Teaching--My Texts
Disgusted with the poor quality and high prices of the texts offered by publishers, I used my sabbatical to write my own. I've been updating them every year, and I offer them free to students.
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Teaching--My CoursesAs a tenured faculty member, I teach Political Science at SLCC. Because of my administrative responsibilities, I've been concentrating on U.S. Government and on Political Ideologies. By clicking on the titles below, you can see examples of my work in each of the courses I teach.
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Teaching--My Approach
I've never really considered myself sophisticated enough to have a full-blown "teaching philosophy," but I've developed my own particular approach to education that has evolved from sources that include years of experimentation in my classes, my experience as a homeschool parent, reading the wisdom of teaching practitioners, and the lessons I have learned from colleagues whose teaching--and deep thinking about teaching--that I respect.
My approach to teaching is marked by the following tenets:
Less is More--I've gotten over the compulsion to cover every possible concept, event, and person that appears in a typical Political Science textbook. Students are actually not well served by the shotgun approach in which they are bombarded with factoids that they are expected to remember only for the next test. Instead, I limit the number of important concepts to those that meet this test: Is it absolutely essential for students to know this in order to be knowledgeable and engaged citizens? I think it's important to have students work deeply with this smaller subset of concepts so they are more likely to retain them long after the course is over. A recent touchstone for me has been the focus on Essential Understanding in Understanding by Design, by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe.
Smart Design--When I think about how much I've changed as a teacher since the beginning of my career, the biggest change has to do with my understanding of the importance of course design. Initially, I never put much thought into the design of my courses; I simply constructed courses that looked like the courses I had taken as an undergraduate. So my first revelation was the understanding that course design was, in fact, important. Course design--along with my own teaching--is one of the two major things that I can control, so I'd better pay attention to it. I've also learned to design my courses backwards, meaning that I let the course's learning outcomes drive decisions about readings, student activities, and assignments.
Engage, Engage, Engage--My approach to teaching is also centered on engaging students as much as possible in their learning. When I teach live classes, I mix up my class sessions so they include some lecture, discussion, and active learning techniques. In my online courses, I have incorporated podcast lectures (so the class isn't just text-based), and active learning exercises.
Primary Readings and Data Take Precedence over Textbooks--A number of years ago I turned against textbooks; they are too expensive; they try to cover everything under the sun, and they fail to engage students. So I wrote my own, smaller texts that focus on just what students need to know for the course. Students love them. Instead of having students read long textbook chapters, I have them read and then do something with primary source material and data.
Give Students Their Money's Worth--Whatever I'm doing at the College, an overriding concern for me is that students get their money's worth. Higher education is expensive, and we owe it to students to give them value for their educational dollar. I don't assign expensive textbooks; I make sure students get prompt feedback; I bring my enthusiasm for Political Science to every class session.
Assessment--I have become a strong believer in using assessment data to improve my courses. I regularly ask students summative learning outcomes questions in order to see what areas of the class are having the greatest (and least) impact on student learning. I also ask students about the effectiveness of various pedagogical elements of my online courses.
My approach to teaching is marked by the following tenets:
Less is More--I've gotten over the compulsion to cover every possible concept, event, and person that appears in a typical Political Science textbook. Students are actually not well served by the shotgun approach in which they are bombarded with factoids that they are expected to remember only for the next test. Instead, I limit the number of important concepts to those that meet this test: Is it absolutely essential for students to know this in order to be knowledgeable and engaged citizens? I think it's important to have students work deeply with this smaller subset of concepts so they are more likely to retain them long after the course is over. A recent touchstone for me has been the focus on Essential Understanding in Understanding by Design, by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe.
Smart Design--When I think about how much I've changed as a teacher since the beginning of my career, the biggest change has to do with my understanding of the importance of course design. Initially, I never put much thought into the design of my courses; I simply constructed courses that looked like the courses I had taken as an undergraduate. So my first revelation was the understanding that course design was, in fact, important. Course design--along with my own teaching--is one of the two major things that I can control, so I'd better pay attention to it. I've also learned to design my courses backwards, meaning that I let the course's learning outcomes drive decisions about readings, student activities, and assignments.
Engage, Engage, Engage--My approach to teaching is also centered on engaging students as much as possible in their learning. When I teach live classes, I mix up my class sessions so they include some lecture, discussion, and active learning techniques. In my online courses, I have incorporated podcast lectures (so the class isn't just text-based), and active learning exercises.
Primary Readings and Data Take Precedence over Textbooks--A number of years ago I turned against textbooks; they are too expensive; they try to cover everything under the sun, and they fail to engage students. So I wrote my own, smaller texts that focus on just what students need to know for the course. Students love them. Instead of having students read long textbook chapters, I have them read and then do something with primary source material and data.
Give Students Their Money's Worth--Whatever I'm doing at the College, an overriding concern for me is that students get their money's worth. Higher education is expensive, and we owe it to students to give them value for their educational dollar. I don't assign expensive textbooks; I make sure students get prompt feedback; I bring my enthusiasm for Political Science to every class session.
Assessment--I have become a strong believer in using assessment data to improve my courses. I regularly ask students summative learning outcomes questions in order to see what areas of the class are having the greatest (and least) impact on student learning. I also ask students about the effectiveness of various pedagogical elements of my online courses.