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VOLUME XII, NUMBER 20

INNOVATION ABSTRA CTS

PUBLISHED BY THE Nase a CHM x0 red WP er MAUI e a hale) 18 Vila CN aca OF Mee. Roan

Ma ele ae THE W:K. KELLOGG ot Pe Gees Us Sy A Gaia FOUNDATION:

 

Creating Enthusiasm In The Classroom

Ata convention I attended several years ago, a
speaker tried to convey to an audience of mathematics
teachers that they must be actors in their classrooms. I
fell prey to that piece of advice and have not regretted it
in my many years of teaching; when I tried it, I saw
immediate positive results. Hence, students see many
sides of me, especially when I jovially concoct all types
of mathematics examples pertinent to the topic under
discussion. So we talk about shopping for bargains
(sale discounts), lottery tickets, salary increases, travel-
ing by car to New York, traveling by plane with and
against the wind when going on vacation, traveling by
boat with and against the current on the river, and
investing money to become financially independent.

This technique is deliberate. (1) Many students find
mathematics boring; and if students can relate mathe-
matics taught in the classroom with real life experi-
ences, then there exists a great possibility that the
subject matter might become more meaningful and
lasting. (2) After teaching for several years, the teacher
needs to create excitement in the classroom for himself/
herself to combat the feelings of burn-out.

My reason, however, for writing this article is to
share a new experience with readers.

Some of us teach the same courses semester after
semester; and having done so for several years, we can
attend classes and give lectures, with little or no prepa-
ration. Teaching should be challenging both to the
students and to ourselves; when it becomes more
challenging to us, the lectures become more stimulating
and interesting to the students. Asa result, often we
need to try new methods, various teaching /learning
techniques.

I decided to teach a course which I had not taught for
several years; this meant that I would be forced out of
the complacency which comes with teaching the same
courses all the time. But what I discovered was that the
students were not getting the same “high” as I antici-
pated. They participated, but not satisfactorily. So I
decided to try something new—new to my style of
teaching. At the end of a class session, I announced
what would be covered during the next class period. I

divided this section of the text among the students and
asked each one to read the entire section and prepare a
presentation to be made to the class.

At the next class session, after answering questions
about the day’s activities, I sat with the students while
they gave presentations. Each presentation was cri-
tiqued by me and/or the other students in a very posi-
tive manner, paying attention to omissions of important
items. I filled in those areas for which there were no
students to report (two students were absent).

Some students tended to read directly from the text,
while others were more thorough in their preparation
and delivery. At the end of the students’ presentations,
I gave a quick overall summary and some advice as to
how they could better prepare their assignments.
Homework assignments were then made based on
topics discussed in class.

At the next class session everyone was present, and I
repeated the technique, assigning each student an area
of study to report on in class. The students came much
better prepared; they used the chalkboard, illustrated
problems, drew graphs, and made excellent presenta-
tions. [Whereas I might have given a C to a first at-
tempt, the second attempt would have received an A
minus.] The students appeared confident in their pres-
entations and were very convincing in their arguments.
Some of them literally took on the “air” of a professor at
the board.

The presentations were valuable and enjoyable
teaching successes. I began to award a maximum of ten
points for the presentations, and there was a marked in-
crease in enthusiasm among the students. They got to
know each other better, and the “stronger” helped the
“weaker” whenever they had to work on problems in
class.

Following are some students’ opinions of this method-
ology:

Class presentations are good educational
tools. You are forced to learn and under-
stand the material you must present.

 

 

EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)
Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin