Research Blog #15

Abstract:  Are professors providing a legitimate foundation for success among the student body?  If not, how then do professors go about preparing individuals to successfully retain knowledge?  Are the student’s feelings ill prepared simply ignoring these attempts of teaching?  Can graduating students be the answer to a successful change? The following paper researches the logistics of the professor’s ability to prepare students to successfully retain knowledge at the level of higher education.  A growing concern among students involves learning the necessary tools to succeed in problem solving.  This particular paper will explore the voices of both professional educators and the student body, as they explain their idea of an appropriate learning environment. 

Works Cited

Barrett, Terry;Moore, Sarah. New Approaches to Problem-based Learning: Revitalising Your Practice in Higher Education. Taylor & Francis, 2010. 5 March 2012

Behar-Horenstein, Linda S., Kellie W. Roberts, and Alice C. Dix. "Mentoring Undergraduate Researchers: An Exploratory Study Of Students' And Professors' Perceptions." Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership In Learning 18.3 (2010): 269-291. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.

Berrett, Dan. "Teaching." Harvard Seeks to Jolt University. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 Feb. 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. <http://chronicle.com/article/Harvard-Seeks-to-Jolt/130683/>.

Berrett, Dan. "Teaching." How 'Flipping' the Classroom Can Improve the Traditional Lecture. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 19 Feb. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://chronicle.com/article/How-Flipping-the-Classroom/130857/>.

COVILL, AMY E. "College Students' Perceptions Of The Traditional Lecture Method." College Student Journal 45.1 (2011): 92-101. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.

Corder, Jim W. "Traditional Lectures Still Have A Place In The Classroom." Chronicle Of Higher Education 37.39 (1991): B2. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.

Goodnough, K. & Cashion, M. (2006). Exploring problem-based learning in the context of high school science: Design and implementation issues. School Science and Mathematics, 106, 280-295.

Rachel Hensley, et al. "Rate My Expectations: How Online Evaluations Of Professors Impact Students’ Perceived Control." Computers In Human Behavior 27.5 (2011): 1862-1867. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.

Rozycki, William. "Just-in-Time Teaching." Indiana University. Research and Creative Activity, Apr. 1999. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://www.indiana.edu/~rcapub/v22n1/p08.html>.     

Transue, G. 2011.  Concepts in Biology 119:100. Laboratory Manual 

Research Blog #14: Book Review #5

Myers, Phillip S. "Teaching versus Research--Incompatibility or Overemphasis?" Journal of Engineering Education (1993): 22-25. Jee.org. Jan. 1993. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. <http://jee.org/1993/january/532.pdf>.

There is a perceived conflict between teaching and research.  The article questions if this perceived conflict is the result of basic incompatibility between teaching and research or over emphasis on one or the other of the two factors? An analysis of the different audiences to which Professors profess is presented, and it is concluded that the problem is under emphasis on teaching. This under emphasis on teaching results from a lack of commitment of resources to evaluating and rewarding formal classroom teaching.  

Phillip S. Myers is an Emeritus Distinguished Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research:  the intellectual and physical activities resulting from an internal urge to discover new concepts, devise, processes and understanding 

Amorphous:  no particular kind of character 

"Combing research and teaching ignores the educational needs of the student."-(Myers, 22)

Challenging this statement, one may argue that combining research and teaching may in fact help educate students on what the subject matter may be applied to.  Incorporating students in Professor's work will open the student to experience in the particular field of study.

"One of the characteristics of a good Professor is the urge to share with others new ideas and understandings."-(Myers, 23) Developing a dialogue between students and professor allows for more ideas to draw from.  Different angles or view points on the particular idea may lead to new and fascinating discoveries.

"Students appreciate the opportunity to express their opinion and the professor benefits post facto from their reaction and comments."-(Myers, 25)

Grabbing the attention of students and engaging them allows for a positive learning environment.  Similar to an active learning style, these students are able to express their thoughts on a given subject.  

This particular article helps answer my research question by challenging the effects of incorporating students into Professor's research.  It essentially engages and teaches the student about the subject and allows them to apply the information to real life settings.  Involving the student in active learning through the engagement of research, students may begin to act as problem solvers to potentially help the professor in gaining research information.  

Research Blog #13: Interview

For my research paper I felt it was appropriate to meet with Dr. Monica Devanas.  In the interview we discussed the reasoning behind effective teaching habits.  So I asked her:  Why don't all professors take advantage of Active Learning?  She too had the same question about teaching habits of professors at the level of higher education.  Dr. Devanas began to say how many professors and teachers simply do not know enough about it.  Introducing me to her project, American Society of Micro Biology, she began to explain how they engage faculty and other professors in workshops meant to show better ways of teaching.  One idea that came up in conversation was how "bigger organizations may help influence better styles of learning".  Essentially designing workshops with support of these organizations provides greater opportunity to spread the idea of an active learning classroom.

Some quotes:

"Pick one thing and make the change"
"Teach the way professor's like to learn"
"Make learning relevant"
"Social norms begin to change teaching habits"

Research Blog #12: Book Review #4

Rozycki, William. "Just-in-Time Teaching." Indiana University. Research and Creative Activity, Apr. 1999. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://www.indiana.edu/~rcapub/v22n1/p08.html>.      

Gregor Novak, a physics teacher of what was previously Purdue University Indianapolis Campus, came to realize the need for change within the process of teaching students at the level of higher education.

Novak is a well respected physics professor who conducted lecture in an active learning environment.

JiTT: Just-in-Time-Teaching; a web based interactive study tool for students

Collaborative Recitation:  Interactivity is promoted by breaking students into groups of two to four, and these teams then solve problems on a whiteboard, sharing their ideas and communicating solutions. Instructors, graduate assistants, and student mentors circulate among the groups, giving input when needed.

“broke his course material into a series of fifteen-minute structured activities for small groups and developed examples and exercises that connected physics theory to common sense or familiar activities. The students learned by doing” (Rozycki, 1999).  
-Understanding the learning needs of his students, Novak demonstrates the successful outcome universities can have when configuring new teaching techniques around the strengths of the individual students.
 "Because students work in groups, they have to attempt explanations to their peers. They often learn that a particular method or idea is more complex than they realized. The exercise improves both critical thinking andcommunication skills." (Rozycki, 1999).
-The easiest person to convince is one's self.  Working together in groups creates a collaborative environment in which statements and ideas may be challenged.  It is up to the individual to then explain to his or her peers why their particular reasoning is correct.  The act of teaching then allows one to learn the material. 
 "The Web provided a level of connectedness to the class that otherwise would have been lacking."
-From the voice of a student, Jerry Travelstead discusses his view on Novak's teaching tactics.  A fist hand experiences proves to be successful for the student body, illustrating the effectiveness of active learning.


This process of learning has not only stopped in the classroom of professor Novak, but has been used in various universities around the country.  Andrew P. Martin, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado has also incorporated the use of “flipping” the classroom.  This act of teaching “enables students' misconceptions to be corrected well before they emerge on a midterm or final exam. The result, according to a growing body of research, is more learning” (Berrett, 2012).  The evidence provided favors those professors who enable the student body to effectively teach themselves.  Their ability to tune into the needs of the individual allows for a “hands on” learning environment engaging the students with each other.  This engagement allows individuals to acquire various view points on the same problem.  

Extra Credit Post #4

Although the push towards active teaching techniques seems to be propagating, there remains a continuous debate regarding traditional lecture and the new system of teaching.  Jim Corder, author of “Traditional Lecture Still Have a Place in the Classroom” argues several interesting points in terms of a traditional style of teaching.  Reminiscing about a psychology class, Corder claims how “at their best, they dramatize the creation of knowledge” (Corder, 1991).  The lecture in a sense demonstrates the student’s intent to learn.  Listening to simple anecdotes of the professor intrigues the student allowing them to concentrate and wonder what may lie ahead in the particular class.  Demonstrating an effective method in engaging students within the traditional lecture, Corder goes on even further to argue “lectures can show the consequences of knowledge—show what comes of knowledge, how it can be used in ways not previously seen or guessed”  (Corder, 1991).  Essentially Corder’s theory emphasizes the importance of the individual professor.  Whether or not he or she has the ability to produce a successful learning environment depends on the style of each teacher.  This said, one may question whether or not Ratemyprofessor.com really reflects the ability to retain knowledge in a professor’s course.  Even if the professor’s teaching strategies demonstrates that of an active learning environment, if students do not feel motivated to learn, students will not succeed.

Extra Credit Post #3

One study performed by Behar Horenstein and his colleagues, "Mentoring Undergraduate Researchers: An Exploratory Study Of Students' And Professors' Perceptions” provides interesting insight about the influences professors may have on individual students.  Horenstein and his colleagues explored “students' perceptions of the mentoring process and students' beliefs about how it impacted their experiences as undergraduate researchers and their development as scientists” (Horenstein, 2010).  Looking into the impressions left by those professors who taught through the “flipping” process is an interesting direction to take.  Were students influenced by “flipping” professors more successful in the long run?  Or was a traditional teaching method more appropriate for the growth of the individual?  Dan Berrett would have to argue that traditional teaching methods do indeed limit the growth of the student.  In Berrett’s article "Teaching:  Harvard Seeks to Jolt University” he explains how “Lectures set up a dynamic in which students passively receive information that they quickly forget after the test. The traditional lecture also fails at other educational goals: prodding students to make meaning from what they learn, to ask questions, extract knowledge, and apply it in a new context” (Berrett, 2012).  If these institutions have not learned to provide the tools needed to successfully apply information, the progress of their students will remain constant.  Students will have to begin to learn how to apply information in the real world where these skills should already have been learned.  Developing these analytic skills should be a priority of university professors. Terry Barrett and Sarah Moore provide professors with a set of blue prints for incorporating these skills in the classroom in their book “Approaches to Problem-based Learning: Revitalising Your Practice in Higher Education”.  Their book expands on the concept of a student oriented classroom.  Once professors gain insight into the cognition of students and the effective ways hands on engagement can have within the classroom, undergraduate students may potentially carry and apply the learned information to novel situations becoming scholarly problem solvers.

Extra Credit Post #2

Student’s speaking from their own experiences can be looked at in a controversial manner.  Again one must consider the various students attending universities and their work ethics.  Some may simply be demonstrating a lack of academic integrity.  However, one has to question:  What if what the student’s say truly reflects the situation?  The student body is heavily reflective of one another.  If students cannot manage the ability to grasp information in an efficient manner, what are universities doing to change that?  Many have started developing ways to successfully connect with students, helping them to essentially teach themselves.  Gregor Novak, a physics teacher of what was previously Purdue University Indianapolis Campus, came to realize the need for change within the process of teaching students at the level of higher education.  The results of his change were remarkable.  Novak simply “broke his course material into a series of fifteen-minute structured activities for small groups and developed examples and exercises that connected physics theory to common sense or familiar activities. The students learned by doing” (Rozycki, 1999).  Understanding the learning needs of his students, Novak demonstrates the successful outcome universities can have when configuring new teaching techniques around the strengths of the individual students.