INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / JANUARY 22, 1997

EAA eS a LE A ANE IE EL PEN TEE SET OE PET TE IE ITE RPS PI nahn as EERO RISE VG ary RAMA PRE MEER

I received responses from departments in each of the
four divisions at Columbus State, and 16 volunteer
faculty members were contacted to arrange observa-
tional visits. The opportunity proved as informative as
Thad hoped and identified a multitude of ideas for
future use. As expected, faculty were teaching both
traditionally and nontraditionally, with flexibility as
well as with structure; and each brought his or her own
unique characteristics to the delivery of material.
Within each classroom I was able to identify an overall
atmosphere which was created in part by the teacher
and in part by the response and participation of the
students.

In one session within the Basic Science Department,
I was impressed with the instructor’s immediate
involvement of the students in the learning process.
After asking them about their understanding of the
concepts covered in the previous class, she followed
with questions which allowed for positive responses
and then praised them for their recall and completion
of an informal homework experiment. Analogies and
examples from her own life let students visualize
difficult concepts, and I found the description compar-
ing molecules of water to “a bucket of BB’s” helpful.
Study tricks and shortcuts, such as key word associa-
tions, were identified by this instructor and recom-
mended to students on a regular basis. When asked
what they liked about the instructor’s teaching, stu-
dents mentioned the study tricks and stated, “She’s
enthusiastic! She comes in and says, ‘This is going to
be fun!’ She likes what she’s doing.” The student
response mirrored the teacher’s behavior.

It is a difficult task to teach students who, years ago,
may have “turned off and tuned out” writing as an
effective form of communication. Within the Commu-
nication Skills Department, students are given a variety
of ways to learn and demonstrate their comprehension,
refinement, and sometimes relearning of the subject. In
addition to creating their own compositions in a clear
and concise manner, students are asked to keep a
journal. The journal topics are structured for the
student by the instructor and relate to the student’s
feeling about writing. As the faculty member reads the
journal, he or she is able to provide individualized
instruction to the student, based on his or her own
identification of need. Group work is utilized during
brainstorming half-hours in class where students work
together to pinpoint and clarify composition topics,
and through the technique of reviewing first drafts in
class and critiquing the work of fellow classmates.
Once again, interest is piqued by the use of “grabbers”

on the board: How would you punctuate the sentence
used by this instructor, “That that is is that that is not is
not is it it is”?

Those of us who think that the teaching technique of
asking “What's wrong with this picture?” is only for
elementary children should take another look. I visited
one classroom where using this technique brought the
student participation to life and the discussion and
interaction between teacher and students to a higher
level. As the Electronics Engineering Technology
faculty member drew on the board an example of a
series-parallel circuit, he failed to design the circuit
correctly and stepped back for a long moment to study
his diagram. The instructor indicated to me later that
this mistake was not intentional and that his hesitancy
was real as he processed the correct response. The
unplanned reaction from students (who had been
previously silent, listening to a lecture) was the exciting
part. Students became actively involved in working
together to solve the problem. They suggested possi-
bilities, gave critical feedback to one another, and
clearly indicated to the teacher by their comments what
they were knowledgeable about and what content
areas still needed work. The atmosphere created by
this event was one of respect for both student and
teacher, and the partnership which is possible was very
apparent.

I have incorporated many of these ideas into my
own teaching in the field of Mental Health and Mental
Retardation. Though our subject matter is diverse, we
have much to teach each other. The opportunity and
privilege of exploring this subject continues to be
invaluable to me.

Marilyn Pramschufer
Associate Professor
Mental Health/Mental Retardation

SCCCE

Sheri Bidwell, Assistant to Vice President for Academic
Affairs

For further information, contact the author at Colum-
bus State Community College, 550 East Spring Street,
P.O. Box 1609, Columbus, OH 43216-1609.

 

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor

November 2, 1990, Vol. XII, No. 26

©The University of Texas at Austin, 1990
Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER
institutions for their own personnel.

 

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS Is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),

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Issued weekly when classes are in session during fall and spring terms and once during the summer. ISSN 0199-106X.

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