“It’s no secret,” she writes, “that a lot of students are coming to campus unfamiliar with skills, habits, and behaviors that are necessary to succeed at college-level work — both basic things like the importance of meeting deadlines, paying attention, and being respectful in the classroom and more-complicated skills like knowing how to annotate readings (to retain meaning) and cope with time-management problems.”
While tutoring and other academic-support centers on campus have long worked to develop those skills, Isaacs, executive director of the faculty-excellence office at Montclair State University, says this responsibility has now spread to professors as well. She knows that many professors believe that their job is to teach content, spark discussions, and help students learn, and not to develop good study habits. “And yet,” she writes, those pedagogical skills “aren’t much use if your students come to class without having done the reading, scroll on their phones while their peers speak, or use class time to catch up on homework for another course.”
If teaching during the pandemic was defined by endless flexibility, Isaacs argues, now is the time to switch approaches. Instead of allowing students to skip classes with few consequences, you should explain to them why showing up improves their chances of doing well. Instead of agreeing to push back deadlines, you should help them develop time-management skills. Rather than assuming students won’t do the reading outside of class, you should explain to them why it’s necessary for them to study on their own.
I followed up with Isaacs by phone, to hear more of what she has to say. First, she has turned this into a literal campaign on her own campus, hoping to involve a critical mass of faculty members who will reinforce those lessons in their classrooms. Each week focuses on a different skill, and professors are provided talking points and suggested strategies, such as adding in-class participation activities to encourage preparation and taking attendance even if it’s not required, to signal its importance. While she doesn’t think all professors need to get on board, the approach is particularly relevant for those teaching introductory classes, she says.
Isaacs also recommends regular, brief conversations at the start of class. A faculty member might ask, Does anyone have a good strategy for dealing with digital distraction? Or if a deadline is approaching, the instructor might ask where people go to write their papers. The idea, she says, is to normalize good study skills and acknowledge that we all struggle with problems such as procrastination and digital distraction.
She also hopes that faculty members, along with department chairs and senior academic leaders, will collaborate to reinforce those messages. It would be great, she says, if professors who work closely together develop shared expectations for their students.
Isaacs says she expected more pushback than she has received — which was none. When she was developing the campaign, she involved staff members from mental-health services and disability services, who supported this approach. Nor has she gotten any pushback since her essay appeared.
While empathy, flexibility, and other supports remain integral to successful teaching, Isaacs says, so does attention to skills that will help students succeed in life, like showing up on time and paying attention.
During the pandemic, when so much of what was expected of students became optional, she says, “I think we devalued our work unintentionally and the importance of our work. And the attention that our work takes to have it really stick. You don’t really learn without spending some time thinking about what you’re trying to learn.”
Where do you stand on this? Have you taken that skill-building approach in your own classes? Or do you feel that students should come to college equipped with those habits and it’s not your responsibility to teach them? Write to me at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com, and your story may appear in a future newsletter.
Discussion boards, Part 3
If you haven’t read our continuing discussion of discussion boards — and how professors are trying to make them livelier, reduce the use of artificial intelligence, or find better alternatives — check out these newsletters.
Here are a few more reader responses:
Gwyneth M. Eliasson, an assistant professor in the department of health behavior, society, and policy in the Rutgers School of Public Health, wrote in to describe how she makes them work:
“I assign weekly discussion boards in all of my courses, no matter the modality.
“I find that students engage with the prompts — and each other — and often comment favorably on this assignment in their course-evaluation surveys.
“However, I rely on recent/current materials (blogs, podcasts, videos, etc.) and either open-ended or content-specific questions. For example:
“‘What was the MOST interesting topic discussed in this podcast — and WHY?’
“‘Do you agree — OR disagree — with these student authors of a journal editorial? WHY?’
“‘What was the MOST surprising statement in this audio interview — and WHY?’
“I think that this approach limits the use of AI to generate responses.”
Karen A. Spira, an associate professor of Spanish and chair of the department of modern language studies at Guilford College, described her approach:
“I like to use a very low-tech, in-person version of the discussion board in my intermediate Spanish classes. I give a prompt, and students write a paragraph-long response as homework. (This is usually an analysis of a scene from a short film that students have identified as important.) They print it up, and when we get to class, the students use tape to hang their responses around the classroom. We take 15 to 20 minutes in class to wander around, reading each other’s responses and taking notes on what we find compelling, important, or worthy of further discussion. Then we sit down in a circle and have a group discussion, led by the students, delving deeper into the observations and analyses students have presented in their papers. This works beautifully in the language classroom as the life cycle of the assignment incorporates writing, reading, listening, and speaking in the target language. It also allows students’ questions to drive class discussion.”
Barb Haines, associate dean of academic technology, teaching, and learning at the University of Hartford, is looking for others who use social feeds in their coursework. She wrote that in her interdisciplinary-studies courses she has seen a rise in AI-generated responses in traditional discussion boards.
“I have had greater success using Active Class and Viva Engage (Microsoft). I set up a social feed in the class and use it for student engagement, announcements, and microlessons. Because students are used to communicating this way via social media (without AI), the social feed is a way to build a community of learners who are thinking about the course materials.”
For her dissertation, Haines wants to interview other instructors who use social feeds in their courses. If you have tried this as well, please write to me to share your experience or connect with Haines directly.
I’ll continue to write about discussion boards and their alternatives as I hear from more readers. Feel free to drop me a note at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com, and your example may appear in a future newsletter.
ICYMI
- Why have some campus events about the war in Gaza succeeded and others sparked controversy? Our Erin Gretzinger breaks it down in this Chronicle story.
- Colleges like living-learning communities for many reasons, including enhanced social connections and deeper learning opportunities. But in this Chronicle opinion piece, Rita Koganzon argues that what they’re really after is social control.
Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com or beckie.supiano@chronicle.com.
—Beth
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