A Mostly Useful Resource that Fails One of Its Objectives: A Reivew of Nilson's "Teaching at Its Best"

Teaching at Its Best is a resource for anyone teaching college classes, regardless their level of experience--though it's positioned as particularly useful to new professors and those wishing to improve. Its content is based on educational research and experience, covering the gamut from planning and teaching the course to grading and evaluations. It is unlikely to be exhaustive, but it manages to feel like it is.

This brings me to my primary issue with the book. In the preface (page XV in the third paragraph), Nilson writes:

...I wrote this new edition for people who don't have time to read a book--like you.

If that is an objective, it is one Nilson, in my opinion, fails to meet. This objective makes it sound like the book should be easy to skim, that the main points of each chapter are easily identified and neatly summarized at the end.

The biggest failure is that there are no end-of-chapter summaries, followed closely by introductions that are less often illuminating as to the chapter's content than is helpful. While the chapters are thoroughly sectioned and sub-sectioned, many of these are still written to be read. If you tell me right from the start that this book is for people who don't have time to read a book, it should be written as though the person has a day to pick up on the most important parts and highlights of each chapter.

That said, I do find many of the chapters useful, if not also reminiscent of the Barkley book from last month. Chapter 6 I especially appreciated as this is a topic I hear mumblings about in department offices but no one actually seems to discuss. I also found tables 11.1 and 11.2 useful in summarizing teaching methods; it's an easy tool I can refer to later for guidance and inspiration.

Chapter 24 on feedback was a winner for me, but I also feel like feedback is not discussed enough. I took it upon myself a couple years ago to learn more about giving and receiving feedback because I recognized I was particularly poor at the latter. I wouldn't say I'm great by any means, but I am better than I had been.

Two aspects of grading that resonated with me were the discussions on bonus points (page 102) and the virtual token system (page 314). On the former, I like that Nilson suggests bonus points should be for those actually putting effort into the class. In one of the classes I TA for, the students have been asking for bonus points, but the ones requesting them don't participate in class--even when the topic is something they're familiar with, like the Internet and myBama--and don't appear to put much effort into their coursework. I acknowledge they probably aren't very motivated to start, but I don't agree with rewarding low motivation with bonus points.

That said, I like the appeal of the latter, because it fits with my desire to be somewhat flexible. (In general, I'm not sure how I feel about the recommended specification grading approach; I want to like it but it seems impractical in application--though that may be my inexperience talking.) In part, I like the game aspect to it--this may be a business school thing, but I have found many of my classmates over the years to be competitive at times. I also like that it allows students an easy way to request an extension, redo, or make-up without my having to wait for documentation they gave to another professor because they waited beyond the acceptable time frame to inform us they were ill/concussed/at an appointment/etc.

Switching gears again, I did find some of the chapters uninteresting or unhelpful, and, at times, far too prescriptive. Chapter 4 I found to be the least useful because of Nilson's approach. She essentially tells us teaching should be low tech, at both the beginning and the end. thus negating any argument to the contrary. It also left me feeling like she included it more out of necessity than genuine interest in classroom technology, which discounted her credibility on the topic.

What I enjoyed about Bain and Barkley (see previous book reviews) is they were suggestive and took an approach of "everyone is different so here's some ideas, but do you." Nilson seems to do the opposite, particularly in Chapter 8 when discussing motivation. She suggests that the more of the 55 items you implement, the more motivated your students will be (on average); but that becomes more like a checklist for someone to tick off only to find it isn't that easy. I am untrusting of anything that even hints at being prescriptive.

There are also times when the student in me disagreed (rather strongly) with some of the recommendations. In Chapter 12, she provides a section on note taking that reads overly idealistic, particularly as, in my personal experience, distilling a lecture into its important parts doesn't happen in class; it requires time to let the content soak in and be carefully considered. Similarly, the reading tips offered in Chapter 21 are ones I've heard since elementary school; I have tried implementing them at various points in my education and always abandon them because I have not found them to be beneficial; they mostly just double the amount of time I spend on reading, which is already long enough.

I would say 80% of the chapters I found to be useful and insightful. I don't believe this is a book that will be easy to quickly reference for suggestions in the future, though it may be worthwhile to read some of the chapters more thoroughly when time permits. Perhaps my opinion will change on some of these points as I transition from a predominantly student role to more of a faculty/educator role.

A Tool for a Future Job Hunt: Creating a Portfolio for the Final Project

As the title suggests, I have decided to do a portfolio for my final project. This is why I'm forgoing the other options:

1. I have two other research papers I'm currently working on (one in the data analysis stage, one in the lit review stage) for two other classes this semester. Voluntarily adding a third paper seemed less than intelligent.
2. Although the online certification sounds interesting, and I will likely look into it before graduation, I'm not sure that's a good focus for me currently given the syllabus portion of the option. To do a job I feel would be satisfactory to my personal standard and devote adequate time to my other projects, I would probably need to give up sleep or eating or something like that (especially since I haven't yet been responsible for a class of my own to have some experience from which to draw).

For my portfolio, I will be using either Google Sites or Wordpress. I realize UA has given us access to Portfolium, but I don't perceive that I have the time to spend learning it. I have used various website tools, though, and feel confident in my ability to turn out a fairly nice website. Google Sites is new to me, though I've used many Google programs (I don't imagine it's too different from anything else by Google or other similar programs) and already have an account. That's why it's my top preference. I have used Wordpress previously for a project with the Alabama Small Business Development Center. If Google Sites turns out to be less intuitive than I hope, I'll bite the bullet and create a new account with Wordpress (my previous work did not require I create my own account).

My portfolio will include the following pages:

• Homepage: an introduction to me and why I'm pursuing a PhD in Management Information Systems. This will also provide a brief overview of the content contained within the site. I may possibly do a video here, as well.
• Teaching Philosophy: I will adjust my philosophy post from the blog and include it on the website as its own page.
• Coursework: a listing of the courses I have completed thus far in the program, summarizing what was learned. This is unlikely to include examples of my work as the research papers are ongoing and the other courses used mostly exams and homework--most of which I would not consider substantial.
• Vita: a list of the hyperlinked subsections of my vita will be provided below my contact and educational information. Each major section of my CV will have a separate page.
• Teaching: although I have not yet had a class I was fully responsible for, I have done presentations for various reasons and have lectured occasionally in one of the courses for which I TA. This section will include the work I do as a TA given that it encompasses some tasks related to teaching.
• Research: my one conference proceeding and my ongoing projects will be listed here. I may also include a research statement.
• Service: although I haven't been as involved in service projects this year, I have participated in several during the MBA and before. This will provide a chronological listing of my service activities.
• Organizations and Honors: I am and have been part of several wonderful organizations that I want to acknowledge. I anticipate this being a relatively short page as I'll try to focus on the most important, but I do feel it is important to include.
• Other Experience: despite having little teaching experience currently, I do have extensive experience working with college students through my time in Residence Life and Admissions. I also worked for the Alabama SBDC throughout my MBA program, which involved a form of research. I've decided to include this section in order to highlight the work experiences I have had that do not fit elsewhere within my CV.

I don't see a point in adding an additional "Contact Me" page given that all the information to do so will be within the Vita. Although it is a lot of content, some of it is content I already have somewhere; this will provide a nice opportunity to gather it all in one place. Some of the content will be created specifically for this portfolio (such as everything for the Coursework page and a research statement). All in all, I believe it will be worthwhile to spend the time creating a really nice online portfolio that I can easily maintain over the next several years as I progress in my program. It's not something I've heard of others in my field doing as they go on the market, so it could help me stand out (in a good way) during my job search. Plus, having a website seems appropriate for someone in a technology field.

Examining Exams

We have all had that teacher who loved to write test questions where one answer was slightly more right than another or that had some trick of the wording. You may have even written some questions like this and have been very proud thinking you were so clever.

Full disclosure: I have written the tricky, "I'm so clever" questions, but usually for homework. I know better now.

But if we're honest, what is the point of an exam? If you said to stroke the teacher's ego and make them feel clever and smart:

Exams, quizzes, tests...these assessments should be used as learning tools. They are a chance to assess what has or hasn't been learned. They communicate to students what the faculty member expects them to be learning and understanding in the course. Students should feel like the exam is appropriate, useful, and fair.

Don't be like my exam last week where we had to learn material barely covered in class in order to complete the take-home portion. Still not amused.

It can be difficult to get out of our own heads and step (back) into the shoes of a student in our class. As such, there is a simple tool you can use to determine if your test is from the black lagoon: exam evaluations. This is no more than five (5) questions you ask students either at the end of an exam or as soon after the exam as possible (preferably before grades are released because, you know, perceptions).

If you're concerned with anonymity, Blackboard and Google forms will let you set up questionnaires and collect data anonymously. Otherwise, it could be a separate sheet to submit with the exam.

This is best used with an assessment that will be given more than once during the course (so final exams are not ideal because there's no benefit to the students if they respond). The questions asked should be specific as it may be difficult for students to express answers that are helpful to improvements if the question is too broad. You should also only ask about aspects of the exam you're willing to change (such as format, question types, etc.), so it's helpful to consider beforehand how you might respond to comments--both in defense of the test and in possible changes to the next one.

When analyzing the feedback, it may be easy to tally answers to each question, but also be cognizant of the content of open responses. These answers provide insight into the frustrations students face (such as trick questions) as well as the perception of fairness of the exam (such as feeling as though the test content was a complete departure from their expectations studying). It is important to separate comments addressing fairness of the test as a learning instrument from those addressing fairness of the grading. While there may be valid points in the latter group of comments, this tool is primarily for assessing the former.

The next time you give a test, consider asking students what they think of it. And not just standing in front of the classroom asking how it went, because it's unlikely you're going to receive the honest, useful feedback you need. If you're serious about improving your assessments for the benefit of your students, it's important to do so thoughtfully and in such a way as to facilitate analyzing and contemplating the feedback.

Go on; let your students be Chuck Norris and help you learn how to improve your exam.

Reference

Angelo, T.A. and Cross, K.P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college faculty. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.