Colleagues:
Welcome to the fall semester—a time of new beginnings, new achievements, and always new opportunities to help our students achieve their educational dreams. This is one of my very favorite times of the year and I hope you are all looking forward to engaging with our students again as well.
This month I would like to offer three insights that I have formulated over my years as a college instructor and then administrator. I would like to share these with you as you begin the academic year as just some “food for thought.”
No One Is As Important To Our Students as You--Our Faculty
As I wrote to you in my fall letter, you really are the key connection with our students. Administrators and staff play critical roles, but there is no one who can influence a student as deeply as you can. At times it is hard to remember that especially when our students, who are already burdened with life’s many other responsibilities, do not seem to be as engaged as we might want them to be.
But don’t let appearances fool you—even when a student may not appear to be engaged, you are reaching them in ways you never imagined. That is why we ask you to be a regular presence with our students, be it logging in most days of the week in online courses or teaching the full face-to-face class even on a Monday night when students are tired. Students need you to be there, actively engaging them in learning. Will you get a standing ovation if you do? Hardly likely. But you will be giving our students what they deserve—an education to take them into the future.
Our Students Are Like Students Everywhere
I’ve worked in several institutions of higher education, some public, some private, some large, some small. Some were selective, some were essentially open just as UMUC is. In every institution and in every decade I have heard the same concerns: “Our students are not prepared.” “ Our students are not motivated.” “ Our students only care about grades, not learning.”
Do any of these sound familiar? I’m sure they do, and I have to admit—I’ve said these things myself. But it’s important to remember that of the approximately 3,000 colleges and universities in the U. S., only a fraction are truly selective. The vast majority are essentially open access, although they may not wish to admit it.
At UMUC we not only admit it--we are proud of it! Our mission is to openly provide educational opportunities to students who have few alternate choices. That shouldn’t make us look down on ourselves; instead it should invigorate and motivate us to find ever new ways to help our students gain the knowledge and skills they come to us to acquire.
Do our students always understand what it takes to learn? Probably not. Do they value learning for its own sake? Perhaps less often than we would like. But these are still not reasons to despair. Instead, in an institution such as UMUC, we need to assist students in learning how to learn.
For example, try to provide ideas at the beginning of class to help your students succeed. Should they work on practice problems 30 minutes a day in order to be successful? Tell them so. Do they need help with their writing? Refer them to the Effective Writing Center. Tell them what helped you to learn your discipline—they need to see that you struggled at times as well.
Once our students learn what it takes to learn, they will be on their way to success. And even if their only goal is to graduate and get a job, they may just get excited about literature or art or philosophy along the way if you share your enthusiasm and knowledge.
Teaching is Not Always the Best Path to Learning
I know this sounds heretical, but let me explain. Teaching—as defined by an instructor lecturing or demonstrating how to solve problems—is the way most of us experienced our schooling. However, research in educational psychology yields a very different picture of how we learn most effectively. In fact, listening to a lecture or seeing a teacher solve a problem are often not the most effective ways for a student to learn.
What is more effective? Depending on the discipline, it is important to help students approach material in a variety of ways. Students do need to hear explanations from you, but they also need to read the material, see it visually, discuss it with their peers, and even teach it to their peers. Active work on the material from a variety of perspectives will result in the deepest learning.
So as you begin your classes this year, please do ask yourself if you have designed enough activities that require students to interact with the material and with each other. Do you have them discuss the material in small groups? Teach aspects of it to one another? Take turns leading discussions on various topics? Apply the material to case studies? Bring in real-life examples of the material they are studying?
I would ask you to do me one favor this fall—try at least one of these active learning methods to help students achieve mastery of the material. See for yourself if it engages students more deeply. I’d love to hear from you and know what new ideas you have tried.
As always, I welcome your comments back. Reactions and responses welcome to me at deanundergrad@umuc.edu. I do read them all.
My sincere best wishes for a wonderful fall semester.
Marie
