Ask-Dr-Kirk

TAKING BACK THE CLASSROOM

For even more tips on teaching and classroom management, check out my book, Taking Back the Classroom: Tips for the College Professor on how to be a More Effective Teacher.  You can order now through Amazon, or Barnes & Noble College Bookstores.

Why Aren't Business Schools Teaching Students How To Use Social Media As A Business Tool?

You would think that with the popularity of social media and the huge percentage of organizations that are using social networks for marketing, customer relations, and recruiting, that universities would be offering all types of related courses. However, according to this article, almost two-thirds of the top 25 business schools do not offer a social media course. 

 

Learning From Student Evaluations

Interesting discussion of what we can learn from student evaluations by Professor Ryan Cordell (St. Norbert College). Check out the comments section too.

And just for fun: Here's a humorous look at how to interpret those student comments.

Books On College Teaching

Professor Sherman Dorn (University of South Florida, St Petersburg) shares his list of good books on college teaching, especially for those who are new to teaching. He also includes a link to Rebecca Onion's blog with recommendations she's gathered from her personal learning network on Twitter.

 

Higher Ed Blogs On Technology

Check out this list of the best blogs on technology in higher education.

Reflections Of Past Year

Billie Hara (University of Texas at Arlington) does something that I have thought about doing but don't seem to get around to-reflect on what worked this past academic year and what she would have done differently if could have a do-over. Maybe I'll take the time now to do just this especially given that I had one "class from hell" and another one that was one of my best classes ever.

Quote Of The Day

Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects…Will Rogers

Say This, Not That To Your Professor

Ellen Bremen has written the book we college professors wish every student would read. Say This, Not That to Your Professor addresses all those issues we gripe about in the hallway. Professor Bremen explains to students why they should proof their emails to their professors, why texting in class is disruptive, and why professors HATE the question, Are we doing anything important today? Even better, she shows students how to take ownership of their own education. The book is easy to read but has lots of practical information and sample conversations to help students learn what it means to be a professional.   I've suggested to our provost that we purchase a copy for every incoming first-year student!

 

How Much Is Your College Degree Worth Over Your Lifetime?

So when your students ask why they need a college degree, point them towards this article: Calculating the Value of a College Degree. As noted:

We always knew that people with an associate degree earned less than those with a B.A., on average. That is still true. The difference is about $500,000 to $600,000 throughout a career. Over the course of a lifetime, a college degree is worth an extra $1 million in earnings ... (over a high school diploma).

Should We Give Our Students Study Guides?

Jonathan Malesic (Kings College) opens the discussion on whether teachers should provide study guides for exams and some ways in which these can be beneficial in getting the students to take ownership of their learning.

I typically don’t use study guides. However, when I do (for example, when I teach HR/Employment Law and there are lots and lots of laws and cases), I write the study guide in the form of questions rather than just giving them a list of topics. This seems to help them focus.

I'm curious what others are doing?

Teaching Carnival 5.09

Check out the Chronicle of Higher Education's roundup of recent best blog posts on teaching and educational technology!

Where To Get Creative Business Cards?

If you haven't seen this site for business cards, you should check it out. My fiance uses it for his photography business and puts a photo on one side and his contact info on the other. I’ll be sharing this site with my students as they have lots of creative business cards and mini resume cards for students who want to stand out in the job market.

 

A Student Perspective On Improving Group Projects

Kris Ranstrom is currently finishing up his MBA at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee and is the author of Protean Relay which is “a business blog for techies and a tech blog for business people.” Recently he wrote a post for teachers on how to make the team project a better learning experience. His suggestion? Require the students to prepare their own group expectations document. Read more about how to do this here.

Happy Blogoversary To Me!

Six years ago I started sharing my teaching tips as well as those of others on this site. I want to say thank you to all the readers who have commented on the blog or shared their own tips, questions, and links. 

Just for fun: Here's me at my first teaching job in 1982 (Yep, I started teaching when I was ten...)

A Little Teaching Humor...

Using Pinterest In Your Job Search

As students get ready to graduate and go on the job market, one of the challenges is how they can make themselves both different and relevant to that potential employer. Here's an article on Ways To Use Pinterest To Wow Your Dream Employer.

 

How To Help A Student Decide What They Want To Be When They Grow Up?

I recently had a student approached me with an interesting situation. She is in her early 20s, has had a number of jobs in various industries, and is obviously multi-talented. Her question was, "How do I decide what it is I want to do as a career for the next 40+ years?"

Apparently she is not the only one to have this problem; indeed it appears to be a common issue with millennials. They are paralyzed by all the choices they have. As noted by Priya Parker:

More and more, particularly among those who have yet to make those big life decisions (whom to marry, what kind of job to commit to, where to live), FOMO [fear of missing out] and FOBO – the “fear of better options” – are causing these young leaders to stand still rather than act. “The way I think about it metaphorically is choosing one door to walk through means all the other doors close, and there’s no ability to return back to that path,” one subject told me. “And so rather than actually go through any doorway, it’s better to stand in the atrium and gaze.”

You can read the entire article here.

 

Why We Dream

Here's an interesting video on why we dream. According to researchers, it's possible that if you’re having trouble remembering things, it’s because you need more REM sleep as this is when your brain strengthens connections to what you’ve just learned.

I'll be over here having my nap...

Quote Of The Day

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives...Robert Maynard Hutchins

What If We Were Wrong About How To Teach?

I'm reading this thought-provoking article by Grant Wiggins who postulates that we should completely rethink how we teach knowledge. As he states:

The point of child-rearing, cooking, teaching, soccer, music, business, or architecture is not ‘knowledge’; rather, knowledge is the growing (and ever-changing) residue of the main activity of trying to perform well for real…(Thus) it would be very foolish to learn soccer (or child-rearing or music or how to cook) in lectures. This reverses cause and effect, and loses sight of purpose. Could it be the same for history, math, and science learning? Only blind habit keeps us from exploring this obvious logic. The point is to do new things with content, not simply know what others know – in any field.

As noted by Joe Bower recently on Twitter: The point of learning is not just to know things but to be a different person.

Here's a link to the entire article, Everything You Know About Curriculum May Be Wrong. Really.

Spelling Counts!

Students sometimes want to argue that they shouldn't be penalized for spelling errors. However, here's an example of how important it is to check your spelling. A clothing company in England recently produced a line of T-shirts with William Shakespeare's name misspelled. Think someone got fired?