Thinking and Communicating in College Professor Haines [email protected] Falmouth 301D (978)...
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Thinking and Communicating in College Professor Haines [email protected] Falmouth 301D (978) 934-4186
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Transcript of Thinking and Communicating in College Professor Haines [email protected] Falmouth 301D (978)...
Goals for our time today
Talk about your intellectual approach to college
Get you to think about how you’ll take action
Consider the importance of good communication with your faculty
Answer any questions you might have
So…
what is a university?
So…
what is a university?
The word university is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium,
roughly meaning
"community of teachers and scholars.”
Seven learning outcomes shared in common among Gen. Ed. courses
1. Breadth of knowledge2. Critical thinking* 3. Clear communication*4. Diversity5. Ethics*6. Self-direction and collaboration*7. Information literacy
* We’ll be practicing these items in just a minute!
How do those goals relate to the classes I’ll be taking?
Course goals Course content Modes of instruction Types of assignments Evaluation techniques
How do those goals relate to the classes I’ll be taking?
And how am I supposed to know if I’m doing what I need to do to meet those goals?
Let yoursyllabus
be your guide!
“A syllabus is a tool and a contract.”
What does a syllabus do?
Explains course requirements Explains how your grade will be determined Lays out course policies Communicates the faculty member’s expectations Tells you what you can expect of your faculty Tells you what work is due, and when Allows you to make informed decisions about your
work
“A syllabus is a tool and a contract.”
While the above is a useful mantra, it’s
also a fact that sometimes you will need
help to understand a syllabus – and its
implications – completely.
Luckily, we have just the thing for that!
Your faculty is your key!
Obviously, your professors want you to understand the course material, so they expect that you’ll do the work of the course.
What else do they expect from you?
We expect you to be CURIOUS and to seek out COMPLEXITY!
• Discover the holes in your knowledge.• Feel curious about the cause, consequence, purpose,
function, or value of what you encounter.• Learn how to evaluate evidence and understand how
to draw conclusions.• Consider contradictions between different
perspectives.• Note discrepancies between the ideal and the real,
between people’s stated values and their actions, and between how things are and how you want them to be.
What your professors want you to know about learning
1. You have to be lively and engaged in order to get anything from a class.
2. You are responsible for the quality of your education.
3. Learning involves risk. If you are not a little anxious about what you are studying, you are probably not engaging it deeply enough.
4. Being an active participant in your classes (asking questions, reading well, critically engaging with ideas) requires real courage. Be brave.
What your professors want you to know about learning
5. Reading well and listening well are fundamental skills. You might find that you do not yet know how to do either of these at the level required in college, so be prepared to work on these skills.
6. A first step in learning is to find out what you don't know, so keep your mind open.
7. Expect complexity. Avoid oversimplifying big ideas.8. Look for shared ideas and concepts in disparate
courses. Don't compartmentalize. That’s why you’re at a University!
What your professors want you to know about learning
9. Successful students place their learning at the top of their priority list. Don't settle for turning in work that you know is mediocre.
10. We are really serious about academic integrity.
The thing about college is…
As faculty, we need to set the stage for the whole class to do well.
However, practically speaking, the responsibility for taking the initiative to move beyond a functional faculty-student relationship to a really productive faculty-student relationship, especially in the first year, and in Gen. Ed. courses, often falls on the student!
Seeking out these relationships takes some effort.
Find out when your instructor is available, and how she or he prefers to be contacted. Often, that info. is on the syllabus. Otherwise, you can ask!
Find your faculty member’s office!
Why would you want to find a faculty office?
Why would you want to find a faculty office?
There’s the sense of adventure…
But more importantly…
There is the knowledge that your
faculty member is there, holding office hours,
waiting for you…
j/k!
Faculty appreciate students’ being invested enough in their coursework to take advantage of office hours, especially before there’s a problem!
Navigating a two-way street
As you’re about to see, it’s not always easy to keep the communication going well.
Having patience and a sense of humor helps.
Most of the time.
On to the interactive portion of our session….
Are you ready?
Let’s play
“I r communicate good!”
I r communicate good!
What’s wrong with this phone call?
What’s wrong with this phone call?
“Professor Haines, my name is Remain Nameless, and I'm calling to speak with you about my son, who is…”
What’s wrong with this phone call?
“Hi, I'm calling because I need to get into your 10:00 class, but it's full, so I need a permission number. Thanks. <click.>”
I r communicate good!
Student role-play round:
Complete this voicemail message!
Complete this voicemail message!
“Hi, this is <your name here> from your 10:00 College Writing class. I broke my arm yesterday….”
I r communicate good!
What’s wrong with this e-mail?
What’s wrong with this e-mail?
From: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 12:35 PMTo: Haines, PaulaSubject: writing
Hi, Paula-
What’s wrong with these e-mails?
From: [email protected]
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2008 12:34 PMTo: Haines, PaulaSubject: paper
Prof. Haines, I have a question about the paper that’s due in class on Tuesday. How may works cited references are we supposed to include?
-----------------------------------------------------------------From: [email protected]: Monday, March 26, 2008 8:34 AMTo: Haines, PaulaSubject: fw: paper
Prof. Haines, I am going to need an extension on my paper because I haven’t heard back from you about my last e-mail about the works cited.
I r communicate good!
Bonus round: Spot the signs of irritation in the response to that last e-mail message!
Can you spot the signs of irritation?
I r communicate good!
Faculty
role-play
round!
Faculty role play round!
Student: “I missed class on Tuesday. Did we do anything?”
Prof.:
