A GOOD DAY TO TRY SOMETHING NEW

I write about ten new teaching essays for this blog each year.  If you would like me to drop you an email whenever I post something new, just contact me at Jhoyle@richmond.edu.  I would be delighted to let you know.

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Although I am in my 53^rd year as a college teacher, I still want to get better each and every semester.  That goal never leaves my mind.  As I have written often, you can never improve without trying something new.  It can be a big, radical experiment, or it can be small and subtle.  But, if you never try anything new, you’ll be stuck at your current level.  Teaching is too important not to work on getting better. 

In all of my classes, I give three tests and a final exam.  I want every student to have plenty of chances to show me what they can do.  Yesterday, I returned Test Number Two to the students in one of my upper-level classes.  They earned 3 A’s, 7 B’s, 5 C’s, and 2 D’s.  That’s about normal for one of my classes.  I’d love to tell you they all deserved A’s, but they didn’t.

I am very aware that some of my students were ecstatic with their grades whereas others were sad and possibly devastated.  Handing back a test always leaves me with mixed emotions.  I want the happy students to stay happy and I want the sad ones to start thinking about improvements.  I don’t want that second bunch to give up and lose all hope.

Students often feel like a small cog in a class, almost invisible, someone the teacher doesn’t really know or care about.  I decided to try to change that perception yesterday.  I wanted all the students to know that they were real people to me.   So, I spent about 30-45 minutes and wrote each of them an individual email talking about what I had seen so far and what I hoped from them for the rest of the semester.  I only wrote them 2-4 sentences, but I wanted them to know that I had them on my mind.  I wanted to reach out and encourage each of them to make needed change and finish the semester strong. 

I wanted to provide encouragement.  I wanted to provide a positive future in my class. 

The emails didn’t take long to create.  I just wanted each person to know that I had high hopes for them.  Most of all I wanted them to know that I believed in them. 

Here are a few of the actual emails just to show you what I had to say.

“You are very close to making an A but have not quite gotten there yet.  In class, you are clearly as well prepared as anyone so you might be a bit disappointed by not having made an A so far.  Go back and look at the test -- what mistake kept you from making an A?   It's not the end of the world if you don't make an A, but I would very much prefer that you did make an A.  Just keep up the good, consistent work and be really careful on the tests.”

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“I know that you have worked extremely hard in this course and must be disappointed with your grades so far.  I am convinced that you are capable of much better work so don't get discouraged.  I did comment on the test that you seemed to struggle with the time limit.   Come by and see me some time.  I'd like to get a gauge on how much that hurt your grade.”

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“You have made a C on both tests so far.  That is not bad but I'm sure that both you and I would like to see the next test be a B or even an A.  Look at that test carefully.  I know you put a lot of work in so I don't know if more time is the appropriate remedy.  What changes could you have made in your study or preparation in order to move the next grade up?   I'm convinced that you are capable of a higher grade.”

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“That was a truly excellent test, and it was not on easy material.  Congratulations!  If you keep up that level of work, you should do great.  The real secret to this class is to see what I want and then do it.  You seem to have reached that point.”

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“As I mentioned to you after class, your work has been very consistent.  I think you are more than bright enough to make an A but I think you'll have to get more focused.  There are just other students who walk in every day prepared to make an A and I'm not always sure that is you.  I'm fine with a B, but you can do better.”

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Okay, I suspect you get the idea.  Is this a good idea?  I honestly don’t know.  I will be very interested to see if this experiment seems to affect any of the students in their approach to the class.   If I don’t notice any change, I probably won’t try it again.  That is the nature of teaching experiments.  I like trying things.  It keeps me focused on getting better as a teacher.

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And, finally, my new teaching book, Transformative Education, has now been available for FREE for two months.  Without any type of real publicity, my book has been downloaded at the following site every 4 hours and 10 minutes around the clock, seven days per week, for all of those two months.  If you’ve read it, let me know what you think.  If you’ve not read it and want ideas on becoming a better teacher, here’s the download site.

https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/375/

I firmly believe educational ideas should not be hoarded.  I give this book to you and anyone else who is interested for free.  No tricks.  It is free.  My only goal is to help college teachers become better because I think our planet desperately needs better college education. 

Hope you will get a free download and start reading.  Please feel free to tell anyone you know who might be interested about Transformative Education. 

MARKETING YOUR COURSE

Author’s Note.  Before I start today’s essay, I want to make an offer.  In the fall of 2020, I created an online financial accounting course for the Robins School of Business here at the University of Richmond.  Rather than try to mold a live class into an online course, I honestly tried to rethink the whole process from start to finish.  I used some of what I had learned from the book Make It Stick as well as my 50 plus years of college teaching.  The online course seemed to go quite well.  We started in August with 74 students and we finished in December with 74 students.  No one failed. 

One of the common arguments against online education is that it is “watered down” and of a lower quality than live classroom education.  I focused on that challenge as I created each component of the course.  In the fall of 2020, approximately 70 percent of my students completed the school’s student evaluation forms.  From my perspective, here are two of the most interesting results.

--The course required you to think critically -- 4.672 on a 5.0 scale.

--The course significantly increased your knowledge of the subject -- 4.629 on a 5.0 scale.

For an introductory level course where virtually none of the 74 students would ever take another financial accounting class, I thought those results were good.

My point is this – for many important reasons, the world needs better online education.  That should not be the only alternative for student learning but it needs to be a better alternative.  As teachers, we need to educate more people.  We need to educate them better at a lower cost.  If it is well done, if it well designed, if it properly carried out, an online course can be a very efficient way for students to learn.

Online education does not have to be watered down.  It does not have to be a weaker version of a live class.  We need to really focus on how to make online education work better so that many more people can learn our subject matter. 

I have all of this material left over.  I have spent the last six months getting it organized.  If you are interested, I would be happy to share it with you. 

--I can show you how to use it to supplement your live or blended class. 

--I can show you how to use it to create your own online course. 

--Even if you never teach financial accounting, you can study it to stimulate your personal thoughts about online education.  We need more teachers thinking more deeply about online education. 

I used videos, guided readings, sequenced learning questions and answers, audio questions and answers, and a whole lot of quizzes.  I emailed the students each morning at 6:30 and said, “Here is what I need for you to do today.  We will have a quiz in 3 days.” 

It is not a perfect system, but I think it can be used to teach students efficiently.  Or, the materials can be used as a foundation for an even better program. 

If you are interested in seeing some of this material, send me a note at Jhoyle@richmond.edu.

If you know someone who might be interested, please pass along this message.  Thanks for your help.

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Blog.  My spring semester classes start on January 10, 2022.  Registration for those classes took place last week.  I waited two whole days and then I emailed a long note about the upcoming semester to each of the students who had registered. 

Why would I do this?

--I want every student to walk in on the first day of class excited about the possibility of learning.

--I want every student to walk in on the first day of class understanding what I want from them. 

--I want every student to walk in on the first day of class feeling that they have the ability to do well in this class.

--I want every student to walk in on the first day of class believing that the material will be worth learning.

My students have all been in school for a large portion of their lives.  Too often, they are full of dread rather than anticipation.  Over the years, many of them have suffered through some dreary education.  I think this is one of the saddest parts of my job.  Students rarely arrive at class thrilled by the prospect of learning.  For them, there is just not enough joy in the idea of learning.

So, I will spend the next two months trying to get them to believe in me, to believe in themselves, and believe in the value of what I am going to teach them.  If I can win this marketing campaign, the quality of the learning in these spring classes will have no bounds.  That is what I want.  I want every class to be the best that anyone has ever seen.

So, what did I actually say to these future students in this introductory email?  How did I market my course to them?  Here are a few of the comments I thought were most relevant.

“I am delighted that we will be working together. I have taught this class most semesters for the past 50+ years.  I firmly believe that it is the most important course in the B-school and, in my opinion, the most interesting course (and, despite its reputation, it can be the most fun).”   

“There is not a day that goes by in this class when we are not trying to understand something important.   I’m not here to waste your time.”

“Attitude is always important.  Teaching students with a mediocre attitude is a trial.  Teaching students with a positive attitude is a joy because you can help them leap tall buildings with a single bound.”

“I want YOU to make an A.   There is no crime in making a B or a C in such a challenging course but there is a crime in shooting for a B or a C. The world needs more bright young people with serious ambition.”

“Go to any of the junior and senior accounting majors you know (in your fraternity/sorority, your dorm, or wherever) and ask the simple question, ‘I want to be one of those people who makes an A in Professor Hoyle’s 302 class.   What is the key?   Don’t try to scare me because I’m not going to run and hide.   I am not a timid, frightened mouse.  I want to make an A.  How do I go about reaching that goal?’  My guess is that they’ll give you good advice.” 

“The list of students who are well prepared every single day for my class and the list of students who make an A are pretty close to the same list.”

Okay, I could go on and on, but the message needs to come from you.  What message do you want to convey?  You are trying to get a head start.  You want to get the students interested in the class before they start dreading it as a dreary chore. 

I will write my students a few more times before the spring semester begins to give them other suggestions on getting ready for my class.  Nevertheless, the marketing key is this first communication where I try to set the tone for the entire spring.  “This course is interesting and fun and challenging and worthwhile” rather than letting them tell themselves, “This is going to be soooo boring and useless.” 

When it comes to convincing students to do the work you require, aggressive (but thoughtful) marketing is never a bad idea.

HELPING STUDENTS GET INTO THE RIGHT MOOD FOR LEARNING

If you have followed this blog for long, you know that I email my students occasionally over the summer to help them get into a good mood for a great semester.   I teach accounting.   A lot of my students start out with terrible attitudes.  That misery can be contagious.  

“This is going to be so boring.”

“I’m going to hate this.”

“This stuff is utterly useless.” 

“I’d rather be eaten slowly by ants than take this course.”  

Great teaching is impossible if students cling to that type of attitude.  I simply cannot ignore the negative assumptions running through my students’ heads.  I know they are there.  Although my summer emails have a lot of different goals, a main one is just helping the students develop a proper attitude about the upcoming course. 

Here is an email that I sent out to my fall students today (actually about 20 minutes ago).

To:   Accounting Students (for the fall semester)

From:   JH

I read a lot.   It helps keep me from getting too old too fast.   Occasionally, I read something that I want to share with my students (you).   It could be about school or business or life or learning or corn flakes or whatever.   Usually, I simply think, “Wow, this might help some of my students in some interesting way.”  After 47 years of working with people exactly your age, I’d like to think I have some knowledge of what might be beneficial.  

The words that caught my attention this morning came from Samuel Goldwyn.   In case you don’t know the name, this bio sentence comes from Wikipedia (the fount of all knowledge):   “He was most well known for being the founding contributor and executive of several motion picture studios in Hollywood.”  In other words, he produced a lot of great movies.

Here is the quote that got me thinking this morning.  I liked it because I could not agree more.   

         “No person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life.”

Our class begins in exactly 50 days (not that I’m counting).  As far as I’m concerned, your “work” is this class and learning as much as possible.  I receive questions frequently from students asking how to do well.  One important piece of advice is to be enthusiastic.   By that, I simply mean that you should walk in the first day with a positive attitude, one approaching excitement.  You want to have a positive feeling about the class, the material, and yourself.   “This is going to be a great experience and I am going to do my best.”  That’s it.  At the start of every class, I’ll gladly settle for a little enthusiasm like that.  Write it on the cover of your notebook.   

I have no interest in watching you look miserable.  That brings me no delight.  I don’t care about your smarts.  I don’t care about your GPA or anything like that.  However, I will simply be delighted if you bring some enthusiasm with you on August 27.  Don’t try to impress me by seeing how bored you can look.  

I cannot guarantee an A.   Things don’t work that way.   I can guarantee that if you have enthusiasm, you should be able to maximize your grade.  And, you WILL maximize your enjoyment.  You will maximize what you learn and understand.   You will feel better about the class and about the material and about yourself.   A little enthusiasm (I don’t need a lot) invariably leads to nothing but good things.

What do I mean by enthusiasm?  That is simple.  Here are three components.

--Be willing to do what I ask you to do without seeking shortcuts.   If I ask you to work four problems, you can’t just work two and quit.  You can’t just copy someone else’s answer.  The biggest problem that average students have is that they will procrastinate and then have to cut corners.  All they are doing is hoping for a C.  Be more enthusiastic than that.

--Come by my office to ask questions when you are confused.   Being willing to accept confusion is a perfect indication of no enthusiasm.  In class, my response to “I just couldn’t get this to work,” is always, “Why didn’t you come see me?”

--Manage to stay engaged for all 50 minutes of each class session and not just 25 minutes.  Daydreaming for 25 minutes is 100 percent a lack of enthusiasm.

That’s it – enthusiasm in three components.  In return, here’s what I offer.

I promise that I will be enthusiastic.   I will prepare for every single class.   I will not take shortcuts.  I will do my best to make this class fun, interesting, rewarding, challenging, intriguing, and inspiring.   But that is just my half.  Unless you are trying to waste your valuable time, you have to bring your own enthusiasm to the class. 

It is not my responsibility to make you enthusiastic.   Your attitude is your responsibility.   If you simply assume that this course material is “useless,” “hard,” “boring,” and “confusing,” then you are undermining your own attitude and your own enthusiasm and your own enjoyment and your own success.

What do I want you to do between now and August 27?   Work on a positive attitude.   This course can be the greatest class you have ever taken.   But that will NOT happen if you lack enthusiasm.   During the fall semester, I want you to maximize learning, enjoyment, and, of course, your grade.   Those goals do not begin with me.   They begin with you and your ability to get a little excited about the upcoming semester.

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Okay, blog readers, it is time for you to do a little work.   I’m a big believer that if you want to get better at something, you should dissect it and study its parts.   This email is long and winding.   What all am I trying to accomplish?  Here is your assignment.   Write down 10 specific things that I hope to accomplish with this email – both through the tone and content.   There are a lot of motivational/guidance things going on here – what do you see?  You don’t have to agree with me but I think it is beneficial to take this letter apart sentence by sentence and see what I am trying to do.  

Then, pick out the 2 or 3 things that you like the most and ask yourself how you can do them.   As I have often written on this blog, I am not trying to clone you into being me.   I’m trying to help you think about teaching, learning, and students so you can become a better you.   I think identifying 10 things I’m trying to accomplish in this email is a good exercise.  Then, picking 2 or 3 that appeal to you especially and consider how you can convey that same message to your students.