First Day Reflections…

Reflections on the first day…

Having taken this class in Spring 2007 (already 2 years ago!) with the very professor for whom I’m a TA, I feel I’m being allowed an opportunity to see the course from a different perspective. A more…backstage perspective, if you will. It’s a very interesting situation. Anyway, onto the first day reflection!

First days are always nerve-wracking, especially for younger students (who seem to make up a large portion of this class). As I walked in, I definitely noticed signs of nervousness: nervous twitching and attempts to spread out in the classroom – which proves impossible in a section so large. Luckily with six of us walking around and handing things out, students don’t have as much time to feel like a number instead of a name. Of the many things that occurred this first day, here’s a recap of what I noticed:

• Before class, music which actually related to the course (“Begin the Begin” by REM) played while an outline of the day’s topics appeared on the powerpoint (apparently a page of first day/class etiquette was displayed on the overhead. I missed this and I wonder if any students missed that fact as well – especially those on the far left side of class)
• All of the TAs appeared to be in professional attire – this more than likely portrayed a level of authority to students. (Or at least made us stand out)
• The professor introduced himself, giving relevant and interesting background information – this will hopefully give students more of a license to comfortably participate in class
• In addition, the fact that the educational background is mentioned should give students an idea of how the broad the field of psychology is; also allows students to see where the professor’s bias lies
• Multiple forms of media were used – video, pictures, music, etc. – I believe this type of teaching would fare well when compared to the Theory of Multiple Intelligences (that people learn in many different ways and when teaching methods address these intelligences, optimal learning can occur)
• Photographs were taken – this will decrease the level of anonymity; The fact that the professor was the one to take it also allowed for more interpersonal connection (hopefully students will think “I must be important if he’s taking the time to get to know my name”)
• Participation was not only actively sought out, it was validated (the professor never responded in a way that made it sound like someone was wrong – every effort was made to ensure that it was related somehow to the topic of discussion)
• Whenever appropriate, psychological literature was stressed – in addition, every study mentioned was very current ( and although the conformity study is old, it has been replicated in recent years)
• I was impressed that a study was used as rationale for not having laptops in class – it’s pretty difficult to argue with that!
• We – the TAs – were allotted time to introduce ourselves. I was so nervous! I forgot to mention things that I really wanted to address (like involvements) and I’m a little fearful that I wasn’t as personable as I usually am. Aside from that, I wondered if students were able to hear us properly. I think we did a good job projecting…but you never know in that nosebleed section!
• It was great that our pictures were displayed on the overhead!
• I thought addressing how psychology applies to everyday life was a clever way of engaging the students – instead of giving bland definitions and delving into material on the first day, lighter topics were addressed in interactive ways. There were times when you could hear a roar of laughter and at times it was apparent that students were very interested in the topics (the sign was the silence and lack of what the professor would call “extraneous chatter”)
• In addition to the above, asking students to write “What Psychology means to me” is a great idea. It forced early reflection on what it could mean to them. I’m very interested in hearing what the students’ opinions were
• Asch’s conformity study was mentioned. I really enjoyed the presentation of this material. Again, many clever methods were used to get student involvement – and the fact that a few students were used as confederates was very clever! I didn’t even catch that. (I will address this more below)
• The relation of the first impression concept was very clever – doing this on the first day (and in the beginning of class) makes it more relatable (i.e., today’s the first day of class…first impressions are made…). I don’t know if this was intentional, but it fit, regardless!
• An abridged syllabus was handed out, focusing on the portions of the regular syllabus that needed to be stressed – I really like this idea, and will address it more below.
• Class was closed with a summary – 3 main points that needed to be remembered. I love this! Even though the class is fun, engaging, and seemingly more “informal” than most classes, this sets the tone. So not only are the visual cues present (professor and TAs in dressier clothes), but the instruction methods are too (calling out people who are walking in late, the outlines and introductions, and the focus on course material on the first day).

This was a very interesting first day of class. A friendly atmosphere was created while maintaining the levels of authority necessary in a college classroom (hierarchy of professor-student). I’m still not 100% sure of how that was done, but I hope to figure it out over the course of this semester via this blog. I would like to take the time to reflect more on some of the above bullet points.

The abridged syllabus was a wonderful idea. I do wonder if the students will still check out the full syllabus on D2L – but I think it was perhaps more effective to just provide a brief outline of the course instead of the more intimidating details usually provided.

I appreciated the talk on how psychology is a very broad field. Addressing the common stereotype (Clinical/Counseling being the only option) by asking students for their opinion was especially interesting as a psychology student.

The study on conformity was applied well to student life (parties, public behavior). Another example I thought of while the discussion was occurring was of jury mindset and how conformity could possibly be applied to that. A suggestion I have for a “newer” example of this study – either 20/20 or Primetime (I don’t recall which program) conducted a replication of this study and actually used women.

Other suggestions/Areas of Improvement: having a TA group meeting before the actual course starts. I think this could potentially create an early team mentality in the future. Even without this, all the TAs were cordial and very fun to be around! I think we lucked out and have an amazing group! That may not be the case in the future, so perhaps a group meeting/outing would be beneficial for future groups.

I would like to say that I believe students were engaged throughout the course of the entire class period – which is phenomenal, considering the size of the class and the length (1 hour 20 minutes). And even with the technical difficulties, I believe that using one’s own voice without the aid of a microphone forces students to pay closer attention. I could hear very clearly from what I like to call the “nosebleed section.”

Finally, I will be reading the Teaching Tips book I received today and will comment more from that perspective in my upcoming posts.

I look forward to another wonderful class!