One of my favorite threads from the old boards was the "Jedi mind tricks" thread started by scienceprof in 2008. To quote:
Quote from: scienceprof on May 21, 2008, 04:24:29 AM
On the attendance thread, Alan said
Quote from: cc_alan on May 18, 2008, 12:11:49 PM
I allow a bonus for "seat time". While I don't give points for attendance, I do use it for borderline grades. At the end of the term, if they have missed less than x hours of class time, then I add y % to their total percent. ...
It's a Jedi mind trick to change the emphasis from "I have to show up or I'll get docked points" to "I'll get a bonus if I attend regularly".
Alan
Which made me wonder if anyone else had Jedi mind tricks they would like to share.
My best is: I used to require students to rewrite lab reports that were below a "B" , and I got a lot of whining. Now I ALLOW students to rewrite, and I get a lot of gratitude.
There are so many good ideas in this thread on the old fora. Is there a way to port the old posts in?
The best way (likely) is to be going through and quoting each of the ones we think are particularly useful. There's no way to merge wholesale.
Quote from: eigen on May 17, 2019, 05:40:29 PM
The best way (likely) is to be going through and quoting each of the ones we think are particularly useful. There's no way to merge wholesale.
Rather than quoting individually, maybe a compiled (selective?) list, possibly pinned to the top? There was certainly some overlap, but the collective wisdom was profound.
Well, you beat me to it. My first thought when I registered here was to start this thread back up. It's my favorite thread of all time. I reread it before every semester. I hope this new one unleashes even more great Jedi Mind Tricks.
The old thread will still be available in an archive, right? Or should I go copy all of them and save them on my hard drive?
Theoretically, the current thread will exist. I'm not sure how much I trust that, and am considering trying to find a way to export some things when i get back from a conference next week.
One of the reasons that I was thinking of quoting here was to save attributions easily, but that cuts both ways.
If anyone has time to go through and start making "best of" lists, let's make it happen! I'm also happy to make temporary groups that give permissions for broader edit privileges, to allow those interested to slowly build up and continue to add to some longer posts of past hits- let me know if you want the extra permissions.
My best Jedi mind trick from over there was to change homework to take-home quizzes. So instead of assigning 20 problems and grading 5, I split the problem set into two assignments
1) a "take home quiz" that was the five homework problems I used to grade
2) 15 "extra credit opportunities". Solutions could be presented during recitation for a completely meaningless amount of extra credit (like 2pts/problem in a 2000 point class)
I will be trying out this one this Fall. I will report back if it's Jedi worthy. In our lab class, we have a written set of learning objectives for each lab. Most of these are essentially exam questions in statement form Students have access to these through the LMS in folder labelled "Learning objectives", and we actively urge students to print them out, bring them to class, and work through the objectives as they progress through the lab. Most do not, or at least don't until AFTER bombing at least the first lab exam. The A students are often those that use these from day one.
This Fall, I plan to relabel the LMS folder as "Study Guide". I will report back on if this increases use of these resources.
Quote from: mythbuster on June 03, 2019, 12:42:03 PM
This Fall, I plan to relabel the LMS folder as "Study Guide". I will report back on if this increases use of these resources.
Have you considered labeling it "Mythbuster's Secret Planning Notes" and waiting to see if anyone tells you about the "inadvertent" permissions slip on the LMS?
Best tip I learned from that thread (or maybe one on improving student evals) was to use the language of the evals in class.
So if the evals ask "is the professor available outside of the classroom" say often in class "I'm available outside the classroom for help during office hours", instead of just saying "Stop by office hours if you need help". Gets them acclimated to the questions they're going to be asked.
Quote from: Scout on June 04, 2019, 02:46:17 PM
Best tip I learned from that thread (or maybe one on improving student evals) was to use the language of the evals in class.
So if the evals ask "is the professor available outside of the classroom" say often in class "I'm available outside the classroom for help during office hours", instead of just saying "Stop by office hours if you need help". Gets them acclimated to the questions they're going to be asked.
This is gold. I used it to bring my "instructor gives feedback" rating up. Just tell them every time you return an exam or assignment or whatever about all the
feedback they're getting.
I'm so glad this was started back up! It was my favorite thread on the old site.
A technique more than a trick, but I am pasting this here so others can see it and use it because it's so cool:
Quote from: AvidReader on June 08, 2019, 03:47:43 AM
The thread on throwing out old papers is reminding me of a technique for teaching plagiarism that I've tried recently with some success. (So sorry if I posted this on the old CHE--I've really been excited about it).
I've always considered myself meticulous about citations in my own work, but when I was defending my dissertation, the examiners pointed out a paragraph that summarized an essential book on the topic. I attributed the book in the opening sentence, but didn't clearly indicate that the book provided all the information in the paragraph. (Based on their feedback, I revised the paragraph to include clearer attributions before submission).
This year, when we talked about the importance of attributing sources in every sentence, I pulled up the original paragraph and asked them to tell me which ideas I'd gotten from the book's author, and which were based on my own reading. I got them to tell me why it was hard to be sure, and we discussed why someone who wrote a whole book on the subject deserved to be cited for every separate fact or idea. Then I showed them the revised paragraph, and we talked about how easy it had been to make the changes. (Then they all paraphrased paragraphs of their own for me).
AR.
As a compilation of advice from the old thread, I found that offering more choices than students had to do worked well. For example, we had a problem set due every week with about 20 problems, but someone only needed to make about 80% of the total points to earn an A. That means a strategic student would do only as many problems every week as necessary to learn the material, but it's also possible for a diligent enough student to skip the occasional assignment when life happens and just work a couple problems to ensure material is learned.
The same thing on tests worked: do N of N+J items in a given section (N and J being fairly small for some sections like word problems and essays while being much larger for identifications or definitions). Anyone can blank on any specific item, but it's much harder to argue that one just had a brain blip on all the choices, especially for an open note test one which one could, with planning, have the entire practice test with answers in the notes.
My own suggestion on that thread was to observe that my students apologized for "interrupting" my office hours to ask for help. I figured out that they somehow thought "office hours" were times I spent doing paperwork, so they were interrupting something important. I have from time to time used the phrase "student hours" to describe the times I'm available outside of class. It hasn't been a clear success for me, but it has not made things worse, either. So I'll go back to trying it again. Some of my colleagues report that it seems to have made a difference for them.
It's not a trick per se, but I'm putting it here as an idea for the next time I run one of these classes.
I recently attended a workshop with a lot of "here's a brief lesson, now you do a couple exercises on your computer" led by a lead teacher with the support of two facilitators.
Each student was given a red sticky note and a green sticky note. As we completed our exercises, we put a green sticky as a vertical flag on the top edge of our monitor. If we encountered any problems, we put a red sticky up as a flag so someone could come help us. That allowed the lead teacher at the front of the room to gauge progress on when to give the group a couple more minutes or when we were done enough to move on.
Polling of the class was also by red or green sticky flag. That helped the lead teacher tailor the canned class to the group need without nearly as many abstentions. I'm not sure why the stickies were different from raising a hand, but it seemed to have better compliance.
Quote from: polly_mer on August 09, 2019, 05:44:28 AM
It's not a trick per se, but I'm putting it here as an idea for the next time I run one of these classes.
I recently attended a workshop with a lot of "here's a brief lesson, now you do a couple exercises on your computer" led by a lead teacher with the support of two facilitators.
Each student was given a red sticky note and a green sticky note. As we completed our exercises, we put a green sticky as a vertical flag on the top edge of our monitor. If we encountered any problems, we put a red sticky up as a flag so someone could come help us. That allowed the lead teacher at the front of the room to gauge progress on when to give the group a couple more minutes or when we were done enough to move on.
Polling of the class was also by red or green sticky flag. That helped the lead teacher tailor the canned class to the group need without nearly as many abstentions. I'm not sure why the stickies were different from raising a hand, but it seemed to have better compliance.
I love this! I'll have to use it in my bioinformatics labs in the fall.
After several years of teaching first-year college students, I've finally developed a few Jedi Mind Tricks for avoiding whining by students complaining about basic college expectations being "too hard" (e.g., students who whine about having to do reading or homework before class or students who want to be spoon-fed directions).
Jedi Mind Trick: Provide evidence of student success.
How I Do It: Whenever I return an exam or a major essay, I provide students with a numerical summary of assignment scores. I don't use any identifying information so that it's FERPA compliant. The list is simply scores arranged from from highest to lowest (e.g., 50/A+, 46/A, etc.). I also will occasionally do an abbreviated version for smaller assignments if I'm getting pushback about those. (e.g., "The overall class average on last last week's homework assignment was a 7.0/10. Among students who submitted a full assignment, the average rose to an an 8.7/10").
Why It Works: In most of my classes, usually between 30%-50% of the students are consistently earning grades of B or higher. When students who are struggling with adjusting to college expectations see that their peers are in fact achieving success in the class, it tends to reduce the number of students who try to blame me for their difficulties.
Quote from: the_geneticist on August 09, 2019, 09:53:49 AM
Quote from: polly_mer on August 09, 2019, 05:44:28 AM
It's not a trick per se, but I'm putting it here as an idea for the next time I run one of these classes.
I recently attended a workshop with a lot of "here's a brief lesson, now you do a couple exercises on your computer" led by a lead teacher with the support of two facilitators.
Each student was given a red sticky note and a green sticky note. As we completed our exercises, we put a green sticky as a vertical flag on the top edge of our monitor. If we encountered any problems, we put a red sticky up as a flag so someone could come help us. That allowed the lead teacher at the front of the room to gauge progress on when to give the group a couple more minutes or when we were done enough to move on.
Polling of the class was also by red or green sticky flag. That helped the lead teacher tailor the canned class to the group need without nearly as many abstentions. I'm not sure why the stickies were different from raising a hand, but it seemed to have better compliance.
I love this! I'll have to use it in my bioinformatics labs in the fall.
This is called stoplight cards. If you want to be fancy, a yellow post it is used to signal "I need time to talk with a classmate ".
The original thread is at
https://www.chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,50350.0.html
for those making plans for the new term.
From the "Is it just me?" thread regarding how to get students to discuss during class:
Quote from: LibbyG on October 25, 2019, 09:08:49 AM
Two tricks that work for me: (1) "Good morning, everyone! Today I have a list of your names in random order, generated by the LMS. My goal is to call on everyone by the end of class today." Then I lob a lot of softball questions that they can't get wrong exactly, "What comes to mind when you hear this term?" Rather than "What does this term mean?" They fall all over themselves to volunteer on Qs to avoid getting a stumper, and it sometimes jump-starts discussion mode again in the next few classes.
(2) Some preparatory assignment in which students develop discussion questions and then pose them (sometimes to a small group). Sometimes they're really good, and even if they are sort of lackluster, they can help reveal where students are at with the material.
Quote from: Aster on May 30, 2020, 07:07:20 PM
One of my colleagues has a "system" for this type of student/situation.
When a student complains about a tech issue, he requires them to submit a cell phone picture of the computer screen that clearly shows the problem (e.g. a non-working browser). He also requires the student to submit a ticket request to the relevant tech service (e.g. IT, CMS support, publisher), and for himself to be CC'd in that ticket request along with the screen photo(s) of the problem. My colleague provides a listing of all relevant tech representatives as a reference so that students can't delay by either not being able to locate the right tech representative to contact, or to pretend that they can't locate the right tech representative to contact.
My colleague says his procedure works almost every time in either helping the student quickly get the tech problem corrected, or outing students who don't really have a problem but are just being whiny butts about doing their work.
From "Bang Your Head on Your Desk - the thread of teaching despair!":
Quote from: Caracal on July 29, 2020, 12:44:45 PM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on July 22, 2020, 04:12:24 PM
That sucks, the_geneticist.
In other news, I have received several emails from students regarding 'what's on the test.' 'What's on the test' is clearly outlined in the syllabus. I need to find a tactful way to saying this. Any suggestions?
I've found that "review sheets" are helpful. The review sheet is nothing but a listing of the topics and readings we covered taken off the syllabus. It takes about 2 minutes to put together. For some reason, students seem to like this and I don't get those questions.
Jedi Mind Trick for online classes.
Our LMS (and I assume all of them) makes it super easy to see if/when a student started an assignment/quiz/worksheet/etc. If a student emails to ask about grading on late work, rather than saying "you only earned 4/10 points because your quiz was late" I say "any answers you submitted by the due date and time will be graded out of full credit".
Overall, our students HATE online classes. It's asking them to be so much more organized, self-regulating, and responsible than their usual in-person classes.
Other than listing all assignments (points & due dates) on the syllabus, using the "send announcement feature" to let them know an assignment is available, and reminders during Zoom, is there anything else that helps students with the basic structure of an online class? Or do I just need to resign to the fact that online learning is a harsher sorting mechanism against the disorganized and/or procrastinating student?
Quote from: the_geneticist on July 29, 2020, 01:24:04 PM
[...]
Other than listing all assignments (points & due dates) on the syllabus, using the "send announcement feature" to let them know an assignment is available, and reminders during Zoom, is there anything else that helps students with the basic structure of an online class? Or do I just need to resign to the fact that online learning is a harsher sorting mechanism against the disorganized and/or procrastinating student?
Do you use modules to organize your course? I've been teaching an online GenEd course for several years now. I have one module per week, which consists of a "home" page, the reading assignment, the reading quiz, discussion, and homework. The "home" page is a single web page with a section at the top with links to the assignments due that week, followed by course content material (text, video, and the equivalent of classroom assessment questions). I change the "home page" for the class to be the appropriate "home" for the module of the week. While students are free to navigate to the homework and quizzes through the other tabs in Canvas, the work they need to do for this week is readily apparent when they enter the Canvas site for the class since it is at the top of the home page each week. I am also careful to have a set schedule for assignments (class activities are due 5pm on T, Th, and F each week). I change the home page sometime Friday evening and my email announcement setting the stage for the new module is sent sometime on Sunday afternoon.
Organizing by modules means that students can see the structure of the course not only through the syllabus, but also as a week-by-week grouping. I also want students to be able to find the links for the assignments in the manner that makes the most sense to them - whether that be by the "type" tabs provided (quizzes; discussions; assignments), by the module groupings, or by clicking on the link that is present at the top of the page that greets them upon entry to the Canvas site.
While there is probably very little you can do for the truly disorganized student, providing transparent organization for the structure of your course can help those that are only in moderate disarray.
Quote from: arcturus on July 29, 2020, 03:20:32 PM
Quote from: the_geneticist on July 29, 2020, 01:24:04 PM
[...]
Other than listing all assignments (points & due dates) on the syllabus, using the "send announcement feature" to let them know an assignment is available, and reminders during Zoom, is there anything else that helps students with the basic structure of an online class? Or do I just need to resign to the fact that online learning is a harsher sorting mechanism against the disorganized and/or procrastinating student?
Do you use modules to organize your course? I've been teaching an online GenEd course for several years now. I have one module per week, which consists of a "home" page, the reading assignment, the reading quiz, discussion, and homework. The "home" page is a single web page with a section at the top with links to the assignments due that week, followed by course content material (text, video, and the equivalent of classroom assessment questions). I change the "home page" for the class to be the appropriate "home" for the module of the week. While students are free to navigate to the homework and quizzes through the other tabs in Canvas, the work they need to do for this week is readily apparent when they enter the Canvas site for the class since it is at the top of the home page each week. I am also careful to have a set schedule for assignments (class activities are due 5pm on T, Th, and F each week). I change the home page sometime Friday evening and my email announcement setting the stage for the new module is sent sometime on Sunday afternoon.
Organizing by modules means that students can see the structure of the course not only through the syllabus, but also as a week-by-week grouping. I also want students to be able to find the links for the assignments in the manner that makes the most sense to them - whether that be by the "type" tabs provided (quizzes; discussions; assignments), by the module groupings, or by clicking on the link that is present at the top of the page that greets them upon entry to the Canvas site.
While there is probably very little you can do for the truly disorganized student, providing transparent organization for the structure of your course can help those that are only in moderate disarray.
Yes, I've been using the "learning modules" feature to organize materials by week with the materials listed in the order they will need them within each module. Due dates & times are always the same for each section too.
I'm considering replacing the first "syllabus quiz" with asking students to take a screenshot/picture of their calendar or day planner or to do list with the first week of class entered (zoom times, office hours, quiz due date, etc.).
I'm not sure if this is a "trick" exactly, but in large classes I have a bunch of short low-stakes assignments that people do in class. These are graded pretty easily; basically, if you're in class and it looks like you made an effort, you get all the points. Students can't make these up, but they can also miss some without penalty. For instance, I might give 10 over the course of the semester and count the top 7, and I don't tell students when I'll be giving them.
I like this for a few reasons:
- The responses to the assignments are an easy way for me to see what they are understanding and where they are confused.
- The assignments break up lecture and can provide a jumping-off point for a bit of class discussion.
- I don't need to arbitrate whether or not student absences are "legitimate." It doesn't matter if they missed an assignment because they were sick, at a family event, overslept, didn't feel like coming to class that day, showed up late after we had already done the assignment, or some other reason. Everyone gets some that they can miss, and I don't need to know why they were missed.
- It encourages students to come to class. I sometimes give students small amounts of extra credit for completing all of the assignments to encourage them to keep showing up even after they've done the required minimum. I also often have the last assignment be on the last day of class. I haven't run a control group to see what would happen to attendance if I didn't do these assignments, but with them most people come to class most of the time all the way through the end of the semester.
I often use one of these assignments as a way to get quick feedback on how the class is going so far. A few weeks into the class, I ask students to write down what's going well and any changes they would suggest. (They write their name on a separate piece of paper and hand in both, so they get points for the assignments while also being able to provide feedback anonymously.) Next class, I summarize the responses and tell them any changes that I'll be making based on their feedback. It's useful for me to see how the class is going for folks, and students have mentioned at the end of the term that they appreciated that I considered their feedback earlier in the semester.
Teaching despair, but perhaps managed? second course with student who avoids all the work until they are clearly failing.
Dear Student, I will re-open the quiz for you. But, let's make a deal in your best interests. First you need to solve how to manage the assignments and deadlines.
There is a solution - sync your Canvas calendar feed to your Outlook calendar. You will also see that in your Teams calendar. Follow the instructions linked below. Take a photo or screen grab showing me that you have your Canvas calendar showing in your Outlook/Teams calendar. Message back with that photo attached. Then I will open the Quiz with us both having the reassurance that you will be on track for the rest of the term.
https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-subscribe-to-the-Calendar-feed-using-Outlook-as-a/ta-p/531
also for other options - https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/tkb-p/student#Calendar
How can I encourage my students to not wait until the last minute to take a test? I just received an email asking what was on the test (I mentioned this several times in announcements- I may have to start making review sheets) less than 3 hours before the test is due.
I wonder if this student expects me to email back?
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on February 24, 2021, 06:50:02 PM
How can I encourage my students to not wait until the last minute to take a test? I just received an email asking what was on the test (I mentioned this several times in announcements- I may have to start making review sheets) less than 3 hours before the test is due.
I wonder if this student expects me to email back?
1) Don't reinforce them by responding to last minute requests. Tell them they need to ask any questions by X day and time. After that, reply only after the exam, saying "this came in past the stated deadline of X, but if you still have questions about the material I'm happy to go over them with you in office hours".
2) If you really want them to take it early, I've found a "bonus point" to have almost magical power over undergrads. It's worth almost nothing in terms of their final grade, but if they can get one they want it. So you could offer a bonus point for completion by a certain time.
I am coming primarily from developmental math, and I found that the "waiting until the last minute" was just catastrophically bad. For example, last semester in 4 classes of developmental math less than half submitted the first one on time. I don't feel able to just give zeros to that high a percentage of the class on something that's worth a fair amount of their grade.
I started a new policy this semester. If you don't submit the test on time, it's still open, with a 10% per day late penalty. Tech issues? Should have troubleshot it sooner/taken it earlier (global extensions given in the case of failure of OUR systems), but it's okay, you can take it late. The test does not open for review until everyone who appears likely to take it has done so.
This has taken an amazing amount of stress off me.
Quote from: kiana on February 25, 2021, 06:40:40 AM
I am coming primarily from developmental math, and I found that the "waiting until the last minute" was just catastrophically bad. For example, last semester in 4 classes of developmental math less than half submitted the first one on time. I don't feel able to just give zeros to that high a percentage of the class on something that's worth a fair amount of their grade.
I started a new policy this semester. If you don't submit the test on time, it's still open, with a 10% per day late penalty. Tech issues? Should have troubleshot it sooner/taken it earlier (global extensions given in the case of failure of OUR systems), but it's okay, you can take it late. The test does not open for review until everyone who appears likely to take it has done so.
This has taken an amazing amount of stress off me.
I like this idea. I just don't want test problems getting out and having students look them up online. I use question pools, but still...
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on February 25, 2021, 08:28:22 AM
Quote from: kiana on February 25, 2021, 06:40:40 AM
I am coming primarily from developmental math, and I found that the "waiting until the last minute" was just catastrophically bad. For example, last semester in 4 classes of developmental math less than half submitted the first one on time. I don't feel able to just give zeros to that high a percentage of the class on something that's worth a fair amount of their grade.
I started a new policy this semester. If you don't submit the test on time, it's still open, with a 10% per day late penalty. Tech issues? Should have troubleshot it sooner/taken it earlier (global extensions given in the case of failure of OUR systems), but it's okay, you can take it late. The test does not open for review until everyone who appears likely to take it has done so.
This has taken an amazing amount of stress off me.
I like this idea. I just don't want test problems getting out and having students look them up online. I use question pools, but still...
Have the penalty start as soon as the due date passes. Students who might be tempted to use extra time to look up answers online will be dissuaded by the immediate penalty.
Quote from: the_geneticist on February 25, 2021, 08:59:52 AM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on February 25, 2021, 08:28:22 AM
I like this idea. I just don't want test problems getting out and having students look them up online. I use question pools, but still...
Have the penalty start as soon as the due date passes. Students who might be tempted to use extra time to look up answers online will be dissuaded by the immediate penalty.
Yes. If you submit even one minute late, it hits you.
As far as sharing questions, I haven't seen that happen on a large extent (in general, the students who submit late do worse even before the late penalty), but since I have an asynchronous class and therefore no fixed exam schedule, that possibility was always there anyway.
I feel that the people who can't get it together to submit their test on time are also likely to not be able to get it together enough to get useful information from others AND make good use of it.
Quote from: the_geneticist on July 29, 2020, 01:24:04 PM
Jedi Mind Trick for online classes.
If a student emails to ask about grading on late work, rather than saying "you only earned 4/10 points because your quiz was late" I say "any answers you submitted by the due date and time will be graded out of full credit".
My syllabus uses that type of reframed language-- "Assignments turned in by the due date are eligible to earn full credit. Assignments turned in after that date will be eligible for x percent of the total possible credit" (or something like that) rather than "Late assignments are deduced by X percent each day." They still get the deduction, but the reframing has been more positively received.
I thought this was funny.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/18/us/tennessee-professor-syllabus-money-trnd/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/18/us/tennessee-professor-syllabus-money-trnd/index.html)
I've been doing this for a few years (and it certainly isn't unique to me) and can't remember if I posted about it before, but thought I'd share (again?) since it is working so well.
I have 3 exams, with the 3rd (non-cumulative) given during the final exam block, same length as the first two, so only designed to take half or less of the 3 hour block. Students can choose to add on to this third exam a "second chance exam" covering the material on one of the first two exams, which then replaces the earlier grade (for better or worse). They have to sign up for this by the last day of class, and as part of the sign up they have to write how they will/have prepared better for this second chance (some of these are pretty sad/funny, like "This time I'm using the study guide and starting before the morning of the exam"). I also post a study skills video and materials, which they are supposed to review before signing up.
Besides being humane (I do, in fact, believe in second chances) I've found that this solves so many problems and makes my life much easier. All those frantic emails begging to take an exam late or get a do-over because [they are sick/their grandma died/they slept through the alarm/etc.] are greatly reduced, and when they do send them they get a cheery reply reminding them they can simply take the second chance exam. I have to make zero judgement calls about who deserves make-ups, and don't have to proctor any additional exam times or make multiple versions of exams.
In addition, it reduces their anxiety a ton on the first two exams, both in the lead up and if they get a bad score. A bunch of students who would otherwise be complaining and stressing to me about their grades don't (and those that do get the same copy and paste cheery response).
Most of these students also don't go on to take the second chance exam, because by the end of the semester they don't want to study for it, and have come to accept that their course grade is actually OK. About 15-20% actually take it, with mixed results-- some do no better (or even worse), but some improve dramatically.
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on December 18, 2021, 10:38:42 AM
I thought this was funny.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/18/us/tennessee-professor-syllabus-money-trnd/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/18/us/tennessee-professor-syllabus-money-trnd/index.html)
Saw that too!
Anyone have a Jedi mind trick to get students to actually go to office hours?
I had students reflect on their study habits, why they missed questions on an exam, how they will change their habits, and what else they want to help their learning.
Less that 1% of students have attended office hours with either me or their TA.
But >90% are wanting time to review questions from class, go over missed concepts on assignments, or a to go to a "review session".
We are on quarters and I do not have time to burn for a review session during a registered class (This class meets a grand total of 8 times). I'm not making my TAs hold review sessions at other times, especially when NO ONE goes to their office hours.
Anyone try rebranding their office hours as "review sessions"?
A colleague has branded their TA's office hours as "class help sessions" and put the dates/times in the syllabus (this involved coordinating with the TA ahead of time--with multiple TAs, this could get complicated). Mixed success in general, but a decent number of students at the session prior to the midterm and fewer complaints about not having a review session in class.
RE: office hours
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/careers-cafe/maximizing-the-impact-of-office-hours/
I have heard anecdotally that some undergraduate students think we're doing "IMPORTANT things" during our office hours, so they shouldn't disturb us. And I do remember hovering outside my professors' closed doors during office hours as an undergraduate trying to hear if they were in there or not, and wondering if I should knock.
Quote from: the_geneticist on February 24, 2022, 05:20:20 PM
Anyone have a Jedi mind trick to get students to actually go to office hours?
I had students reflect on their study habits, why they missed questions on an exam, how they will change their habits, and what else they want to help their learning.
Less that 1% of students have attended office hours with either me or their TA.
But >90% are wanting time to review questions from class, go over missed concepts on assignments, or a to go to a "review session".
We are on quarters and I do not have time to burn for a review session during a registered class (This class meets a grand total of 8 times). I'm not making my TAs hold review sessions at other times, especially when NO ONE goes to their office hours.
Anyone try rebranding their office hours as "review sessions"?
I use a calendar with bookable 15 min slots, and interestingly that seems to have increased use of office hours-- they seem to like knowing they have an appointment that is just for them, and committing to a time means they actually show up (most of the time). They also have the option of zoom or in person. Zoom seems to lower the psychological barriers for some of them.
I like that idea! What program do you use for the bookable timeslots?
Quote from: Morden on February 25, 2022, 09:16:47 AM
RE: office hours
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/careers-cafe/maximizing-the-impact-of-office-hours/
I have heard anecdotally that some undergraduate students think we're doing "IMPORTANT things" during our office hours, so they shouldn't disturb us. And I do remember hovering outside my professors' closed doors during office hours as an undergraduate trying to hear if they were in there or not, and wondering if I should knock.
The Jedi Mind Trick: Call them
Student Hours in your syllabus.
Quote from: the_geneticist on February 25, 2022, 11:09:31 AM
I like that idea! What program do you use for the bookable timeslots?
I just use my google calendar (we are a google campus- not sure if this is available with free personal accounts or not)-- you can select "appointment slots" when creating an event (which you can set to repeat), and the appointment calendar has its own link, which I then post on the CMS and department page. When they book a slot it I get an email notification and shows up on my calendar and their calendar, and they can add notes about what they want to meet about if they want. They can also cancel it by just deleting it from their calendar and I get a notification of that.
Quote from: the_geneticist on February 25, 2022, 11:09:31 AM
I like that idea! What program do you use for the bookable timeslots?
I don't know what the previous poster uses, but I use https://calendly.com/ (https://calendly.com/). You can set up a free account that lets you schedule one booking page, and it syncs really nicely with my Outlook calendar. It makes life so much easier for my students and I!