Have you had to overcome obstacles to implementing student centered learning techniques?

I thought it would be interesting to hear from people who have had to overcome problems when you initially implemented student centered learning approaches such as cooperative or collaborative learning, problem or project based learning, inquiry based learning, etc. Have you had problems with students, administrators, other teachers, evaluations, etc?????? We have discussed reasons why cooperative learning is resisted by administrators, students, other teachers, and parents (K-12). What have you done to address some of the resistance factors and how have you persisted in the face of difficulties or challenges.

Please leave no stone unturned. Even little problems you have dealt with would be helpful to hear about for teachers starting out with student centered learning and/or for those who are experienced but have not yet encountered your particular problem.

Please respond to the list to generate additional discussion on this topic or e-mail me directly. I will archive the responses on my web site. Thanks in advance for your collaboration.

Regards,

Ted

Tpanitz@capecod.net

http://_tedscooppage.homestead.com/index.html

My less than cooperative encounter with Attilla the department chair

For the first 6 years of my tenure and Cape Cod Community College and prior to that I developed an interactive lecture format for teaching. Lots of lecturing with questions for individual students interspersed during the lecture. After starting a doctoral program (1982) where I had the opportunity to use cooperative and collaborative learning techniques I began introducing these approaches into my engineering and mathematics courses. This is where my story begins and my evaluations from my department chair changed.

I encountered problems mainly from my department chair, who was supported by the academic dean, when I initially switched from an interactive lecture format to a cooperative learning approach. The transition did not take place overnight but evolved over several years. However, when I first started to make the transition I received criticisms from my department chairman after a few class observations. He felt that the classes were noisy, students were not always focussed on the material (mathematics), and I did not lecture enough. These observations were made despite the fact that I had met with the chair prior to the class evaluation to make sure he was aware of the changes I had made in my class procedures. We met after the class and I explained the reasons for his observations and how they fit into the overall cooperative learning strategy. He gave me a very poor evaluation with many references for the need to change what I was doing. I followed up by providing him with many published studies on cooperative learning, to no avail. It turns out that he had been a biology professor at a 4 year college and essentially "retired" to my community college. His teaching method was straight lecture and his demeanor made it clear that he didn't encourage student questions or any other class participation. He also seemed to revel in the "power" of the department chair.

A second approach I used, and still do, annoyed him to no end. I encourage my students to use first names including mine. He considered this to be totally unprofessional. His only rationale was that students would not respect me if was on a familiar name basis with them. My explanation fell on deaf ears, that my use of first names sends the message to the students that I do not consider myself above them, but I see students as peers. I just happen to have studied more mathematics and teaching techniques than they have. I base this approach on my own experiences in collaborative graduate education classes where the professor encouraged us to use his first name. I felt quite uncomfortable at first because this approach was a deviation from the norm, which most other professors had established. Cooperative learning allows and encourages students to experiment in a safe environment. After a while I came to appreciate the use of first names in classes. When I finished a course I felt that I was indeed approaching peer status with the teacher. Think of how subservient you feel when you enter a doctor's office and must address the person as Dr X. I went to a holistic doctor and the first thing he did to put me at ease was to suggest I call him by his first name. Quite a difference! My chairman was very strict about the use of names and insisted upon being called professor. I my classes I encourage all students to use my first name but I do not insist upon it. I want them to figure out what they feel comfortable with. For younger students and recent high school graduates whom we expect to act like adults need to be treated as adults. I do not use titles when I speak to my colleagues because we treat each other with respect (most of the time) as we should our students. As an aside, one of the things that most disturbed my son as a senior honor student in high school was that he had to ask for a hall pass to go to the bathroom or see his advisor. He clearly articulated the contradiction of setting high expectations for students yet controlling their every movement.

To make a long story longer, I appealed the chair's poor evaluation to the president of the college and invited him to visit my classes to make his own evaluation. After completing three visits the president wrote a very strong recommendation which highlighted the value he observed in the student conversations and interactions. He removed the chairman's critical evaluation from my personnel file. He also made it clear that he thought the chairman should consider changing his teaching approach and maybe I could assist him in that effort. That took care of the problem and I have not had any problems since.

The chairman has long since retired and I now have a very supportive Associate Dean who evaluates my teaching. Perhaps it was my bad luck to have started using cooperative learning techniques during this persons stint as chairman, but in the end his challenge strengthened my resolve, caused me to reflect critically on my philosophy of teaching and learning, and defend my methodology, which I observed was having a very positive effect upon the students.

The whole evaluation resolution took about 6 months to resolve, during which time there was a high degree of tension between myself and the department chair. Looking back I can see that my resolve was not only strengthened by my concern for doing what was best for my students but also by the fact that I had received tenure the year before and could not be fired capriciously because of one person's recommendation plus our union contract has a strong academic freedom clause which allows us to chose what ever teaching technique we wish.

Over the years I have increased my use of cooperative learning in all my classes to the point where I use this approach virtually 100% of the time. This works well for me. Each individual must decide to what extent they wish to involve their students in their classes and then take what ever actions are necessary to support their approach.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Overcoming resistance

felder@unity.ncsu.edu
Rebecca Brent and I coauthored a paper a couple of years ago that
addressed this very topic. It's

R.M. Felder and R. Brent, "Navigating The Bumpy Road to
Student-Centered Instruction," College Teaching, 44(2), 43-47 (1996).
[Reprinted in Cooperative Learning and College Teaching, 9(1), 4-9 (1998).]
and it can be accessed by clicking the link to "Active/Cooperative
Learning" on my home page,

http://www2.ncsu.edu/effective_teaching/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Marina Milner" <marinamb@physics.utexas.edu>
University of Texas at Austin

You asked a very important question: Have you had to overcome obstacles to
implementing student centered learning techniques?

My general answer would be YES.

And let me share with a few of you who are interested in that how we tried
to address these challenges. I am apologizing if my message is too long. I
also would be glad to share with very body who is interested a list of
references on project-based instruction I found very useful for our research.

I have been teaching physical science course for non-science majors at the
University of TX at Austin for the last two years. Being a graduate student
in Science Education and realizing how wide the gap between the educational
research and science teaching practices was, I have decided to implement a
project-based instruction approach in my classes. This is a topic of my
Doctoral Dissertation. I was/am lucky to have an opportunity to collaborate
with Dr. Marilla D. Svinicki who is an expert in student centered and
collaborative teaching methods (in addition to being a great mentor). We
published a paper "Teaching Physics of Everyday Life: Project-Based
Instruction and Collaborative Work in Undergraduate Physics Course for
Non-science Majors" where we discussed how we did it and what outcomes we
found in this class. It can be found on-line:

http://www.iusb.edu/~josotl/contents.v2.htm in the Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

Let me summarize what types of difficulties we found were the most important to address:

a) Student expectations of the lecture-format instruction.
They are expecting to take notes, to memorize them and to spit the
information back on the test. What we did to address this challenge was to
gradually train the students to work-live and function effectively in the
new format class. During my first semester I was less patient, I wanted the
students to start immediately function effectively in this new environment,
but it made them very nervous, defensive etc. Then I realized that you
cannot become an active learner in one day, especially when all the rest of
their classes and your high school experience were in a traditional format.

b) A challenge of planning.
Some teachers/instructor believe that student centered approach or
project-based instruction (in our case) do not require planning. I found
that planning and helping students to learn how to be organized is one of
the most important things in implementing effectively project-based
instruction. In my PS-304 web-site:

http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~ps304/PS304-Summer2000.htm you can find that I

have a very clear schedule, goals from the first day of the semester. It
helps me and my students to plan our time and it relieves stress
tremendously. I also want to emphasize that planning does not mean a luck of
flexibility. You have to be flexible in project-based instruction, but you
have to know what you want form the very beginning. Student-centered
approach does not mean you are not well organized.

c) On-going feedback. It does not matter how hard you plan, something won't
work as you planned and you have to be aware of that. I use CAT's (Cross &
Angelo) as minute paper, the maddest point, etc. all the time. It helps me
to know if everything is OK and in case there is a problem I am trying to
solve it right away.

d) One of the general complaints on the project-based instruction is
unequal job-share among the group members. My solution to this problem is
peer evaluation. At the end of the semester every group member is evaluated
by the peers and my assessment of every student is based on this evaluation
in addition to their paper and final presentation. However, it is very
important to talk to the students and to find out if there is a problem long
before the end of the semester. It happened to me a few times that I had to
split the group up because of the personal issues.

e) A lot of students do not know how to work on their own. For example, our
university is very big (it is the biggest one in the U.S.~50,000 students).
I teach freshmen and sophomores. They need help in very simple "things", as
finding resources in the library, knowing where to go for a consultation
etc. I am trying to put the relevant issues on the course web site to solve
these 'small' issues, which might ruin even an excellent project.

f) Student-instructor communication: I am trying to be available to my
students in case they want to ask questions, so they do not feel that they
are alone. I am there to help, but they are in charge of their learning.

g) Topic choice: It seems to us that it is very important to think about the
project topic. In our opinion, a big advantage of the topic is its relevance
to the students. At least it was very important in my classes.
In general, we found that students are getting very involved in doing the
projects, they like what they are doing, and student-centered teaching
method can be a very successful instructional method.

h) Continuing teacher learning.
My students can pick up whatever project they want if it is related to what
we are doing in the physical science class. The general topic is "How Things
Work" but they can do whatever they want (see the web site). For me it means
that I cannot know all the 'right' answers and sometimes there is no one
right answer. for some students it is a problem, since you are an authority
for them and you have to know everything. How do I deal with these types of
problems? I am learning with my students, consulting experts, and trying to
show them that in the real life the right answer cannot be found at the end
of the textbook. I think most of my students respect this view and are
gradually getting read of the "right answer" syndrome.
I have references and a lot of resources on project-based instruction and I
would be glad to share them with POD members.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kathy Skinner <kskinner@post.cis.smu.edu>

YES!! I teach teachers.

Many of them just want to be "fed" the info. It is very interesting that
they use student centered strategies when they teach, but they do not like
to learn that way. We have had many animated discussions about it. For
many of them, this is the first time they have experienced it from a
"student" as opposed to "facilitator" perspective.

I suspect that the problem is a background of experience/ learning styles
issue. These are adults in the 25-55+ age range. They simply did not learn
in this way when they were in school, so they do not have a working model
for how to behave in this type of setting! Many of them take away a whole
new definition of what the facilitator should be doing!

Have I overcome the problems? It is a new experience every time, but my
best solution is debriefing! I have come to believe that before a teacher
attempts a student centered approach, he or she should experience that
approach as a student and then participate in a discussion about what the
environmental management issues were. "Horns of a dilemma" in our state
because using student-centered approaches is a part of the state
standards. Too many teachers are taught "how to" in a non student
centered environment, so they never investigate the deeper issues! Then
they have difficulties when they attempt to use the approaches in the
classroom -- adding to the resistance movement!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Stephen Yuen <stephenyuen@HOME.COM>

Wow, I'm glad that you got it off your chest!! Quite a long reading for a
peaceful Saturday here north of the 49th parallel. I'd tried cooperative
learning but got no objections. Figure that!? My only beef was how, in the
beginning, the students were so dependent on me keeping them on task (even
the task enforcers themselves). I used the approach with middle school
students who were from twelve to fourteen years old. I think different age
groups will present different kinds of challenges for the teacher
implementing student-centered learning.

I empathize with your experience. I also don't think you'd gone over the
head of your evaluator; you were just trying to have the best decisions
made.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
MaryLiz Pierce <MATH4FOBIX@AOL.COM>

I don't have any K-12 anecdotes to tell but my solution has been to try
out these methods during summer session to work out any serious flaws in my
presentation in a condensed session where I get to know the students very
well. That way I also get a picture of just whom it helps the most. In
particular, I found that using NovaNET worked very well with my students with
limited English. They could take the time to check a dictionary for language
meanings. They also could spend extra time on the language dependent areas.
This summer I wrote a note to one of my supervisors, who still uses chalk and
lecture format, telling all of the things I have learned, how much it helped
my students, and what my students said about it. I copied all those who
helped me and their supervisors as well as the Dean of Instruction. I also
sent a letter to the Dean praising the Learning Center personnel and their
supervisor -- telling how helpful their support was. I find that trial
lessons, keeping everyone informed of the outcomes -- especially the positive
ones, and praising those who helped me publicly, goes very far in reducing
opposition.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Annette Gourgey <statsense@DELLNET.COM>

Ted and I have discussed this off-list. There is only one problem I have
had, and continue to have, in implementing techniques such as collaborative
learning. I have still never found a solution, so would welcome comments
and suggestions.

I get no opposition from other faculty or from students. The problem is
time. I teach a statistics course with a long syllabus in a 2.5-hour/week
format. The time frame and syllabus are clearly designed for fast lecture.
The course has a reputation for going too fast and students dread taking it.
I have tried CL and feel some laboratory format is necessary to learn this
material well, but it necessarily takes more time for students to wrestle
with the problems this way. I have already cut several topics to allow room
for this, but there is a limit to how much I can cut without doing violence
to the course and what it is a prerequisite for.

The result is that I do some cooperative problem solving but not nearly as
much as I would like for students' active learning. On the positive side,
my course is extremely well received even with the limited amount of CL,
students say it allays their anxieties, and their exam performance is
generally good. That tells me I'm on the right track, but I sure wish I
could squeeze in more lab for deeper understanding.

Sorry I don't have any solutions, only a question. Has anyone else
struggled with this, and how have you tried to deal with it?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Laura Symons symons@SBC.EDU

Annette, Ted, et. al:
This is a huge subject and I'm glad you brought it up! I've been working on
implementing student centered learning in my classes for going on 20 years
now. Some observations:

It is much easier to implement these strategies in areas other than the
sciences and math. In general, I think the coverage question is important to
look at for any course. What do you (this is rhetorical, to anyone) mean by
coverage? Did you mention the concept? Describe it? Lecture about it? Engage
students in a discussion about it? Have them write about it? Give them
exercises to learn how to operate it? Ask some or all to speak about it, in
anything from answering a question through making a formal presentation? What
defines sufficient coverage? If a student can work a problem, answer a
multiple choice question, write an essay, or make a speech about the concept,
has he or she mastered it? If the student is only able to report back what you
or the book said about the subject, is that sufficient to say the material has
been covered?

With the statistics on retention of material heard (as opposed to read,
interacted woth, etc.) hovering around 25%, can we really consider lectures to
"cover" material? What are we losing when we use less material, but in a way
that results in understanding to the point of being able to operate concepts
and make discernments about the validity or arguments or ideas?
I think that Annette has the absolute right idea. She continues to try to find
ways to integrate best practices in teaching while maintain the structures that
have proven successful for her in her teaching.

A problem that I encounter with students is that their experience is being
given the "facts," Truth," "Answers," and some think I'm not doing my job
when I don't give pat answers but keep asking questions, forcing them to take
responsibility for their learning. I've been able to get around this to some
extent by explaining my methods. But, still some students are made very
uncomfortable by a lack of clear hierarchy.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Barb Stout <bstout+@PITT.EDU>

HI Annette: Let me throw my 2 cents in -- for what's its worth--since I'm not in
your situation. One the the best classes I ever had was Group Counseling. Here
is how the instructor managed it. The 1st day we broke into groups by counting
off. We then had a group bonding experience (that is a whole other story--very
wild activity). After the 1st day, we always had a combination lecture, break
out into groups, lecture, break out (always with the same group). The professor
would lecture on a topic, psycholanalysis or Glasser's reality therapy, then she
would assign us a group activity to use the concepts--they would vary but it was
always something we had to discuss and we always had to rotate leader of the
group. We didn't take tests as a group and we didn't have a formal group
presentation though we often reconvened as a class and she took comments about
what each group got out of the activity. Some points that come to mind that made
this work....groups were an expectation from day one, our grade was not based on
the group work (students hate that!), it was set up in such a manner that we
became very close to our fellow members so the people who "got it" were quite
willing to help their fellow members understand a concept. As I recall the prof
circulated during the group activities but the activities were not the type that
we needed a lot of help. Hope that helps.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
JoAnn Medwid Baird <jmedwid@YAHOO.COM>

What you're up against is a system, not an individual or even a few individuals. The sooner you understand
this, the easier it will be for you to survive. What you are doing, is counter-cultural. Think about this.
If your boss is making more money than you are and you are out on a limb trying to do the professional best
thing for your students AND your boss doesn't support you, guess what? It is because you are a threat to
the system that controls both you and the students you teach--your keepers' self-interests.
Let this knowledge empower you. Use it judiciously. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Expect nothing from
the system. Their resistance is founded in self-serving fear.

Just some radical thoughts...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Stephen Sproule <163sls@COSMOS.WITS.AC.ZA>

I have encountered a number of difficulties. Some institutional and
some educational. My classes are directed by the problems I have
chosen. Co-operative work is encourage but not forced. The course
is a year-long remedial course for students who wish to use math
as a 'tool' (eg town planners, business majors, architects)

* The students take at least 4-6 months to really begin to develop
the thinking required in problem solving and the confidence to
tackle new / novel problems. This is a difficulty because the mid-
year exam results are always poor. We are planning to split the
course into two half (semester) courses. I am most concerned
about the failure rate for the first half-course. Also, how do people
in the USA find students' adaptation to problem solving in one
semester. It really is such a short time span to develop
mathematical reasoning - esp for the weaker students.

* Many/most in the Math Dept only look at a content list to
determine the standard of a course. There is very little attention to
the mathematical processes that are so important, irrespective of
content. For example, I suggested that one or two courses for our
math majors have the students prove the theorems and not the
lecturer present a long list of theorem after theorem (this to help
students develop the ability to PROVE not just apply or learn
proofs). I was told that our students would not cope with this.
Ouch! So we continue to stuff the students' head full of theorems
and wonder why we have so few graduate students.

* I find it really hard to sequence the problems. I have done as best
as possible, and some think the sequence is really good, but I
always fell uncomfortable, wondering if there should be a little extra
included at various points.

* While observing my pre-service teachers during their intership I
assist by helping the pupils while they are working on the math.
The math being taught is mostly traditional algebra (SA national
curriculum). Ironically, I still think I am better at teaching traditional
high school algebra than problem solving. My interactions are more
fluent, my questions more probing and the pupils more engaged in
the problems.

One the positive side:

* The students love the course! They get a positive math
experience and a new way of looking at the world.

* Most are successful in their subsequent math courses.

* The course is receiving much attention in the university. In the
past year at least 4 other departments have sent students to take
the course, to develop their reasoning and mathematics.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: "Sandra McCoy" <sdmccoy@cnetco.com>

I have used collaborative learning in my classroom for several years. I
have a multiage 3/4/5 classroom. This past year, I moved to more
cooperative learning strategies. I received complaints from the other
teachers in my pod because my classroom was "too noisy" and when they walked
their kids past my door on the way to ... they were so interested in what we
were doing that they would stray out of line!

These same two teachers gave me the best readers during the 90 minute shared
language arts block because "they were already doing well, and could afford
to waste time instead of learning the skills."

This year the entire school is going to the Four Blocks Balanced Literacy
Model for teaching language arts. It advocates heterogeneous grouping, so
they won't have to "sacrifice" any kids to my noisy room. Ha!

By the way my supervisor gave me high evaluations all year and suggested
that other teachers observe in my room.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ed Nuhfer <enuhfer@carbon.cudenver.edu>

First of all, I thought Marina Milner-Bolotin provided excellent advice
and insights, and I'll try to avoid duplicating that good counsel.
Everyone who uses cooperative learning for several years has found
themselves driving on some square wheels when the problems that you both
noted arise. This is a fertile area for discussion.

I want to contribute to the issue from a global viewpoint.

(1) We get into problems when we get too infatuated with a tool or method
rather than practice with a bigger picture perspective on what it is we
are really trying to do as our particular contribution to higher
education. Let me convey, prior to what will seem to be a
bit of irrevernce here, is that I'm an advocate for cooperative and
collaborative methods--I use them; I teach them to other faculty, and I
bring in experts to teach their methods to all of us at this campus.

Now-- for the irreverence--When practicing a particular "alternative"
instructional method, there is the danger of developing a certain
arrogance that might be captured by the thought "What I'm doing is better
than what others who act as 'the sage on the stage' are doing."
Invariably, we teach who we are-- and if we are arrogant that gets picked
up by both students and colleagues even if we think we are not conveying
that message. To place this in perspective, the most recent major studies
show that cooperative methods produce a 0.5 standard deviation increase in
learning above courses in which it is not used--certainly good reason to
advocate for faculty to learn how to do this. But in the mid 80s, S. A.
Cohen recognized that a more holistic approach of aligning instruction
produced up to two standard deviations in increased learning-- a degree of
learning that approaches tutoring -- to date the most effective (and an
obviously inefficient, labor-intensive) method known to produce learning.
So, the person down the hall may be doing something very different from
our cooperative methods, but her/his students may be learning more--not
because their methods are better but because their course organization and
focus based on assignments, assessments, out-of-class interactions, is
more aligned than our own.

The arrogance is enacted by not recognizing the need to convey to
students and to our peers who review us, the reasons we are using
particular alternative methodologies, why they have value, and why we as
individuals chose these as our means to achieve educational goals--in
particular to explain these first--before we enact them in our classes.
If we don't place our teaching philosophy and a rationale of our
methods into our syllabi, it's rather foolish of us to later blame the
students or peers for being unable to appreciate valuable
contributions. If we want a group we are leading to arrive at a desired
destination, we can't just be the only person with a map--everyone needs
the map! This arrogance breeds the same resentment that arises when
a dean or provost has lofty and good ideas, but inflicts them on faculty
rather than develops faculty sufficiently to enlist their support.

In the example with cooperative learning, where the student who is
teaching slower students is expressing resentment, the resentful student
believes that college exists just for him or her to get ahead when in fact
the institution exists to produce an educated populace. The consequences
of not helping your fellow students to succeed come later by having to
support less successful unemployed people on welfare, living with laws,
policies and statutes that are passed by a voting populace who doesn't
know how to use evidence to select best choices, or possibly being a crime
victim of a person who can't "get ahead" by acceptable means. When you can
convey at the outset why education is supported by society as a whole and
that we all can live much better when we do more than educate the
gifted 10%, and when you can point to the facts that those who teach
retain 90% of knowledge in long-term memory, and that people who can
work well with others, particularly those who develop others around
them, tend to rise to leadership in both careers and in social
organizations, then cooperative methods--including teaching slower
people--make a lot of sense to students and to peers.

(2) A steady diet of too-structured cooperative learning is probably as
bad as a steady diet of incessant lecturing because in both cases we are
leaving out the opportunities for students to participate in choosing a
part of their own learning experience and to control a part of their own
learning community. As an analogy, I'd say the former is a series of
complex square dance steps--the latter is lock-step marching. In both
cases students are really moving non-stop to someone else's music rather
than actually creating their own, and are thereby probably being processed
rather than educated.

There are many effective ways to teach--discussion, role play, story
telling, case-method, writing, problem-based, active research, etc., and
a good teacher will have mastered a number of ways and be able to use one
of these to "seize the poignant moment" when an opportunity arises in
class. Cooperative methods are just one arrow in the quiver--they are not
a be-all end-all or panacea. Further, a good teacher will convey the
central concepts and values of any of these to students--students' being
able to use each well for learning is every bit as important as our being
able to use each well for teaching. We didn't get good at any of these
until we were shown their existence, possibilities, and were helped by a
bit of training and consultation--what makes us think our students can
embrace these without any of the support we ourselves received?

(3) Cooperative learning done badly is no more "good teaching" than bad
lecturing. We have to look at outcomes these efforts produced at the
level of the individuals who produced them. We cannot say one is
"better" by merely being too infatuated with the tools he/she used.
So--someone uses cooperative learning and another lectures--
What did the students learn? What were the objectives of each; how
well were these met? What levels of thinking were employed? (Do
the students even know what different levels of thinking are--how were
they taught/told?) Was what was learned and the levels of thinking
utilized appropriate to the course and its intended outcomes based on the
more general curriculum that the course is a part of? (Has there even
been an ounce of thought conveyed in writing about what the curriculum
is supposed to do and how each course in it fits? How did each instructor
assure communication with all of his/her students to know these students'
learning and progress? What ethical basis did each have for teaching and
treating students? What plan to improve the course is being enacted this
term? Was the teaching philosophy stated actually practiced with
consistence?

Weigh some of these questions against the choice of a single methodology,
then decide how much to get caught up in methodology.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Marina Milner" <marinamb@physics.utexas.edu>

Dear Dr. Nuhfer,
I found your comment about the decision of using different teaching methods
very important. Prior to starting the discussion of what is better and how
we should teach our students we have to come up with an acceptable answer to
the questions:

What is the achievement in our particular situation? and

How are we going to assess this achievement?

Unfortunately this first question does not have THE right answer for
everybody and it even might differ for the same teacher in different
learning situations, and therefore the choice of the "best" teaching method
will differ from classroom to classroom and from course to course. I
absolutely agree with you that every teacher has to "master" different
teaching methods in order to be able to pick up the best one or the most
suitable one.

As you mentioned in your posting, we have to have to decide what we want
from our us and our students. We have to have this map and each one of the
crew members (our students) has to have the same map and has to
understand/agree where we are going and what is the purpose of the trip.
Project-based instruction is not the best or fastest way to cover the
material or to teach factual knowledge. Moreover, I think it is more
difficult to teach project-based classroom (and honestly more time
consuming) than to teach the same lecture again and again. However, in my
personal opinion, not teaching in an inquiry-based (or at least active) mode
means taking a very important experience from our students and from the
instructor/teacher. I think when science is taught as a set of facts and
plug and chug problems, it makes more harm to students than any other mode
of instruction.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
        "Jane Miller" <Jane.Miller@so.mnscu.edu>

I just want to chime in on what both Marina and Ed have said.  We started a
system-wide program to promote the use of active learning techniques last year,
based on the kinds of faculty development initiatives faculty themselves said that
they wanted to see more of.  While the program has been very successful so far
(another 2 years to go on the grant!), it has given some folks the impression
that this is how the system Center for Teaching and Learning is "telling" them
to teach, or that this is the latest faddish movement/band wagon we're jumping
on (or, worse, is somehow in response to superficial "labor force development"
pressures from insidious corporate interests).

I make a point of talking about these methods as teaching tools, especially for
deepening learning.  As Marina so ably pointed out, no one method is THE answer.
 (As an undergrad, I had a physical anthropology professor who used active
learning by demonstrating a chimp gait, which was only mildly embarrassing until
he fell off the table in the middle of the room and hit his head on the chalk
tray -- perhaps not the best execution of the demonstration method I've ever
seen.)  However, active learning (which can cover a WHOLE LOT of territory) can
work awfully well for a wide range of learners (as well as teachers).  As long
as we can stay focused on our primary goal -- improving student learning -- we
have at least a chance of not painting ourselves into a corner.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ruth J Palmer <palmerrj@TCNJ.EDU>

I had designing my teaching for the past five years, attempting to have it accommodated into my teaching
context. This was not an easy task. This past year, though, I had the opportunity to teach in a cohort-
driven immersion masters program for administrators. With some leeway provided by the coordinator, I was
able to teach my way - student focused, active, inquiry driven project learning work. It was painful for the students
- they were there to get their certification to follow their career paths. At times, I was disgusted - I was more passionate than
the participants themselves for them to see their administrative career paths as honor and
responsibility/service. But this put me in the path of conversation with the coordinator, who was respectful
in our conversation about collaborative teaching, project learning but who did not share nor trust my
vision about it all. Well, we got to the end of the year, all tired, bruised and a lot of other things,
because I keep pushing gently and loving consistently.

Among other things, I succeeded in pulling off a one-day conference including performance graduation. My
shock was that everyone was totally delighted; the students were, I think, genuine, when they indicated
that they could not see the dream till the end. The coordinator was more poignant in his statement: he
indicated that although there were glimpses of what I shared, the total picture remained obscured and that no
one could trust it. More tangibly, the students presented a plaque award to the coordinator and to me
as joint coordinators. Now that shocked me.

My gift to me this summer was to go back and review the literature related to collaborative teaching,
collaborative learning, cooperative learning, integrated learning. This is where your work comes in.
Your papers have given me good insight and encouragement to persist.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Chad Barrett" <cbarrett42@hotmail.com>

I wanted to respond to your request for stories relating to attempts to
implement student centered learning theories.

A group of teachers and I attended a three day workshop last week about
student portfolios and student led conferences. The group appeared
responsive overall to the workshop. However, there were times when I felt
that the teachers would never support such an initiative. One of the
teachers said that they would support the initiative only because they "knew
which way the wind was blowing" and that "the administration said so."
Additionally I felt that a couple of the teachers kept the presenter on the
defensive by asking unrealistic "what if" questions, like "what if a student
absolutely refuses to participate? Now, I'll admit that the question has
legitimacy, however, we have to answer the question for ourselves.
The plus side of the experience is that the program will be implemented in a
more broad sense than originally targeted by the administration. Originally
targeted for the ninth grade, the sixth grade teachers decided that they
would try the program this school year.

If you wish any more information just let me know. I enjoyed the opportunity
to share my experiences.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
David Jaques <davidjaques@I-WAY.CO.UK>

1. Quite a few years ago, I started group supervisions for project
students among other innovations. Soon afterwards a colleague approached
me in the staff restaurant and deliberately sat next to me (he usually
avoided me) and without much ado said "do you realize the implication of
all these new ideas you're bringing in like group supervision and so on -
I regard them as an implied criticism of what the rest of us are doing
because presumably you think these methods are better. So how do you
think we feel about that?" Classic! I said " You're dead right, I do think
they're an improvement and I'm not surprised you and your colleagues
don't like it, but the students do". History does not relate what happened
next. I went on sabbatical shortly after and never returned to that department.

2. A bit more recently, I found some resistance among the students to
experiential learning activities - probably just the 'shock of the new'.
Because I had taken care to establish what I considered a democratic
climate they demanded that I explain what they would experience in a
particular learning game before they participated in it. I replied that
if I did that it might pre-empt or deny the legitimacy of their own
experience and that it would be a more scholarly approach to have this
discussion after the activity. They accepted.
A few weeks later with the same class, the student rep(resentative)
challenged me again about something, which I duly explained, and when I
suggested an alternative, he said "I don't like that either" (but
pronounced 'eever'). I replied " OK, I accept what you say and will
change what I was going to do, but there's one thing I would ask you -
please stop calling me 'Eva'". Collapse of stout party, as the old
cartoon used to put it!
The whole class (including the rep) enjoyed that and it seemed to break
down any remaining barriers.

3. Last year, running a workshop on group methods for academics from
Central and Eastern Europe, I suggested that it was generally (but not
always) better to choose a heterogeneous mix of students in group. A man
from Albania stood up at the back - "I disagree. Let the students choose
who they work with; it is more democratic". I avoided the incipient
confrontation by asking what other people in the workshop preferred. A
woman from Belaruss joined in support of heterogeneity arguing that if
students were given a free choice a lot of them could feel excluded and
the weaker/slower ones would be more likely to get left behind as the
stronger/quicker ones teamed together. "No, no, you are wrong cane the
Albanian's response, the bright ones will do better which must be our
aim. How long have you been teaching?" When the Belarussian said "Five
years" the Albanian responded "Well I have been teaching for 15 years so
I can tell you you are wrong!" I decided stronger action was needed on my
part if an international incident was not to take place. I held my hand
up and repeated his first name"Adim, Adim, Adim" until I got his
attention: "Do you think it's possible that you are BOTH right?" For a
moment he looked nonplussed then he smiled, said "OK" and sat down
allowing us to proceed with the workshop program.
(This may not be what you wanted, but I thought I'd include for interest.)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jenny Ruchhoeft <jennyr@UH.EDU>

Have you considered dividing up the lecture topics among the students so
that they have to present the material to the rest of the class members?
You could incorporate a requirement that they check with you prior to the
presentation to ensure that they fully understand the material. If the
students find the content "dry," they could have as much creative license to
make the material as interesting as possible, perhaps by applying the
subject matter to a case study or vignette.

I had a class like this in my graduate studies and thoroughly enjoyed it.
However, I would add a component of class discussion following each
presentation. Perhaps you could generate a few standard questions and/or
application discussions so that the students have an opportunity to
experience the content (as opposed to just seeing and hearing it). This
would, of course, require some strict limits on time-keeping. The only
opposition (from students) that I can foresee might come from students who
don't like the kinesthetic or direct experience aspect of the class.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
        DMDegrassi@aol.com

Some of the difficulties I have experienced within my classroom have included:

- students accepting others' answers without question as being correct
- introverted students either not having the opportunity to express ideas
      among group members or choosing to just belong without participating
- extroverted students "taking over" the group, not allowing others to
        participate fully
- evaluative problems related to the above
- out of control noise level
- administrative view that class is "out of control"
- sometimes difficult to provide enough resource stimuli within the classroom
         for collaborative projects

In the past year my class has participated in several projects which required
group learning. Some ways to diminish the problems above that I devised were:

- having students complete some worksheets/research/projects individually as
    well as in groups, making them more responsible for their own grades
- grading related worksheets/research/projects, both completed individually
and in a group, as a whole, so no one part receives more weight than another
- coordinating the groups in a rotating manner so that only one group is
working  as a group at a time, while others work individually on a related
assignment
- occasionally assigning individual jobs for group work, such as leader,
secretary,  supply coordinator, etc., so that even introverted students get a chance to
 participate more fully
- allowing students to bring in and share information they find outside of
class with members of their group and/or the class, especially related to the
    internet or places they have visited or people they know
- having individuals and groups share their work with other classes/grades
    through an interactive fair or an interactive question/answer board outside
    the classroom helps them to feel more like the "experts" in their work
- and keeping my door shut so as not to disturb others as much as possible!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++