My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan

What was the most surprising aspect of the book and why did it surprise you?

I was surprised by My Freshman Year when Rebekah Nathan began to time manage like an undergraduate student and adopt some of the same ideas. She brought up the point multiple times that she couldn’t figure out why students didn’t do assigned readings for her class. However, in one of her classes the professor gave an online reading assignment and she realized she had no intention of ever doing it and didn’t even write down the website (pg. 138). Nathan then had a "personal epiphany” at this point, as she referred to it, and discovered that students were not reading because the material wasn’t going to be used on a quiz or assignment and it would interfere with time spent doing required work for other classes.

First of all, I was suprised it took her this long to figure this out. But I was mostly surprised that she eventually came to adopt the same attitude about reading assignments. I would have thought that since she was a professor she would have tried to have been a model student in all aspects. I think Rebekah Nathan grew a greater understanding and appreciation for the kind of time conflicts undergraduates deal with. This is also an example of why we as teachers need to keep reading assignments relevant and useful. In many instances, the professor will know the strength of the reading and how it can help the student, but as Rebekah Nathan pointed out, if the student does not see it as being relevant to their grade in some way they are unlikely to do it.

In light of the challenges faced by undergraduate students highlighted in the book, what advice would you give to new college instructors?

I would make sure new college instructors knew that when students fall asleep in class, don’t do reading assignments, or ask for extensions on deadlines that it’s probably not personal (pg. 145). Students juggle a tremendous amount of things in their lives including work, social life, homework, classes, family, etc. Students will cut corners if they feel they can. Students may also take classes to meet a requirement or fill a time slot and may have little to no interest in the course subject. This is how undergraduates manage time and get through college as smoothly as possible. If they don’t like your course or don't do well, chances are it’s not personal.

I would also give the advice to be culturally aware. As we’ve learned from this assignment and previous reading assignments, cultural diversity is very present in American universities. Cultural beliefs and customs can have an impact in the classroom. Whether this being clear by the level of participation, asking questions, or choosing a group with only same raced students, cultural diversity is very present.

I would give a new teacher advice to not expect a student of a different race to be a spokesperson for their entire culture. I would also encourage a teacher to try to create diverse groups of students for projects or assignments so students can have experience working with those of other ethnicities. As Nathan pointed out, American students are more likely to hang out with and surround themselves with those of the same race, and that holds true for people of other cultures (pg. 63). Students may not realize the value of a relationship with someone from another country or of another race. Of course a teacher can’t force these relationships but I think it is good to try and get students to interact with those that are of different ethnicities.

Has the book changed your perspective on undergraduate students? If no, why not? If so, how so?

This book has opened my eyes to things I’ve known have existed among American college students but have never wanted to admit. For starters, the ignorance shown to international students is appalling and unbelievable, but at the same time very believable. When Rebekah Nathan interviewed students from diverse backgrounds the questions they had been asked by American college students were of poor taste and simply ignorant (pg. 86). I think American students in general need to be more educated about the world around them and about other cultures.

I’m not entirely surprised by the ignorance because I left the country for 6 months and looked at my own culture from a distance. (Nathan relates to this experience in the first chapter of My Freshman Year). When I returned, I was noticeably shocked the ignorance of my friends and even my own family. I have asked myself, “Is American ignorance is from our country being so vast and consumed with our own subcultures?” and even, “Do American’s just not care?” I don’t have the answer to that, but the ignorance in our culture is noticeable and unfortunate.

This book hasn’t changed my perspective but has shed light on some important, and not always nice, aspects of American college culture. On a nicer note, I am not entirely pessimistic about American students. I believe that American students are driven to succeed in life and are generally motivated to complete college and have a career. American students’ discipline and motivation comes from a variety of places, sometimes they may not even realize why they went to college in the first place but they still do. Maybe not many of them go to school to learn but I believe by the time they graduate they realize they did learn and enjoyed it.

The final reading from Teaching Tips put a lot of new ideas in my mind as to why students learn and how I can help them learn. I like the idea from page 308 about organizing information by presenting content in a scheme or timeline. I like this idea because, in the case of events, it can give students a sequence of when and why things happened around each other. This also seems like a good idea for plotting science theories. A good way to format this would be to start with a topic of low complexity and build up to a highly complex topic in a scheme format.

ex. [human body--------cell---------nucleus----------DNA--------transcription----------expression]

I believe schemes are a great way to organize material and can be useful as a measure of quantitative factors, events and complex material. A way that I could implement this is my teaching is by starting with a simple subject such as a cell. I can have the cell begin the scheme and add the additional parts of the cell which will build up to how DNA is made. Having students elaborate on each step in the process would be imperative to the learning process.

The scheme will help break down concepts for students and help them make connections to challenging material. I think the scheme idea can also work for scientific timelines. For example, I can have students make a timeline to show the changing levels of different hormones of pregnancy throughout gestation. With this timeline, students can clearly see changes over time and relate cause and effect type factors. I think schemes and timelines are a great way to help build meaning for the student with complex or multi dimensional material.

The revision of Bloom’s taxonomy from chapter 24 is a helpful way to approach teaching. The taxonomy is a hierarchical structure that helps us be realistic about what we can expect from students at each stage of the learning process. We should teach to those with little knowledge on the subject with the expectation that they will first have to memorize but will eventually understand concepts. As the student progresses in their learning and school they will be expected to preform "higher-order skills" with that ultimate goal that they will be able to evaluate and create content (pg. 320). (Bloom's Taxonomy)

I can implement the Bloom’s taxonomy in my teaching by being realistic about my expectations. I can set up my lower level courses to give students a base in complex concepts and expect that they will start to understand these concepts. I think memorization is a good tool for students who are entering college because it helps them learn important information about the topic that they will eventually be expected to apply and analyze. As the students go further in their major I can expect a higher degree of thinking. A few good ways of doing this are by expecting the students to form viewpoints on various topics, analyze and evaluate concepts and be able to teach concepts to other students.

Chapter 26 is a good ending to Teaching Tips. There are many take home messages from this chapter but I feel one of the most important is that the ultimate test of our teaching is evidence of whether or not our students learned (pg. 348). My views on this issue have really shifted over the course of this semester. I have always wanted to teach but I never realized that the way I teach could have such a strong impact on how my students will learn. I used to think either students were motivated to learn and worked hard or didn’t. I now see that part of my job as a teacher is to create a spark in student’s minds that turns into a fire.

I want to generate curiosity and exploration in the subjects I teach. I want students to be able to apply what I teach them to practical situations in their lives. If many students don’t learn from my courses then I must evaluate my teaching. I may be making mistakes in presenting the material, appropriately challenging them or motivating them to learn. I can and will implement many ideas and concepts from this book into my own teaching. I have come to the conclusion that be a teacher embodies being creative, realistic, encouraging and thought provoking. Teaching is much more than lecturing and handing out tests and this book has helped me see that and has provided me with many ways to facilitate learning.

A few additional teaching links...

More ideas for assignments for upper level students.

Teaching with Bloom's Taxonomy.