This week, Peter van Leusen, PhD, addresses a question from our Grad TA Mike Holter, on what to do when things aren't working. Peter is an instructional designer in CLAS, and former Assistant Director in the Office of Instructional Consulting
in the School of Education at Indiana University. He teaches both face-to-face and online classes.
What a mess! The blank stare in my students‘ eyes
told me that the lesson that I meticulously prepared all weekend long did not
have the desired learning outcomes for which I had hoped! What should I change?
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| Peter van Leusen, PhD |
From my own teaching and observing other instructors, I quickly learned that there is not a “perfect way” to teach. I found that each class has different characteristics due to students (e.g., personalities, number) or contexts (e.g., online, time of the day). To make learning experiences meaningful despite these variables, I like to reflect on my own teaching regularly and make changes, if necessary. The hard question is to know what to change and when to do it?
Use Formative Assessments Frequently
In my classes, I tend to use formative assessment frequently to see whether
my students “are getting it”. I’m a big fan of Classroom Assessment Techniques
(CATs), developed by Thomas Angelo and Patricia Cross (1993), because they
provide feedback about lesson effectiveness and student understanding. While
CATs were developed with face-to-face teaching in mind, these quick,
easy-to-use, and often non-graded techniques can be easily adapted to any
teaching context (e.g., online). The feedback collected from these activities
helps me to decide whether I can move on to the next concept or need to spend
more time on the current topic. Popular CATs are Minute-Paper, Muddiest Point,
or Pro-Con Grids, but Angelo and Cross developed more than 50 CATs that promote
active and often collaborative learning.
Make Changes at the Right Time
Although CATs provide good insights about the class, making changes is
actually quite complicated because it might impact other aspects of the course.
For example, removing an exam can have significant impact on the overall grade.
Therefore, I take notes on my lesson plans about what did or did not work. If I
decide that something needs changing and it is a minor “tweak”, I will do this
in the ongoing class and explain it to my students. If it is something major, I
generally wait until the unit or course is over since it might influence too
many other parts of the class. The key is not to forget about these as soon as
final grades are submitted or wait until the beginning of a new semester!Helpful Resources:
- Angelo, T. A., & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers. San Francisco: Josey-Bass.
- Barkley, E. F., Cross, K. P., & Major, C. H. (2004). Collaborative learning techniques: A handbook for college faculty. Wiley.com.
- van Leusen, P. (2014). Gauging student understanding: CATs are puuuuur-fect. ASU TeachOnline.
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