College Classroom Week 9 March 6, 2013 collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

1. Week 9:
The First Day of Class
The College Classroom
March 6, 2013
Pull out your copy of The First Day of Class
(or pick one up) and talk about it with a
neighbor:
What surprised you?

2. Clicker question (crowd-
2
sourced)
What recommendation in CWSEI’s First Day of
Class [1] surprised you the most ?
A. Don’t go into detail.
B. Caution about using ice-breakers.
C. We need to actually introduce TAs?!
D. Avoid emphasizing rules/penalties.
E. Ask students stuff (background, etc.)
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3. Evidence for today’s class
3
The ideas, suggestions and best-practices
discussed in today’s class are not the direct result
of research
We won’t refer to a peer-reviewed study examining
the impact discussing academic conduct in the first
class.
However, the content is based on experience of
Peter Newbury, Beth Simon, Carl Wieman,
Science Education Initiative at CU-Boulder & UBC, others
which is based on peer-reviewed research
Ample research and evidence for benefits of
situated learning(teaching content when it’s
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4. Big Picture: Set the
4
Environment
The first day of class can have a large influence
on students’ perception of the entire course. By
the end of the first day, you want students to have
a good sense of
 why the course is interesting and worthwhile,
 what kind of classroom environment you want,
 how the course will be conducted,
 why the particular teaching methods are being
used,
 what the students need to do (generally) to
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learn material

5. Big Picture: Set the
5
Environment
At the first class (especially 1st and 2nd year) you’ll
have
 enthusiastic students who chose to take the
course
 students who must pass this required course to
get into their actual interest (e.g., bio before
med school)
Regardless of their motivation for being there, you
 students who are shopping for courses
want every one of them to leave the first class
 students whothis willthe wrong room
thinking, ―Yeah, are in be a good course, I’m
okay being here.‖
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6. How do you
do all that?
That Huge Lecture Theatre by teddy-rised on flickr CC
6
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7.  1. Establish Motivation 
7
 Provide an entry level preview of the course
material
 Explain why the course material is important &
interesting
 Avoid jargon as much possible
 Where applicable, make connections to:
 Real world/everyday life
 What students know
 What students will need to be successful in future
studies or career
 What students are interested in,
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8. 2. Personalize the learning
8
experience
Welcome students to your class – make it clear
that you are looking forward to working with them.
Who would like to rehearse their opening line?
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9. 2. Personalize the learning
9
experience
Welcome students to your class – make it clear
that you are looking forward to working with them.
Introduce yourself
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10. Clicker question
10
What did you decide about how your students will
address you?
A) Dr. Smith
B) Mr. / Ms. /Mrs. Smith
C) Professor Smith
D) Michael / Elizabeth (first name)
E) Mike / Beth (familiar, nickname)
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11. 2. Personalize the learning
11
experience
Welcome students to your class – make it clear
that you are looking forward to working with them.
Introduce yourself. Describe your background and
interests in connection to the subject, e.g.:
 Why you find it interesting, exciting for them to
learn
 How it applies to other things you do (research,
Students—especially those majoring in the
…)
subject—say it is inspiring to hear about the
instructor’s background (such as what kind of
research they do) and how it is relevant to the
course.
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12. 2. Personalize the learning
12
experience
Introduce teaching team
 TA’s and anyone else involved that students will
be interacting with (could show pictures or have
them come to class)
Make an effort to find out who the students are
and their expectations, motivations, and interests,
e.g.:
 Ask them a series of questions about major,
goals, background,
 perhaps use clickers or a survey
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13. 2. Personalize the learning
13
experience
If appropriate, ask them to introduce themselves
to other students they will be working with.
Use with caution: some students say it
makes them uncomfortable if used as a
general ―icebreaker‖, but it is appropriate
to introduce themselves to group
members with whom they will be working.
Think-pair-share: What icebreakers have you
used (as instructor? student? attendee?)
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14. Clicker question
14
How many of these friend students
social media channels do class twitter acct
you think you’ll use to professional acct
professional/person
connect with your alfollow students
students?
will you initialize
Numerical i>clicker question: google hangouts?
Click i>clicker into numeric mode participate in them?
(―123‖)
Use up/down buttons to toggle through
class pinterest
0-9,–
Click SEND
class flickr acct
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15. 3. Establish expectations
15
Better if also handed out and online, not just
spoken, so you (and they) can refer to them
throughout the course. (course-level) learning
 Describe overarching
outcomes; big picture view
 Emphasize that you want them to learn and
your role is to support their learning
 Explain how course will be conducted:
 what will happen in class
 expectations for out-of-class work (eg, number of hrs)
 overview of schedule (esp exam sched, if you’ve got
it)
 marking scheme (% final, % midterms, %
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16. 3. Establish expectations
16
 Explain why you’re teaching the way you are
teaching, how the different components support
their learning (especially important if you are
teaching differently than most other courses
are taught); e.g.:
 Teaching methods based on what is known about
how people learn
 Students need to construct own understanding
Especially important to get student buy-in for
peer instruction with clickers.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGx7EzDQ-lY
See www.peerinstruction4cs.org/general-pi-tips/
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17. 3. Establish expectations
17
 Describe (generally) how to succeed in your
course
 Learning and improvement take practice and effort,
as well as timely feedback
 Give general description of how assessments are
used for both feedback and marks, leaving details to
be read on course website
 Give advice on how to study (―Review the clicker
questions like you do them in class: think by yourself,
pick an answer, talk to friends, vote again, check
answer.‖)
 Express that you feel they can succeed if they
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18. 4. Course details: don’t
18
 Don’t go into details during first class; give
links to more details on
 course syllabus
 detailed schedule
 detailed learning outcomes
 academic (mis)conduct
 deadlines
 rules/policies (eg, late assignments, missed
exams…)
 Could give an assignment involving reading
these.
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19. In what order?
19
1. Introduce yourself
2. Welcome student to your class
3. 1. Establish Motivation
4. 2. (rest of) Personalize the learning experience
5. 3. Establish expectations
6. (4. Don’t go over details)
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20. 20
First class do’s and don’t’s
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21. 21
Do Don’t
Check out classroom  assume you’ll be
before the first class able to figure it out
 clicker hardware?
at the time.
 podium computer?
 lapel mic? Try it.  let a technical
 presentation remote problem ruin your
works from back of only chance to
room? make a first
impression.
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22. 22
Do Don’t
Start the class on time.  arrive late (what
(establish expectation does
expectations) that establish?)
 have ―intimate‖
conversation with
students in the front
rows while you wait
for others to wander
in. This doesn’t
―personalize‖ the
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23. 23
Do Don’t
Tell students you think Say threatening things
they can all succeed if like
they put in the effort.  telling them you
Fine to say the course expect some to fail
is challenging as long  telling them that
students don’t usually
as you also express it
like the course
is
 telling tell them that
 interesting/worthwhil students find the
e course extremely
 do-able with
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24. 24
Do Don’t
Try to give them an Use teaching practices
authentic experience of that are inconsistent
what the class will be with how you’ll teach
like. the rest of the time:
 If you’re going to use  don’t use clickers if
clickers, do it in the you’re not (really)
first class (even if going to use clickers
some don’t have
clickers yet.)
 email pre-reading
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assignment 2 days

25. 25
Do Don’t
Involve students during Talk the entire class
class time
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26. 26
Do Don’t
Address academic Emphasize rules and
conduct in context penalties on the first
throughout the course: day:
 talk about plagiarism  sends a message of
when you give out a distrust
writing assignment,  they’re not listening
not now anyway
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27. 27
Do Don’t
End class on time with End class early
a slide containing (establish
pertinent info: expectations)
 your name
 office hours
 contact info
 course website
 homework
 important thing
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28. 28
Do Don’t
Repeat vital info at the Assume everyone was
beginning of the 2nd there in the 1st class.
class, too
 your name
 contact info
 course website
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29. 29
Do Don’t
Reinforce all of these
messages (motivation,
personalized learning,
expectations,…)
periodically throughout
the course, at the
appropriate times.
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30. 30
Do Don’t
Have a growth Have a fixed mindset
mindset about your about your students’
students’ abilities to abilities, including
learn.  your job is to find
5% who will be like
you
 your job is to filter
out students from
advancing to the
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next course

31. 31
What recommendation will you try hardest to
follow the next time you teach the First Day of
Class?
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32. Week 10:
Succeeding in an Educational
Career The College Classroom
March 13, 2013

33. References
33
1. Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (2009). First
Day of Class – Recommendations for Instructors.
Available under Instructor Guidance Resources at
cwsei.ubc.ca
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