Surviving the First Day of Class

Dr. Karyn Z. Sproles, Director of Faculty Development

USI New Faculty Orientation22 August 2008

Creating a Syllabus

A syllabus must be distributed in every class

Check with your department for sample syllabuses and departmental policies

Remember: students will make assumptions based on previous experience (e.g., High School) unless you tell them otherwise

Review syllabus outline

Ken Bain, Director, The Center for Teaching Excellence & Advancing University Learning, Montclair State University (Mercer, New York) http://www.montclair.edu/center/promisingsyllabushr/default.htm

James M. Lang. The Chronicle of Higher Education: Chronicle Careers. Monday, August 28, 2006. http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2006/08/2006082801c/printable.html

Explain to students what they can expect to know or be able to do by the end of the semester—This is the course’s promise

Describe the activities (readings, assignments, service learning projects) that will help students fulfill the course’s promise

Begin discussing how student learning will be demonstrated & evaluated throughout the course

1 minute papersWhat’s the muddiest point?Summarize X (a concept, lecture, reading)

in one sentence for a specific audience (classmate, community partner, high school student)

Draw a picture of X (concept, lecture, reading)

One thing you learned today/One thing you feel you need to know more about

Make a connection: e.g., between X (concept, lecture, reading) and your service learning project

Student Incivility

In Advice for New Faculty Members, Robert Boice defines Student incivility as ranging from being inattentive to being disruptiveBoice identifies classroom incivilities as a key problems for new faculty members Boice shares his research on the topic in chapter 8 (pp. 81-98).

Boice on Student Incivility

Boice concludes that faculty typically—and unwittingly—instigate incivility by appearing distant, uncaring, or disapproving (p. 87).Negative comments, not smiling, lecturing in a fast and non-interactive manner—common characteristics of instructors who might actually be shy or nervous—tend to be seen by students as arrogance and lack of interest in teaching.

Boice:

“Something that seemed more obvious to me than to teachers or students was the crucial nature of the patterning of [classroom incivilities] over a semester. [Classroom incivility] usually gets set in its course during the first few days of classes. Not until teachers’ negativities confirmed students’ skepticism did incivilities become salient and problematic.”

(Advice for New Faculty Members p. 87)

Avoiding a Climate of Incivility Arrive in class early Chat with students Maintain a positive attitude Make your expectations clear Don't humiliate or criticize—make

corrections that allow students to save face Respond to challenges without getting

defensive Make a joke (but not at the student's expense) See it as a hint that it's time for a break Ask for clarification: do we need to review?