Connections—February 2009

Connections is a publication of the Hubbard Center for Faculty Development. The purpose of this newsletter is to facilitate the exchanging and sharing of information that promotes the personal and professional growth of faculty.

Articles in this issue:

Dealing with Hot Topics in the Classroom
Teaching the Millennial Generation: How to Educate Narcissists in the Classroom
Twelve Tips for Teaching Online
Another Google Great: "My Maps"
Ideas for Newsletter Articles?

Dealing with Hot Topics in the Classroom

With the historic inauguration of the first African-American president last month, the topics of politics, religion, classism, and racism have been thrust to the forefront of discourse both in and out of the classroom. Due to this recent upsurge in highly personal discussions, some “hot moments” may occur in the classroom. According to Lee Warren, the associate director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University, hot moments can become a “profound learning opportunity” if handled in the correct manner. Typically, a student may unintentionally (or in some cases quite intentionally) make an inflammatory remark or ask a provocative question regarding a hot topic through the course of a seemingly normal or “safe” class. These moments, though challenging and startling, can launch the class into eye-opening discussion and should be handled with care in order to promote the most learning. When facilitating a discussion on a hot topic, it is important to remember that no student should be ignored or penalized for their views—religious, political, or otherwise.

Step Back
The first step in handling a hot moment effectively, according to Warren (2000) and Saunders and Kardia (n.d.), is to step back, take a quick breather, and separate your own emotions from the issue. This prevents your views from clouding the situation and permits you to focus on exploring the two opposing views gleaned from the remark with the class. This rational perspective allows one to get an understanding of any concealed meanings behind the remark, and to explore why that topic came up at that particular time. Maybe the student is alerting you and the class to a new perspective that is just gaining momentum, or one that has been unjustly ignored by the general populous. The next step is to confirm with the student that you, and the class, understand his/her comment in the correct and intended way. This allows the student to clarify the point so that the proper issue finds discussion, and the student feels valued.

Initiate Scholarly Debate
Once the core matter of the hot topic surfaces, the next step is to foster an environment in which all views and ideas on the matter are tolerated and explored further. It is of utmost importance to remember that the student who first made the remark should not be the focus of discussion. In other words, the overarching goal is to separate the topic from the student in order to reduce personal attacks and to encourage others to voice their opinions without fear of retribution. One way to achieve this is to generalize the student’s opinion by saying something similar to, “This is a common view that I have heard before, but is not frequently discussed. How might one justify or oppose this view?” The objective is to have the class debate equally all aspects of the topic. Making the topic less taboo or less unpopular will encourage students to play devil’s advocate or give confidence to those who actually espouse those views to speak up. However, if stereotypes instead of views are voiced, Saunders and Kardia recommend correcting those stereotypes and discussing them further.

Another way to encourage a learning outcome from the hot topic is to get students to discuss what the learning outcome could be. If the topic gets too hot to handle, so to speak, invite students to discuss the topic in more general terms, such as “What could we learn about today’s social climate through this discussion?” This type of questioning could get students talking about a variety of big picture items related to the topic. Many times it is not just the topic itself that is important, but also the understanding of how some sensitive topics are treated in society as a whole and in subsets of the population.

Be Prepared
There are several ways to prepare for hot moments so that they will not be so startling, or so that they will be welcomed and encouraged. The best way to prepare for hot moments in the classroom is to know yourself, your biases, and your opinions before you are confronted with them in front of your students. This will reduce the chance that you will be taken off guard if a student makes a remark that is sensitive to you. Thinking about these issues beforehand is an opportunity for you to prepare ways to handle them in class, or create activities and assignments to introduce sensitive topics into your curriculum.

If you do introduce hot topics into your curriculum, the Office of Educational Development at UC Berkeley (2008) recommends putting a statement in your syllabus that alludes to the sensitive nature of such discussions and the importance of respecting all opinions. You can find some helpful examples at the bottom of this website: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/sensitivetopics.html. Saunders and Kardia recommend discussing ground rules for discussions in the first class period and giving reminders periodically through out the semester to help prepare both you and your students for a fair discussion of tough topics.

However, no matter how prepared you are, it is important to remember that some students may lash out at you personally. They may see you as an authority figure, thus you may represent many authority figures and hierarchy in general. If you can, try to separate yourself from their remarks and nudge them in the direction of exploring what authority figures signify in a more general discussion. In the same vein, it is prudent to leave your political and religious beliefs out of the classroom; by their very nature, hot topics are often closely linked with religion and politics. Both Warren and Saunders and Kardia agree that due to your authoritative role, stating your beliefs may inhibit students from discussing or writing about opposing beliefs for fear of retribution. One strategy is to take the side of students who hold minority viewpoints in order to support them. You may also consider alternating your side between liberal and conservative in order to favor neither one over the other.

A variety of topics may come up through the course of teaching that will challenge you and your students. It is important to foster the ability to analyze sensitive topics in a critical manner. Not only will this benefit your students as they encounter new and opposing beliefs through higher education, but it will benefit you as well. You will learn a great deal about yourself and the world from your students through these moments.

References
Saunders, S. and Kardia, D. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2008, from http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/P3_1.php

Sensitive topics in the classroom. (2008). Retrieved December 15, 2008, from http://teaching.berkeley.edu/sensitivetopics.html

Warren, L. (2000). Hot moments in the classroom: Strategies for turning difficult encounters into learning opportunities. Advocate Online, October 2000. Retrieved November 18, 2008, from http://www2.nea.org/he/advo00/advo0010/thriving.html

Teaching the Millennial Generation: How to Educate Narcissists in the Classroom

Who are the Millennials?
The millennial generation includes the population born between 1982-2002. They are often described as special, sheltered, confident, team oriented, conventional pressured, and high achieving (Sutherland & Hoover, 2007, Tucker, 2006, and McGlynn, 2008). Some of these characteristics are also associated with individuals exhibiting aspects of a personality disorder called narcissism. Narcissism is defined by the DSM-IV as a pattern of grandiosity, self-focus and self-importance resulting in demands for attention and admiration and a preoccupation with dreams of success, power, beauty, and brilliance.

In a recent meta-analysis with a sample of 16,475 college students, Twenge, Konrath, Foster, Campbell, and Bushman (2008) report “almost two-thirds of recent college students are above the mean 1979–1985 narcissism score, a 30% increase” (p. 884). Though it is important to point out that broad generalizations about any cohort are inaccurate, the apparent increase in current students exhibiting narcissistic behavior is none the less intriguing and may help educators to better understand this generation.

Implications for the Classroom
Bergman, Daly, and Westerman Using the findings from the Twenge analysis, Appalachian State University Management professors, Dr. Jacqui Bergman, Dr. James Westerman and Dr. Joe Daly (in press) developed the following implications to more effectively teach millennial students:

Classroom Strategies

Use daily quizzes and short homework assignments; update course averages and post daily.
Help students better receive constructive criticism by forming “devil’s advocacy groups” that formally assess strengths and weaknesses of individual and group presentations.
Encourage students to discuss multiple points of view or use role-playing to force students to take a different perspective.
Get students involved in service learning and outreach to sensitize and activate empathy for others.
Use “360-degree performance assessment” that includes formal peer evaluations and self-evaluations in addition to instructor evaluations.
Incorporate personality inventories to help students develop self-awareness.
Invite alumni or local professionals to speak to the class about achieved success using “non-narcissistic” ways, like willingly accepting negative feedback.

One-on-One Strategies

Build a working alliance with students. Demonstrate consistent empathy and understanding by not pointing out narcissistic behaviors and discouraging the student from coming to you for beneficial future interactions.
Carefully challenge students. Once you build a strong relationship with the student, begin to challenge the student’s narcissistic behavior and suggest ways to help.
Model non-narcissistic behavior. Take opportunities to model by taking criticism with grace when the student is critical of you.
Offer suggestions for experiments with non-narcissistic strategies for approaching situations. Guide students in interactions with others and suggest specific ways they may behave differently in situations by presenting the alternative approach as an experiment, “Try this...”.

References
Bergman, J., Westerman, J., & Daly, J. (In Press). Narcissism in management education. Academy of Management Learning and Education Journal.

McGlynn, A. P. (Summer, 2008). Millennials in college: How do we motivate them? The Education Digest, 19-22.

Sutherland, T. & Hoover, G. (2007). The millennials: Who are these students staring back at you in the classroom? Accounting Education News, 35, 5-6.

Tucker, P. (2006). Teaching the millennial generation. The Futurist, 40, 7.

Twenge, J. M., Konrath, S., Foster, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Egos inflating over time: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the narcissistic personality inventory. Journal of Personality, 76, 875-901.

Twelve Tips for Teaching Online

As teaching online becomes more popular among both faculty and students, there are many factors to consider in order maintain personal interaction and attention. The following tips provided by Mary Beth McKee of Learning Technology Services are designed to help you structure the online components of your course in a way that will increase the sharing of information and collaboration between you and your students.

Your presence in the class is important; online courses should not be seen by the student as self-taught. Putting a course online is not simply a matter of putting materials online.
Break the ice. The best way to begin to develop community is to present the students with an activity at the beginning of the course so that they may get to know each other. Although in a traditional face-to-face course such activities can occur through informal discussion before and after class, they must be explicitly built into an online course.
Community is difficult, if not impossible, to develop without effective and consistent communication among the students. Therefore, to establish and maintain community within the course, structure or build discussion into the course design. Provide guidelines for student posts; these can be negotiated with the students to increase their sense of involvement.
Encourage student posts and discussion and be prepared to encourage those that are falling behind. When applicable, send individual posts of encouragement to students or send "thank yous" and "good jobs" to students as individual emails.
Respond promptly and effectively to student posts. These responses do not always have to be within the forum. They can be individually directed to students on a scheduled basis to give the student feedback and to reduce clutter in the course discussion forums.
When asking questions or posting responses in the course discussion forum, engage the students in the discussion and prompt higher level thinking. Redirect comments and pose questions that explore a student's answer.
Organize the course and determine if students find it easy to navigate. Students must grasp the structure of the course if they are expected to understand the material.
Divide the course information into manageable chunks, so students can process the elements more easily. There can be more than one chunk of information per unit or module, but the unit itself should be broken into manageable pieces.
Ask for course feedback periodically; do not just wait for the course evaluation at the end of the semester. This provides valuable insights and also gives the students a chance to voice their ideas and concerns about what is working well in the course.
Exploit the multimedia capabilities of the web by posting articles or images that illustrate course concepts. If you hear a great story on NPR or see an article in the New York Times, provide a link in your course or use the item as a discussion point for that particular week. Perhaps create a forum where students can post items they discover related to course content. YouTube may also be a good source for video clips.
Success is in the details; provide directions and be explicit about expectations. Many students treat assignments as though they were step-by-step instructions. By providing questions or defining data required for an assignment, students will have a clearer picture for completing the task.
Explain the purpose of assignments. What are the students expected to learn? How does it relate to the learning outcomes of the course? Students who understand the reason for an assignment will be more motivated to complete the work.

For more information, contact Mary Beth McKee at ext. 8637 or mckeemb@appstate.edu.

Another Google Great: "My Maps"

Google has developed yet another piece of intuitive and user-friendly software, My Maps, which allows faculty and students to make annotated maps—including pictures, videos, and placemarks—and share them with others.

These personalized maps can be used by educators in any field:

to develop maps for student field trips and off-campus fieldwork;
to develop maps for students preparing for international courses;
to develop maps for visiting scholars (both American and international);
to help students map and comprehend the dynamics of a geographic area or region (both fictional and non-fictional);
to help students map and critically analyze an historical event (in any field);
and many other uses.

For more information on how to create your own personalized map, click here.
Click here for an example of Appalachian.

Ideas for Newsletter Articles?

If you have any ideas for future articles please email the Hubbard Center at hubbardctr@appstate.edu.

The Hubbard Center electronically publishes our newsletter, Connections, three times each semester. Please contact Kathy Isaacs, editor, with any comments or questions.