Tea & Teaching

 As instructors, we have all heard generalizations about student engagement and attitudes toward learning. Many of us have wondered if students actually read the syllabus, if they are using AI to complete their assignments, and why so many of them seem less engaged in coursework. Together, we will ask students themselves about their experiences and perspectives around common assumptions like these.

A conversation on the rationale behind crafting assignments that ask students to apply key concepts to new, often “real world”, complex tasks. Karen will share the key characteristics of these assessments, such as collaboration and metacognition, and discuss both the benefits and challenges of designing and implementing them. We will look at frameworks for designing authentic assignments and discuss ways to translate traditional paper formats and exam questions into engaging, authentic assessments. 

A conversation on the changes they've implemented to the first-year writing course, "College Writing." Jonah and Lynda will consider the question: "What is college writing?" and discuss the ways in which their newly designed course helps students to better build upon their pre-existing writing skills to become stronger critical thinkers and communicators.

 A conversation about ways to facilitate student engagement and prevent instructor burnout in high enrollment courses. Some of the key takeaways from the discussion included:

• Mai shared how she flipped her class by recording her lectures before the students come to class (using playposit to embed interactions) and creates a problem set for the students to work on collaboratively when they come to class. It’s amazing to hear them talking about science!
• When asked how students are responding to these changes, Mai shared students are not used to this type of classroom environment but they are coming to class! They know they will work through important content in class.
• Mai structures “planned discomfort” into her classroom activities. She presents students with a document, image, etc. that they haven’t seen before and asks them to fill in information about the document. Mai emphasizes there are no wrong answers, every idea the students bring to the table leads to a conversation where misconceptions can be corrected.
• Mai streamlines grading for a large class using Gradescope. This tool grades multiple choice questions automatically and streamlines grading of open-ended questions and allows you to grade each question one-by-one and organizes it based on common answers. For short answer questions she can see patterns in student answers and misconceptions they hold which helps her structure her follow up to the exams.
• When asked how students are impacted by all these changes (flipped classroom, playposit, Gradescope) Mai shared that her students are more engaged with the course content. They are talking about genetics and they are asking questions! And student grades have improved too compared to previous semesters.
• When asked what advice Mai has for small implemental changes for large lecture classes she suggested trying to flip one lecture and establish group work for the in-class time. Mai encouraged us all to try one new thing each semester!
• For those interested in learning more about Gradescope, they have some upcoming webinars.

A conversation about strategies that she employs to help her students develop metacognitive skills. Some of the key takeaways from this discussion included:

• Christine shared how she uses exam wrappers and goal setting to foster metacognitive skills with her students. In short, the day after an exam, before the exam is returned to students, Christine picks out three “common mistake” exam questions and adds them to a Canvas quiz. The goal is for students to 1) review the content of these questions since many got them wrong and 2) to reflect on how they prepared for the exam, predict how they did on the exam, and reflect on what they will do differently next time. These exams wrappers are required and graded. This process is repeated four times in her class after each exam.
• Beyond how this impacts student metacognition, one additional benefit Christine has found from exam wrappers is that it encourages her own metacognition about teaching! Through her students' reflections she has a chance to reflect on ways she can improve her teaching, too.
• An audience member reminded us that students can be resistant to these strategies at first, because learning is hard, and these strategies help you learn.
• Another audience member wondered if students will transfer these skills and the exam wrapper process to their other classes.
• In that vein, Christine shared she uses padlet to create a wisdom wall at the end of the semester for future General Chemistry students but is thinking about other ways to more directly help students bring these skills to their future classes.

A conversation about strategies that she employs to help her students develop metacognitive skills.

Ways to frame and leverage AI in the classroom. Some of the key takeaways from this discussion included: 

• David and Sam both shared their findings from student focus groups on AI. Some key takeaways were: not to assume that all students were using it and that many students were skeptical, if not totally dismissive of AI. We discussed the importance of talking to your students about AI. Share your feelings but ask them about their experiences and communicate clear expectations about how students should or should not use AI in your classroom.
• Some learners like to use AI technologies as a “tutor.” Students reported feeling embarrassed to ask multiple questions to their instructor and that asking questions to a machine made them feel more comfortable. If you’d like to give your learners the opportunity to ask you multiple questions, you might consider letting them ask questions anonymously. Piazza is a tool you can enable in Canvas to do this.
• In discussing the use of detection tools for AI technologies, David reminded us that there are many concerns with their effectiveness and bias. Preliminary research suggests that there are many false positives for English language learners and neurodivergent learners, among other concerns. An audience member shared an article that details this for non-native English writers.
• We also considered how AI technologies may be a part of our students lives when they enter the workforce, and therefore we discussed how using AI technologies in class might be an equity enhancing opportunity. An audience member chimed in sharing an article about how AI technologies are heavily used in writing-oriented professions now. AI companies are now focusing on improving the creative capacity of generative AI, as well as its language capacity.

A conversation with Eliza Blau and Pauline Carpenter, Instructional Design and Technology Specialists  on fostering a sense of belonging in your classroom. 

In case you missed it, here are a few resources that were shared during the conversation: 

• The Norton Guide to Equity Minded Teaching (which is free for educators) and Geoff Cohen, a social psychologist, discusses The Crisis of Belonging on the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s podcast.
• To learn more about connecting with your online students check out Rebecca Glazier’s book, Connecting in the Online Classroom.
• A practical way to get to know your learners and begin to foster a sense of belonging is to ask them to complete a Pre-Course Survey. The Who’s in Class Form is one example that can be adopted to your needs.