Ortegón 1
Nicole Ortegón
Anthropology 199
Interview Questions
Interview Questions Developed on the Basis of My Inquiry Page:
In order to gain a more general kind of insight into student perception of the
student to faculty ratio, I'd like to first begin by asking students to provide me with
an "off the top of their heads," intuitive estimate of the student to faculty ratio at
the University of Illinois. Subsequently, I'd like students to provide me with a
student to faculty ratio, which they believe most accurately reflects and/or
represents their student to faculty interactions and experiences at the University
of Illinois. What does a student to faculty ratio mean in terms of student and
faculty interaction, in terms of everyday rather than statistical narratives?
1. Could you provide me with an “off the top of your head,” intuitive
estimate of the student to faculty ratio at the University of Illinois?
2. How do you believe your numeric estimate translates into a qualitative
estimate; in other words, could you provide describe the “student to
faculty ratio” in terms of the actual, everyday student and faculty
interactions you’ve experienced?
3. Do you feel that the numeric estimate you initially provided corresponds
to or accurately reflects and/or represents your qualitative estimate; that is,
how would you characterize the relationship between the two estimates?
I'm also interested in learning whether or not the student to faculty ratio was an
important determining factor in selecting a college/university, and, if so, why;
also, has it remained an important factor? Or, if it was not a consideration before,
has it become important during a student's attendance at the university, and, if
so, in what ways and why?
4. Was the student to faculty ratio an important determining factor in
selecting a college/university, and, if so, why?
5. If so, has it remained an important factor? Or, if it was not a
consideration before, has it become important during our attendance at the
university, and, if so, in what ways and why?
…definitions of the terms "student" and faculty" (and how they've formulated such
definitions (i.e. Do they consider TAs faculty members, why or why not?).
Ortegón 2
6. How would you define the term “student?” That is, what people do you
believe fall under the category of “student?”
7. How would you define the term “faculty;” who do you consider faculty
members (i.e. Do you include TAs in your definition of “faculty, and, if so,
why or why not)?
Has the loss of discussion sections affected their teaching methods, course
objectives, and etcetera, and, if so, how? What are their personal reactions to
discussion section cuts? Have their interactions with students been altered as a
result of discussion section cuts, and, if so, how?
8. Has the loss of discussion sections affected your teaching methods,
course objects, and etcetera, and, if so, how?
9. What are your personal reactions to discussion section cuts?
10. Have your interactions with students been altered as a result of
discussion section cuts, and, if so, how?
11. What are the pros and cons of lecture in comparison to those of
discussion section?
12. How do you feel discussion sections contribute to the student’s overall
learning experience, as well as the professor’s teaching experience?
13. What do you envision to be an optimal learning environment for a
course (i.e. How many days should be devoted to lecture and how many to
discussion, what would be an ideal class size, and how many faculty and/or
other academic staff should teach the course)? Why do you feel such an
environment would be optimal for student learning as well as academic
staff teaching; how would the environment function to enhance learning
and teaching and/or student and faculty interaction?
14. How would you characterize your interaction, as an academic staff
member, with students in a lecture hall versus classroom, versus
discussion section environment?
15. As an academic staff member, what type of teaching/learning
environment do you prefer, and why?
Interview students who have taken courses when discussion sections were still
part of the curricula and compare their learning and student to faculty (as well as
student to student) interaction experiences to those experiences of students who
are now taking the same courses minus the discussion sections. Do their
narratives differ significantly, and, if so, in what ways?
Ortegón 3
16. How would you characterize your interaction, as a student, with faculty
in a lecture hall versus classroom, versus discussion section
environment?
17. As a student, what type of learning environment do you prefer, and
why?
18. As a student, what type of learning environment do you believe is most
affective (i.e. fosters the most learning, interaction, and etcetera), why and
how?
Present pictures to both students and faculty/academic staff. Inquire as to
whether or not they prefer one type of learning environment to another and
why or why not. Ask interviewees what they consider to be the pros and
cons of each type of learning environment. How does spatial proximity of
academic staff to students (and vice versa) or students to fellow students differ
with each environment? Does spatial proximity of academic staff to students (and
vice versa) or students to fellow students make one type of learning environment
more appealing and why or why not? In short, what are the affects of different
spatial arrangements in terms of class engagement and course participants'
interaction with one another?
19. How does spatial proximity of academic staff to students (and vice
versa) or students to fellow students differ with each environment?
20. Does spatial proximity of academic staff to students (and vice versa) or
students to fellow students make one type of learning environment more
appealing and why or why not?
21. In short, what are the affects of different spatial arrangements in terms
of class engagement and course participants' interaction with one another?
How has the loss of discussion sections affected the University's ability to
mitigate people's fears of attending such a large-scale university?
22. How has the loss of discussion sections affected the University's ability
to mitigate people's fears of attending such a large-scale university?
Students can still go to both their Professor's as well as their TA's office
hours, if they're wanting to discuss course related issues in a smaller
learning environment. (Will a loss of discussion sections eventually result in an
increased amount of students attending office hours?) Nevertheless, with the
loss of discussion sections, students have a more limited opportunity to
engage in an open class discussion with their fellow peers and
Ortegón 4
consequently a more limited opportunity to gain insight into a larger variety
of perspectives.
23. Do you believe a loss of discussion sections eventually result in an
increased amount of students attending office hours?
24. In what ways, does an office hours experience compare to the
experience one receives from a discussion section?
25. Do you agree or disagree with the following, why or why not:
Nevertheless, with the loss of discussion sections, students have a more
limited opportunity to engage in an open class discussion with their fellow
peers and consequently a more limited opportunity to gain insight into a
larger variety of perspectives.
Note: I have yet to tailor specific interview questions pertaining to the
situations presented in the paragraphs below.
During one of my tutoring sessions today, one of the student’s I work with
commented on the way in which I speak of her professor. She stated that my
classroom experience and engagement with the professor must have been
different from her own, remarking on how I talk about the teacher as being "cool"
and "friendly;” she said she never really gets to experience the more personal
side of her professor, because "the teacher doesn't come out of her structure in
our class." She then asked me how many students were in my (Anth 270) class-I
estimated probably between 30-40. She estimated that her course had 200, if not
over 200 students and followed up her estimation by telling me that she thought a
course like this (Anth 104) might work better in a smaller classroom environment.
At the end of our session, she agreed to do an interview with me addressing
issues such as why she would prefer to have that particular class taught in a
smaller environment and what benefits might result in doing so. I also plan to
interview her about her discussion section for the course.
I also talked with another student today who has agreed to do an interview. She
has classes that are lecture only (with several lecture TAs) and also classes that
have discussion sections and discussion section TAs. One student informed me
of how her professor actually leads one of the discussion sections and how she
believes that must lend an advantage to that discussion section.