BE INNOVATIVE IN FIVE EASY STEPS

My first class of the fall semester starts in 14 days.  It will be my 52^nd year as a college teacher.  I have been pondering how to get emotionally ready for the new batch of students.  How can I keep my teaching an exciting activity for me?  If I am not excited, why should the students be?

About two weeks ago, I flew to San Diego for a conference.  In the local Richmond airport, someone left behind a publication from the Harvard Business Review.  It was some type of “Best of” series that was probably available in one of the airport book shops.  I picked it up and read exactly one article in the few minutes that I had before boarding the plane.  That article was, “How Coca-Cola, Netflix, and Amazon Learn from Failure,” by Bill Taylor (originally published November 10, 2017). 

I am fascinated (obsessed) by how people and organizations manage to grow over time to become better and better.  So, it was my type of article.  I was immediately captivated by the following three sentences because I think they are absolutely true.  People talk endlessly about “innovation and creativity” yet, it can be hard sometimes to spot any actual innovation and creativity.  Many people would rather talk about innovation than be innovative.

From the HBR:  “I can’t tell you how many business leaders I meet, how many organizations I visit, that espouse the virtues of innovation and creativity. Yet so many of these same leaders and organizations live in fear of mistakes, missteps, and disappointments — which is why they have so little innovation and creativity. If you’re not prepared to fail, you’re not prepared to learn.”

Now, change the words “business leaders” in that quote to “college professors” and change "organizations" to "universities."  Does that change much about the quote?  Of course not!!!  Every university and every professor that I speak with talk about educational innovation and creativity.  Considering that this is 2022 and not 1982, it can be troubling to search for the results of those educational innovations.  Oh, I certainly know that there is always creativity.  However, given the problems of our planet, I personally doubt that there is enough. 

Taylor talks about the fear of failure as stifling for innovation.  Does that apply to you and your teaching?  As you begin a new semester, that is not a bad question to consider.

I think a problem that college teachers face is that we often view innovation as something that must be a major change, something that takes a lot of time and effort.  Obviously, if we only equate innovation with significant undertakings, then the fear of failure is real.  Everyone is cautious about taking a considerable risk that might well end in defeat.  We are not like Indiana Jones.  Most of us are not big risk-takers.

Does innovation have to be a high-stakes gamble?  

As you prepare for the fall semester, I want you to think about innovation in a different way.  What are a few tiny changes you can make in your class that could bring about improvement?  Don’t try to fix the world all at once.  Don’t attempt a major renovation.  Think about your classes and consider how a few small changes might lead to better and deeper student learning.  Small innovations can lead to real improvement without leaving you open to the possibility of extreme failure.  If they work, that is great.  The success will provide you with a foundation for more changes.  If they don’t work, then don’t do them again.  Keep it simple.

Whenever I talk with professors about educational changes, they always seem puzzled about where to start.  They want to change.  They want to teach better.  That is genuine.  They want deeper understanding by their students.  Nevertheless, they are not sure how to get innovation started.

Here is my advice in five easy steps.  Thinking this way helps me.  Try it.  Maybe it will help you. 

1—Picture the end of the fall semester.  Don’t get in a hurry.  Take your time.  Think about your class on the last day.  As specifically as you can, identify the characteristics or actions that you want to see in your students during that final session.  Assume the semester has gone perfectly.  Assume it is the best class you have ever taught.  How will your students act or what will they be able to do on that last day?  One of my mottoes (for myself and for my students) is, “Picture perfection.”  I don’t think we do that enough as teachers.  What would you like for that last class to look like?

2—Make a list of the Top 5 or 10 things that you would observe in this final, perfect class.  How do students act?  What do the students do that you like so well?  How have they grown?  Make it specific.  Create a list of what you would see.  “Smarter, more thoughtful students” doesn’t tell you anything – what does that mean on the last day of your class?

3—Make two columns.  One is headed, “Things I’m doing to get my students to this outcome.”  The second is headed, “Things I’m not yet doing to get my students to this outcome.”  You want to determine what you are currently doing in your class to move the students toward your “Perfect Class Goal.”  Thinking like this helps.  You also want to consider what new actions might push the students to where you want them to be.  It is this last column that is most important.  Spend serious time thinking about what you might try during the fall that would guide the group toward your perfect picture.  Don’t get in a rush.  This is an important assignment.  If you don’t have 10-20 things on the “not tried yet” list, you are not being creative and innovative enough.  Another one of my mottoes:  “The more ideas you have, the more likely it that you will have a good idea.”  So, let your imagination run wild.

4—Look at this last list carefully.  Don’t attempt to do everything!!!  That’s a problem that often stops teachers from pushing forward.  Instead, pick 2-3 things from this list that (a) might be effective and (b) can be carried out reasonably well in this coming semester.  In other words, when it comes to innovation, Think tiny.  These 2-3 changes will be the focus for your teaching this coming semester.  Something new.  These initiatives might fail, but they might not.  They are worth the risk.

5—Document your list of 2-3 innovative things for the fall semester.  Give yourself a definite plan.  (a) What are you going to do new and different?  (b) When are you going to do it?  (c) How are you going to implement it (although that might be self-evident)?  (d) How are you going to judge the results you achieve?  Try to make an assessment each week of the progress.  

You CAN be a more creative and innovative teacher.  I don’t care who you are.  The world needs that.  Whether you are young or old, the world needs more innovative teachers.  It is time to get started.

You CAN eventually achieve your perfect class, but it might well take 52 years. 

You MUST understand what your primary goal is for your students and then find some workable strategies to guide your push toward that improvement.  Think tiny.

If those ideas work, do them again in the spring semester and build on them toward more success. 

If they fail, try to fix them and give them another shot or do something different in the spring semester.  My third motto for this essay:  Failure is only failure if you stop trying. 

 

Best of luck to all my readers for a fabulous fall semester!!!!

TWO WAYS TO GET BETTER

One of my ongoing thoughts about teaching is, “Whether you are the best teacher in the world or the worst teacher, you can always improve.”  That is just common sense.  No matter what you teach or where you teach or who you teach or how long you have taught or how many awards you have won, you can always get better.  That aspirational realization pushes me forward every day as I seek to improve as a teacher.  Currently in the midst of my 98th semester as a teacher, that is a thought that I ponder every day.  How can I help my 65 students learn more, learn better, learn deeper?

Whenever I talk with other college teachers, I often encounter a sense of resignation, “No matter what I do, I’m never going to get better.  Why should I even try?”

That is utter nonsense.  Everyone can get better.  I have no doubt about that.  However, you must (a) honestly want to improve and (b) have a willingness to try new tactics and techniques rather than wasting your time explaining why every new idea will fail to yield positive results.  

Let me give you two ideas.  Perhaps, one or the other will help.  Or, possibly, these thoughts might push you to come up with you own innovations.  

(1) – As I have said multiple times on this blog, nothing improves the learning process more than having students walk into class prepared to learn.  Students often resist preparing because they see no benefit accruing from the work they are asked to do.  So, for every class, create a “Problem of the Day.”  Give it to them in advance and tell them they will solve it at the next class session.  Make it unique, creative, and as thoughtful as possible.  Don’t bore them.  Intrigue them.  Do it every day so that it becomes automatic for them.  Tell your students that you will help them address the problem during class.  Together you will analyze each “Problem of the Day” but they must walk in knowing the facts, understanding the issues, and being able to explain alternative approaches and solutions.  Create each as a puzzle – every college student loves to solve clever puzzles.  

If you teach art history, you might create a “Problem of the Day” like this:  Assume in 1498, a 15-year old Raphael is studying Primavera, one of the most influential paintings of all time.  The artist Botticelli walks in and Raphael shouts at him, “You are going to rot in Hell for creating this painting!”  At our next class, tell us why you think Raphael would have felt this way?  As Raphael grew older, how might his opinion of this masterpiece have changed?  How do you think Botticelli should have responded to his young critic?

Or, if you teach literature, a “Problem of the Day” could be:  We recently read and discussed Madame Bovary, a book written by a French author (Gustave Flaubert) and published in 1856.  It concerns a woman, her husband, and her lover.  In despair, she commits suicide.  Our current book is Anna Karenina, a book written by a Russian author (Leo Tolstoy) and published in serial installments between 1873 and 1877.  It concerns a woman, her husband, and her lover.  In despair, she commits suicide.  Select one key event found in Anna Karenina and compare it to a similar event found in Madame Bovary.  Describe how the resulting narrative might have been influenced by (a) being written by different authors, (b) being written in different countries, (c) being written in different times, or (d) being published in different forms.

Or, if you teach history, a “Problem of the Day” could be:  Stonewall Jackson died less than two months before the Battle of Gettysburg.  Speculate on how the results of that battle (and, hence, the rest of the American civil war) might have been different had he still been alive.

Or, here is a “Problem of the Day” that my introductory accounting students discussed in class TODAY:  Ace Company owns land that it bought 20 years ago for $40,000.  Now, it is worth $65,000.  Ace is preparing financial statements and trying to decide whether to report the land at $40,000 or $65,000.  Give one good reason for reporting each of these numbers.  If you were in charge of creating accounting rules, would you choose the $40,000 or the $65,000?  What is the real rule?  Why is that the rule?  Do you like that?

My students had a fabulous conversation about that “Problem of the Day.”  They came in prepared and the discussion was quite animated.

A “Problem of the Day” does not have to be overly complex.  It merely has to be (a) interesting/intriguing, (b) a topic that carries the learning process forward, and (c) a question that requires the students to do some thinking prior to walking into the classroom.  However, you absolutely must make use of that problem at some key point during the designated class or your students will not prepare for your next “Problem of the Day.”  Never ask them to do work and then ignore that assignment.

Create a new “Problem of the Day” for every class of the semester and, I think, you will be amazed by how much better your students prepare for class, how much more they learn during class, and how much more they enjoy the class.  

(2) – Students simply don’t know what they don’t know.  They leave class each day with no good way to measure whether their learning is adequate.  Previously, in this blog, I have discussed “Swiss Cheese Knowledge” which is student understanding that looks solid to them but is actually full of holes.  

Consequently, as often as possible, maybe once or twice each week, email them a follow up problem immediately after class (well, within 24 hours) and simply say, “If you can address the following question, then you successfully learned what I wanted you to learn in class today.  I have included a rubric to show how I would have graded this question on a test.  What grade do you believe I would have given your answer?  If that grade is what you want, then move on to something else.  Your knowledge is solid.  If that grade is not what you want, ask yourself (or me) what do you need to do now to attain the level of understanding that you want.” 

I have the benefit of decades of teaching so I usually know what they do not yet know, where the holes in their knowledge are most likely to be hidden.  Over the years, I have developed a series of test-like questions to follow up each topic of conversation.  I email a new question to them as needed.  I usually set a time-limit to help them gauge the difficulty level, “You should be able to come up with reasonable answers in 15 minutes.  Then use the rubric to grade yourself.  Let me know if you need assistance.”  I find that students are more likely to do a post-class problem if you provide time guidance.  That way they know they are not expected to get bogged down for hours.
**
Can any teachers use these two techniques to help students (a) be better prepared each day for a rousing class discussion and (b) gauge what level of understanding they have achieved and where additional work might be needed?  Sure.  Why not?

Would these suggestions help you?
I honestly don’t know.  I use both of them religiously and think they help
But that is me.
The only way to know is to try one or both.  
As with almost any educational experiment, you’ll probably need to play around with the ideas to see what works best in your class with your students.
I do think they are worth a try.
Because
Whether you are the best teacher in the world or the worst, you can always get better.  
Try something new.

IDEAS, IDEAS, IDEAS

If you have read this blog for any length of time, you know that one of my primary recommendations for improved teaching is the “Three E’s.”   Experiment, Evaluate, and Evolve.   I am not sure anyone can become a better teacher if they don’t take this path in some form.   

For that reason, I am always a bit surprised that I don’t have more people coming up to me to tell me about their teaching experiments.  Oh sure, I get a few emails now and then.  But never as many as I would like.  I think all teachers should be bubbling with excitement (my fourth E) over their current attempts to improve teaching.  Every college campus should be an incubator for wonderful new teaching ideas.  Think how education in this world would improve immediately and dramatically if all campuses served as incubators for innovative new teaching ideas.  Does your campus qualify?  If so, let me know.

Why don’t we experiment more?   I could probably list a dozen possible reasons but, I suspect, one underlying cause is a lack of confidence.

--“Oh, this idea won’t really work.”

--“If this idea was actually good, someone else would have already done it.”

--“I’m probably just wasting my time and I don’t have time to waste.”

--“I’ve tried a couple of experiments over the years and they have not improved my teaching.  I’ll stick with what I’ve always done.”  

We are probably all guilty of boxing ourselves in with personal barriers that limit our potential.  As the famous quote (from the comic strip “Pogo”) explains:   “We have met the enemy and he is us.”  We hold ourselves back.  Okay, maybe you don’t, but I sure do.  

Let’s try a test.  The spring semester is about 4-7 weeks old.   How much have you experimented so far this semester?   Don’t give a random answer.  Make a list of specific experiments so you can truly judge.

If your answer to this question is “not much,” then the next question has to be asked:  “why not?”   I might be wrong but I bet many teachers hold a core belief that the results of experiments will not be worth the effort.   Why work so hard if you don’t think you can make your classes better?

How can you get started?  How can you break out of the rut you are in?  How can you start innovating?   I believe it all starts with generating ideas.  If you are going to teach better (heck, if you are going to do anything better), you need to develop the skill of coming up with ideas.

So, today, I want to inspire you with a story from my campus.  Last week, Marc Randolph (who co-founded Netflix with Reed Hastings) was at the Robins School of Business to speak.   You can read all about the speech at

 http://www.richmond.com/business/netflix-co-founder-s-lesson-on-entrepreneurship-if-you-don/article_340f2913-f8ac-53e9-a4db-a9f4a6c5e67e.html

I want to mention three key passages from his speech.  I hope his words will inspire you to come up with some new teaching ideas and then I want you to go into class and try them.  Experiment, evaluate, and evolve must always start with ideas.

First, Randolph clearly agrees with my assertion that lots of ideas are needed before you are likely to spot good ideas.  One experiment alone rarely hits the jackpot.  Developing and trying ideas needs to be a core part of every course.   According to Randolph “It turns out that success is directly proportionate to how many ideas you try, and the number of ideas that you try is directly proportionate to how quickly and how cheaply you can test them.”   Experiment a lot and evaluate as quickly as possible.

Second, don’t wait around for ideas to fall on your head.  The real key to success is to always be looking for those ideas.   According to Randolph, “Ideas do not spring out of thin air at some mythical eureka moment.  You have to look for ideas.  You’ve got to train yourself to see them when they appear.  The idea for Netflix, for example, did not come from some moment of anguish over a late fee on a movie.  We were looking for that idea.  We looked for a long time, and it was buried in a big pile of bad ideas.  We didn’t even find it in a video store.  We actually had the idea for Netflix while we were carpooling.”  If you wait for eureka moments, you will be waiting a long time.  Unless you are Archimedes, they do not happen often.  Examine every aspect of teaching and think about how each might be done differently.  Search for new ways of doing every task.

Third, don’t be discouraged when you encounter doubters.  At first, every great new idea only makes sense to a very few people.  The rest are locked into the old paradigm.   If you believe that an idea will work, don’t get in a hurry to give up on it.   Randolph tells a fabulous story about the starting years of Netflix when they asked the video giant Blockbuster to buy Netflix in order to create a new type of video company.  Blockbuster had 60,000 employees and $6 billion revenue.  Netflix had 100 employees and $5 million revenue.  Blockbuster officials laughed at the idea of needing to buy Netflix.  Ten years later, Netflix dominated the industry and drove Blockbuster into bankruptcy.   The Netflix founders could have been discouraged but they believed in their vision.  Now, they are the giant and Blockbuster has long since faded into oblivion.  According to the newspaper article:  “’I’m not the kind of guy who gloats about driving a big company into bankruptcy,’ Randolph said with a grin.  ‘I actually tell this story for a different reason, because in some ways it’s an inspiring story, about how a handful of people with no experience in the video business and with nothing more than some ideas, and some persistence, could take down a $6 billion market leader.” 

Lessons for today.

--Have lots of ideas.  As a teacher, experiment as often as possible.  Make it a central part of your teaching.  There’s no better way to improve.

--Learn to look for ideas.  If you look for them, great ideas are all around us.  But they won’t knock you on the head, you have to be looking.  I cannot stress enough the importance of always watching for new teaching ideas.

--Plenty of people will tell you that your ideas won’t work.  They take pride in finding flaws.  If you truly believe in your ideas, be persistent.  Don’t give up just because people don’t automatically understand your vision.   Experiment, evaluate, and evolve.   You’ll be amazed by how quickly you become one of the best teachers in your building and at your school.

Get the incubator started. 

Lots of Teaching Tips for the Next New Semester

My good friend Paul Clikeman (University of Richmond accounting professor) forwarded the following quote to me.   It is from the poet Robert Frost and was recently mentioned in the CPA Letter Daily:  

“I am not a teacher, but an awakener."  

Isn’t that just a wonderful quote?   Most importantly, doesn’t that put a fabulous spin on what we do every day in the classroom?   In many ways, we are working to awake the natural curiosity of our students.   I am convinced that, somewhere deep down inside, virtually all students really do want to learn.   They seek inspiration and guidance (from us).   I think a great quote such as this one can change our entire outlook in a positive manner.

***

I recently gave a teaching presentation here at the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond.   I wanted people to think about teaching as we near the end of the current semester so I asked the members of our Business School faculty to respond to the following scenario:    

   “Let’s assume that a brand new Ph. D. shows up to join our faculty and asks you the following 

   question:   ‘I want to be a really good teacher here at Richmond.   I don’t have much teaching 

   experience so far.  What one piece of advice would you give me to help me get started on my 

   way?’”

Seems like a valid question.   What really are key points to becoming a better teacher?   I received quite a number of great responses from my fellow teachers.   They are listed below.  

Okay, other than read this list of suggestions, what should you do with them?   Well, I am a big believer in the power of evaluation.   Here is my advice:   Read through them all carefully and then pick the three that seem most appropriate for you and your teaching.   You cannot possibly follow everyone’s advice.   You need to evaluate, rank, and choose.   Read them all, pick three, and try to work those three into your teaching in some way during the spring semester.  See if they really do work.

You can never improve without experimenting.   Here are some suggestions that might lead to some worthwhile experimentation during the coming semester.

And, of course, I’ve picked my top tips.   If you are curious about my selections, drop me an email at Jhoyle@richmond.edu and I’ll tell you which ones meant the most to me.

**

---Keep experimenting and make at least one change (e.g., new case; new assignment; new pedagogical approach) each semester.  Even if the “experiment” fails, you’ll still very likely learn something from it, and it keeps boredom and burnout at bay.

---Cold call. It's simple, but it works. Students will be more prepared and more engaged.

---Know yourself and be true to who you are.  Celebrate your students for who they are as unique persons. 

---The starting point is being prepared and enthusiastic. Don't be too ambitious; not everyone in your class is going to graduate school! 

---Mix up the floor plan. When discussing more personal topics, I move the tables to the side and make a circle with chairs. This changes the tone of the class.  

---My advice is to avoid using Power Point supported formal lectures to present materials.

---Understand the material so well that you can take it apart from the students' perspectives.   

---At the end of each week of teaching, ask students to answer two questions on a sheet of paper. “What was the most important thing you learned this week? What is it that we covered but you still don't understand?”  Then collect the papers. During the next class, go over the topics where there was some consensus that they didn't get it.  You will be a better teacher and your students will also recognize that they learned something! 

---In Week One, give students a simple example of a typical problem covered in the course. In finance, I tell them that this course is about making investment decisions which is a creative process based on assumptions, intuition and experience. Accounting and mathematics are tools that we use to help make good financial decisions.

---Be enthusiastic and creative.  It's pretty basic, but it works for me.

---Some use of the Socratic Method - Asking a lot of questions and guiding students to solve problems on their own. 

---Making students do the problems - helping them to learn by trial and error.

---Balance - Trying to find the right balance between me doing a lot of the work such as using power points / diagrams / charts / explanations to frame out the key issues and thus simplifying things for them vs. teaching the students to start doing this type of analysis / thinking on their own.  Want to turn them from simply "regurgitating" information into learning how to become problem solvers, which will be a key to future success in business.

---Vary your voice level - a monotone is the worst! - but if you add what are called "paralinguistics" or what I call "peaks and valleys," - word emphasis, loudness, body language - you are more likely to keep students' attention.  You can then use the old—and extremely effective—trick of dropping your voice to a whisper all at once or stopping completely.  The absence of sound wakes even the heaviest sleeper!

---I think my advice to a new professor would be to make one's expectations of the students very clear at the outset and emphasize them repeatedly.  For example, I post my notes, take my exam questions from my notes, and post a review sheet for each exam that clearly outlines topics that will be covered.  I also explain in class and on the syllabus that this is my methodology.  For their group presentations, I post the score sheet that I will use (and that their peers will use) in grading them.   By using this approach, I have found that most students meet my expectations, and it is VERY clear which ones are not applying themselves. 

---Ask for feedback from your students regularly during the semester and take is seriously.  Be willing to modify syllabus or schedules or assessment, based on what is helping students to be engaged and to learn.  I learn a ton from listening to my students—and have almost always made modifications (well-communicated to the students) over the course of the semester, based on how a given class learns. 

---Here is a method that I’m trying to use in my intro classes since students may not have enough background to understand how businesses work. I try to start with an appropriate real life example for the topic. For example, when I cover accounts receivable in introductory accounting, I use a short 5-minute video showing how ZZZZ Best Carpet Cleaning Co. recorded faked sales using receivables.   Tomorrow, I will be teaching variance analysis in 202 and I start with an example from McDonald’s.  It is about the significant price variation (90¢ vs $2) in chicken wings after McDonald’s introduced its McWrap menu.  

---I think most college students aren't adventurous thinkers.  I want the students in the class to think boldly so I've tried two things:   1. Ask them to and 2. Give them support when they do.  A student recently responded adventurously to an assignment about a marketing idea. The idea he presented to the class was silly, but it was clear he was stretching.  After talking through the merits and shortcomings of the idea, the class and I gave him a round of applause for boldness.   The compulsion to be correct inhibits bold thinking.  I think we should fight that. 

---Assign seats in the 3rd week of class. I did this for the 1st time this semester and it helps a lot with the classroom atmosphere, in my opinion. It splits up the various groups and lets them know that you are serious.  I spend 15 minutes after doing so and have them introduce their seat mate. They get one extra credit point on the final for filling out a questionnaire that I give them (so perhaps they don't see it as punitive). I am also going to do it again tomorrow because the class needs waking up. I assign the seats using excel and the random number generator in it. 

---Make a written plan for every class with specific goals and activities to achieve those goals.  Immediately after class, review how that class went within the context of the plan and make notes of what worked and what did not.  In light of this information, make a list of the changes that you will make so that this particular lesson will be more effective the next time when you teach the class.

---Don't waste the first day of class - it is the most important day of the semester. Don't tell them you use the Socratic method - start asking them questions. Don't describe what they will learn in class - put a question from last year's final exam on the board and ask them to answer it. Don't hand out the syllabus until the last 15 minutes.

---Resist the temptation to give them the answer too soon. It's hard to watch people struggle, but it's worth the extra (eternity-seeming) minute. 

---I find I'm most effective as a teacher when I remember what first got me excited about an idea or a topic and I am able to transfer that excitement and enthusiasm to my students.  Enthusiasm and true excitement are contagious or at least do not go unnoticed, and students seem to respond positively to it.  

---I've scrapped power point and I couldn't be happier. Students look at me and each other rather than trying to frantically scribble everything on the slide.