In the Classroom
Active Learning, Classroom Tools and Techniques, Teaching Freshmen

Even for those faculty members who have taught freshmen level courses before, for most faculty, teaching a FIG is different because the entire population of a FIG is made up of first-semester freshman coming directly out of high school.  Teaching an ONLY-freshman class is very different than teaching a class with some freshmen in it, as there are no role models (not even a sophomore!) to set the expectations for behavior and attitude.  For this reason, it is important for the faculty to consider what it means to transition from high school to college and perhaps even address the transition directly. 

• Ensure that your expectations are very clear to the students. 

• You may want to talk to the students about the transition to college, so they understand what they are going through. 

• It is important to consider the relationship between this student population and the most appropriate teaching and learning strategies, and adapt to the needs of this particular population.

Several recent books have contributed the ideas summarized in this document.  You may find it helpful to read some or all of them.  All are available in the UNF library or in the Office of Faculty Enhancement library.

The primary source for much of this text is:

Erickson, Bette LaSere and Diane Weltner Strommer.  Teaching College Freshmen. 

 Jossey-Bass, 1991.

This text is also informed by the following books:

Graff, Gerald.  Clueless in Academe:  How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind. 

New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003

Nathan, Rebekah.  My Freshman Year:  What a Professor Learned by Becoming a

Student.  Ithaca:  Cornell University Press, 2005. 

Some Things to Consider

• Freshmen are faced with a three-dimensional process that can create considerable anxiety that will affect their learning. This involves the processes of separation, transition, and incorporation:  separation from family, friends, and community; transition to a new role as college student; incorporation into a new academic community.  Students will respond positively if you show some recognition of and sensitivity to this freshman experience.

• The "raw material" that comes into universities today is much more heterogeneous in term of socio-demographic background and learning ability than in the past.  This is especially apparent at the freshman level and, therefore, teaching strategies in freshman courses need to be particularly sensitive to this fact.  There are no assumptions that can be made about uniform preparedness, expectations, or learning style.

• One way to introduce a framework for analysis, as well as a central tension that exists in many classrooms at the freshman level, is to compare and contrast consumer culture/discourse with academic culture/discourse. Students tend to increasingly bring the former while faculty tend to advance the latter. It is useful to recognize these tensions publicly and talk about them with the students.  This is an opportunity for faculty-student reflection, learning, and discussion. (For more on how this topic can be used as a pedagogical tool see: The National Teaching and Learning Forum, Volume 9, #2, 2000. Copies are available in the Office of Faculty Enhancement Resource Library)

• Our ability to teach freshmen will be enhanced if we attempt to tie the uneven ability of student comprehension to what we know about the different ways that people approach the question of knowledge. 

The following standard distinctions can be useful for this purpose:

• Dualism/Received Knowledge
  • Knowledge is viewed as “truth”
• Faculty are viewed as authorities and experts
• Questions should and do have a "right” answer

Students operating at this level will feel uneasy when asked to think independently, "interpret" the material, learn from other students, or appreciate ambiguity.

• Multiplicity / Subjective Knowledge
• There are many views, opinions, and theories
• One theory or perspective is just as good as the next

Students at this level may have a difficult time when a faculty member imposes one correct view or interpretation. These students need to develop methods for supporting and evaluating different views and claims using logic, argument, and evidence.

• Relativism / Procedural Knowledge
• Knowledge is contextual and based on one's background, perspective and assumptions

Students operating with this orientation often view learning as a process of developing the procedures for adjudicating among competing knowledge claims. This may involve ways to systematically evaluate and organize different perspectives, collect data, and present evidence. Students who view knowledge in this way may have a difficult time "taking a position” on an issue.

• Commitment in Relative / Constructed Knowledge
• Understanding that there are different positions and perspectives but that choices and commitments to a particular perspective must be made
• Choices are made on the basis of systematic evaluation of positions as well as experiential considerations

Students operating at this level are prepared to construct and synthesize new ways of thinking and new forms of knowledge

These four modes of understanding and applying knowledge are often viewed developmentally -- moving from "dualism/received knowledge" as the lowest level to "commitment in relative/constructed knowledge" as the highest level of intellectual development.

As it pertains to instruction, if we can think about student variations in this way we might develop some diverse ways to present material and engage students that taps into each. It might also be worthwhile, as an educational process, to make reference to these different ways of knowing and talk about how they can influence the teaching and learning process.  

Goals of the Instructor:  Knowledge, Understanding, Thinking

The following distinctions may also prove useful, in almost any course, in thinking about the relationship between our learning objectives, modes of instruction, and methods of assessment.

• Knowledge       
• Memorizing content, concepts, and relationships (rather than understanding, applying or evaluating)
• If students are to remember the content after an exam they must “practice” it – recite, paraphrase, summarize, explain, quiz
• Students are also more likely to retain information when it is constructed in some personal experience or concrete example

• Understanding  
• This involves moving beyond the memorization of content to an ability to understand and thus be able to use the information in unfamiliar contexts.
• Examples and illustrations are critical
• Students need to practice recognizing or supplying examples and explaining their connection to ideas & concepts

• Thinking
• Taking the content that one has learned and using it to solve problems, explain cause and effect, draw conclusions, make recommendations, and critique arguments (i.e. application).
• Best developed in the context of specific disciplinary subject matter and content rather than generic courses
• Use problem-solving exercises
• Give students opportunities to engage in active practice

On average, too much class time is devoted to communicating knowledge through lecture at the expense of "understanding" and "thinking".   The compulsion and perceived need to cover content and material in freshman survey courses reinforces this tendency. This often yields a no-win situation -- students cannot absorb all the lecture content and, at the same time, they are deprived of the opportunity to develop "understanding" and "thinking" skills.  Thinking about FIG classes as general education “skills” classes rather than upper division “content” classes can help reframe the goals for FIG teachers.

Ideally, one will employ various pedagogical strategies that include and integrate the "knowledge", "understanding" and "thinking" approaches.

Suggestions for Presenting and Explaining

·         Abandon the nonstop 50 minute lecture.  The compulsion to cover content leads to excessive lecturing but if the students lose interest, become distracted, and do not understand, it is counterproductive.  It also reinforces passivity rather than active learning.  Mix short lecture with active learning assignments that apply or reinforce concepts or skills.

·         Define Objectives.  What should students be able to do with the information they learn in class?  If the objectives are tied to other general education classes or important life skills, the students will retain the information better.

• Highlight the Major Points.  These are not going to be obvious to all the students no matter how clear you may think you present the material.
• Select Appropriate Examples.  Examples are what students remember and link to larger ideas and concepts.  Make the examples as concrete as possible.  Several different examples will serve to sharpen understanding across a wide range of students.  Examples relevant to the students will help them connect the knowledge and skills to their own lives and so remember them better.  Ask students to come up with examples, if possible.
• Use Visual Aides.  These can range from a simple causal diagram illustrating a relationship to video segments.
• Guide Note Taking.  Freshmen need a lot of help with note taking.  Some professors provide lecture notes to the students, others teach them how to take good notes, others model it with notes they make on the chalkboard.  You can’t assume that they will take notes or know how or even why they should take notes.
• Check for Understanding.  Don’t assume it; determine if the students are actually “getting it”.  This can be done by stopping and prompting questions, or developing various classroom assessment techniques (CATS).  For more information on CATs see Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross, Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (available in the Faculty Enhancement Library).
• Get Feedback.  Use an assessment instrument at the end of class to get student feedback on what was clear, what was cloudy, what needs further explanation.  (Some sample class reaction surveys are available in the Office of Faculty Enhancement Resource Library).

Meeting the First Class

• For freshmen the first class meeting is a major event and one that can shape the remainder of the semester.  The following list suggests strategies that will establish a productive relationship with the students and set expectations for participation, preparedness and engagement.  (This list comes directly from: Teaching College Freshmen, Bette LaSere Erickson & Diane Weltner Strommer; 1991 Jossey-Bass, p. 87)
  • Find out something about students enrolled in the class.  Information about their backgrounds, interests, activities, and aspirations can be helpful in planning classes.  Requesting such information also suggests that the instructor is interested in students.
  • Help students meet and establish connections with other students in class.  Feelings of isolation get in the way of learning.
  • Get students to talk.  If they speak up on the first day, they will be more likely to participate in subsequent class meetings.
  • Include an activity that requires students to be actively involved – a problem to solve, a question to discuss, a paragraph to write.  If they sit passively through the first class, they will do the same in the next.
• Make an assignment for the second class.  Some faculty are reluctant to give assignments until enrollments settle, but how are students to know what the course will be like without an assignment?

Challenges for teachers in Freshmen-only classes

These are just a few of the most common trouble spots for teachers in freshmen-only classes.

• Plagiarism:  You can’t assume that freshmen understand what plagiarism is, how to avoid it, or why it is such a big deal.  Take the time to explain it in detail, let them ask you questions and give them exercises to be sure they understand it before you assign a paper. 
• Problems with Decorum:  A freshman-only class can feel like teaching “13^th grade” because students have not yet learned the difference between high school behaviors and college behaviors.  Some teachers address this directly, as a critical thinking exercise, asking the students to craft their own “decorum policy” so that they think about it and feel responsible for it.
• Lack of preparedness:  Students are adjusting to a college lifestyle along with a college work-load.  They need help in learning how to be properly prepared for class.  Having clear consequences enforced early on for being unprepared for class helps a lot.  Consider an attendance policy, quizzes, homework, required participation, group work or other measures to make it clear that coming to class unprepared is as bad as not coming to class.
• Intimidated Students:  Students have significantly less contact time with college professors than high school teachers, and so they may be intimidated at first and not come to office hours or contact you as they run into trouble, setting themselves up for further trouble.  If you can arrange some situations in which you get to know them and let them get to know you (one of the advantages of small class sizes in FIGs is that this is possible!) you and they will reap benefits.  Some ideas include blackboard prompts on discussion board, in-class icebreakers or other interactive introductions, a mandatory visit to your office hours at the beginning of the semester, and writing assignments early on that focus on personal argument.

Resources:

• The Academic Center for Excellence is located in 2/2140 and on the web at http://www.unf.edu/es/ace. ACE offers study skills workshops for all students in the areas of:

• Time management skills
• Setting long and short-term goals
• Textbook strategies
• Primary and secondary review strategies
• Exam preparation
• ….and tutoring in all areas of General Education.

The workshop and tutoring schedule can be found at the Center's website.

• Faculty should also utilize ACE’s Early Warning Referral System for students who are in danger of academic failure and who would benefit from some intervention and student support services.  An online referral form is available at: http://www.unf.edu/es/ace/retention/early_warning.html

• Use Blackboard for building community:
• Icebreakers
• If I could visit any spot on Earth, I would…
• If I could meet any historical figure, it would be…
• Thing I am most looking forward to in college...
• Someone should invent…
• My favorite website is…
• My favorite book (movie) is...
• My favorite food is...

Encouraging Thoughtful Postings:  Higher-Level Thinking Words

-from E-tivities: The Key to Active Online Learning, Salmon, 2002.