This blog topic has definitely taken me the longest to address. It has required me to adopt a more professorial viewpoint, which is not something to which I’m particularly accustomed. The question I’m addressing in this blog post is as follows:
You have seen different attempts to increase engagement. Some students still do not attend or do not take their quizzes. What are solutions to be tried in the future? Include your suggestions for best practices of POD use and communication.
Perhaps utilize the Discussion section of the D2L page. Somehow encourage the class to post more questions there. I did tell students that the TAs looked there occasionally and encouraged people to post psych-related questions there, but I noticed only a few students really utilized it. If it were emphasized in class, perhaps that could be changed. It also allows for a different method to gauge participation. Some people do not like to talk in class, so participation points can be very difficult to obtain. When participation is required,one has to balance offering those that want to participate the opportunity to do so while understanding that not everyone is as open and gregarious as the next person. But I think you circumvented the whole “you must speak in class to get participation points” very methodically – attendance sheets, group activity days, and answering questions on individual notecards.
As far as the quizzes go, I don’t think there’s much more to do that you’re not already doing. Apathy is, sadly, unavoidable. Here’s what I’ve come up with:
- Actually mention the quizzes each class period before they’re due.
- Tie quiz questions to class somehow. (like mentioning in class a question quite a few people got wrong)
- Pod reminders each week
- These things could just get annoying and tedious for you and the TAs. Plus, it’s their responsibility to stay on top of them – not yours
- Perhaps make book specific quizzes. I don’t know that this will increase quiz taking, but it may decrease frustration. The downside is that some people might think that those with the other book had easier questions.
- Have some of the questions on test come from these quizzes as a sort of positive reinforcement to those doing them. Perhaps emphasize this after the first test, seeing who noticed, etc.
- Perhaps make it a “clicker course” and do some in class clicker quizzes.
As far as utilizing TAs:
- Using pod emails as reminders (again, babying)
- Asking about the quizzes at review sessions and going over tricky questions
More on Pod usage and communication:
My very first thought upon hearing that we would have pods was that it would be nice to meet with all of them. This would allow us to have direct face time with the entire group and have allowed personal interaction. Plus, I didn’t know the individuals in my pod, so it would have given us TAs the opportunity to put faces with names. That way, we could greet them in the hallway, see them in class, etc. It would be more personal. I know that this would be rather difficult to coordinate (as class time is pretty important!), but even devoting the last 10 minutes of the third or fourth class to this would be good.
I only had 2 or 3 people ever responded to my emails, but one thing that made me really happy was that one student introduced herself to me late in the semester and asked for help with her paper. We had been sending emails back and forth (she was basically asking a number of logistical, formatting, and technical questions) and this extra interaction was nice. This is the type of thing the Pods were created for but I really don’t know that many students knew how to take the whole “pod” concept. I don’t know how frequently the other TAs heard back from their pods, but from what I’ve read in their blogs and heard in meetings, it’s about the same. Additionally, I remember that Caitlin sat outside RH250 each day before class – I wonder if anyone used this chance to get some TA help.
Hope these things are helpful. I might add some additional strategies as I continue to ponder this.
Next up: What I’ve learned about the teaching enterprise and myself. (coming tomorrow!)