccalaureate students. Using
the Constitution provides students with a
sense of familiarity because, for most of them,
the topic has already been covered in depth
as part of their secondary education. This
familiarity leads many students to believe
that they will be able to complete the quiz
with little effort. Consequently, when they
confront the difficulty of the questions, the
dramatic nature of the quiz manifests itself.
However, I recognize that the Constitution
is not the only topic that one may choose.
For example, some may wish to develop a quiz
based upon the central aspects of a minority
or subaltern culture within the United States
to dramatize further the feeling of being
marginalized. Regardless of the approach,
though, the quiz must be designed so as to
be impossible to complete successfully.
Otherwise, the full effect will be lost.
Step III. After the students have worked on
the quiz for approximately five minutes, the
professor should stop the students’ attempts
to finish the quiz and ask how they feel. I find
it helpful to mark the range of responses on
the board for the students to use as a common
reference. But the professor should not reveal
what the quiz actually is just yet. Instead, I
suggest that the class review the quiz together.
The professor should proceed slowly, one
question at a time, allowing students to suggest
possible answers before revealing the correct
response(s). I suggest treating significant
deviations in wording between the professor’s
answer and the student’s response as an
incorrect response. When the class review
of the test is complete, the professor should
ask students how many answers they guessed
correctly.
Debriefing
At this point, the professor should announce
that the students have just failed a literacy
The Successful Professor
TM
test. The professor should then conduct a brief
discussion on the general role of the literacy
test in American social and political history.
I encourage my students to discuss openly
how they feel after knowing that the quiz
was designed to make them fail. Other helpful
lines of discussion include ways this test
helps students to understand marginalized
peoples’ feelings, ways diversity awareness
impacts the course, and the role(s) diversity
should play in the course. Before concluding
the module, the professor may wish to ask
students to construct a new definition of what
diversity means to them and allow them to
share those definitions publicly. Depending
on the amount of time remaining in the class
session, I sometimes use several keywords
from the students’ new definitions to generate
discussion on the differences between the
original definitions and the new ones.
but that it also enables students to understand
that behavioral and attitudinal choices significantly impact audiences.
Figure 1
A Contemporary Literacy Test
Diversity Quiz
Answer the following questions to the
best of your ability.
• According to the United States
Constitution, the number of representatives a State is granted in the
House of Representatives is based
on the population of the State.
How specifically is population to
be determined?
Note:“By census” is not specific
enough.
(Answer: “Add the whole Number
of free Persons, excluding Indians
not taxed, and three-fifths of all
other Persons.”)
Appraisal
At the end of the class period, students
consistently have indicated that they enjoyed
the module because it allowed them to experience first-hand what it feels like to be
marginalized. They express intentions to be
as inclusive as possible when developing
speech and paper topics because they do not
want others to feel like “outsiders.” Several
have commented on mid-term and final
evaluations of the course that this assignment
is “one of the more memorable moments of
the class” and that it “demonstrates concretely the importance of diversity in society.”
Although I am currently engaged in formal
quantitative testing to determine the impact
of the instrument, I have noticed informally
that the quality of student topic choices has
improved somewhat as has the inclusiveness
of student oral presentations. I should also
note that measures of professor evaluation—
specifically, standardized evaluations provided
near the end of the semester and informal
one-minute papers—have shown a positive
impact upon student perceptions of professor
competence, approachability, and credibility
when compared with evaluations from
previous semesters. Taken together, these
different assessments suggest not only that
the above assignment promotes an awareness
of diversity that complements the traditional
skill-based training that students receive,
• What size is the District of
Columbia held to?
(Answer: Ten square miles)
• What rights are guaranteed to a
person accused of a crime in the
United States Constitution?
(Answer: Trial by jury, trial in the
state where the crimes were com
mitted, freedom from bills of
attainder and ex post facto laws,
and assignment of a writ of habeas
corpus)
• If the House and Senate fail to
agree upon a time of adjournment,
who determines that time?
(Answer: The President of the
United States)
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VOLUME I • ISSUE 1
8
Confronting Diversity
continued from pg. 8 ..........
• How may treason against the
United States be proven in a
court of law?
(Answer: Either by two witnesses
to the act or by open confession
of the accused)
Storytelling As a Method
of Conveying Lessons:
Reflections on the Use
of Emotions in Teaching
and Learning
Lesley D. Harman, Ph.D.
• Who serves as the head of the
United States Senate in the
absence of the Vice-President?
(Answer: The president pro
tempore)
• How many states were needed to
ratify the Constitution of the
United States?
(Answer: Nine)
References
Bilimoria, D. (1998, April).“Teaching
diversity in the management classroom:
Perspectives, challenges, approaches, and
tools.” Journal of Management Education,
22 (2), 120.
Camevale, A., & Stone, S. (1995).
The American mosaic: An in-depth report
on the future of diversity at work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Day, N. (2000, June). “Teaching
diversity: A study of organizational needs
and diversity curriculum in higher education.”
Journal of Management Education, 24 (3),
338-352.
Faulkner, H. (1957). American social
and political history, 7E. NewYork:
Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Rynes, S., & Rosen, B. (1994,
October). “What makes diversity programs
work?” HR Magazine, 39, 67-73.
Rynes, S., & Rosen, B. (1995). “A
field survey of factors affecting the adoption and received success of diversity training.” Personnel Psychology, 48, 247-270.
•••••••••••••••
The Successful Professor
TM
Associate Professor of Sociology
at King’s College
Faculty Associate, Educational
Development Office
The University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada
harman@uwo.ca
I see the world through an emotional lens
much of the time, and in my own life I have
found emotions can enhance understanding.
It has been my experience that passion can
touch students in a profound way. Eliciting
feelings of compassion, empathy, commiseration, excitement, enthusiasm, optimism,
and even sadness can create an opening to
insight as no other method I know. One of
the most effective ways to do so is through
the telling of stories.
Storytelling as a method of conveying
lessons as well as creating group cohesion
is as old as human language itself.
Storytelling can be a humanizing, equalizing
experience. Students often enjoy seeing the
human side of their professors. Stories
make us vulnerable and allow our passions
to be revealed.
My method is to punctuate my lectures with
examples that most frequently come out as
stories. Stories need not take hours to tell.
The thirty-second story can elicit a world
of meaning. Each note of commonality,
each point of shared lived experience produces a layering of understanding which
requires no further explanation. Huge vistas
of human awareness can be traversed in
under a minute. Group experience is
formed through the shared memory of the
story and discussion or comments which
ensue. This experience itself becomes part
of the story of the class, the rich human
tapestry which can be woven in the course
of an academic year. Near the end of the
year one can tell a story simply by asking a
question: “Remember when I asked everyone way back in October if they had ever
felt ‘the penny drop?’” This is another
story, another realization, another memory.
In my career, these have been wondrous,
memorable teaching experiences for my
students and me.
Once I have assessed where my students
are located socially and experientially, I try
to incorporate the thirty-second story as a
standard illustrative tool. Sometimes a brief
news story will put a difficult sociological
concept into stark bas-relief. For example, I
find the concept of “rationality”, which underpins our entire social order in the West, to
be one that is often difficult to explain to
first-year sociology students. So I tell the
story of the time I was listening to my car
radio and heard that somewhere in the
United States a woman had been arrested
after she purchased $20,000 of clothing in
a department store using a bad cheque.
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VOLUME I • ISSUE 1
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Storytelling as a Method
continued from pg. 9 ..........
Upon apprehending her, the police asked
her to return the clothes. She explained that
she could not because she had already given
them all away to the homeless. I then asked
the class what they thought the police had
done with the woman. Most answered that
she had been charged with theft. In fact she
had been removed to a psychiatric facility
to undergo testing. It is not rational to steal
if theft is not for personal gain.
Another quotable story serves to illustrate
how damaging labelling can be. There had
reportedly been an incident somewhere in
which a five-year-old child who was swimming in a public pool was identified as
being HIV positive. As the story goes, the
child was made to leave, and the pool was
evacuated and completely emptied of water.
My shocked students said they actually felt
the pain of that child, his family, and all of
those who are stigmatized through association with HIV.
In the telling of stories, it is not important
whether the facts really happened or whether
they are reported in an accurate way. I make
sure to make vague references to time and
place and to maintain anonymity except
when telling stories about myself. To protect
friends and family I will refer to people as
“acquaintances.” It does seem, however,
that personal stories, in which the professor
reflects upon her or his own experiences,
have a greater impact.
Illustrating the relativity of social norms in
time and space is often challenging for those
who have been living in an almost homogeneous culture. For example, my community
strongly emphasizes the dangers of drinking
and driving. So I use my age to my advantage and tell the story of a time when I was
a university student at a party. People were
leaving and the host offered his guests another “one for the road,” a standard, generous
offer at the time. After another round of drinks,
this particular group started to get into a
car. The driver had had as much to drink as
the rest of them. One person in the group was
visiting from a European country where social
awareness of the dangers of drinking and
driving was where ours is today. She refused
The Successful Professor
TM
to get into the car and opted to walk instead.
I observed the others in the car jeering at
her for her strange views. Today, of course,
the adage is “none for the road,” and most
who have been socialized in the past twenty years or so are conscious of the standard
assignment of a designated driver. This
story of behaviour which occurred in their
community only twenty-five years ago is
effective. Today’s students can identify far
more readily with the woman who walked
than with the students who drove. They
respond passionately, and they learn a lesson
of adhering to one’s principles, even in the
face of jeering peer pressure.
Another story also proved effective. In one
of my classes a student was demonstrating
a fairly typical form of resistance to the
suggestion that females are systematically
disadvantaged within patriarchy. This student ought to have known that I had written
the book chapter on gender relations, the
assigned reading for that day. I could have
responded to her in many ways, most of
which might have run the defensive straight
into difficult dialogues. My choice was to
share an intensely personal story about the
birth of my daughter. I told the class that,
after feeling the joy at her birth and the
relief that she was healthy and safe, I wept
for her being born into a world in which it
was so hard to be a woman. And, in doing
so, I wept for all of womankind, indeed for
all of humankind. In stunned silence, my
class watched as tears streamed down my
face. After a few minutes, one male student
raised his hand and thanked me for sharing
and for helping him see through eyes that
he had never had before. There were other
comments reflecting the shift in the students’
perceptions—of me and of themselves.
Emotion can be a very powerful tool.
The messages transmitted through compelling
stories may be frozen in time in the memories
of our students, recalled years later when
most of the rest has been forgotten. To seize
a teachable moment most effectively, however, our knowing who we are and who our
students are can make a difference. In asking “who are we?” we can take important
steps toward honouring otherness. That in
itself will open us up to a more positive and
humanizing experience of emotions.
•••••••••••••••
Portions of this article were previously published in Reflections: Newsletter of the
Educational Development Office of the
University of Western Ontario (No. 45, April
2001), pp. 5-7 (reprinted here with permission). The author would like to thank Mike
Atkinson and Debra Dawson for their
encouraging comments on a previous draft,
and John Mitterer for his support and his
inspirational views on the use of emotions in
teaching, particularly in the area of gender
studies.
VOLUME I • ISSUE 1
10
Meet the Authors
Kori A. Gregg is currently Lead Instructor in Accounting and Business Administration at
Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kansas. She has been teaching at the
college level since 1993. Her education includes bachelor degrees in business administration
and psychology and a master’s degree in accounting. She will be graduating with a second
master’s degree in anthropology in May, 2002. She speaks frequently on innovative teaching
methods at regional and national educational meetings, and she has written numerous articles
on the topic. As an avid mountain climber, Kori also presents keynote addresses on climbing
and motivation. She is a member of the National Speakers Association and Who’s Who of
National Speakers.
Dr. Panitz is professor of mathematics and engineering at Cape Cod Community College
in West Barnstable, Massachusetts. He has completed his 25th year of teaching at Cape
Cod Community College and 30th year of full time teaching. He has served as the
Department Chairperson for Engineering and is currently Developmental Mathematics
Coordinator. Active in professional organizations, he has published many articles and
made numerous presentations on student centered-learning through cooperative learning
(CL) paradigms and writing across the curriculum (WAC). He maintains a web site with
extensive CL and WAC materials at http://www.capecod.net/~tpanitz/tedspage.
Dr. Razzano is an associate professor in the English Department at Lyndon State College.
In addition to teaching a variety of courses (world literature, history of the English language,
methods of teaching English; humanities; interactive digital media), she also serves as the
Coordinator for English education. She has written several articles on literature pedagogy
and is particularly interested in the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning.
Dr. Alfred G. Mueller II is Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Communication
at the Pennsylvania State University, Mont Alto campus. His primary research involves
studying aspects of the rhetoric of identity, especially within the context of post-Soviet
culture in Ukraine and Armenia. He is also involved in the promotion of undergraduate
research and in distance education initiatives at the Mont Alto campus.
Lesley D. Harman is Associate Professor of Sociology at King’s College, The University
of Western Ontario, and a Faculty Associate with the Educational Development Office
at The University of Western Ontario. She received her Ph.D. in 1983 from York University
and has been teaching in the university classroom since 1980. She has taught atYork,
Trent, and the University of Western Ontario and received the King’s CollegeAw ard for
Excellence in Teaching for 2000.
The Successful Professor
VOLUME I • ISSUE 1
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