Mary Willingham: the courageous and subversive act of pedagogic research

January 24, 2014academic development, academic freedom, learning, researchjohn

I hadn't heard of Mary Willingham until today. Her story has been the US education news for a few days now.

One of the risks of researching something is that you often find something out. When that research is into what actually goes on in a university the results can be unpalatable. Pedagogic research is often looked down upon, but in many respects it is the form of research that requires most courage.

Mary Willingham works in the Center for Student Success and Academic Counseling at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Over the course of her experience she came to notice that many student athletes were struggling with basic reading skills. She could have said nothing at all or merely harboured prejudice based on anecdote; instead her research into the reading levels of student athletes (and publication of the results) has brought condemnation from her university senior management, including according to CNN a demotion.

Those us in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) find it difficult to understand the concept of a university in which sports are such a great deal. Games are televised and watched by thousands of people. 80,000 plus seater stadia are not unknown. Athletics is seen as both a money spinner and community outreach. Some universities and college accept students who would not otherwise be qualified based on their abilities in particular sports. The [American] football coach is often the highest paid employee at the whole university. The Chronicle of Higher Education forums are a source of many stories about pressure from sports coaches to be lenient on students who have not done the work required or not done as much as they should.

But sports is not really my point here.

Mary Willingham’s experience illustrates that research into the activities of the universities, especially learning and teaching can be a courageous, even subversive act, which may have high personal costs. Real courage on the part of university management would be to encourage and applaud research into those things which happen every day in our universities.

Sources for the Study of English-Speaking Quebec website

January 22, 2014Canada, Quebecjohn

I don't research much on Canada these days, but in googling the title of my PhD thesis I came across the website Sources for the Study of English-Speaking Quebec by Brendan O’Donnell on which some of my work appears. This is a great resource for anyone working on this topic. It appears to be funded by Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN).

Over 100 things to think about when lecturing (from 1937)

January 2, 2014lecturing, teachingjohn

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Today I have been thinking about lecturing. A couple of years back I was struck by Chekhov's short story “A Boring Story”, (1889) a first person account of an elderly and unwell medical professor, which includes his reflections on lecturing, which he regarded as something of a trial.

This morning I came across A Critique of Poor College Lecturing (1937) in which a psychology professor asked 300 students how he could improve his lecturing. The students came up with over 100 questions the lecturer needed to ask himself. Although somewhat daunting and clearly from a previous age of higher education there is much of value here. (The figures at the beginning of each point indicate the number of students who suggested this question or something like it).

James D. Weinland A Critique of Poor College Lecturing (1937)Journal of Educational Sociology , Vol. 10, No. 5 (Jan., 1937) , pp. 307-315 Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2262152 Not open access 🙁

Regarding Subject matter

10. Do you wander?

5. Do you stick to the subject?

5. Do you talk over the heads of the students?

3. Is your treatment too complicated?

3. Are you always talking of general theories, never specific?

2. Do you lecture too technically?

I. Is your subject matter poor?

I. Do you believe in making your explanations brief ?

I. Do you lecture continually on the same thing?

I. Do you give constructive information or do you tend to confine your criticism to destructive ideas?

I. Do you sometimes fail to speak about the assigned lessons, allowing the class to wonder what it's all about?

I. Do you arouse curiosity about the next lecture?

i. Do you talk more about the subject matter than about yourself?

i. Are you original?

i. Do you understand the subject matter yourself ?

CLARITY AND CONSTRUCTION

I4. Does your lecture have unity and plan?

I4. Is your emphasis on the correct or wrong part of the lecture?

8. Are you clear on the points discussed?

4. Do you connect your topics?

2. Do you make clear the chronological order?

2. Do your statements have clear antecedents?

i. Do you clear up each topic before attacking the next?

I. Are your phrases jumbled, incoherent?

i. Are notes to be taken down announced?

I. Do you repeat conclusions, if any?

I. Do you repeat too often?

I. Are you too slow in making headway in presentation?

i. Is the discussion of important topics too rapid?

I. Can your class keep the pace you set in covering the work?

ATTITUDE OF LECTURER

12. Are you enthusiastic?

I2. Do you show an inferiority complex?

8. Do you have a feeling of superiority, swelled head?

8. Do you show force and vigor?

7. Do you talk hesitatingly, too many pauses?

7. Are you overearnest and overemphatic, too serious?

5. Do you speak with notes, as though reading?

4. Do you speak in a formal manner?

3. Do you speak directly to the class?

3. Are you friendly?

2. Are you interested in the subject?

2. Do you speak to the group as a whole or a selected few just in front of you?

2. Do you adapt yourself to your audience?

I. Are you so interested in the subject that you expect everybody else to be?

I. Do you act as though you wish the lecture were over?

I. Do you make yourself one of the class or a mere talking machine?

I. Do you feel at ease and make the class feel at ease?

I. Do you act as though you were very clever and your class very dumb?

I. Do you smile?

I. Is your appearance correct?

I. Is your bearing sloppy?

I. Do you have some dignity?

I. Do you look asleep?

I. Are you absent-minded?

I. Do you take yourself too seriously?

I. Are you in too much of a hurry?

I. Is your manner indifferent?

VOICE AND EXPRESSION

58. Is your voice monotonous?

28. Do you talk too fast?

23. Do you enunciate clearly?

i6. Is your voice loud enough?

I2. Is your voice too low?

8. Is your voice too loud?

7. Is your voice raspy, harsh?

4. Is your manner stuttering or uncertain?

4. Is the tone of your voice unpleasant?

3. Do you have vivacity of tone?

2. Is your voice shrill?

2. Do you lack articulation?

2. Do you control your voice?

2. Are there too many extremes in the pitch of your voice?

2. Do you fail to open your mouth in attempting to speak?

I. Is your voice weak?

I. Do you show emphasis with your voice?

I. Do you speak too slowly?

I. Do you speak through the side of your mouth or swallow your words?

I. Are your words too drawn out?

I. Do your words run into each other?

I. Do you have an ascending or descending inflection of voice?

I. Do you always emphasize the same part of every sentence?

I. Do you speak with feeling?

I. Do you speak continuously without a break?

I. Do you "hem" and "haw"?

VOCABULARY AND VARIETY

7. Is your pronunciation correct?

7. Do you use big words?

7. Do you slur difficult words?

5. Do you have a large vocabulary, variety, and can you find the right word?

2. Do you say "ah" and "ugh"?

I. Do you use flowery, literary language?

I. Do you repeat pet phrases?

I. Are your sentences too long?

I. Do you use many big words?

I. Are you wordy?

I. Does your vocabulary distract the listener from the subject?

I. Do you have relevancy in word power to situation or mood?

I. Are your lectures always started in the same humdrum manner,

such as: "The lecture today will be on

I. Are your lectures memorized or the result of a thorough knowledge of the subject?

ILLUSTRATIONS

23. Do you use good illustrations-in place?

4. Do you use new examples or stick close to the book?

3. Do you make statements of fact without illustration?

2. Are your lectures stereotyped and monotonous or do they offer an interesting story ?

I. Are your examples clearly given; i.e., their connection to the principle explained?

I. Can you write legibly on the blackboard?

I. Do you rehash the book?

I. Do you use blackboard illustrations?

I. Are your blackboard illustrations clear?

I. Do you keep illustrations up-to-date?

I. Do you bring in curious information and the odd?

I. Do your statements leave doubt or questions in the minds of your audience?

I. Do you ever relate any personal, outside experiences of your own?

NERVOUS HABITS

II. Is your body position correct, head erect, do you speak out, use gestures?

6. Are you nervous or shy?

6. Do you fiddle with objects, twirl your watch chain around your finger?

3. Do you move around during the lecture and thus keep the student's

eye occupied? (Best to move around)

2. Are your actions such that interest follows them instead of the lecture ?

I. Do you look out of the window for inspiration while lecturing?

I. Do you stand in one corner of the room?

I. Do you have disconcerting habits of walking about?

I. Do you walk up and down and so disturb the attention of the class?

I. Does your constant playing with chalk distract attention?

I. Have you irritating habits, do you look at your watch too often?

I. Do you have a mental handicap?

HUMOR

25. Do you use a little humor?

3. Are your jokes poor?

3. Are your attempts at humor painful?

I. Do you try to be too funny?

DISCIPLINE

4. Can you keep order?

2. Are you irritable at small noises?

I. Do you become impatient and sarcastic?

I. Have you noticed the temperature of the room?

I. Are you extremely stern in disciplining your classes, thus making the students feel like kindergartners?

I. Do you scold too frequently?

I. Do you sound irritable?

I. Are you fairly strict with the class?

I. Do you continually call down students for their lack of cooperation?

I. Do you lean toward favorites?

I. Are you too lenient?

I. Do you give too much "blarney"?

ATTITUDE ON QUESTIONS

5. Do you ever call for discussion?

5. Do you give an opening for questions?

2. Do you question and get reactions from the class?

2. Do you hesitate in answering questions?

2. Do you answer questions immediately or wait until the next class?

I. Do you allow any one person to ask too many questions?

I. Are you frank?

I. Do you try to answer a question when really you do not know the answer yourself ?

I. Do you have an antagonistic attitude toward questions?

I. Do you refuse to explain points unless the whole class so asks?

Happy New Year and update

January 1, 20142013john

2013 has been a year of positive and welcome change on the job front. On the home front things have been less than straightforward, and since September I have been a weekly commuter living in Brighton during the week and returning to Southampton (and the family) at weekends. Currently the situation is complicated further as our proposed house purchase in East Sussex has either stalled or fallen through completely. We decided to go ahead with the sale of our house in Southampton and just before Christmas my wife and I and our two sons has temporarily moved in with my parents—they are still in the family the home and have space for us, but being further away from Brighton than I started was not exactly Plan A. The move all took place very quickly and I have had to apply for a school place for my eldest son in my parents’ village. Moving twice (or three times) was the thing I wanted to do least but it seems that the way it’s going to be.

I’m not a victim in this of course. I am fortunate to have loving parents who are both willing and able to take us in for a short time. I have a good job I enjoy and have the advantage of the house sale in Southampton having done through making us ‘chain-free’ in estate agent parlance. My main gripe of the past few months has been cursing the English house buying system which allows either party the opportunity to pull out until the last minute. Despite this, my mental health has vastly improved over the past few months.

I’ve just reached this third paragraph aware that this is more of update on my own situation than a useful post for anyone else. I won’t over analyse anything and just leave it here.

Statistics for Humanities now on Twitter

December 19, 2013statisticsjohn

I've now set up a twitter account for the Statistics for Humanities site.

Tweets by @Statistics4Hums

Ten useful things to remember when applying for HEA Fellowship (D1 and D2, Professional Recognition Route)

December 17, 2013academic development, HEA, teaching, UKPSFjohn

The following list is ten things I believe it is particularly useful to remember when applying for Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, through the Professional Recognition Route. My thoughts are focused particularly on the Associate (D1) and Fellowship (D2) levels though they apply to Senior (D3) and Principal (D4) as well. Here at Brighton it is our aspiration that all teaching staff have, or are working towards, a recognised teaching qualification by 2015, and the HEA's Professional Recognition is likely to be the main route for more experienced academic staff.

Remember the Fellowship is a teaching and learning in higher education award, not a qualification in being an academic. The Fellowships of the Higher Education Academy are concerned with teaching and learning in higher education. Other aspects of the academic role such as research, involvement in academic societies, administrations etc., may be relevant to the Fellowship application, but only in as much as they relate to learning and teaching in higher education.
Remember the Fellowship is a teaching and learning in higher education award, and not a recognition for a long career. It is tempting to include everything you have done over the course of your career, but it is not a recognition for everything you have done over the course of your career. Teaching outside higher education and other work/ or outside work experience may be relevant, but only insofar that it relates to learning and teaching in higher education. This may involve leaving out the achievements of which you are most proud.
Remember the Fellowship is a teaching and learning in higher education award, and not a reward for good character. Getting on well with colleagues, being liked and appreciated by others and being a helpful person are all good qualities. However, fellowships are not awarded for being a nice person or having people say nice things about you, but showing evidence of your learning and teaching practice.
Remember to focus on teaching and learning in higher education. Other qualifications are awarded for teaching in (or learning to teach in) sectors other than higher education. These experiences may be relevant to your practice of teaching and learning in higher education, but they are not substitutes for learning and teaching in higher education.
Remember that teaching and learning in higher education takes many forms. Academic development, developing teaching materials, pedagogic research in higher education and designing and delivering workshops are all suitable examples of teaching and learning and in higher education and supporting these activities. Assessment can be formative, as well as summative. Students can be colleagues or professionals as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Remember to explicitly reference the professional values, core knowledge and areas of activity in the UK Professional Standards Framework. These three areas of the UKPSF are central to the process and should be explicitly referenced in your application. Do not rely on the assessors to spot the relevance of each activity or case study to the UKPSF.
Remember to be reflective. The fellowship application is not just about what you have done, but what you have learnt from that experience, and its impact on your future practice.
Remember to demonstrate that you are familiar with literature or theory on teaching and learning in higher education. Like any other scholarly field, there is a vast literature around teaching and learning in higher education. You don’t need to be an expert but evidence of engagement with the literature is important. This literature can ‘generic’ and/or specific to your discipline.
Remember the Fellowship is an individual award. Teamwork is good, but the HEA fellowships are awards for individuals. If describing a team activity make your role clear. Be careful how you use the pronoun ‘we’ and how you write about “The department”, “The centre”, “The project team”, “My colleague” etc.
Remember the references are an important part of the application. The referees you might choose when applying for a job are not necessarily the most appropriate for commenting on your teaching and learning practice. Think about which colleagues are best placed to provide your reference.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

What students value in teachers (from Stephen Brookfield)

December 16, 2013teachingjohn

Todays’ post is inspired by reading Chapter 4 of Stephen Brooksfield’s book The Skillful Teacher.

Stephen Brookfield (2006) The Skillful Teacher. On technique, trust and responsivness in the classroom (San Francisco: Jossey Bass)

What follows is a crude summary of the chapter entitled “What students value in teachers”. It is also inspired in the background, by a rather nonsensical article (in my view) in a recent ‘Comment is Free’ post in the Guardian entitled “Why do private schools attract the most memorable teachers?” This view is mostly backed-up the fact that Alan Bennett’s ‘History Boys’ has been voted Britain’s favourite play. The piece then goes on about as other teachers from fiction, yes fiction.

I am firm in my conviction that there are great teachers in all sorts of schools at all levels. Just because I attended a comprehensive school and have failed to write an award winning play centring on a character loosely based on one of my school teachers does not mean that I had no great (however defined) teachers. (Reminding myself write a piece about grammar schools in the near future).
To return back to where I started, to be valued by students Brookfield identifies two main attributes of skilful teachers, credibility and authenticity. These can be broken down into further categories:

Credibility
Having expertise about the subject
Being experienced in what you are teaching about.
Rationale: Being explicit about assumptions. Not sounding like you’re making it up.
Conviction: Coming across as people teaching something important.
Authenticity
Congruence: This is congruence between our words and actions. Brookfield gives the example of claiming to value critical thinking, yet shutting down any sense of debate.
Full disclosure: Making your criteria, expectations and agendas clear and explicit.
Responsiveness: I suppose we could call this one responding to student feedback (not the same thing as capitulation).
Personhood: Boing a real person with a life outside the classroom and not be an “institutional functionary”.

Depression video published by WHO

December 10, 2013depressionjohn

Saw this video about depression today from WHO. Good description, good message.

A weak conscience about today's strike

December 3, 2013Uncategorizedjohn

I dislike strike days. I don't like to admit to being on strike. I don't like to admit to not being on strike. I reason that I am actually very well paid by the standards of most people in the UK. I also recognise that many people in the university sector are not quite so fortunate, whether they be the admin staff, the porters, or those academic colleagues on short-term contracts or how are paid by the hour-- in some universities on zero hours contracts.

My first real encounter with strike action took place back in 2003 or 2004. Although not enthusiastic about the strike I agreed to man a picket line. Getting abused by an elderly man complaining about council tax was not a high point, but watching colleagues cross the picket line was a particularly difficult experience. If they actually opposed the strike action, I wouldn't have minded. However the colleagues were going in to teach classes as to not disrupt student learning, yet promising to tell the university that they had been on strike. A strike which does which has no effect on anything is hardly a strike.

Many academics will be on strike today doing research. They reason that research is their own private project and not the universities. I don't buy into this reasoning, but I can sort of see how this might justify getting a research day in when this wouldn't otherwise happen. Either way I remain I'm unconvinced that strikes in higher education actually make a difference in the longer term.

So what have I being doing today? Am I on strike?

I've read an academic paper.
I've helped the owner of a small business with setting up her website.
I've written this blog post.
I've attempted to write some other stuff, but feel a bit of block.
I had no meetings or classes timetabled for today, so I reason no one was inconvenienced by me staying at home.

List of stuff I give the world for free

November 27, 2013e-learning, feedback, languages, Open access, open source software, research, teaching, websites, Yazikopenjohn

I attended an interesting discussion about open learning led by Jon Dron from Athabasca University in Canada. We discussed open access, open learning in various forms, open educational resources and open source software. We also discussed why we do, or do not give away our knowledge, time and resources for free. (I’ll leave the ‘why’ for another post).

I am a big user of free software and, of the most part, a recipient of rather than a contributor to the various websites, blogs and forums providing knowledge about its use. However I provide a lot of my stuff for free. This is not to make any comments about its quality.

This blog: Not that one would expect blogs to be anything but free to access, but I like to think some for my posts cause others to reflect on their practice or solve a particular problem.
A database on open access articles about the teaching and learning of languages (YazikOpen). This directory is kind of “out there”. Most people see to be led to it through Google as far as I can see. I’ve had thoughts at various times about whether it is worth the effort to maintain it, but a handful of people have said nice things about it.
An online introduction to statistics book aimed at students in humanities. A project with which I’m still fiddling. Wondered whether or not to have a forum.
Teaching and Learning resources out together over the years mostly linked to my account in the humbox.
Various open access publications, plus short articles on other websites.
The outcomes of projects I have contributed to, never intended to be anything other than openly available, notably Getting More Out of the Feedback and Sharing Practice in Enhancing and Assuring Quality.
I post anonymously on a couple of forums.

John Canning

Thoughts on higher education, academic development, sustainability, languages, statistics, humanities, free software, e-learning and more