Flipping the Classroom - Micro-style!

I've been reading about the advantages and disadvantages of a flipped classroom for a while.  I'm interested in incorporating more activities into my SOC 101 courses...and I'm especially interested in a flipped classroom for my upper level SOC 205: Social Problems class.  I am hesitant though because flipping the classroom seems to be an all or nothing deal.  This short article from the Chronicle of Higher Education advocates for 'micro-flipping'...the best of both worlds where traditional lecture and daily activities are used in the classroom to reinforce course material. 

Have you tried flipping your classroom? What are your thoughts? What worked? What didn't? And how do you address the 'motivation' issue....getting students to actually come to class prepared?

Professors! Caring matters!

This is an excellent read on the value of engagement in the classroom...not just from the student perspective, but from the professor's perspective.  Investing in a student's success matters!  Investing and engaging in classroom material matters!  Also - pay note to the lack of difference between public and private college results.  Very intersting stuff!

Reimagining the dreaded 'Research Paper'



Is this not what students look like
when writing?  But is this not what
WE look like when grading?!

This is a great article from the Chronicle of Higher Education about the importance of not getting ‘stuck’ in the research paper assignment trap.  I do not assign research papers in my SOC 101 courses, but instead assign several smaller writing assignments throughout the semester that involve responding to selected readings via reflective questions and application of theoretical perspectives – giving the student the opportunity to reflect on their own perspectives while also being required to demonstrate understanding of appropriate sociological theoretical perspectives as well. 

I admittedly cringe at the thought of assigning the students with a full-fledged research paper on a topic that they may or may not be even interested in.  This article discusses problems with research assignments and provides an interesting approach to re-structure the way research papers are assigned – by getting the student to become immersed in data collection themselves – instead of relying solely on secondary sources.  As I think about how to structure future honors sections of SOC 101, where the students would indeed be responsible for some sort of research project – this alternative to the old-school-style research paper could be useful.  It could potentially engage the students in the research process more by giving them the opportunities to not only learn about how research is done but to also be proud that they created and contributed something to a project.  It would provide them with a sense of ownership of their work as well. 

What are the potential benefits (or consequences) of two styles of note taking?

At the beginning of each semester, when I cover the course syllabus, I always expect (and indeed receive) a few groans from students when they learn that I do not post notes or power point presentations on Blackboard for SOC 101.  I inform them that they are expected to take detailed notes in class of what they see on slides and anything else I write on the board.  Most students are fine with this – but the occasional few plead and beg for the notes to be made available.  Nope.  Not going to happen. 

I tell the students that I require note-taking in class because research suggests that students think about and recall information better if they do.  This link is interesting because it discusses taking notes electronically – via lap tops.  This is something I’ve struggled with over the past few years as more and more students have electronic devices such as lap tops and tablets.  I used to not allow these devices to be used in the classroom.  For the last two years, however, I’ve relented.  My students are allowed to utilize lap tops and tablets (provided they are not online at any time during the class and are only taking notes).  It’s easier.  It’s faster.  I type much quicker than I write…so why not?

This short article brings up an issue I’ve never thought about before.  Is it possible that my students using these devices aren’t retaining the information as well as those who hand write notes?  I don’t keep a record of who uses these devices and I’ve certainly never thought to see if there is a connection between examination scores and the way my students are taking notes?

Very intriguing to say the least!  So…what rules on note taking do you have in your courses?  Does this article make you rethink allowing students to use devices? 

Community College Trap 2.0

A recent piece "Low Income Students Don't Have to Get Into Harvard" (from Inside HigherEd and cross-posted at Slate.com) follows up with an opinion on the previous post I made about community college students achieving better outcomes through greater restrictions and oversight.

When I first saw the article I was concerned that the author would be asserting that recipients of elite-level institutional degrees did not receive social benefits over and above their peers as other less prestigious institutions. (I would assert that they do and not always at the cost of more rigorous academic training.)

Instead, the author focused on the reforms needed at the community college level to ensure that our current population of low-income, minority, and non-traditional students successfully complete their track to graduation (or transfer or careers). While that point is well-taken I felt like they missed the primary reason that we want to diversify the student bodies at elite institutions. Not because community colleges are unable to form the bridge for our students, but because our students deserve the chance to learn at the top institutions in the nation. Graduation rates at existing top-tier institutions may not be entirely because of how they select their student body but of the resources afforded to those students once they are on-campus. If Greenville Tech had a major "on-campus" student body, sports stadiums, and a deep support staff that allowed better student-to-staff ratios similar to Harvard, we would certainly see marked improvement in students' academic completion.

So the question I thought of after reflecting and writing this is: where do we send our transfer students to? Most students come to me with expectations of USC Upstate, Clemson, or another in-state school. Do we dare pass them a brochure for Stanford, MIT, or Duke? If not, why?

(My farthest afield GTC advisee/graduate: University of Alaska at Fairbanks!)

An Example of the "New Economy"

I really enjoyed the previous post, and it got me to thinking about a piece Thomas Friedman published in the New York Times a few weeks ago.  The article How to Monetize Your Closet describes how a young entrepreneur, Tracy DiNunzo created a novel business with a little imagination and a lot of hard work. Tradesy, as reported by Friedman "enables women to monetize the used or unused clothing and accessories in their closets by creating a peer-to-peer marketplace in which pricing, listing, buying, selling, shipping and returning goods is seamlessly easy — and with Tradesy taking a 9 percent commission."   In other words, when the marriage fails and you don't want the dress as a reminder, SELL IT! 

How did Tracy DiNunzo do this?

To quote Ms. DiNunzo,  “I used free Internet resources to teach myself web design, marketing and basic coding, and had everything I needed to start a business that now employs 22 people and serves 1.5 million customers every month.”

Wow.

Like Prof. Caz, I wonder how we can open our students' eyes to this coming job reality.

What Jobs Are Our Students Really Headed For?

A colleague sent me this essay by Nicole Matos called "Too Tired to Hustle" from Inside Higher Ed. I enjoyed reading her reflection on the mismatch between the jobs community college students were tracking toward and the "good jobs" of the future.

Courtesy HowStuffWorks.com

From the piece...
Flipping through a semester’s worth of self-introductions is like an obituary pamphlet for Old Economy employment. Again and again, they express a desire for mostly public or public-ish, long-term, safe and stable, even unionized, positions: firefighting, criminal justice, firefighting, nursing, nursing, teaching, teaching, teaching, radiology, firefighting, criminal justice.

Even from our position in the Arts & Sciences, many of our students expressing a desire to transfer out are often seeking the next "safe" career track instead of one that is challenging, innovative, or will require them to forge their way. I wonder if we are doing enough to instill the ideas of self-promotion and the entrepreneurial spirit that has reshaped the modern "at-will" workplace, where your value to an employer may be limited to a short-term contract or specific project.

On those students who come to us with low-self esteem or a previous history of failure...
The problem with making your own luck is that it requires so much previous luck. To be nimble, to be ready, to have the excess emotional capacity to take future self-driven employment by the balls -- you need to not already be tired, scared, in shelter-mode. (Emphasis mine.)

Are we necessarily narrowing our students' field of vision about what today's economy really is?