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Session 1675

Start Out With The Right Foot….and Follow With The Left

Sharon A. Driscoll University of Arkansas

I. Introduction

Effective teaching involves more preparation than just lecture notes to be written on the board for students to copy. Effective teaching involves two-way interaction between the class and the instructor. The stage is set for this interaction on the first day of class, and so it is important to give thought to how that interaction is to proceed. Will you ask students questions during lecture? Should they bring their books and calculators? Will there be group learning activities? Will active learning be a large part of the class? While minor changes can be made based on the class character, the answers to these questions and more should be made prior to the start of the semester and discussed with the student during the first week of class. In most cases, the answer to all of these questions for chemical engineering students should be YES. Not only are active learning activities important for promoting student learning, recent results of profiling student learning preferences have indicated that the majority of chemical engineering students learn more effectively by working problems themselves. This paper provides suggestions for non- course material activities for the first week activities, followed by a brief discussion of teaching and learning. One suggestion related to both topics is to profile student learning preferences using VARK catalyst. This inventory will be briefly discussed along with the implications and results obtained from classes in chemical engineering.

II. First Week of Class

Take control of the class during the first week, but include some activities that are not directly related to the course material. Before the first class, have the final syllabus prepared. Take time to discuss the syllabus and the different requirements for the course. Talk about your teaching philosophy. If you plan to use group activities, explain how interaction is of benefit to the students. If you want them to use their calculator and book in class, make sure they know to bring it and be sure to have them use it regularly. Talking to the students about how you will organize activities helps prepare the students for how you teach. Below are included specific activities with comments and suggestions for the first week.

(1) Go over the syllabus. The syllabus reflects the organizational characteristics of the class. Unclear rules and requirements can come back to haunt you. Put in grade information (how many points for homework, exam, etc.) and tentative test dates. State your policy on late work and make-up exams. State your policy on office hours and provide contact information such as office number, phone number, and e-mail address. Provide information on topics/chapters covered from the textbook. One common question I get mid-semester around exam time is “what have we covered and what will be on the test.” I try to have page numbers listed in the syllabus and refer back to it, adding where we have

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Driscoll, S. A. (2000, June), Start Out With The Right Foot...And Follow With The Left Paper presented at 2000 Annual Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 10.18260/1-2--8707