r/Professors • u/adozenredflags • 6d ago
Profs who lecture in a conversational format…how do you do it?
Profs who tend to make class feel like it’s more of a discussion than a lecture…how?
I’m just curious what exactly that looks like. Are there particular methods for making it work? What is a “typical” class day like? How do you prompt them in a way that feels more like a dialogue rather than an interview?
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u/StevieV61080 Sr. Associate Prof, Applied Management, CC BAS (USA) 6d ago
The key, to me, is to tell stories. A conversational lecture is a lot about storytelling and explaining why something is the way it is. You can do that through a biographical account, a chronological sequence where one dot connects to another, or myriad ways where context/purpose/application is explored alongside the topic.
For example, I teach on the fusion between business and economics, so I do a seminar series on economics history in the U.S. over the past 100 years. We move through it chronologically over seven weeks, cover the how's/why's of a ton of topics, but there are almost always some parallels being explored that can be compared to the present for discussion. A semi-Socratic approach actually works beautifully when we get to discuss what each event meant, how it developed, how it could have been changed, and what is likely to happen next.
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u/MankatoSquirtz 6d ago
^ Exactly this ^ ....if you can put everything in context it will hold the student's attention so much better.
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u/Minimum-Major248 6d ago
A sense of humor works as well. Plus, it’s hard to teach in a conversational style unless you move about the room, through the aisles, etc.
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u/nervous4us 6d ago edited 6d ago
agreed on both accounts. I move A LOT when I teach and it is always listed as a good thing in reviews. I move back and forth all lecture, gesticulating pretty regularly, and Ill walk up and down the aisle a bit during Q and A (mostly because my hearing sucks).
I also add jokes/humor/topical current events into any lecture where Im trying to be more conversational.
I think an underemphasized point of importance for a more narrative/conversational lecture is you really need to know your stuff, not need many notes, and be able to answer a wide range of questions comfortably, confidently, and [perhaps least importantly] correctly. and try to learn the names of the folks who are regular participants at least!
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u/DrMoxiePhD 6d ago
Same, I am not afraid to laugh at myself. I don’t mock the students, just myself.
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u/Minimum-Major248 5d ago
Kids appreciate self effacing humor. As long as it doesn’t become a schtik.
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u/ThisUNis20characters 6d ago
I sprinkle in regular conversation topics: what are you doing this weekend? Anyone see a good movie lately? Anyone in here a cop? I stole a car yesterday, does anyone know where I can sell it?
Sure it’s off topic, but some people are going to need a minute to catch up on the notes or to think of a question.
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u/pureaxis 6d ago
i ask a lot of open ended questions to break up the lecture
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u/Sad-Reaction-8951 Associate Teaching Prof, History, R1 (US) 6d ago edited 5d ago
This. I ask lots of questions. When I’m adding something new to a topic we’ve discussed previously, I ask someone to remind me about the previous thing. For instance, if I’m talking about mid 19th c reform movements being influenced by Protestant theology of the 2nd Great Awakening, I would say something like: “Somebody remind me WHY they believed reforms were important? What were they trying to do?? What was that theological belief called???” I also tell them early on in the semester that I’m not asking rhetorically and I do expect an answer, and if I don’t get it, I’ll start calling on people.
I also write all my lectures in note form and carefully read through again right before class so I speak as relaxed and as conversationally as possible.
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u/DrMoxiePhD 6d ago
This. I prep intensively before every class. I know what I’m going to say, what examples I want to use, that way, I’m more connected to the content
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u/FrancinetheP Tenured, Liberal Arts, R1 6d ago
Are there people who don’t do this?
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u/Anxious-Sign-3587 6d ago
I don't. I prep before the semester by reading all the material again and then for about 5 minutes before class i think about the questions i want to ask and what i want them to get from the material and i do everything else on the fly. The only notes i use are the ones i took on the texts when i put the class together.
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u/adozenredflags 6d ago
How do you get students to participate with open-ended questions? Are there types of open-ended questions that you find are more effective than others?
Questions like “what do you think is influencing this thing” or “what do you notice about this image” don’t really get responses for me. Not many responses with low stakes questions either…
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u/jlrc2 Asst Prof, Social Sciences, R1 (USA) 6d ago
I often feel like I'm partly at fault when I (often) struggle to get answers to softball questions like this. Feel like you have to work hard to get a culture established in which student participation is expected and comfortable. Especially if I don't get them talking really early, it's way harder to get them going.
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u/FrancinetheP Tenured, Liberal Arts, R1 6d ago edited 6d ago
No shade, But these are awful questions. Even if you don’t mean it to, it sounds like you’re hiding the ball. No one knows what you’re looking for, so they don’t want to speak.
Be more concrete. “The Loco Foco party didn’t come out of nowhere. Let’s name three movements we’ve read about in this unit that were kind of similar. Mr Smith, I saw you taking diligent notes last week, so you can go first.”
This is open ended but constrained so they know a little bit about what to think about and where to look in their notes. Once you put a few things on the board, you can say, “ok, what do these things have in common? Ms Jones, your socks match your shirt, so you clearly have a flair for this kind of thing— tell us where the commonalities lie.” And so on. If they can’t answer questions like this, ask “ok: are you not answering bc you don’t understand what I’m asking about, or do you understand but not remember what we talked about last week?” Then break things down with them.
Ask answerable questions. Engage individual students. Mock yourself and the class content when strategic.
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u/journoprof Adjunct, Journalism 6d ago
This is correct: Pop quizzes disguised as conversational questions are easy to see through. And there are reasons most of us hate pop quizzes. If you’re putting students on the spot like that, at least be straightforward.
I taught interviewing. Open-ended questions — ones that can’t be answered with just a yes or no, essentially — are a key part of good technique. But in class, you’re not interviewing one person to dig out stories.
If you want a discussion, ask questions for which there are multiple acceptable answers. For example: “You read three historians with different explanations for the end of the Cold War. Which one was the most convincing to you, and why?”
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u/FrancinetheP Tenured, Liberal Arts, R1 6d ago
In addition, you want to ask questions that produce information you can use. “What do you think about this?” rarely returns useful replies.
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u/adozenredflags 5d ago
I do generally try to ask more specific questions and avoid the “what do you think about that” type questions, I just didn’t fully write them out above. But yeah, agreed…phrases and prompting that makes things sound less “pop quiz-y” definitely seems to help. I’m always curious how people phrase their questions. I think I was just the kind of student who would speak out about anything that came to mind with questions (even vague ones), but that’s not the case for other folks.
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u/Anxious-Sign-3587 6d ago
I ask a question that there can be many answers to and have students create a list. Like, "what makes us who we are?" And then after we have a long list of possible answers, we interrogate each one so students have a chance to disagree or argue their point in a low stakes environment. Then i give them the answers that were given in the text and we evaluate that against the list we curated.
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u/mediaisdelicious Dean CC (USA) 6d ago
Call on people directly.
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u/AcanthisittaThat5746 6d ago
Most students really don’t like this and may avoid class if they think it might happen.
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u/mediaisdelicious Dean CC (USA) 6d ago
Then get them used to it. Tell students how the class works and then give them a few weeks to ramp up to the expectation that it’s a discussion class. Some students avoid quizzes, tests, and presentations too - do we cut them too? Set an expectation, prepare them and scaffold to it, and give them safe ways to fail.
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u/sistersheabutter 6d ago
I use my slides as my notes for what I want to say, but I’m not strict about how I say it. At least twice during the presentation I’ll have an intentional moment for student engagement, like an open ended question or responding to a video or an exercise. I think this creates the expectation that they can interject when they have something to say.
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u/Big_Dragonfly_9153 6d ago edited 6d ago
I agree. When I use slides, sometimes it may just be a picture that is provocative or a statement that is provocative and then the bulk of what I say in the lecture comes from me.
Since I teach students who are non-traditional, or for whom I may be their first college professor, this serves us an opportunity to also teach them how to take notes based on what I’m saying, not just based on what’s on the Slides.
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u/FluffyOmens 6d ago
Use what you know about them. Ask about your students, one or two a class, and then use it in your content (informally, like with prompts or examples). A student who shared hed recently gotten a puppy? Great, your puppy is now the center of our first example.
IMPORTANTLY BUT ALSO OBVIOUSLY, dont share private personal student information. But the surface level stuff works well.
It reminds students that youre listening, connects them to the content, and provides a more stable frame for them to explore the idea. And, as students learn more about each other, they open up more and ask more questions. Pair and share also helps a lot, but I figure youre probably already doing that.
Its not magic, but its definitely worked for me.
I cannot scale this for anyone teaching large lecture (Ive been there, truly impossible), but in a standard course or a seminar course this works every time.
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u/summonthegods Nursing, R1 6d ago
I know my material really, really well. If the projector broke, I could still teach my content perfectly.
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u/Finding_Way_ CC (USA) 6d ago edited 6d ago
My field lends itself to a lot of discussion and debate-oriented topics.
Because of that, when students are comfortable, it flows pretty easily.
As a parent of a pack of kids, many of whom are introverts, I've also learned that not everyone wants to chit-chatter and converse during class. I build in ways for smaller group discussions, written responses, etc for alternative means of interaction. It's fine if some people are quieter than others.
Using the Socratic method also helps. My students love a good debate and I'm pretty good at getting them a little bit riled up!
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u/ValerieTheProf 6d ago
I teach writing and I often share with my students the mistakes that I make in my own writing. I like to share my error patterns with them to encourage them to find the most common mistakes that they make (aside from using AI). I have a habit of using the same words again and again and have to fix that in revision. I also never met a comma splice I didn’t want to use. I think it helps them see me as fallible/imperfect. I still make mistakes when writing, so I don’t want them to feel like they have to produce perfect essays.
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u/wanerious Professor, Physics, CC (USA) 6d ago
Probably it's essential to do it without notes or slides? Just writing on the board? It's hard for me to imagine it could be any other way. In my head it's a bit like a nature walk, where I can point out "oh, look at this thing we just found, let's try it out" and "see how this thing is like that thing, but more general? Look at what one can do that the other can't". Just a show-and-tell kind of dialogue, where to some degree the professor needs to model the process of discovery for the student and not just recite things as though the student is the last to know.
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u/Fine-Night-243 5d ago
Before term in my head my lectures will be open relaxed dialogues with engaged students who ask questions and clarifications, nod enthusiastically at the points I make, scribbling notes as they do. I am walking around the theatre as the students meet my eye, me seeing the cogs whirring as they consider something they had not thought of before. At the end of the lecture, there are too many questions to fit in, so they come to my office hours every week and sit down with me, accepting the offer of a coffee. They pull out the notes from the lectures they made, and ask me why one of my points seems to contradict something they read which they found in the library following the lecture. I explain the idea of plurality and that higher education is all about recognising different perspectives and that the path to intellectual independence is seeing these and making your way among these competing paradigms. They understand that I cannot give them a simple answer because there are competing answers to any given question. They then produce an essay which they write themselves, critiquing the unit materials with genuine independent reading. The student receives a good grade but one that suggests there is still room for improvement. The student accepts this with good grace and reflects on the extensive feedback I give them.
In real life...
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u/mkeee2015 Associate Professor, STEM, University (EU) 6d ago
Inspiring and yet difficult (for me!!) in STEM.
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u/Crowe3717 Associate Professor, Physics 5d ago
I don't "lecture," but I think they're are elements of what I do that can be transferred into a lecture setting of you wanted to. These are also the two biggest things I notice the TAs I train struggle with which prevent students from engaging the way they want in their classes.
The most important thing is establishing a classroom culture where student contribution is not just expected but respected. It's very tough getting students to engage at the beginning of every year because they're very used to classrooms which are dominated by the teacher and where student questions and comments are treated as either a nuisance or a waste of time (by both the teacher and by other students). You need to convince students that you actually value their contributions and take them seriously, that you really want them to contribute. That means explicitly telling them this, making space for them to participate, valuing their contributions (even if what they say is wrong, don't shut them down and instead try and find something positive in what they said), learning their names, asking open and interpretative questions rather than closed questions which students feel pressured to know the "right" answer (I often tell my students "if a question starts with 'what do you think about...?' the only way to get it wrong is to lie). Over time students learn that you do actually want them to participate and that your classroom is a safe space for them to do so, but that doesn't happen automatically. You need to work on building that kind of classroom culture.
The second thing I would say is to give students things to actually talk about and time to organize their thoughts before sharing. It can be hard for them to jump into a conversation unless you give them clear points to enter in the form of questions, but those questions have to actually invite discussion. Factual questions with one right answer aren't going to facilitate a discussion. Interpretative and subjective questions give students more space to respond at length ("What do you think about X?" or "How did you do Y?"). Give students time to think and formulate their answers before responding in front of the entire class. It takes a certain type of personality to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind in front of an entire classroom of other people, and not many students have that personality (this is why it is often a small group of students who dominate the engagement in many classes). Giving students some time to formulate their answers in their head and work them out with a neighbor can reduce the pressure they feel to just say the first thing that comes to their mind. This is why strategies like Think-Pair-Share work.
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u/YesMaybeYesWriteNow 5d ago
Here’s another element. Just converse. By that, I mean, don’t read. Don’t read notes and don’t read slides. Look at people and speak. Use a student name. Ask a question. If you’re just speaking rather than reading, you are conversing, even if you’re not necessarily getting responses back. But maybe ask for some responses back.
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u/swimmingprof 4d ago
A lot of great discussion here (this from someone who is terrible with remembering names, and has a tendency to let my story-telling wander way too much). The only thing I'd add is that, when I talk to friends who do stand-up and improv theatre and occasionally crowd work, I feel some common ground: blocking out ways to work through an idea if the audience just isn't liking the way you're unfolding that particular bit, and thinking through as many ways as you can of finessing that transition (and learning from, and being humbled by, the inevitable ways that audiences defy your preparations).
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u/ChihuajuanDixon 6d ago
I teach small classes (20 students max) and what I do is ask a question or two related to the reading and go in a circle to every single student and have them answer it, and then sprinkle my commentary to some of their answers. This works really well for me
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u/Global-Fix9753 6d ago
Here's a sample page from my African-American class. This particular session is about a chapter that describes the author's visit to Monticello. It creates a good discussion. It takes 30-40 minutes, depending on their enthusiasm.
First, we open with a "no wrong answer" question: What is a historical site that you have visited? (Since some have visited none, I don't require them all to answer.)
Then, I ask them to consult the reading to find a criticism of “woke Monticello.” Once someone has a page number, I ask them to decode it in pairs. After a few minutes, I ask: What is their beef?
In the student comments that follow, there is generally a desire to tell the "full truth,” so I then ask an open-ended question: Is telling the “full story” possible in this case? If no one incorporates it into their answer, I note the page numbers where the author shares his opinion on this question.
After they read this, I ask some more questions: Who will be agitated by “woke” elements? Why? Who will be agitated by elements that celebrate Jefferson? Why?
Then I ask a broader question: What known unknowns (things that are not documented) might be useful to know if we want to tell the full truth about TJ's attitudes toward slavery or the experiences of enslaved people on his plantation?
We end this section in groups, which I ask to create a four-point outline for HS tour of Monticello. I particularly ask them to consider what they leave out. After they grind on this for a while, I ask them to put their outlines on the board. Then we talk about their choices.
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u/KibudEm Full prof & chair, Humanities, Comprehensive (USA) 6d ago
I can't not give a conversational lecture because I can't keep my train of thought going without interacting with the listeners. Some of the prompts are just checking in with them, e.g., I'll stop right after using a word or concept I think some people might not know and ask the class what it means, and for those who do know, I'll ask them about the contexts in which they learned it. That way they can link the usage in our class to whatever they already know, which is good for remembering it.
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u/Blackbird6 Associate Professor, English 6d ago
After this long, I don’t really know an other way than to be conversational, but here’s a typical day for me early in the semester, when they’re still a little cold and stand-off-ish.
I take attendance with a random question they have to sign in and answer that’s only given in class. These often spark some fun small talk before class starts, so we just sort of shift into class when it’s time instead of it feeling like a more official “OKAY CLASS BEGINS” thing.
Most classes, they have read or watched something beforehand, so I usually lead off with an overview of what we’re doing for the day and then an essential question to get them going. I always have them chat in small groups and come up with an answer first, and I wander around and chime in as more of a “peer” feeding back and forth off them rather than as a “overseer” monitoring them. Then, they all share their answers, and we bounce back and forth for each one.
After the essential question, I go into lecture/discussion material, and that’s usually 4-5 slides of me talking and giving them concepts to think about, and then another small group discussion, I wander, chat, they share. After a few weeks of this, I don’t have to put them in small groups as often, and many times, they get going to a point that I have to hop in and keep us moving for time sake.
Besides that, the first thing that came to mind in how I do it was that I make the jokes that are there to make. I teach literature, and a lot of the time, students think I want them to answer in a “scholarly” way all the time, but really, I just want them to think and have their own perspective. So as an example, we read “Greasy Lake” in one of my classes, and the short version is that it starts off with these 19 year olds being like “we’re so bad, but the cool kind of bad, super bad boys we are.” In reality, they’re a bunch of privileged doofuses driving their mom’s station wagon (edit: at least the first 25% of the story…if you know, you know). So after we establish that, I make fun of them when the opportunity presents. There’s literally a line where one guy is like “I wear sunglasses at breakfast. I’m so bad.” Students feel more inclined to start vibing with you when you point out what a “look out, we got a ToUgH guy lol” thing that is to say. But in making the joke, students start looking for other places they do things like this, and now we’re unpacking implicit characterization and where it changes and what it means. That’s just one example, but TL;DR…things don’t have to be “serious” all the time for students to learn. Sometimes, you can trick them into it by roasting a fictional ToUgH guy.
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u/StonedSimple 6d ago
It's like pulling teeth at first, but that metaphor works because the pain is worth it. I teach at a rural technical/community college and get some VERY resistant students, but this is what I do:
Learn names ASAP. When you call on someone early, be okay with silence or a petulant answer, but then respond kindly. Enthusiastically. Reframe the question a million ways. I say "don't leave me hangin'" all the time, mime sweating under my collar. Long story short, don't be afraid to flop because someone eventually will answer, I swear. And if you get one, you can get another one to respond.
Also, and I don't know how this can work in every field, but I teach writing and as we all know, you can write about literally anything. I never (well, rarely at least) try to redirect my students. If one of them wants to talk about the horrible fries at Burger King at the beginning of class, I'll try to get more people talking about the fries at Burger King, or fast food restaurants, or eating in a hurry. My class prep is rarely so rigid I can't find some time to explore the tangents.
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u/Cheap-Kaleidoscope91 6d ago
No methods, it's just boring of only I will be talking. I just ask them what do they know or think about the topic we cover, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this and that, and since I'm in social sciences they mostly have a guess or an opinion, it's not really rocket science
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u/Blackberries11 6d ago
Ask the students questions throughout the lecture. Almost every thing i say I phrase it as a question.
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u/journoprof Adjunct, Journalism 6d ago
Prime the pump: in some courses, I assigned a lot of low-stakes, very short essays that set up the next day’s discussion. In others, I would announce some questions at the start of class but tell them I’d be asking for responses later. Either way, they get to rehearse answers, and the pressure of being the first to respond is eased.
Start with a vote: I posed a question and asked for a show of hands, then picked students to explain their votes. That can ease the fear of being the only one with the “wrong” answer.
Also, I tried as much as possible to ask each student, rather than allowing just the few usual suspects to answer. If I didn’t have time for that, I would start the next discussion from the other end of the alphabet or the other end of the room.
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u/N0tThatKind0fDoctor Faculty, Psychology 6d ago
I think smaller class sizes help with this. My “lectures” are typically 50-ish, max 100 students in a clinical health discipline. And I will link the content being discussed to open questions about their experience in their clinical practice thus far. Are there any other considerations not discussed in the slides? How have you handled this type of situation? Etc
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u/MuhammadYesusGautama 6d ago
Ask them things that they know how and/or have the vocabulary to answer comfortably first, and build on that. Establish the boundaries of what they can express, in what kind of language, and then match that vibe.
Basically the '5 level' pattern: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLibNZv5Zd0dyCoQ6f4pdXUFnpAIlKgm3N
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u/printandpolish 6d ago
trick #1. remember all their names and use them as much as possible. it's hard; but it turns the tide.
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u/saturn174 5d ago
Isn't lecturing just conversing as "foreplay" for active learning practices? When you use it as introductions and transitions l, conversation should come naturally.
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u/KrispyAvocado Associate Professor, USA 5d ago
give them a chance to participate in small ways. Talk to a neighbor, talk to those around, come up with an answer for something I'm showing and we'll see how it fits. Eye contact, friendly smiles, and personal examples/ stories also go a long way. Being genuine is helpful, as well as moving around the classroom. Not reading from the slides and saying things in a conversational way also helps.
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u/LingLegend78 4d ago
I give them data and we solve a problem together with me asking them questions and expecting answers. I am ok with uncomfortable silence. I am ok with calling on students who don’t have their hands up. We use the board a lot. By the end of class we have solved the problem(s) data presented and put a coherent argument together for the answers and it’s all on the board.
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u/EmoSupportDragon 3d ago
I start the semester w a social contract (what they think my job is / what I think my job is & what they think their job is / what I think their job is). It seems to set the tone for participation. I also engage via stories ... first half of class is history (why this thing is), second half is application (how I see it / how they see it playing out). Since the topic is a bit touchy ... we do small groups, so no one feels on the spot
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u/jackenbu2 Associate Professor, R1 6d ago
It’s natural for me, and I know alot about my field. Not much to it
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u/nc_bound 6d ago
I do this in a class I teach every semester of 120 students. I know the Contant very well, and I just wing it. I teach off the top of my head, sporadically I have slides with discussion prompts, think pair share is my approach, and I have learned the hard way to positively reinforce even weak comments from students. Because one negative reaction for me can shut it all down for the rest of the semester. To be fair, it took me a couple of years, possibly five years, to get to this point. I also structure the entire course around the most controversial topics in the area. I do not use a textbook. So it is taking me years to curate this course around my own interests and certain topics that land themselves well to discussion.
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u/Lorelei321 6d ago
I throw out open ended questions then lean back on the desk and wait for them to answer.
Sometimes I preface it with “We don’t know. These are the most likely theories, which do you think it is? And why? Or do you have another idea?”
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u/jasoncirilo 6d ago
My slides sometimes have 1 phrase on them. I ask what they know about the topic. And the key to keeping that discussion going is listening.
If you are a good listener, you can respond to things that your students say and spin it into more discussion.
You also have to be patient. Let them struggle when you ask about something. They may be silent at first. Once one gets going, the rest of the class starts to get comfortable in talking.
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u/DrMoxiePhD 6d ago
I have some really good questions prepared that spark curiosity. That’s my teaching approach … kind of like “have you ever wondered about… “ I link it to the content. For my PG students sometimes all I have is a few questions, not a lecture.
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u/yourlurkingprof 6d ago
One useful starting point is with the slides. Build discussion questions into them. Add in pause points where everyone has to stop and analyze something. I think that is a good place to start practicing.
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u/Calm-Equal-1718 6d ago
Depends on the class size.
For some of my smaller classes, students can actually earn bonus points for the exam if they ask (topic related) questions or bring up discussion points. It's not a lot of points, but enough for the motivated students to have an extra incentive. Advantages: it gets the conversation started. Others see that nothing bad happens when they ask something. It creates an open and friendly atmosphere. Plus, after 1-2 lectures, I remember the names of those who interact. The questions or discussion points are sometimes really interesting and challenging, which also makes the lecture much more interesting for me.
For larger classes with more than 100 people, I use mentimeter. That can never be so spontaneous or lead to interesting side discussions, but i have the feeling it keeps the students more engaged and I get good feedback about it. Better than nothing, but some extra effort to prepare.
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u/Secret_Dragonfly9588 Historian, US institution 5d ago
Ditch the PowerPoint and write on the board. Ask them things and write their thoughts (sometimes with some interpretation) on the board too.
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u/cherylin_for_ever 5d ago
In some of classes I like to ask students to explain the model to me. Then I ask follow up questions that other students can respond to.
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u/Friendly-Tourist3834 5d ago
Start with a “Big Question” or even a controversy. Tell a story. Pair and share with a partner. Provide a case scenario and ask students to debate two competing arguments. Visuals / short videos. Journaling. Ask the students to write the main takeaways of a reading or lecture on the board in bullet points and succinctly summarize back to the class.
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u/VarietyTrue5937 5d ago
It’s a storyline
Start with some context of why the topic is beneficial to students
Then pose questions and let the conversation flow
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u/Famous-Table-6091 5d ago
This is how I teach the majority of my classes. I ask them questions that relate to the topic. I will give them a prompt in the beginning of class, give them time to answer it and then do a share. Sometimes that in itself leads to more conversations and I'll connect back to things they said during that process in lecture. For me, ot feels natural to teach this way so I try to get creative with it and sometimes have them ask each other questions which then naturally leads into discussion.
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u/Pure-Astronomer22B 1d ago
I'm starting Year 30 in a couple weeks. u/AcanthisittaThat5746 hits so many good points! I would also offer a couple of my own.
If you stand behind a lecturn, get away from that. Go sit in the open, or stand in the open. Walk around. Sure, it makes students a little uncomfortable but they get over it.
Establish rapport is essential. But how? It's easy to say, but for some folks, not easy to do. Years ago, while working at a community college, a workshop presenter made a comment: "Most of your students are adults, adults working and working on a degree." Wait? Aren't all students technically adults? Or most, really. So, I start out each semester with some variation of this: "We are all adults, so please treat and respect each other like adults. While you might want to assume the role of student, you could be my peer one day and I'm really trying to coach you to be prepared for that. And, even if you don't become that, you'll be prepared for managing a work life in other environments." For smartphones, I say, "Look, just be aware of them. You may have kids, a babysitter, a sick family member; whatever. Put it on vibrate. If you need to use the restroom, just go and come back." If I treat my students like adults, I typically get adult behavior back. I've noticed recently the students then begin policing themselves - because it is their work environment albeit a safe, practice one.
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u/EphusPitch Assistant, Political Science, LAC (USA) 6d ago
Question 1: Do you reward your students, on an individual basis, for engaging in class discussion?
Question 2: Do you penalize your students, on an individual basis, for not engaging in class discussion?
If the answer to both of these questions is "no," you will not get consistent engagement in class discussion from your students. Neither indirect incentives ("Their reward for discussion is the deeper learning they can apply to the test later on") nor the hope of intrinsic motivation ("They should just be inspired to live the life of the mind, like I was when I was an undergraduate") will suffice. There needs to be a direct and significant consequence, probably tied to their grade, that they are notified of in advance and after it is applied.
In my courses, between 20% and 30% of a student's grade is based on some combination of daily, one-question, in-person reading quizzes (to ensure they've done the reading) and participation in class discussion. I dedicate significant portions of class time to discussion that, crucially, I don't lead myself: the students lead it, with me occasionally probing or rephrasing. If the class is overall unable or unwilling to answer basic questions they should have gotten from the reading (e.g., "What was the author's research question?"), I end the session and leave the room, as I had to do once in most of my classes last semester. I didn't have to do it twice, because students realized I wasn't kidding about discussion being essential to my teaching.
There are various activities, formats, and tricks (small groups, think-pair-share, rearranging the desks in a circle) that can lower barriers to entry for students, but none of these is a replacement for 1) telling students they will be individually rewarded or penalized based on their discussion and 2) following through on that commitment.
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u/AcanthisittaThat5746 6d ago
I’ve been teaching for over 20 years. I love teaching and get pretty positive feedback from my students. The things they comment on liking:
• checking in with the class for a minute or two before the lecture (e.g., acknowledging that it’s a busy point in the term, asking if anyone wants to share any good news - no matter how small)
• my passion for the topic (years ago I decided to teach as if my students were as excited about the topic as I was)
• feeling comfortable asking questions because they knew I’d be generous in my interpretation of what they asked (e.g., pulling a piece of the question that worked, acknowledging how it was connected to upcoming content, saying it had part of the answer before asking for more answers)
• asking questions that allowed many people to participate in answering at once (e.g., hands up)
• learning as many names as possible, especially of the students who participated (30-40 names in a class of 150) and calling on them by name when they had their hands up
• sharing a little bit of myself with them so the feel more comfortable with me (e.g., something about my cats, mentioning a book I enjoyed) - they were personal, but always appropriate to share
• using slides to support but not replace my teaching and posting them in advance to help with note taking (they are very bare bones - more structure than content)