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By Eva Jackson Hester, Towson University,[email protected]

Ensuring that students understandinformation presented in lectures is

the most important goal of teaching. Like

most instructors, I constantly ask theproverbial question, “Does everyoneunderstand?” and usually get lots of headnods indicating “yes.” However, the accu-racy of those responses comes into ques-tion on exams. Even with the active learn-ing and formative assessment activities Iuse to involve students in the learningprocess, I look at their test responses, and Iam amazed at what some of them don’tunderstand. Where do some of thoseanswers come from?

Chi and Slotta in a 1994 article inLearning and Instruction note that mis-conceptions derive from flawed mentalmodels that should be identified and cor-rected. So for the last three years, I haveused a technique that facilitates commu-nication of students’ understanding orlack of it, and it has reduced the numberof misconceptions on tests. I call thisstrategy clarification and request (CAR)—it is a variation of the muddiest point tech-nique. With the muddiest point, at theend of a lecture students identify the

most unclear point and try to think through the answer. In contrast, CAR moments are implemented at the conclu-sion of a topic or unit. I instruct studentsto look through their notes and writedown any questions that they have aboutthe material. They can also ask otherrelated questions about the topic orrequest additional references. If studentsfeel that they understand all the material,then they note “I understand everything”

on the CAR form that I have distributed.It is important for students to write

some response for each CAR activity as itcounts as class participation points forthat day. Even if they note that they understand the material, I count that asclass participation because they have

reviewed their notes or at least giventhought to the topic. Students put theirnames and the date on the CAR formswhen they submit them to me at the endof the class. I look over the forms, cate-gorize the comments, and begin the nextclass by responding to students’ CAR questions and comments.

This technique accrues several advan-tages. First, all students are active partic-ipants in the learning process. Next, stu-dents, even the shy ones, are free to ask

questions without fear of embarrassment.The technique alerts me to when thecontent has confused students so that Ican provide clarification. Studentsrespond to the CAR moments positively,noting that the tool facilitates askingquestions. And finally, the CAR formsprovide an objective documentation of class participation.

I have also completed a preliminary analysis of three years’ worth of CAR responses. I have classified the com-ments/questions into concrete or concep-

tual learning categories across freshmen,sophomore, and senior courses. Examplesof concrete questions would be clarifica-tion of definitions or listings, or just arequest to review certain topics, whileexamples of conceptual questions wouldinvolve comparisons or contrasts, andsynthesis or explanations regarding inter-actions between items or concepts.Research has established that conceptuallearning increases memory and under-

standing of material. In my preliminaryanalysis, freshmen’s responses reflected36 percent concrete questions and 5 per-cent conceptual responses; sophomorehad 45 percent concrete and 47 percentconceptual; seniors noted 25 percent con-crete and 47 percent conceptual ques-

tions. As for the “I understand” responseit has ranged between 27 and 30 percentfor all class levels. The challenge aheadfor me is to present material in class insuch a way that students will becomemore conceptual in their learning, start-ing as freshmen. They need to develop astyle of learning that facilitates memoryand understanding of information earlyon in their college careers.

In summary, from the CAR momentsI’ve learned how to improve communica-

tion with my students, document classparticipation, and identify differences inlearning behaviors. But, most of all, Ihave learned that there is still a lot tolearn about teaching and learning.

In This Issue

Volume 24, Number 7 August/September 2010

Heart, Head, and Hands: The Importanceof Coaching through MeaningfulConversations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

An Innovative Way of Analyzing CriticalThinking Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Music in Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Final Fitness and the Louisiana 2 Step . . . . .5

Solutions for Student Incivility . . . . . . . . . . .6

Music in the Chemistry Classroom . . . . . . . .7

Entitled: Ways to Respond to StudentsWho Think They Are . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

A MAGNA PUBLICATION

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By Patricia Kohler-Evans, AngelaWebster-Smith, and Shelly Albritton,University of Central [email protected], awebster@uca, and [email protected]

In a time when the emphasis is on con-tent delivery in formats other than

face-to-face, meaningful conversationsbetween teacher and student becomeincreasingly important. A variety of edu-cational theorists recommend that facul-ty adopt a coaching philosophy for these

conversations—one that can influencethe heart, the head, and the hands of theadult learner. These conversations canlead to deep understanding, reflection,and positive action on the student’s part.Jim Knight, in his book Instructional Coaching , writes, “When you see theworld through partnership glasses, youcome to understand human relation-ships in new ways” (p. 7).

The heart of meaningful conversation

The metaphor of the heart speaks tothe teacher’s intent to reach out to theessence, value, uniqueness, and com-plexity of the learner, acknowledgingthat even though the student may be anovice in the discipline, the student isnot a clean slate; the student has under-standings and experiences on which theteacher can construct the bridges andconnections for relationship-building.This is accomplished by honoring theprinciples of equality and voice. Inmeaningful conversations with stu-

dents, teachers tell less and ask more.Students are encouraged to discover,dream, and design through conversa-tions that encourage, probe, andexplore—rather than dictate and convey the message that the teacher knows all,while the student is an empty receptaclewaiting to be filled.

The head of meaningful conversation

The symbol of the head representsthe thinking that leads to deeply under-standing the content. Content mustestablish the foundation of knowledgeon which subsequent learning is con-structed as well as help learners developthe confidence they need to face futurelearning challenges on their own. Incoaching conversations, teachers gobeyond teaching content to helping stu-dents develop intellectual maturity,learning skills, and self-awareness sothat students can function as indepen-

dent and interdependent learners.Teachers do not cover content butuncover it in ways that motivate stu-dents to have extended encounters withthe course content. Coaching conversa-tions can make students thirsty for thecontent and its power to advance theirpersonal development, explain or answerimportant questions, and/or solve sig-nificant solutions in the field as well aslarger societal ills. Students then rise upto become solution-focused learners,

transforming their own education.

The hands of meaningful conversationThe figurative language of the hands

represents ways in which the teacherhelps the student apply the content foroptimal performance. The coachingmodel describes meaningful conversa-tions that assist adult learners in takingactive ownership of their learning andmaking meaning of it for their ownlives. Hence, teachers resist the tempta-tion to be the center of attention to

ensure that students become engaged inthe authentic work of the discipline.What’s more, teachers give studentsopportunities to deal with the contro-versial and messy issues of the disciplineso that they not only learn content butare able to argue, refute, collect evi-dence, and defend their positions.Meaningful conversations also cultivate

August/September 2010 The Teaching Professor

2

Heart, Head, and Hands:The Importance of Coaching throughMeaningful Conversations

EditorMaryellen Weimer, Ph.D.

E-mail: [email protected]

Magna EditorRob Kelly

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PAGE 5



The goal of most majors is to developthe kind of critical thinking skills

students will need to address the notclearly defined and conceptually compli-cated problems that most professionalsregularly face. The Finance Department

at Seattle University wondered if they were preparing their majors to solve thesekinds of problems. As described in theirfirst article, they gave senior studentsenrolled in a capstone course an ill-defined problem (financial issues andoptions facing an about-to-retire couple)and asked them to write a two-pagememo that offered advice to these clients.They discovered that students struggledmightily with the assignment.In order tobetter understand what made this such a

difficult task for students, the authorsgave students in an intermediate corpo-rate finance problem another ill-definedproblem and then analyzed the 35response memos students prepared. Inaddition, they conducted 60-minuteinterviews with two students who wrotestrong memos and two students whowrote weak memos. Their analysis ledthem to identify five critical thinking dif-ficulties exhibited by the students.

1.Students had difficulty understand-

ing what makes a messy problemmessy. Rather than recognizing thecomplexity of the problem, studentstried to make the problem into onethat had a “right” answer, one thatcontained an issue that could beresolved. They thought the instructorwanted them “to perform the rightcalculations rather than to justify arecommendation with reasons and

evidence.” (p. 157)2.Students had trouble seeing the

problem from the client’s perspec-tive. Rather than writing to theclient, the students still saw theinstructor as the real audience and so

they wrote to the instructor, trying toimpress him with how much they knew. This meant many of thememos were filled with jargon unfa-miliar to a lay audience.

3.Students couldn’t decide how muchdetail a nonexpert would find useful.“The strongest students tried to turntheir memos into minitextbooks.” (p.159) They wrote long “teacherly memos” that really aimed once againto show the teacher that they had

mastered the material.4.Students had difficulty writing client-focused memos with claimand support. “The memos wereorganized around the writer’s processof discovery rather than the reader’sneeds for points stated first.” (p. 159)These student memos containedlong, dense paragraphs that did offeradvice supported with argument andevidence. But that information didnot jump out at the reader.

5.Students had difficulty creating

effective graphics. They stapledspreadsheets to their memos withoutadding labels or explanations. Thefinance professor could figure outwhat was relevant on the spreadsheet,but the other two authors had not aclue what the spreadsheets wereintended to show.

In addition to identifying these

problems, the authors explore theiimplications for finance teachers andfinance curricula. They start by recom-mending that critical thinking bedefined explicitly. Students cannot beexpected to understand what tha

means intuitively. “To think criticallywe tell our students, you must ‘wallowin complexity.’” (p. 162) They reinforcethe message with a handout that detailswhat a critical thinker in finance needsto be able to do.

If students are to be able to solvemessy, ill-structured problems, then stu-dents must be exposed to themthroughout the curriculum. The authorrecommend that teachers and curriculardesigners take a developmenta

approach, starting with less complexproblems and moving to those that aremore difficult. To get students paswanting to use a response memo toimpress the teacher, the authors recom-mend that in addition to the memostudents prepare supporting documen-tation that can be addressed to theteacher. Students might also be asked towrite a reflection piece in which theyexplain how they determined what toinclude in the client memo and what toshare with the teacher. Teachers should

also work to play the role of the client—to respond as a client and not as theteacher. Among other suggestions, theyadvocate creating good models andgraphics so that students have exam-ples. This author team is currently “cre-ating a handbook for finance studentswith annotated examples of rhetorically

The Teaching Professor August/September 2010

3

An Innovative Way of Analyzing Critical Thinking SkillsEd.’s note: Well, your editor made a significant error in the June-July Teaching Professor . That issue contains summaries of the twofinalist articles and the winning article of the 2010 McGraw-Hill and Magna Publications Scholarly Work on Teaching andLearning Award. However, the article highlighting content from the winning article did not summarize the winning article. The

winning article was authored by David Carrithers, Therese Ling, and John Bean, and it was published in Business CommunicationQuarterly. In fact the citation given for the winning article was correct. But the newsletter piece offered highlights of this excel-lent article: Carrithers, D. and Bean, J. C. (2008). Using a client memo to assess critical thinking of finance majors. BusinessCommunication Quarterly, 71 (1), 10-26. The two articles are related. The one highlighted in our June-July issue describes the firstpart of this very interesting project. The winning article describes what happened next. So with apologies I now offer highlightsfrom second and winning article.

PAGE 4

Sample Issue — To order visit www.magnapubs.com or call 1-800-433-0499.



Music plays a role in politics now.Politicians from presidents to local

leaders select campaign songs and makeentrances before speeches with “theirmusic” playing in the background.Beyond that, students connect withmusic. Article author Christopher Sopercites research documenting that students(the sample was drawn from California)consider music and fashion more impor-tant than religion, race, and ethnicity intheir identity formation.These facts, cou-

pled with the challenge of engaging stu-dents in a large, introductory political sci-ence course, motivated Soper to startexploring whether music might help himbetter connect students and course con-tent.

He now opens every class sessionwith a song, and selecting those songs ispart of an extra-credit assignment in thecourse. The assignment works like this:students recommend songs, given thetopics designated for coverage each day

in class. They nominate the song andwrite a short paper explaining why andhow the song relates to the topic for theday. Soper reviews the nominations andselects a song, with the student whonominated the song getting a smallnumber of bonus points. For protectionon the legal front, Soper asks studentsnot to download the song. Once heselects the song, Soper pays for thedownload, which he plays as class opens.The lyrics to the song are projected via a

PowerPoint slide so that students canfollow the words.

The article contains lots of examplesof songs students have nominated andSoper has selected. For example, thecourse begins with a session on theAmerican Revolution and one of thefavorite selections is the Beatles’ song“Revolution.” In the lyrics John Lennonexpresses some ambivalence about revo-lutions. Soper explores with studentswhere that ambivalence comes from and

whether any previous revolutionary leaders might have experienced the samefeelings. The article includes a numberof quotations from students illustratinghow the search for songs has made themaware of political science issues they would likely ignore otherwise.

Soper does admit the strategy hascosts. Some are those messages it may convey about Soper as a teacher.“Starting class with a recognizable andcatchy rock song can establish me in the

students’ minds as a glorified talk show host—a sort of political science OprahWinfrey—who will go to any lengths tokeep them engaged with the material.”(p. 366) It’s also a fairly time-consumingendeavor—with nominations to read, aselection to make, the music to down-load, and the lyrics to acquire. Soperdoes use some of the same songs eachsemester, but he likes to let students inthe current class make the nominations.This allows selection of songs that have

relevance to current events and issues.Despite the costs associated with usingthe strategy, Soper lists an impressivearray of benefits accrued by it. They start with how the music enables stu-dents to connect with political sciencein ways that are meaningful. It’s also astrategy that adds some energy to thebeginning of class. He writes, “It is noaccident that music is ubiquitous atsporting events, because it invigoratesthe crowd and prepares them to partici-

pate in the game. Education is not agame, of course, but there is nothingwrong with borrowing a strategy fromthe sporting world and increasing thestudents’ initial engagement with apolitical science class.” (p. 366) Henotes as well that the assignment ishugely popular with students. It gener-ates more positive comments on hisstudent ratings than any other aspect of the course. Is the message herethat every teacher should start class

with music? No, but using music illus-trates the kind of creative approachteachers need when students are passiveand not particularly motivated aboutcourse content.

Reference: Soper, C. (2010). Rock and roll will never die: Using music toengage students in the study of politicalscience. Political Science & Politics: PS ,April.

effective memos and graphics ...” (p.167)

Both of these articles (the one high-lighted in the June/July issue and this

one) are great examples of scholarly work on teaching and learning, but evenmore important, they offer an eminently sensible and innovative approach toassessing critical thinking skills andadjusting the curriculum based on thefindings.

Reference: Carrithers, D., Ling, T.,and Bean, J. C. (2008). Messy problemsand lay audiences: Teaching criticalthinking within the finance curriculum.Business Communication Quarterly, 71(2), 152-170.

Music in Political Science

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

FROM PAGE 3

The Teaching ProfessorAugust/September 2010

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Ed.’s note:Two articles in this issue explore the use of music in class as a way of connecting students with content they don’t alwayssee as relevant.The article in Political Science and Politics: PS offers a persuasive and thoughtful rationale for doing so. It is also hon-est about the costs and benefits of using the strategy.




By Tena Long Golding, SoutheasternLouisiana [email protected]

It has always bothered me, as a studentand now as a teacher, that students sel-

dom get feedback on their final exam per-formance. In most college courses, thefinal is scheduled after classes have endedso there is no “next” class to return theexam and discuss the results. Posting examsolutions on the course website may inter-est some students, but most just scan foranswers rather than analyzing the solutionprocess and comparing it to their own.More often than not, a student thinks

about the final exam only in terms of how it affected the final grade.

I teach a mathematics content coursefor pre-service elementary teacherswhere problem-solving and reflectionsare part of what I emphasize across theentire course. My overarching goal forthese students is a mental “fitness” tosolve problems. I struggle with how touse every exam experience to both assessand expand my students’ problem-solv-ing abilities. I also want them to reflect

on their exam performance. TheLouisiana 2 Step, a state fitness initiativeto promote the overall health of its citi-zens, sparked an idea as to how I mightbetter use the final to improve the mathfitness of my students.

I redesigned my final exam in thisclass so that it required two steps: a stu-dent step and a teacher step. The studentstep was the traditional “you take thetest.” Students spent the first part of theexam time responding to the problems.Since this was a mathematics problem-

solving course, there were no short-answer questions. All problems requireda multistep process. After completing theexam, students traded their lead pencilsfor colored pencils and the key to theexam, both of which were used in steptwo.

The teacher step was a self-assess-ment component (SAC), which allowed

students to evaluate their solutions fromthe teacher’s perspective. Students wereinstructed to assess each question and

their answers based on the key provided.Most of the problems could be worked inmore than one way, but the key offeredonly one method. Students were remind-ed that their solution strategies could dif-fer from the key but the answers must bethe same. In some cases this allowed stu-dents to see an alternative solutionprocess, while for others it provided rein-forcement of their chosen strategy.

Students were allowed to awardpoints for their solution strategies andanswers. In every case they were required

to make comments that explained andjustified the points awarded, even if they got the solution “right.” This enhancedtheir communication skills and providedthe opportunity to examine and expandtheir own thinking as they comparedsolutions and evaluated the worth of minor or major mistakes and misconcep-tions.

The final exam was submitted to meafter the completion of both steps.Although students did not know their

exact scores when they left (I still neededto grade the exams), they did have a goodidea. More important for me, studentshad a chance to analyze their solutionsand reflect on their problem-solvingstrategies.

As this 2 Step final was a new idea, Iused a short Web-based survey to assessmy students’ views of its worth and toprovide another opportunity for reflec-tion, theirs and mine. On the email sur-vey, sent out immediately following theexam, students were asked to indicate

their level of agreement—Strongly Agree, Agree, Strongly Disagree,Disagree—with the following items: 1)The self-assessment component (SAC)provided immediate feedback for my performance; 2) The SAC enhanced my problem-solving abilities by requiring meto reflect on my solution processes; 3) Ilearned more by completing the SAC;

and 4) The SAC was a valuable activityThe survey was completed by 80 percenof the class, with 100 percent responding

with Strongly Agree or Agree to all theitems. There was also a section for stu-dent comments. One student wrote, “Ithelped me see what I got wrong and thereason why I got it wrong. It helped abunch and I think you should do it foryour classes next semester.” Anotheradded, “It is a great way to assist in theunderstanding of the problems.”

The final exam often carries the mostweight and takes the most time (studytime and test-taking time for the stu-

dent; prep time and grading time for theteacher), but students reflect least abouthis cumulative course experience, whichcan be instrumental in integrating con-tent across the course. Including a self-assessment component in my 2 Step finaexam provided my students with imme-diate feedback on their solutionsenhanced their problem-solving skills athey examined and compared solutionprocesses, and ensured that they spentime reflecting on their performance on

the final and in the course.

Final Fitness and the Louisiana 2 Step

August/September 2010The Teaching Professor

5

the principles of reflection and praxisStudents become able and competent tounderstand, apply, analyze, synthesize,and evaluate the content they are learn-ing. Through reflective thinking, adultlearners weigh the wisdom of acceptingor rejecting course content, again for the

benefit of their personal advancementand optimal performance.

With a spirit of inquiry, teachers canlearn to facilitate these kinds of conver-sations with students. When they occurthey become models allowing thosewho teach to sculpt a new paradigm forfuture teaching and learning relation-ships.

HEART, HEAD AND HANDS

FROM PAGE 2




By Christy Price, Dalton State College, GA [email protected]

In my workshops and presentationsto faculty on engaging Millennial learn-ers, I have been surprised how frequent-ly the topic turns to student incivility. Itseems everyone can tell a story of fla-grant student disrespect. I have troublerelating to these experiences. In any given semester, I have approximately 200students, and the vast majority of themare extremely cooperative, conscientious,and excited about their learning. In my 18 years of teaching, I have experiencedwhat I would describe as uncivil student

behavior in class on only two occasions.Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but per-

haps not? What if there were a formulafor preventing or at least minimizingstudent incivility? Well, pull out yourhighlighter because, in my research onMillennial learners, I think I may havestumbled upon some answers.

Step 1: Shift your paradigm to preven-tion.

The first tip: don’t take these behav-

iors personally. One of my colleagues hassuggested the word incivility implies aspecific choice or intention on the partof the student. Perhaps it would behooveus to describe these behaviors as “unpro-ductive to the learning environment,”since students often cluelessly exhibitthem without realizing how their behav-ior is perceived and impacts the learningenvironment. In addition, many faculty are concerned with very specific studenttypes such as the belligerent student, theNeanderthal who makes offensive com-

ments, the know-it-all, the verbal domi-nator, the class-skipper, the perpetually late, the early leaver, the talker, the tex-ter, the sleeper, the newspaper reader, theWeb-surfer, the unprepared, or the stu-dent who demands special treatment.We may find ways to successfully respond to and alter each specific behav-ior, but if we really wish to create a learn-

ing environment, we need to focus onholistic measures as opposed to frag-mented reactions to specific infractions.

Step 2: Practice verbal judo—produc-ing closeness as opposed to distance.

Recently a colleague relayed a story inwhich she asked her students to definemulticultural education. One studentreplied, “It is a Marxist plot to undermine public education.” Many of us might bequick to attack this perspective; however,we need to practice what I call “verbaljudo.” We need our body language, tone,and words to send a message that de-escalates conflict. The Millennial learn-

ers I interview regularly describe antago-nistic professorial responses to what they perceive as accidental or minor infrac-tions. There’s a lesson to learn here:never be defensive, reactionary, orexpress a strongly negative emotionaltone with a student. I frequently hearprofessors describe with bravado interac-tions in which they criticize, humiliate,deride, and belittle the very people they are charged to teach, develop, andinspire. Every interaction we have with

students produces either closeness ordistance. The more we engage in dis-tance-producing interactions with stu-dents, the more we can expect noncom-pliance and unproductive student behav-iors in return. We may win small battles,but we set ourselves up for losing the waras we lessen our overall ability to assiststudents in achieving the intended learn-ing outcomes of our courses.

Step 3: Clearly communicate coursepolicies and assignments with ratio-

nales and consistently administer con-sequences.An ounce of prevention will avert a

ton of student angst if we provide ratio-nales and consequences for assignmentsand policies. If we don’t want students tochallenge our grading procedures, adetailed rubric along with the reason foreach assignment will clarify what stu-

dents need to do and go a long way toward preventing student grade chal-lenges after the fact. For example, if we

have a policy that students lose pointsfor late assignments, we should provide apolicy rationale like this on the coursesyllabus and assignment rubric: “In orderto be fair to students who work to turn inassignments on time, late papers will lose5 percent for each class day they arelate.”

Step 4: Design courses and utilizemethods with the prevention of incivil-ity in mind.

I have encountered professors who

exhibit a wide range of attitudes andresponses regarding specific behaviorssuch as texting in class. On one end of the spectrum are professors who don’tcare if students text and successfully ignore such behaviors; on the other endare those who are disturbed beyondbelief, who respond to texting withextremely punitive methods.

It has become painfully apparent tome that our methods play a powerful rolein contributing to or averting unproduc-

tive student behaviors in the classroom.For example, I recently used my clickerresponse system to gather feedback fromstudents regarding texting. Of the 77students polled, 18 percent said they never text in their classes. This was ashockingly low number from my per-spective. As for the 63 texters, 87 percentstrongly agreed or agreed with this state-ment: “I text more in classes in whichthe professor’s main method is lectureand less in those classes where the pro-fessor uses a variety of methods such as

discussion, group work, cases, and videoor multimedia.”

Conclusion

If you peruse the literature on collegestudent incivility, you will find a great


6

Solutions for Student Incivility

PAGE 7




By Patricia Metthe Todebush and AudreyCabe, Clayton State University, GA [email protected]

As faculty, we want our students toachieve, but more than that, we

want our students to see, at least in someway, that what they are learning in class isrelated to life outside the classroom. Inthe sciences, this is especially challengingbut extremely necessary. Most introduc-tory science students find the idea of rel-evant science foreign. They enroll in sci-ence classes because they are required,either for their major or just to graduate.On a recent student feedback form, I

(that’s Patricia, the faculty member) evenhad a student say that he or she thoughtthat our school made students enroll inchemistry class to increase school rev-enues. It troubles me that students whoare enrolled in science classes do not seethe relevance of the content we are teach-ing.

So then, how do we change the atti-tudes of students so that they are moreopen to learning and more likely to seehow the course work relates to their

lives?A question that important and com-plex cannot be answered in a short arti-cle, but I’d like to share what I’ve beendoing to address this relevance problem.I have been using music in my chem-istry classes to increase student motiva-tion and to keep them thinking aboutchemistry outside of class. I started theproject by asking students in my chem-istry class to find music that includedchemistry themes in popular lyrics. My general chemistry students had the

option of submitting songs that coin-cided with chapter topics in the text-book. They were encouraged to choosesongs from various popular musicsources and not solely use YouTube tofind science songs. The submissionsrepresented a wide range of music gen-res, mirroring the diversity of the stu-dent body on campus. The lyrics came

from oldies, hip-hop, and rock as well assome educational Web-based songs.Some examples include Michael Orfutt

with A Mole Is a Unit , Bill Nye withAtoms in My Life , Coldplay with Speed of Sound , Keri Hilson with Energy, andDuncan Sheik with Half Life .

More than 80 percent of the classparticipated in this optional activity,submitting a total of 66 songs. My stu-dent Audrey Cabe helped me categorizethe songs according to the course cur-riculum so that I could use them infuture courses as well. The goal was toobtain at least one song for each chap-

ter discussed in Principles of Chemistry I & II. During that semester and thefollowing ones, I played the music inclass, thereby giving students a com-pletely different take on the chemicalprinciple being discussed. Studentsoften chuckle at the song choices, butthey all can relate in some way to themusic.

Based on student comments, they are listening more closely for chemistry content in the song lyrics. When they

hear words such as “pressure” or “heat,”it jogs their memory of a scientific con-cept that they learned about in class.The incorporation of music into theclass has given the students a new way to think about chemistry.

When the project ended I had arepertoire of 27 different songs. With amajority of the students in the class par-

ticipating, I considered the project asuccess. It has proven to be a thought-provoking and fun activity to supple-

ment each lecture session. It’s a way toget students thinking about science andseeing that it’s relevant to life beyondthe classroom.

Ed.’s note: For any chemists interest-ed in this song repertoire, authoPatricia Todebush would be happy toshare the list, if you email her.

The Teaching Professor August/September 2010

7

Music in the Chemistry Classroom

deal of evidence that supports these rec-ommendations. Communicating clearlyand providing a rationale for class poli-cies, creating closeness as opposed todistance when interacting with stu-dents, and using engaging methods willnot only lessen student incivility, butwill help us achieve our ultimate goal ofhelping student learn while they are incollege.

A condensed version of this articlewas previously published as an E-xcel-lence in Teaching column on thePsychTeacher listserv coordinated by theSociety for the Teaching of Psychology.It will appear in a collection of essay thatmaybe found at http://teachpsych.org/resources/e-books/e-books.php

Teaching Professor Conference Call for ProposalsThe Teaching Professor invites presentation, panel discussion,

and interactive poster session proposals for the eighth annualTeaching Professor Conference. For more information, see

www.teachingprofessor.com/conference/proposals.

STUDENT INCIVILITY

FROM PAGE 6




Student entitlement can be defined aca-demically: “a self-centered disposition

characterized by a general disregard for

traditional faculty relationship boundariesand authority” (p. 198), or it can bedescribed more functionally: “a sense thatthey [students] deserve what they wantbecause they want it and want it now.” (p.197) Examples illustrate what many facul-ty have experienced with these students:complaints because a 2 a.m. email was notanswered before an 8 a.m. class; wantingeffort to count for points and credit (“but Itried, I really tried to find those refer-ences”); or requests to be exempted fromrequirements (like course prerequisites)

because “I don’t need that course.”Students who arrive in college with

this sense of entitlement are not a major-ity and any consideration of how torespond to these students needs to bemeasured against how those responseswill affect the learning environment forother students. The authors of a well-ref-erenced article on student entitlementestimate that less than 10 percent of stu-dents fall into this category, but they point out that these students tend to

require “a far greater proportion” of a fac-ulty member’s time and energy.The article includes a useful discus-

sion of the bases for this sense of entitle-ment. The authors see it as resultingfrom cultural norms and expectations,specifically the consumer mentality thatcharacterizes how students orient to col-lege. It’s no longer about intellectualexperiences; a college degree is now seenas a “ticket” to a better job. Universitiesmust now compete for students, and they do so by “selling” a college experience

that comes with fancier living accommo-dations, extensive choices for food, 24-hour fitness centers, etc. They also seegrade inflation as contributing to stu-dents’ senses of entitlement. Show upand do the work even at a minimal leveland you can expect to get a B. And final-ly they discuss generational differencesand document an increase in levels of

narcissism among college students today.The authors suggest six strategies for

responding to students with a sense of

entitlement. Each is briefly highlightedhere, with many more details appearingin the article.

Make expectations explicit. The bestplace to begin doing this is on the syl-labus. The authors recommend usinggrading rubrics that break assignmentsinto parts and then designate a value foreach component. Rubrics make expecta-tions clear but they also help instructorsexplain grading decisions to students.They can be used to structure those con-versations.

Give students something to lose by negotiating. Entitled students often ask for grade changes or to have their work reevaluated. There is also some evidencethat when students argue for more pointswith professors, they typically get some.What the authors recommend is thatfaculty agree to reevaluate work but thatreassessment may result in the gradebeing raised or the grade being lowered(or it may stay the same). Entitled stu-dents ask for reevaluations of their work

because they have nothing to lose. Thisstrategy introduces the possibility thatthere might be something lost and thisgives students pause before making therequest.

Provide examples of “excellent”work. Many college students, especially beginning ones, do not have an accuratesense of the quality of their work. It may well be that they worked harder on thispaper than on any other they’ve everwritten, but it still may be well below col-lege standards. Examples can be used to

show students the differences betweenwhat they have done and what happensin an A paper. If these “excellent” exam-ples are provided after students havedone the assignment, this prevents stu-dents from attempting to copy the for-mat without developing their ownframeworks.

Ask students to make the case first inwriting. If students believe their worksmerits more points than have been

awarded, don’t have a discussion withthem about that until they haveexplained why in writing. This helps todefuse the emotion that often accompa-nies these exchanges, and it enables boththe student and faculty member to pre-pare for the conversation.

Resocialize students and faculty.“Explain your philosophy of teaching andlearning and your focus on studentresponsibility. … Socialize students intoassuming responsibility for their ownefforts and their own learning so that

they are less likely to blame you for any shortcomings.” (p. 202) That’s resocializ-ing students—for faculty, the authorsrecommend attempting to understandtoday’s college students better. Thatdoesn’t mean accepting behavior thatcompromises the educational enterprise,but it does mean coming to grips withwho these students are.

Institutional responses. The authorsbelieve that institutional climate plays arole in determining how students behave

and that certain climates diminish theamount of entitlement students may feel.They use rigorous first-year seminars asan example of how some institutionsestablish intellectual expectations for stu-dents.

The authors conclude by reiteratingthat this sense of entitlement is not char-acteristic of all college students. Whenfaculty consider strategies that respond toentitlement, they must do so with an eyetoward the learning needs of those stu-dents who come to college expecting

their courses to be work and their think-ing to be challenged.

Reference: Lippmann, S., Bulanda, R.E., and Wagenaar, T. C. (2009). Studententitlement: Issues and strategies forconfronting entitlement in the classroomand beyond. College Teaching , 57 (4),197–203.


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Entitled: Ways to Respond to Students Who Think They Are


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