tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post8130725037629359705..comments2023-10-17T05:09:09.069-05:00Comments on <center>Lanny on Learning</center>: Rethinking Office Hours –Lanny Arvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597426421997599777noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post-29025424582560167412007-01-19T08:23:00.000-06:002007-01-19T08:23:00.000-06:00Barbara - good to meet you online. Perhaps we'll s...Barbara - good to meet you online. Perhaps we'll see each other at ELI. And thanks for the link to the piece in the Chronicle. <br /><br />Using an electronic bulletin board for managing student queries is a fine thing to do and can build a sense of community in the class if done correctly. But ground rules need to be set regarding how frequently the instructor responds (e.g. once a day) and students who have their own ideas on how to address the queries of peers should be encouraged to offer those. <br /><br />I believe that a lot of instructors don't set such ground rules and then get this feeling that they're on 7 x 24, which can be exhilirating for a little while but then has to get overwhelming. And I also believe that once students get comfortable posing their questions, they'll find many cases where they want a dialog, not a simple response.<br /><br />LannyLanny Arvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05597426421997599777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post-36783873504620726252007-01-18T22:07:00.000-06:002007-01-18T22:07:00.000-06:00Hello Lanny:
Barbara Ganley told me about your bl...Hello Lanny:<br /><br />Barbara Ganley told me about your blog and I finally found the time to come and visit and have a read. Great stuff!<br /><br />I don't know if you saw this in the news, but apropos of our post, I thought you might find it interesting:<br /><br />http://tinyurl.com/2fj624<br /><br />The --other-- Barbara<br />http://www.languagelabunleashed.comBarbarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09268090840876595026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post-48075945849545647652007-01-10T17:44:00.000-06:002007-01-10T17:44:00.000-06:00David - I think I've been unclear on distinguishin...David - I think I've been unclear on distinguishing between what I actually did versus my normative recommendations for how all of us should proceed in the future. It is the latter which should have the two components - the up front bonding and then the ongoing evaluation of student work. <br /><br />In the Honors class, once we got 5 weeks into the semester I met with each team during almost every class session, so we had quite a bit of this office hours type of conversation. But in the first project I had them read scholarly articles by well known economists - how else could they learn what economists do - and because this was a bit over their heads they were still trying to figure things out and not comfortable about switching over to the writing stage. On that score the class might benefit by a choice of topic where the reading is more accessible. This was the second time I taught the course and I used different topics than the first time around.Lanny Arvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05597426421997599777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post-22017986438413259002007-01-10T15:15:00.000-06:002007-01-10T15:15:00.000-06:00thanks for the detailed reply lanny.
two things, ...thanks for the detailed reply lanny.<br /><br />two things, briefly:<br /><br />1. regarding students sending you stuff and not copying their teammates - arg, i've been there too many times. in the past, i have actually used this scenerio as a discussion topic for class the next day. teaching in media studies, and knowing that many of my students will go into careers in media, basic email habits and strategies are more than fair game for classroom content. <br /><br />2. have you considered two <b>different</b> required office hours per team per project? that way, the first group office hour can be used discussing and brainstorming how the collaboration can and should work and the second group office hour can be spent discussing what their team collaborations have generated thus far (and much further it needs to go for a decent grade, etc).david silverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13007485910206158803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post-49311619159220479152007-01-05T14:21:00.000-06:002007-01-05T14:21:00.000-06:00David - thanks for the comments. With the Honors ...David - thanks for the comments. With the Honors class the memory is more recent so I can give a more detailed response. There are two aspects of collaborative work where the students immaturity (they are mostly first year students) shows through.<br /><br />Most of the teams (but there was one exception) procrastinated about doing written work till near the project deadline and so when they got feedback from me they were in a rush to get something done and couldn't negotiate their way through to how the final result would look. So for that reason they didn't get the full fruits of collaboration, especially on the first project and the quality of the results would have benefit from another week or so of work on their document. There was better preparation on the second project -for which the outcome was an in classs presentation. <br /><br />The other issue is simply on keeping all team members informed about developments. Students would send me stuff to critique and not copy their teammates on the messages. It is strange to me that it doesn't occur to them to do this, but it doesn't. So they still think first of their own contribution to the final product rather than about the final product as a whole. <br /><br />On the other hand, I think that experiencing some of this floundering is actually quite educational because the students come to understand what is needed for effective collaboration. It would be nice for them to learn this once rather than to have to go through it each time they do group work in a course. <br /><br />Perhaps this is less of an issue in a course where they start in on the group work the first week, but that type of structure didn't make sense to me in this Economics Principles class.<br /><br />LannyLanny Arvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05597426421997599777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post-57762267584310393612007-01-05T13:31:00.000-06:002007-01-05T13:31:00.000-06:00great post, lanny - i have long believed that offi...great post, lanny - i have long believed that office hours are one of the most under utilized elements of the higher ed learning experience.<br /><br />you mention two basic components of office hours: a) "an up front bonding experience that is functional regarding further performance in the course" and b) "an ongoing evaluation of student work component that is fair but stern on the grading and builds in the tie between attending office hours and ultimate performance on the student work." excellent.<br /><br />but what about a third - what about some kind of process that encourages students to work (in the classroom and outside the classroom) with other students? early in the post, you share your experiences with your honors class (meeting during office hours with each project team rather than with individual students) and i'm wondering if you were able to notice a subsequent increase in student collaboration.david silverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13007485910206158803noreply@blogger.com