TeachTalk 6: Students Talk Back
Last semester, the Committee for Teaching Enhancement held a student "town hall" meeting regarding teaching at Berry. Fourteen Berry students (primarily juniors and seniors) attended the town hall; all schools were represented. What follows are the minutes of that meeting, in which students responded to questions prepared by committee members. Neither the students nor any specific faculty members (other than those who attended the meeting) are named in this document.
If you feel drawn to respond to any of the students' comments (either as follow up or rebuttal) as part of a faculty email forum, please do so by replying to this email. As always, let me know if you'd like your comments to be unattributed. I hope this material is helpful and interesting to you, and please do offer comments/responses if you have any!
MINUTES OF THE “TOWN HALL MEETING” BETWEEN BERRY COLLEGE STUDENTS AND FACULTY MEMBERS OF THE TEACHING ENHANCEMENT COMMITTEE, NOVEMBER 7, 2002
Faculty Attending: Victor Bissonnette, Martin Goldberg, Dan Shiffman, Christy Snider, Soumaya Tohamy
Students Attending: There were 14 Berry students in attendance.
The vice chair, Victor Bissonnette, called the meeting to order at 3:30 and initiated a discussion between students and faculty. Faculty briefly explained the role of the Teaching Enhancement Committee, and the committee’s desire to solicit student input into important campus-wide discussions related to teaching excellence and enhancement.
The discussion was largely guided by several questions posed by the faculty.
Faculty Question: Based on your experience at Berry so far and without mentioning professors’ names, what do you think are the key characteristics of a good teacher?
Student Responses:
· Teachers who are Organized and Energized!
· Teachers who make teaching their life, not just their job.
· Genuine caring for the welfare of students.
· Teachers who want students to succeed.
· Fosters 1-on-1 relationships with students.
· Willing to answer questions (in and out of class).
· Willing to be flexible with office hours.
· Prepared and confident while lecturing.
· Willing to do “homework” and follow up on questions asked during last lecture.
· Uses e-mail to answer questions and communicate with students.
Faculty Question: Based on your experience at Berry so far and without mentioning professors’ names, what are certain areas of teaching at Berry that needs improvement?
Student Responses:
- Quizzes that are scheduled or threatened, and are not ever administered.
- Presentations with poor organization, grammar or spelling.
- When PowerPoint presentations become the teacher - when professors simply read their presentations to the students.
- Teaching directly out of the textbook.
- Students prefer to read the book outside of class, and then discuss the teacher’s viewpoint during class.
- Teachers who can not communicate clearly.
- Lack of sensitivity to international students - especially the issue of how an international student might write an essay from a different cultural point of view than the professor, and the perception that the professor might be biased in how such essays are graded.
- In general, the perceived need to be consistent with professors’ opinions when writing essays and term papers. Faculty probed this issue with the students, and the students reached a consensus that the widespread perceived cultural / political bias in faculty grading is more greatly experienced by freshmen - largely because they are largely being introduced to alternative viewpoints for the first time.
- When professor is “out of area.” The students cited the variety of professors teaching Humanities 200 as an example.
Faculty inquired whether the students felt that Christians and non-Christians were made to feel welcome by faculty in classes.
Students did not reach much of a consensus on this question, but commented that it depended on major - majors like education emphasize diversity.
The students engaged in a lively discussion about the Humanities 200 course, and raised a number of broadly-perceived criticisms of this course:
§ In many sections, the material is too difficult for typical freshman.
§ Books are too difficult to read and understand.
§ Tremendous variability in course content, testing, and grading - classes are supposed to be common! Currently, the students’ experience varies too much.
§ This course might be especially difficult for international students, who might be missing much of the foundation knowledge required for this course.
Faculty asked the students to suggest how their experience in HUM 200 might be improved. They responded:
§ Standardize, as much as possible, the course outline, readings, discussion topics, testing, and grading.
§ Find better books.
§ Focus on topics that are not already covered in other courses - e.g., basic history and government.
§ In summary:
· Make it a common course, or get rid of it.
Faculty Question: “What makes Freshman Seminar valuable?”
Student Responses:
· The “bonding” experience. Several seniors commented that they still maintained friendships formed during Freshman Seminar
· The “support group” role of the experience. Having other freshman to talk to was perhaps more important than any academic content of the class.
· Faculty: What about transfer students?
o Students suggested that a shorter freshman seminar experience be created for transfers, especially student athletes, and possibly a separate experience for older, nontraditional students.
Faculty Question: “Under what conditions do you like instructor-guided teaching approaches, and under what conditions do you like student-guided teaching approaches?”
Student responses:
· It depends most on student motivation and preparation - if student motivation and preparation are low, student-guided classroom discussion doesn’t work well at all (especially not for the few students who are motivated)
o Students in student-guided classes must be held accountable.
· Student-guided classrooms work better in Junior and Senior level classes in major.
· It depends on the class topic. In some classes (e.g., Interpersonal Relationships), student-led, small-group discussion is highly consistent with the class topic (and works well).
· It depends on topic. In some classes, students look to professors for expertise and do not want to listen to students who are struggling with the material.
o “Professors should never be afraid to teach.”
· If class is student-led, professors should summarize and emphasize important points made during the student presentations (i.e., hint at what students are responsible for on exams).
· In Gen Ed classes, students have less motivation and student-led discussions do not work as well.
This led students to exchange a few comments on General Education requirements:
· Professors in Gen Ed classes (especially science classes) seem less motivated, seem to dislike the classes they have been assigned to teach, and seem to not care much about students’ grades.
· Gen Ed science - why so hard? Why do we have to take 2 science classes?
· Faculty question: should Gen Ed be completed in two years? Students:
o Depends on major - in science, it takes longer.
The last topic of the afternoon was the new +/- grading system to be implemented here at Berry. Students raised several points:
· Worries about consistency - would be best if all or none of the professors use it.
o a B+ student will be disappointed when they get a simple B from a professor that does not want to use the +/- system
· Biggest issue is the A- grade
o Berry students are good students (and many are pursuing graduate school), and thus, the +/- grading system will result in a lot of A- grades and a perceived lowering of GPA
· Since many professors are difficult, it is often difficult for students to earn the 90%-92% course average required for an A. If these professors grade this performance as an A-, this will reduce the chances of earning an A
· Since there is no grade of A+, it is not fair to have a grade of A-
· Once a student has earned an “excellent” evaluation in the course, then the only grade that should be assigned is an A
· In sum, if faculty would eliminate the A- grade designation from the +/- grading system, students would universally accept it.
Pizza was consumed, the students were thanked for their generous participation in the Town Hall Meeting, and the meeting was adjourned at about 5:00.
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