A Blog Post About Nothing

I seriously can’t think of a damn thing to write about, so this is a blog post about nothing. This could be a sign of burn out or maybe I’ve lost my motivation. Motivation to write that is. I still want to live. 🙂 I’ve seemingly written about everything already over the past 20 years. That’s how long I’ve been blogging. My freshmancomp.com self-hosted blog was started in 2006 when I transferred over to GCC from SMCC, but I blogged on Blogger before that. It’s fun to go back and read what was so important to me back then in old posts. The very first post to this blog was about whiteboards in October of 2006, thirteen years ago. I wrote:

I’m teaching a developmental writing course here at GCC, and unfortunately I have no access to technology in the class itself besides my shiny white boards, overhead projector from 1950, and a vcr/dvd combo and television. This of course is no reflection on the college; it’s just a this is what’s left situation.

Ha! I remember this vividly. I was a temporary one-semester transfer, and I got stuck in a classroom in the CL building. I really didn’t know what to do with myself in that room. Luckily I was able to sneak over into HT1 often enough to salvage the semester.

As I reflect back and peruse other posts, one thing stands out about my posts. They are always about technology and teaching. In 2007 I blogged about using del.icio.us, Ning social network, Bedford Bibliographer and podcasting. Wow! Does anyone remember any of those things? Well, I guess podcasting is still around, but the rest are dead and gone. Good thing I’m not dead and gone although I do feel pretty old sometimes. Podcasting is still around, but the technology we used “back in the day” has definitely changed. Check this out.

I’ve been experimenting with flash players for my weekly podcasts in my freshman composition courses. This one from MyFlashFetish.com was pretty cool. I’ll paste the code into the course blog and see how students like it.

I wish I could say they liked it, but to be honest they probably couldn’t care less. Anyway, that website is certainly gone. I still podcast or create audio for my student, but today I use Soundcloud to host my podcasts. Anywho, I’ll end this rambling with a shoutout to two of my favorite podcasts on Soundcloud.

Shoutout to my girls in the CTLE – Two Profs in a Pod
This is my JRN203 Students’ Podcast: The Weekly Gauchos. Some are better than others.
New-season starts Friday.

The perfect stats

By Dr. Krysten Pampel and Dr. Ashley Nicoloff

One of my favorite classes that I get to teach every semester is my statistics course. Usually people hear statistics and give me a “ew” face. I love it! I love the content and seeing how my students grow in their capacity to interpret data. Unfortunately it is only a 3 credit course and I feel like I am always behind starting day one. I would love to have more time for material, examples and projects. Statistics is so applicable to everyday life and I would love to delve in with more hands-on examples and experiences for my students. If I could reimagine my classroom, I would see students going and collecting data, interpreting it and then giving a presentation of what they found to the class. Instead of using just a calculator to run the data, we would use statistical software so we could run larger data sets. 

Desmos has some cool applications for graphs and if I had the time, my class could spend the whole time playing around with the graphs to truly understand what a normal distribution is, what a scatter plot looks like and how we calculate the line of best fit. This is what I picture if I had no time restraints. Now, I know that it is great to dream, but I know that I cannot have this type of classroom. I try to bring in certain aspects that I have imagined as stated previously, but in small little pieces.  I try to liven up the class conversations by discussing current topics that are happening each semester ie. sports statistics, different hypothesis tests that they have seen on TV or even margins of error when voting is discussed . (This semester we talked about the upcoming Census 😉 ). I hope that by the end of the semester that my students leave with a basic knowledge of how to read and interpret research articles and love statistics just a little bit more than when they began the semester!

 

Coffee Talk: Class Discussion as Formative Assessment

When we talk about formative assessment, what usually comes to mind is a quiz, a ticket out the door, or a temperature-taking tactic like "thumbs-up/thumbs down."  Sometimes when I am feeling a little extra, I break out a Kahoot.

However, my favorite kind of formative assessment is the kind where students don't even realize that it's happening. I love it when students let their guard down, and instead of trying to produce The Correct Answer, they show me what they know. This is why I am a fan of using class discussion as a form of formative assessment.

Whole-class discussion works well enough on the fly when I am tired of the sound of my own voice, but it's far from perfect. Foremost, there are always a few students who regularly chime in, but there are many more students who are all too happy to sit back silently and let others do all the chatting.  I also find that many students don't feel comfortable in this setting to ask for clarification of a point, and so, again, they may sit back silently, hoping that the clouds will part and a ray of sun will illuminate whatever is confounding them. Another issue I experience with whole-class discussion is that, because I am the one leading it, students are less likely to take risks with the ideas they share. Instead, they are inclined to say what they think I want to hear.

A strategy I find myself relying on more often than when I first started teaching college is small group discussion.  Think-pair-share is a great strategy because it takes very little preparation. Sometimes I'll step up my game and grab the Student Sorting Pencils from the CTLE. These allow me to keep the groups moving in unexpected ways by breaking them into groups by color, numeral, or symbol. This method takes a few minutes of prep time, but it feels more exciting for everyone than being asked to turn and talk to a neighbor.

In these small group discussions, I am able to hang back and listen to what students are saying. Students seem to feel more comfortable asking classmates for clarification on a finer point that they might not ask the whole class. They also feel more comfortable calling me over for 'official' clarification. In small group discussions, I can overhear not only whether or not they understand the material, but I can listen to their thought process as they arrive at an answer. Furthermore, if I am tired of the sound of my own voice, surely they are too. The small group discussions break up the class time and allow students to relax a little.

Even in these small groups, when I sidle up to them, sometimes the conversation will cool, like I've removed the lid from a boiling pot. I don't know if they are worried that I might overhear The Wrong Answer and frown disappointedly? Or maybe they think I am there because I want to chime in, so they are making space for my interjection? Either way, I regularly find myself assuring students that I am just listening in and to continue as though I am not there.

One discussion strategy that has been collecting dust for the last semesters is the Socratic Seminar. Although this strategy takes more than a few minutes of preparation--not only on my part, but on the part of the students as well--it solves a few issues that whole-class and small-group discussions present. In a Socratic Circle (where an inner circle of students discusses prepared questions, and an outer circle of students thoughtfully observe and jots notes), I am not the leader of the group. This clears the way for students to strengthen their connections to one another as they share ideas and moderate their own discussion. Furthermore, I don't have to meander around the room to eavesdrop--I can take a seat at the back of the room and listen. They all but forget I am there when the discussion gets rolling. This is a safer space for students to share their thought processes and to take risks than in an instructor-lead discussion. Finally, students seem to like it. Win-win.

With each of these small(er) group strategies, I am able to use the authentic information I gather from students to shape future lessons or to know when to slow down and revisit a concept that seems to be tripping them up.

The opportunity to compose this post has set the gears in my mind turning. Most instructors use Socratic Seminars to facilitate a discussion about something the class was assigned to read, but I don't see why this strategy wouldn't work in a writing lesson. Maybe students could examine a sample essay or could talk about small portions of student drafts in a modified peer review. I'll let you know what comes out of these lesson plan ponderings.

I'd love to hear your tips and tricks for using discussion as a formative assessment. Do you use Socratic Seminars in your courses? What is your favorite strategy for class discussion?


Reflections on Student Engagement–Part Two

In my last post on Student Engagement, I laid out some distinctions in the term “student engagement” comprising techniques, practices, and modalities.  I ended by mentioning the modality of Student Engagement Staff that we implemented in the Philosophy and Religious Studies department.  In this post, I want to outline the nature of the Student Engagement Staff (SES) endeavor.

As an initial attempt at providing a working definition for this modality of Student Engagement Staff we came up with the following points:

  • Student Engagement Staff is dedicated to student advocacy; promoting students’ success and completion of their education at GCC.
  • Student Engagement Staff is dedicated to educating all instructors about the importance of early intervention when students begin to slacken in their attendance and/or coursework.
  • Student Engagement Staff is a coordinating link in the process of connecting faculty and students to resources that further their educational goals.
  • Student Engagement Staff is committed to enhancing the general awareness of Student Engagement across the campus through various events and programs.

A key component of student engagement is a focus on the triangulation of three key elements: students, professors, and resources. 

A reasonable set of questions to ask is: “What is unique about SES?  Aren’t there many people, departments, and staff devoted to the same agenda?”

In considering the nature of Student Engagement Staff we have come to recognize two distinctive elements.  The first element is that of being a generalist modality.  Most of the modalities on campus are specialist in nature.  Think of the following departments and the specialized help they offer:

  • Advising
  • Counseling
  • Disability Resources and Services
  • Center for Learning
  • Financial Aid
  • Enrollment

The desire and design was to have SES be more general in nature.  Student Engagement Staff would, thus, seek to accumulate information on a number of different resources available on campus.  What was given up in depth of specificity was compensated by a greater breadth of coverage.  SES was designed to be a sort of clearing-house of information regarding resource as well as a point of contact into the more specialized departments. 

This generalist modality was to work in tandem with the second key element—fluidity and flexibility.  Being situated in the Philosophy and Religious Studies department allows for increased response time in intervention as well as a closer connection to professors who are the frontline in seeing those students most in need of help.  We like to refer to this as “Bringing the institution to the student.”  A quick example may help illustrate this.  An adjunct professor came into the department office asking for help regarding a student in his class expressing suicidal ideation.  I was able to immediately come to his class, meet the student, and offer to walk this student over to the Counseling Center.  I am not trained as a specialist in counseling but as a generalist I knew enough about what resources we had on campus that could help.  Being able to respond immediately and personally helped the professor maintain his focus on his duties while also allowing the student to get personalized help.

In my next post, I will detail the specifics of what we are doing with Student Engagement at both the classroom level and the individual level as well as highlight some of our success stories.

 

On Juggling Faculty Roles

On Juggling Within Faculty Roles

Faculty members in a college are skilled jugglers.  There are a lot of different types of juggling that everyone participates in.  There is a work-life balance for finding a happy medium between your life on and off-campus. There is a work-life balance for finding a happy medium between your fun activities and the expected responsibilities of being an adult. (yeah adulting!)

And there is the juggling that is the sole domain of being a faculty member.  That is the juggling of teaching, research, and service. Finding the optimum state of balance isn’t for the faculty member alone; the college itself establishes the terms of the juggling act. 

Juggle with 5 balls“Juggle with 5 balls” by Alexandre Dulaunoy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Ball 1: The role of “teacher” has changed over the years, even in the relatively short span of the last 20 years. I arbitrarily chose 20 because that is the span of my own experience.  Faculty members, while still content experts as required by our degrees and certifications, are no longer the “sage on the stage”. We as faculty revitalize ourselves with a better understanding of pedagogy and andragogy,  constantly self-reflection on appropriate teaching strategies focused on our student’s learning. We facilitate student’s learning as we enable students to develop the skills and abilities that help them master content and skillsets needed for their future.  We encourage them to develop beyond the rote materials, inspiring creative and critical thinking as we help students move beyond the ‘cog in the machine’ thinking to expanding conceptual knowledge and honing their inquiry skills. We empower students for learning that extends well beyond the classroom and well beyond the course content. At GCC, I have noticed that this focused dedication in teaching by so many faculty is creating a well-rounded campus learning environment with contributions from every department.  I have enjoyed being a part of the experience as faculty go through workshops and programs that help them “Reimagine Teaching and Learning”, myself included, and find it inspiring how student-focused the teaching role is in this community. I have placed “Ball 1” at the front because teaching is central to all that we do.

Ball 2: The role of research in a faculty experience is dependent on the college, the academic field, and even the department.  Faculty members are often expected to contribute to the shared knowledge base, usually to an audience of disciplinary colleagues world-wide.  Research-oriented faculty bring a sense of prestige as they bring in internal and external funding to explore empirical studies and theoretical examinations. One of the more interesting elements that I have found recently is how much of the research faculty at GCC are doing in an applied manner.  Rather than hitting straight journal publications, rather than centering on the theoretical implications, the research that I have been seeing is not only applied but centered on teaching and learning. The findings are discussed at conferences and in presentations where more peer feedback is actively sought after and ideas are expanded upon in a more dynamic and active approach to research endeavors.  This is an amazing “ball” to watch in the community college setting. This isn’t the domain of the “dry and stuffy”, though that certainly has its place. It is an involved process that moves, grows, develops, and actively encompasses the education process in a way I don’t think is even possible in a traditional setting. It is fast, with dynamic being the only truly applicable word I can think of. While there are continued contributions to the knowledge base, what I am seeing is so much more.  

Here is a challenge to you, dear reader.  How many of these active research elements do you see in your department? Is research being used to expand the knowledge base or do you, like me, see a more active and involved process that contributes to shared knowledge as well as influencing daily decisions in teaching and learning?  How do you research?

 Ball 3: The role of service is complicated. Service happens on committees and boards, it happens in advising, it happens with tutoring, it happens with clubs, it can move beyond the campus location with outreach community programs, connections with local business and community stakeholders, and responsiveness to local needs. Some institutions care more about research and teaching and can even discourage service commitments, others recognize the service role as a demonstration of the institutional commitment to the community. This is one of my favorite aspects of being a part of a community college. The service commitment is fully and completely the community aspect of community college. Participation in service happens both on campus and within the community at large. 

Central to all of the service engagements that happen here are the students.  Any committees or boards are thinking or planning around our specific student population.  Advising and tutoring are all about the students. Club activities are primarily a way to empower students and help connect their outside interests with their academic interests. Even when connecting outside groups like the United Way or Food Banks, the service efforts made are expected to address our student’s needs.  Unlike at the university setting where this ‘ball’ can be pushed aside for the twins of research and teaching, the community college recognizes that focus on the students leads to service as a full aspect of the balanced “balls”. 

Recognizing that these three roles are in a very real sense a juggling act, conceptually and practically, can help faculty understand the necessary overlap and integration needed of each role.  What I love about the community college system is how “in-balance” these three roles seem to be. I came across an article in my reading that demonstrated severe gender and ethnicity bias in academia when these roles are not in balance, when one role is seen as more important than the others.  While the research is dated and is university-centric, the idea is clear that viewing all three roles as a balanced approach makes for a more meaningful experience.

To me, that meaningful experience is key.  When the faculty roles are in balance, it makes the whole system work. It means that I can feel comfortable with all the other roles I have to play. In my case, I can spend time in the roles of mother, daughter, granddaughter, student, and friend as well as the very necessary role of just being me. Me reading, me relaxing, me getting a sunburn while tending my roses  (never underestimate the importance of sunscreen), me watching my British murders (yeah Agatha Raisen & Vera).

And with someone with my personality type, this is when life is simply wonderful.

This week’s Genial.ly is an interactive image with mouse hovering elements. If the embed code isn’t working, you can view it here

Selected Reference

Park, S. (1996). Research, Teaching, and Service: Why Shouldn’t Women’s Work Count? The Journal of Higher Education, 67(1), 46-84. doi:10.2307/2943903

 

Moore’s Diner: Where Inclusivity is Always on the Menu

I have this friend who, a few years ago, found herself in the hospital receiving treatment for a heart condition. Everyone who knew her was dumbfounded. She had lived her entire adult life as not only an avid runner but as a vegetarian. There was no one I would have been more surprised to learn had a blockage in her heart.

My friend is in great health today. Her treatment was successful, and the doctors said that her condition was genetic. In response to the incident, however, she graduated from a vegetarian diet to a vegan one.

Now when we get together for a bite, ordering at restaurants has become, shall we say, more complicated. Sometimes when the waiter comes to our table, she orders something from the menu apologetically asking for a few adjustments here and there. Sometimes the cooks will rummage around in the kitchen and pile something suitable on a plate. (Voila!) Sometimes she ends up with a disappointing bowl of lettuce and balsamic vinaigrette.

But sometimes? Sometimes we will open the menu and there will be vegan options hanging out right there amidst all the other entrees. On those occasions, we smile, feeling welcome, and turn our attention more pressing issues, like catching up on each other's lives.

If my classroom were a restaurant, I would want it to be the kind where every diner's needs have been considered before they walk through the door. I would want to be the kind of restaurant where no one has to ask the cooks to conjure up something on the fly. No one should feel like they are an inconvenience because they need something different than the "typical customer" in order to be successful.

I believe that inclusion means building an accessible classroom before a student who needs those accommodations ever enrolls in the course.

In recent semesters, improving the accessibility of my classroom has become one of my missions. Thanks to workshops in the CTLE, and talking with other instructors who are doing the same, I've learned how to make sure my syllabus and course documents are accessible to all students, including those using screen readers. I've learned how to edit the transcripts for the YouTube videos I post for my online classes, and I've begun to turn on Closed Captioning for all videos I show in my in-person classes, regardless of who is seated in the room. I've also begun to share a link to my Google Slides presentations with all students in the weekly overview in Canvas, not just with those who ask me for a copy of my notes. Building these habits into my teaching routines now means that I am ready for any student who joins my class. I won't have to scramble to build new habits in order to support their success in my class.

I know that building a culture of inclusion is an ongoing process--no one is ever really done with this task. However, I am proud to say that I am making progress every semester.

Cheers to that.

How Teaching Psych 101 Saved My Life (or at least made it a lot better!)

A popular book proclaimed that everything we need to know we learned in kindergarten. For me, everything I needed to grow into a healthy human I learned as a teacher of Introduction to Psychology. I don’t think I’m overselling it – teaching this course has changed the trajectory of my life.

The story is not a pretty one. Rather, mine was a story of do as I teach, not as I do. The prescription for physical and mental wellness is woven throughout any PSY 101 textbook, and I was doing my best to dole out the appropriate medicine to my students.

“Adequate sleep helps memory consolidation.”

“There is a link between exercise and a positive mood.”

“Stress can be regulated through mindfulness and meditation.”

Meanwhile, I myself was sleeping too little, sitting too much, and stress dominated most of my days. I regularly used food to regulate my mood. How I could warn my students about the “self-medication hypothesis” with a straight face remains a mystery to me.

But, with each new group of students, my awareness of my own hypocrisy grew. Just as I was beginning to muse about making some healthy changes, life hurried me along. Faced at the time with a more pressing need to find balance in my life, I turned to lessons ripped from the pages of PSY 101. I wanted to achieve greater peace in my life and get down to a healthy weight. I wanted more energy to face life’s challenges. I wanted strength when I was feeling broken.

As an educational psychologist, I know a little bit about how change happens. I know simplicity can be key when forming new habits, and I also know the power of mnemonic devices that help us to remember our goals. I therefore focused on just the following five directives from psychological research on how to live a healthy life (and they just so happen to rhyme!):

Soothe involves finding ways to regulate stress. Choose means opting, for the most part, to eat foods that make the body feel good and provide energy. Move involves finding some way to engage the body every day, even if it is just a walk around the block. Snooze means taking sleep hygiene seriously and getting in those zzz’s. Groove underpins all the previous elements and relates to setting up structures and habits that lead to healthy actions (like planning workouts for the week and stocking the fridge with veggies).

There is nothing sexy about this prescription. It also is no quick fix. There is nothing extreme involved, but rather balance is at the centerpoint. Each day I remember the words soothe, choose, move, snooze, and groove, and they help me to stay in balance.

So what did these five words do for me? Over a year later, I am perhaps healthier than I have ever been in my life. I have a much deeper sense of inner peace. I went from a BMI classified as “obese” to one smack-dab in the “normal” level. I feel energetic and strong. And, I no longer feel like a phony when sharing with my students how to be healthy and well.

This post is part of the Write 6X6 challenge at Glendale Community College.

The post How Teaching Psych 101 Saved My Life (or at least made it a lot better!) appeared first on My Love of Learning.

How Teaching Psych 101 Saved My Life (or at least made it a lot better!)

A popular book proclaimed that everything we need to know we learned in kindergarten. For me, everything I needed to grow into a healthy human I learned as a teacher of Introduction to Psychology. I don’t think I’m overselling it – teaching this course has changed the trajectory of my life.

The story is not a pretty one. Rather, mine was a story of do as I teach, not as I do. The prescription for physical and mental wellness is woven throughout any PSY 101 textbook, and I was doing my best to dole out the appropriate medicine to my students.

“Adequate sleep helps memory consolidation.”

“There is a link between exercise and a positive mood.”

“Stress can be regulated through mindfulness and meditation.”

Meanwhile, I myself was sleeping too little, sitting too much, and stress dominated most of my days. I regularly used food to regulate my mood. How I could warn my students about the “self-medication hypothesis” with a straight face remains a mystery to me.

But, with each new group of students, my awareness of my own hypocrisy grew. Just as I was beginning to muse about making some healthy changes, life hurried me along. Faced at the time with a more pressing need to find balance in my life, I turned to lessons ripped from the pages of PSY 101. I wanted to achieve greater peace in my life and get down to a healthy weight. I wanted more energy to face life’s challenges. I wanted strength when I was feeling broken.

As an educational psychologist, I know a little bit about how change happens. I know simplicity can be key when forming new habits, and I also know the power of mnemonic devices that help us to remember our goals. I therefore focused on just the following five directives from psychological research on how to live a healthy life (and they just so happen to rhyme!):

Soothe involves finding ways to regulate stress. Choose means opting, for the most part, to eat foods that make the body feel good and provide energy. Move involves finding some way to engage the body every day, even if it is just a walk around the block. Snooze means taking sleep hygiene seriously and getting in those zzz’s. Groove underpins all the previous elements and relates to setting up structures and habits that lead to healthy actions (like planning workouts for the week and stocking the fridge with veggies).

There is nothing sexy about this prescription. It also is no quick fix. There is nothing extreme involved, but rather balance is at the centerpoint. Each day I remember the words soothe, choose, move, snooze, and groove, and they help me to stay in balance.

So what did these five words do for me? Over a year later, I am perhaps healthier than I have ever been in my life. I have a much deeper sense of inner peace. I went from a BMI classified as “obese” to one smack-dab in the “normal” level. I feel energetic and strong. And, I no longer feel like a phony when sharing with my students how to be healthy and well.

This post is part of the Write 6X6 challenge at Glendale Community College.

The post How Teaching Psych 101 Saved My Life (or at least made it a lot better!) appeared first on My Love of Learning.

How Teaching Psych 101 Saved My Life (or at least made it a lot better!)

A popular book proclaimed that everything we need to know we learned in kindergarten. For me, everything I needed to grow into a healthy human I learned as a teacher of Introduction to Psychology. I don’t think I’m overselling it – teaching this course has changed the trajectory of my life.

The story is not a pretty one. Rather, mine was a story of do as I teach, not as I do. The prescription for physical and mental wellness is woven throughout any PSY 101 textbook, and I was doing my best to dole out the appropriate medicine to my students.

“Adequate sleep helps memory consolidation.”

“There is a link between exercise and a positive mood.”

“Stress can be regulated through mindfulness and meditation.”

Meanwhile, I myself was sleeping too little, sitting too much, and stress dominated most of my days. I regularly used food to regulate my mood. How I could warn my students about the “self-medication hypothesis” with a straight face remains a mystery to me.

But, with each new group of students, my awareness of my own hypocrisy grew. Just as I was beginning to muse about making some healthy changes, life hurried me along. Faced at the time with a more pressing need to find balance in my life, I turned to lessons ripped from the pages of PSY 101. I wanted to achieve greater peace in my life and get down to a healthy weight. I wanted more energy to face life’s challenges. I wanted strength when I was feeling broken.

As an educational psychologist, I know a little bit about how change happens. I know simplicity can be key when forming new habits, and I also know the power of mnemonic devices that help us to remember our goals. I therefore focused on just the following five directives from psychological research on how to live a healthy life (and they just so happen to rhyme!):

Soothe involves finding ways to regulate stress. Choose means opting, for the most part, to eat foods that make the body feel good and provide energy. Move involves finding some way to engage the body every day, even if it is just a walk around the block. Snooze means taking sleep hygiene seriously and getting in those zzz’s. Groove underpins all the previous elements and relates to setting up structures and habits that lead to healthy actions (like planning workouts for the week and stocking the fridge with veggies).

There is nothing sexy about this prescription. It also is no quick fix. There is nothing extreme involved, but rather balance is at the centerpoint. Each day I remember the words soothe, choose, move, snooze, and groove, and they help me to stay in balance.

So what did these five words do for me? Over a year later, I am perhaps healthier than I have ever been in my life. I have a much deeper sense of inner peace. I went from a BMI classified as “obese” to one smack-dab in the “normal” level. I feel energetic and strong. And, I no longer feel like a phony when sharing with my students how to be healthy and well.

This post is part of the Write 6X6 challenge at Glendale Community College.

The post How Teaching Psych 101 Saved My Life (or at least made it a lot better!) appeared first on My Love of Learning.

Choose Your Own AssessMent Adventure!

I have a confession to make. I am a super giant nerd. In case this hasn’t been obvious in previous posts, read on to confirm. I think it started back in my undergrad when I learned that I would have to take a statistics class for my psychology degree. I was dreading the class because I struggled with math for my entire school life.

PSSSSST! Hey, you! The busy professional! Want to skip past my personal narrative and reflections and just hear about ideas for assessment? Skip to the bottom; find the Skip to End image and read from there! Otherwise, enjoy my rambling below!

However, something miraculous happened. Statistics just clicked for me. Suddenly, math made sense! When the numbers I was calculating actually connected to something tangible and meaningful, my brain could compute. And right there, my love for an early research was born.

Choose your team! (More evidence of my nerdiness)

My first year of grad school, we had to take a basic Communication Research classes: one course in quantitative studies and one course in qualitative studies. It quickly became evident that the “side” you chose predicted your personality: “Quantoids” were deemed the nerdy number-crunchers whereas “Qaullies” were the philosophers of thought. (I wish I had made up these labels as a joke. Alas, kids are cruel even as adults.) I was a “Quantoid” yet I rejected the nerdy implications of the label… to the extend that I re-designed my thesis dissertation as a qualitative study just to prove I wasn’t only a statistics nerd. But even in the early onset of my academic career, I loved numbers. I loved seeing the statistics as useful metrics for how my students performed, thus helping me assess how well I was succeeding as a teacher.

All this is precursor to explain and justify my affinity for assessment. For many of my colleagues, assessment draws one of several negative reactions: ambivalence, annoyance, confusion, or a general feeling that it is a waste of our precious teaching time.

For me, assessment is the opportunity to collect valuable data and to use that data for the noble purpose of improving education for students, whether that means improving students’ comprehension or grades or helping me to deliver my content more effectively.

When I hear “assessment,” my brain immediately goes to formal, mandated assessment required in colleges to obtain and keep accreditation credentials. I first think of identifying a specific college or district student learning outcome and finding a quantitative way to calculate students results in that particular category.

For me (and fellow nerds), this is exciting and fun, while for other people, this is the workplace equivalent of having a root canal. However, the more I have studied the formal side of assessment (as a department assessment coordinator and currently a course co- lead), I realize that assessment does not have to be a huge, formal, quantitative research undertaking.

We assess in our classes every single day formally and informally, directly and indirectly, with grades and without. We are all familiar with the traditional forms of assessment like exams and papers. Most of my classes have a heavy emphasis on public speaking. In my COM 225 class, which is Public Speaking, a whopping 75% of their grade comes from speeches. These are the formal assessments of the class.

But to help students build the necessary skills needed to deliver great presentations, I administer many practice activities and skill building activities throughout the semester. These are rarely graded, but are required as part of the students participation. I realized that these are an excellent source of formative assessment; they assess the students’ current strengths and weaknesses so I can provide more direct feedback. This results in improved scores on the students graded tests, but even more than that, it provides a place where students can practice their skills and gain more confidence, and helps to foster a more friendly and knowledgeable audience, which decreases students’ nervousness.

The rest of the post describes two in-class assessment activities.

One such activity is something I call the Actor’s Studio. A group of students will be assigned a particular concept from the lesson of the day. The students create a skit where they demonstrate the concept for the rest of the class, then the audience (the other students) try to guess the concept being demonstrated.

I love this activity because it requires creativity from the presenters as well as collaboration with their fellow group members. It also uses higher level thinking along Bloom’s Taxonomy. Rather than simply defining the concept, performing a skit requires deeper understanding to be able to apply the content to a scenario. In addition, it helps the rest of the students practice good audience behavior with active listening and critical thinking. This helps me identify areas where students clearly “get” a concept and areas where students could be confused.

Another activity I use for assessment is the Great Debate. In this activity, I put a resolution on the board that clearly has at least two sides. I start with a lighter, pop culture prompt such as “Joaquin Phoenix was the best Joker.”(We move on to more serious issues based on the class and their interests.) Upon initial reading of the resolution, students have to place themselves against one of three walls in the room: the right side if they agree with the resolution, the left side of the room if they disagree with the resolution, and the back wall of the room if they are undecided or ambivalent.

Next, I asked for a volunteer from the “pro wall” to explain why they support this particular resolution. The speaker has one minute to attempt to persuade the rest of the audience. At the end of the one minute I ask if anyone has been persuaded? If so, they can move to a different wall. Then, I ask for a volunteer from the con side to explain why they are against the resolution. Again, the speaker has one minute to attempt to persuade us. And students are allowed to relocate should they be persuaded. This activity engages students and encourages them to analyze information as well as their decision-making.

In the debrief to this activity, we discuss which speeches persuaded us and why. Regarless of the actual topic, the stratgies we use to convince others to change their mind (or feelings or attitudes or beleifs or behaviors) are the concepts of Persuaive speaking fromt he textbook. This activity assesses understanding of the concepts while also challenging students to apply the concepts in real life.

These two activities hopefully help to demonstrate the variation Assessment can take, from formal and traditional to playful and, dare-I-say fun.