20 THINGS STUDENTS SAY HELP THEM LEARN

“What would happen if you asked undergraduate students not about how to please the professor but about what promotes good learning, for all of us, together, as participants in a learning community?”

 

THE CODDLING OF THE AMERICAN MIND 

by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, The Atlantic, September 2015

“In the name of emotional well-being, college students are increasingly demanding protection from words and ideas they don’t like. Here’s why that’s disastrous for education—and mental health.” 

 

BUILDING RAPPORT 
“Creating Positive Emotional Contexts for Enhancing Teaching and Learning” by William Buskist and Bryan K. Saville, APS Observer, 2001
“…Rapport is a positive emotional connection among students, teacher, and subject matter that emerges from the manner in which the teacher constructs the learning environment.” Contributing factors are, in order: “showing a sense of humor; availability before, after, or outside of class; encouraging class discussion; showing interest in students, knowing students’ names; sharing personal insights and experiences with the class; relating course material in everyday terms and examples; and understanding that students occasionally have problems arise that inadvertently hinder their progress in their courses.”


MENTORING: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE
“Mentoring Undergraduates: Professors Strategically Guiding the Next Generation of Professionals” by Edgar C. J. Long, Jessica Fish, Lee Kuhn, and John Sowders, Michigan Family Review, Vol.14, 1, 2010. 
“Academic achievement, grade point average, school absence, drop out rates, satisfaction with the university academic experience, attitude towards the school, time spent on educational pursuits, and number of semesters to graduation were all related positively to academic mentoring… Given these positive academic outcomes, institutions would do well to be more strategic in developing mentoring relationships and rewarding faculty who engage in this endeavor…”


ETIQUETTE
“‘U Can’t Talk to Ur Professor Like This’: Formal manners and titles aren’t elitist. They ensure respect for everyone” by Molly Worthen, The New York Times, May 2017.
“Insisting on traditional etiquette is also simply good pedagogy. It’s a teacher’s job to correct sloppy prose, whether in an essay or an email. And I suspect that most of the time, students who call faculty members by their first names and send slangy messages are not seeking a more casual rapport. They just don’t know they should do otherwise — no one has bothered to explain it to them. Explaining the rules of professional interaction is not an act of condescension; it’s the first step in treating students like adults.”