The College Classroom (Wi14) Week 10: First Day of Class

collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu #tccucsd

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What do you notice?

What do you wonder?

That Huge Lecture Theatre by teddy-rised on flickr CC

2 Amphitheater in El Djem, Tunisia. Built by the Romans in 3rd Century AD – “The amphitheater was used for filming some of the scenes

from the 1979 Monty Python film Life of Brian and was also used for filming some of the scenes from the Academy Award (Oscar)

winning film Gladiator.” (Wikipedia entry for “El Djem”)

(Image: Tunisia 3277 by archer10 on flickr CC)


The College Classroom

March 11 and 13, 2014

Week 10: The First Day of Class

Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed

under a Creative Commons Attribution-

NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

By the end of the first class, you want

students to have a good sense of


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why the course is interesting and worthwhile

what kind of classroom environment you want

how the course will be conducted

why the particular teaching methods are being used

what the students need to do to learn the material

and succeed in the course

your respect for them

your desire for all of them to succeed (CWSEI [1])

Why is this necessary?


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You want every student to leave the first class thinking,

“This will be a good course, I’m ok being here.”

If you don’t do it,

students who are most likely to see the subject as worth learning

are those whose backgrounds, and corresponding attitudes, are

most like that of the instructor. Those students whose

backgrounds are different, which by definition (usually) includes

most members of under-represented groups, will be less likely to

understand the appeal of the subject and consequently more

inclined to put their efforts into pursuing some other discipline.

(CWSEI, [2])

By the end of the first class, you want

students to have a good sense of


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why the course is interesting and worthwhile

what kind of classroom environment you want

how the course will be conducted

why the particular teaching methods are being used

what the students need to do to learn the material

and succeed in the course

your respect for them

your desire for all of them to succeed (CWSEI [1])

You’ve got 50

minutes.

GO!

The First Day of Class


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1. Establish motivation

personal relevance and interest

choice and control

sense that one can master the material

2. Personalize the learning experience

3. Establish expectations

4. Don’t go over the details

Wait, when do you welcome them?

When do you tell them your name?

(CWSEI [1,2])


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Clicker question


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What do you want your students to call you?

A) Dr. Smith

B) Mr. / Ms. /Mrs. Smith

C) Professor Smith

D) Michael / Elizabeth (first name)

E) Mike / Beth (familiar, nickname)

o friend students?

o class facebook group

o class twitter acct

o professional acct

o professional/personal

o follow students

o will you initialize

google hangouts?

o participate in them?

o class account to

o collect content

o curate content

o share content

o initialize and/or grow

students’ professional

network

Social Media


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Which of these channels do

you think you’ll use to connect

with your students?

other channels?

Place items F) – J) on your whiteboards


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2 items in K) – P)


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Place items Q) – V) on your whiteboards


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Think-Pair-Share


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What’s the difference between academic misconduct

and academic integrity?


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Course details: don’t

Don’t go into details during first class; give links to

more details on

course syllabus

detailed schedule

detailed learning outcomes

academic misconduct integrity

deadlines

rules/policies (eg, late assignments, missed exams…)

Could give an assignment involving reading these.


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First class do’s and don’ts


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Check out classroom

before the first class

clicker hardware

podium computer

hook up your laptop

lapel (“lav”) mic. Try it.

presentation remote

works from back of

room?

assume you’ll be able to figure it out at the time.

let a technical problem ruin your only chance to make a first impression.

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Do Don’t

Start the class on time.

(establish expectations)

arrive late (what expectation does that establish?)

have “intimate” conversation with students in the front rows while you wait for others to arrive. This doesn’t “personalize” the class.

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Do Don’t

Tell students you think

they can all succeed if

they put in the effort.

Fine to say the course is

challenging as long as

you also express it is

interesting/worthwhile

do-able with

appropriate effort

Say threatening things like

telling them you expect

some to fail

telling them that students

don’t usually like the

course

telling tell them that

students find the course

extremely difficult

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Do Don’t

Try to give them an

authentic experience of

what the class will be like.

If you’re going to use

clickers, do it in the first

class (even if some don’t

have clickers yet.)

email pre-reading

assignment 2 days

before class

Use teaching practices

that are inconsistent with

how you’ll teach the rest

of the time:

don’t use clickers if

you’re not (really)

going to use clickers

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Do Don’t

Involve students during

class

Talk the entire class time

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Do Don’t

Address academic

integrity in context

throughout the course:

talk about plagiarism

when you give out a

writing assignment, not

now

Emphasize rules and

penalties on the first day:

sends a message of

distrust

they’re not listening

anyway

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Do Don’t

End class on time with a

slide containing pertinent

info:

your name

office hours

contact info

course website

homework

important thing

End class early

(establish expectations)

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Do Don’t

Repeat vital info at the

beginning of the 2nd class,

too

your name

contact info

course website

Assume everyone was

there in the 1st class.

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Do Don’t

Reinforce all of these

messages (motivation,

personalized learning,

expectations,…)

periodically throughout

the course, at the

appropriate times.

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Do Don’t

Have a growth mindset

about your students’

abilities to learn.

Have a fixed mindset

about your students’

abilities, including

your job is to find 5%

who will be like you

your job is to filter

out students from

advancing to the next

course

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Do Don’t

In conclusion


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microteaching presentations, March 17 – 26.

See blog post for details, sign-up schedule

microteaching presentation

post-class evaluation survey

Thank you for your

interest enthusiasm willingness to share

generosity of expertise dedication to Higher Ed

certificate of completion

at CIRTL Associate level

References


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1. Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (2009). First Day of

Class – Recommendations for Instructors. Available under

Instructor Guidance Resources at cwsei.ubc.ca

2. Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (2013). Movitating

Learning. Available under Instructor Guidance Resources at

cwsei.ubc.ca