THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF TEACHING

As some of you might know, about five years ago I cofounded the website www.CPAreviewforFREE.com.   Since that time, we have provided CPA exam candidates with 2,400 free questions and answers which are (in my opinion) well written and well explained.  We do this because we firmly believe that everyone needs access to affordable materials so that they have a reasonable opportunity of passing the CPA exam.  The CPA profession should be open to all people, even those who cannot afford expensive study guides and review materials.  Over the years, many candidates have passed the exam solely using our questions and answers.  These are often young people with very limited resources.   These are the kinds of folks who keep the profession fresh, active, and innovative.

We have been searching for some way to fund this site so that we can continue to offer this assistance for free.   Over the last couple of months, I have been writing an entire book on Achieving Success.   I am thrilled with the way it has turned out – even better than I had hoped.   We will publish the book in January or February for under $10 (with proceeds going to support www.CPAreviewforFREE.com).   

More information will be available soon but I wanted to get this book on your radar.  It is intended as a guide for anyone who wants to become more successful:   more successful in school, more successful at work, more successful on tests, and just more successful in life.   You can never be successful 100 percent of the time but you can certainly increase the odds for success by adopting logical (and reasonable) strategies.   Success does not happen by accident.

When the book is published in early 2014, I hope you will consider buying a copy and telling your friends, neighbors, relatives, enemies, and anyone else you encounter all about it.   You will be helping us continue our mission AND I hope that my thoughts on achieving success will prove to be beneficial.

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I was in San Francisco a few days ago on business and had some time to waste.   So, I wandered around the city and played one of my favorite games.   In this game, I assume that I am a rich business owner who has an unlimited number of jobs to fill.   I need one of everything:   one bus driver, one plumber, one dish washer, etc.   As I walk from place to place and go in and out of buildings, I ask myself which people I would hire.   Who catches my attention for doing a particularly good job?   And, just as importantly, what did they do that caught my attention?  I am trying to figure out what makes someone excellent at their work.   I am obviously fascinated by success and this is one way that I can better see what leads to success.  Focusing on the essential nature of success helps a person become more successful. 

In life, a few people are terrible at their vocations whereas a great majority are basically average.   Luckily, the remaining folks (a relatively small number) are absolutely excellent.   What makes this last batch so very good at what they do?   How does Mr. A manage to do his job so much better than Mr. B?   What can we learn from these people?

For example, while I was in San Francisco, I had to rush across town and then hurry back to work.   The driver of the taxicab was wonderful.   He stayed calm in heavy traffic and was both friendly and helpful.   I would have hired him for my company.   I liked his attitude.  I liked his efficiency.   I liked his calm control while he navigated through all the cars.   If I drove a cab, I would want to be like him.

Later that day, I went to a deli (a large chain) and ordered a sandwich.   Four employees stood in line behind the counter making sandwiches.   Three of these people never looked at me even once, never smiled, never seemed to care if I lived or died.   However, the third person in the line looked up with a kind smile and asked how she could be of help.   She actually listened to my request and made the sandwich in the way that I had asked.   She was quick and efficient.   I would have gladly hired her for my company.   Her attitude made my day a bit brighter and she did her work with a genuine sense of enthusiasm.   If I made sandwiches for a living, I would want to be like her.

There are two ways to do things – the right way and the wrong way.   I was looking for people who did their job the right way.   And, they are out there but you will see them only if you look.

This game got me to thinking.   Let’s assume that I was going to hire someone to teach at my school.   What characteristics would I search for?   This question intrigued me so much that, on the plane trip home, I made a list of characteristics that I would be looking for if I was given the task of hiring one exceptional teacher.   Here is my list but you might want to stop before reading and make your own list for comparison purposes.   Remember, though, how I have defined the position:   a person to teach at your school.

Because I stopped at ten items, I refer to this as my Ten Commandments of Teaching.

--Walks in every day adequately prepared.   No one ever teaches well making up the lessons on the spot.   No one becomes a great teacher by just reading Power Point slides to the students.

--Has a true sense of what he or she wants to accomplish.   If you have a reasonable understanding of what you want your students to know on the last day of class, the entire semester goes better.   (I wrote about this in one of my first blog entries “Thinking about Teaching” way back on February 28, 2010.)

--Is able to impart a sense of excitement about the material.  If the teacher shows no enthusiasm, why should the students get excited?

--Is able to engage the students so that the energy for learning comes from them instead of being forced on them.

--Is fair to all students.   The education process breaks down almost immediately if students feel they are being treated unfairly.   Fairness usually requires a lot of open and frank communications.

--Stays as far away from memorization as is humanly possible.   With modern day technology, education needs to focus on using information rather than memorizing it.

--Cares about the students as individuals.  Teachers and students should be on the same side and not come to be rivals or enemies.   

--Makes efficient use of class time.   At my school, we have the students in class for 150 minutes each week.   That is not a lot of time.   It is important to make good use of every one of those minutes.

--Works to teach 100 percent of the students and not just the top 10 percent.

--Is not put off when students claim “I am stupid,” “I am lazy,” “I cannot do this.”  Education teaches students to push for a low threshold.   Don’t let them pull that trick.   If you don’t demand excellence, you’ll never get it.

Okay, what would you add or delete?   This was just the list that I came up with on a plane flight across the country.   But, I believe that a person who followed this list would likely be an outstanding teacher.   This job is not rocket science.   I think it is important to take the mystery out of teaching.   Most of us know what it takes to become excellent.   In fact, as you can see from my list, it is basically just common sense.  

Now, do one more thing.  Take your list or take my list.   That makes no difference.   Look at each of those ten commandments very carefully and give yourself a grade on each one.    Where are you strong and where are you weak?   That can be amazingly helpful as you strive to become a better teacher.   For the 2-3 areas where you give yourself the lowest grade, make it your goal over the next week or two to focus on them in particular.   If you can locate weaknesses and address them with some serious effort, your chances of becoming a great teacher go up immediately.

Make it your long term goal to be the type of teacher that an outside person would see and immediately say “If I were hiring someone to teach at my school, it would be that person because that’s a person who knows what it takes to be successful and can make learning happen.”

THREE WEEKS DOWN

If you have read this blog for long, you must know that I put considerable stress on communicating with my students, often by email. I believe open and honest communication is a key for all successful relationships. These communications give you a chance to guide your students toward the outcomes that you want. They allow you to motivate the students, to keep pushing them forward (“I know this seems hard but you are smart enough to do these problems with a bit of work”). They provide a chance for positive feedback – “the class was especially good today” is never a bad acknowledgement – one that students often never hear. They enable you to correct actions that you don’t like (“not very many of you had worked problem 5 for today; I’ll expect a better effort at the next class”). Communications help the teacher to prepare the students for upcoming material – “we are really going to stress the computation of interest expense at our next class so make absolutely sure you’ve studied pages 456-458 in the textbook.”

Here is an email that I sent out to my students in one of my classes after the third week of the semester. Notice how many things I was trying to accomplish with this one communication. That’s a good test question for you – how many things am I trying to do here?

“To My Students

“Okay, we have finished our first 3 weeks. Our first test is a bit over 2 weeks away (October 1). Not a bad time to stop and evaluate how things are progressing.

“How are you doing? I’m constantly trying to assess how each class is doing. I think about that in general terms – how is the class as a whole doing? I also think about that in individual terms – how are you (yes, you) doing? I only have 23 students in intermediate accounting this semester so I can do some serious thinking about you individually. (A close friend of mine teaches classes of 400-500 at another school – he has no way to keep personal track of each student. I do.)

“In many ways, I’m really interested in how quickly you catch on to what I’m doing so you can get on board with the process. In any intermediate accounting course, I always have a few students who assume it’s still a high school class and treat it that way. I’m glad to say, though, that most of you are beginning to pick up the system. There are many moments when I'm quite pleased with you especially when we get to a point where we start seeing how things in accounting fit together.

“How do I view this class?

--I expect you to prepare very well on a consistent basis. I do my half of the work every day; I expect you to do your half of the work. You have daily questions from me. You have a huge textbook. You have last spring’s test along with answers. You can easily make use of 60-90 minutes between each class. I often say TIME equals POINTS and I believe that is true. The best thing you can do to do better in this class is put in more time. "How can I make use of more time?" is never a bad question to ask yourself. Too many students ask “how quickly can I get finished?”

--Then, you come to class and I throw bizarre questions at you – often different than the ones I have given you to prepare. What I am trying to do is teach you how to take what you’ve prepared and use it (on the spot) to figure out something else. I am teaching you how to answer questions that you haven’t seen before by a quick analysis and a genuine understanding of what’s gone before.

--Then, you go back to the library or your dorm and spend 30-40 minutes assimilating what you’ve learned so that you can use it in answering future weird questions.

--I think all of that is a skill/talent worth developing. That’s something you can use in the real world regardless of your major.

--The four keys to this process as I see it: (1) preparation and (2) “figure it out” and (3) assimilate for future use and (4) consistency.

“When all of the above goes well, the class should be fun. You should look forward to coming to class and be surprised and disappointed that our 50 minutes together has flown by. I know things are going well when people tell me ‘I wish all my classes were this interesting.’

“How do some students seem to view this class?

--These students believe that preparation is a waste of time because the teacher (me) is going to tell them what they need to know in class. Their preparation is, at best, a half-hearted affair.

--In class, they pray they won’t get called on. They write down what anyone and everyone says with the assumption that they’ll memorize it all the night before the test. All real learning is deferred and replaced by a cram system.

--The problem is that when they get to the test and I throw a bizarre question at them, it doesn’t match up with the memorized material in their head and they haven’t determined how to analyze and figure out a reasonable answer.

--This system only works if the teacher is going to ask you to repeat back what you have been told. I won’t do that.

“In addition, that type of class is just flat boring.

“So far, at least in general, I’m not unhappy. Not at all. Oh, I throw out questions occasionally and feel we should get better answers but that always happens. It’s hard to understand gravel or gift cards until you’ve worked through it for a while. Or, I ask something directly from a previous class and get a “deer in the headlights look” that says “I haven’t thought about this one second since we last discussed it.” But, you are getting better each day and I’m not looking for perfection. We've made 3 weeks of progress in 3 weeks.

"That’s sufficient for me.

“I’m just looking for preparation and the willingness to try to figure things out. (A genuine curiosity is a big help in my class and in life.)

“Come see me if you need help.

“And, remember, a good grade on the first test is nice but it isn’t a guarantee of great things to come. And, a bad grade on the first test is not the end of the world. It’s just a first test, a way to gauge how you are doing in this somewhat unusual class.

“If nothing else, enjoy the process.”

I Have An Assignment For You

My wife often watches “Morning Joe” on cable television as she gets ready for the new day. It is a group of people who discuss and debate politics and the world in general each morning. Last week, I wandered through and the people on the show that morning were discussing education. Just as I passed by, one person asserted: “We all know how to get great education: Demand Excellence and Expect Excellence.”

Demand Excellence and Expect Excellence. Hmm, sounds good. I wonder how many of us really do that? Do we really demand excellence from our students? Really? In fact, do we really demand excellence from ourselves? Or, maybe, they are just two sides to the same coin.

RESPONSE ONE TO MORNING JOE: After hearing the commentator, I immediately walked to my study and sent an email to one of my students. “You made a D on your first test in my class. Since then, I have not noticed one iota of improvement. None. You are not one bit better prepared for my class. You are not trying any harder as far as I can see. I can only surmise that your primary goal is to make a D in my class.”

The next day in class that student was clearly better prepared. Not sure how long it will last but it was nice to see him more engaged.

Was I demanding more excellence from him or was the email a way of demanding more excellence in my own teaching?

RESPONSE TWO TO MORNING JOE: However, that was not the part of “Demand Excellence and Expect Excellence” that really stuck with me. Since then, I have wondered a lot about two questions. First, what do I mean by excellence? Second, do my students understand what I mean by excellence?

How can I demand excellence if I don’t know what it means?
How can I expect excellence if my students don’t know what I mean?

Excellence is a word that is bounced around a lot in teaching. But is it just a word or does it have a real meaning to you?

So, I have an assignment for you. Write a short paragraph where you describe what you mean by a person being an excellent student in your class. Should be simple stuff. In your class, what is excellence? Is excellence just being able to achieve a certain score on a test? Surely not. If so, no wonder our education system is troubled.

For your students, what do you really mean by the term “excellence?” Then, email that paragraph directly to your students (and send me a copy at Jhoyle@richmond.edu).

Here’s what I mean by student excellence (not good, but truly excellent):
The student needs to come to every class having prepared and thought about the assignment so that they can discuss and debate each question with the teacher and other students. They need to show me that they understand the material so well that they can legitimately address any and all related questions. It’s not the first question that counts but where they can go from there. They don’t have to be right but their answers have to show a logical thought process. They need to spend sufficient time immediately after class organizing and reviewing our discussions so they can start to see the patterns and structure that form the foundation for the discipline. Then, they need to prove that they have gained a working understanding of this knowledge. They have the opportunity of doing this by showing me on a test that they can take a question they’ve never seen before and break it down into its component parts so that they can connect it to the logic and structure of the discipline in the same way we have done in class. In other words, they can use that connection to come up with a resolution to a problem that makes sense and that they can support.

In my class, that is excellence.
That really does deserve an A.

The Very First Question

My first class of the 2011-2012 academic year will be next Monday at 9 a.m. If you have followed this blog for long, you know that I only teach by using a Socratic Method approach. I distribute questions in advance and then discuss those or related questions for the entire class time. I want a thoughtful conversation. This allows me to stick with my 50-50 goal (I do 50 percent of the talking and they do 50 percent of the talking).

I am a big believer that it is important to get each new class off to the proper start. You set a tone at the beginning that carries through for the entire semester. If you are funny, they’ll expect you to be funny from now on. If you do 100 percent of the talking, they’ll assume that this is the way you teach every single day.

Consequently, I spend a lot of time thinking about the tone I am creating during that first class. By now, I have already sent my students 4-5 emails so I fully expect them to be prepared on Monday morning and ready to go. I like creating a bit of urgency right from the beginning – this is important stuff and we cannot afford to waste our time. I believe that myself so why not convey this message.

This semester I have focused a lot of my attention on the very first question that I am going to ask. What do I want my students to think about immediately starting right at 9:00 a.m.?

I may change my mind by Monday but the question I plan to ask (as I type this) is: “if our class works perfectly this semester, if you and I both do all that we can possibly do and things go great, how will you be different at the end of the semester?”

Only a very few words but I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this question. Why do I like it?

--First and foremost, it focuses on the change that can occur in them. Students typically think about class in terms of learning. I’m not nearly as interested in learning (which can sound like the memorization of the Gettysburg Address). I want them to think about class in terms of how it will change them. In December, as a result of this class, I want them to walk out as different people. How is my class going to make that happen? I think “learning” simply understates the potential impact of a college class. I want them to be different; I want them to be better people in some definable way. And, I think they are more likely to get there if they consider what that change may be.

--Second, I want them to connect what they do with that change. Benefits don't happen by accident I want the students to realize that their “work” and their “change” are closely related. It is not just the passage of time that counts. That only makes you older. It is the work carried out during the semester that creates change in the student. I want them to realize that the more they work, the more they will change (and grow).

--Third, I definitely want my students to understand that the learning process is a team effort. It is not my job alone. Likewise, it is not just them operating by themselves. “If you AND I both do all that we can possibly do . . .” I often tell my students that class is like performing a dance such as the waltz. One party leads but both parties have to do an equal share of the work. A dance where only one person does any real work is an awkward mess. However, a dance where both people work together can lead to wonderful results. I inform students that I will do my half of the work but I will absolutely not do more than my half. It is their education and they have to be willing to do their share of the work.

--Fourth, I want the students to know that there is risk involved. I never never never take it for granted that a class will be a success. For me, “if” is always a scary word. “If this class works perfectly this semester,” sends the message that things might not work well. Benefit is not guaranteed. Students often seem to feel that if they merely persevere until the last day, they will accrue whatever benefit that is available. School = Perseverance = Success. No, some students gain immensely in my class whereas others obtain literally no benefit. I want to show students the opportunity that is available to them. But it may not happen There is a great benefit to be gained but only if we both do the work necessary.

Now, I have a question for you. And, I’d love to hear your response: When you walk into class on the first day of the semester and you are ready to get started (you’ve gone over the course outline or whatever housekeeping you have to do), what is the very first question that you ask your students. I’m definitely curious. Let me know – I might change. Send me your “first question” at Jhoyle@richmond.edu.

Summer Time – Time to File Away Those Names?

I have mentioned several times on this blog that I would strongly urge anyone who wants to become a better teacher to keep a blog. There are always two reasons for that piece of advice.

First, I just feel that working out your thoughts on paper is very helpful in establishing what you really think and believe. Until I see it on paper, I’m never sure how I feel. Thus, I was delighted to read the following in Time magazine last week from the renowned historian David McCullough. “The loss of people writing—writing a composition, a letter or a report—is not just the loss for the record. It’s the loss of the process of working your thoughts out on paper, of having an idea that you would never had had if you weren’t (writing). And that’s a handicap People (I research) were writing letters every day. That was calisthenics for the brain.”

Second, keeping a blog gives you a chance to share your ideas with folks around the world. The Internet is a marvel in that way. I can sit here in Richmond, Virginia, and have a slight impact on education in dozens of countries. School is out for the summer in many places but, last month, this blog had nearly 1,300 page views. What struck me as most interesting was that the top 10 countries for accessing the site were: United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Spain, India, Israel, Iran, Ukraine, Canada, and Australia. As a wonderful example, there was an average of approximately one view per day for that entire month from the country of Iran. I am so appreciative of everyone who reads my thoughts here.

You probably have as much to say about teaching as I do, if not more. People cannot benefit from your ideas if they have no way to read them. Go blog.
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I have just finished my 40th year as a college professor. From the first day I walked into a classroom, I have always wanted to be more than a teacher. What I tell people is that I want to be a mentor to my students. I think that type of relationship with students was prevalent decades ago but has become less and less the norm in recent times. Yes, I do know that a lot of professors work closely with their brightest students but I have always felt that 100 percent of the students could benefit from having a mentor.

What is a mentor? I looked up “teacher” in an online dictionary and got “one who imparts knowledge.” Sounds cold and mechanical, doesn’t it? I envision a person standing in a large lecture hall explaining to 400 sleepy students how to split an atom as each one writes down exactly the same words in exactly the same order.

The word “mentor,” though is defined as an “experienced advisor and supporter.” I don’t have any interest in being a friend to my students but I do hope to be an advisor and supporter. I want to be a mentor.

Okay, how do you go about giving advice and support? Well, here is one way. I had 62 students in the spring semester. We worked hard. Hopefully, they learned a lot. Obviously, I tried to show them that I wanted them to learn accounting. And, I tried to help them learn as much about accounting. But, I also worked to let them know that I wanted more for them than just a knowledge of accounting. College (I believe) should be more than the imparting of content.

Usually, after each semester is over, it is easy to file away the members of a class into your memory bank and assume they are no longer your responsibility. I think that is more of a teacher attitude rather than a mentor attitude. After the last day of class, I write one final email to say “If I can ever be of assistance, please let me know.”

But, I don’t want to leave it at that. So, last week, I sent the following email to each of those 62 students. I won’t have any of them in class again but I wanted to continue to influence them a little bit. Interestingly, a number of them wrote back to chat about books they were reading and recommend movies that I should see. I think that’s why I decided to become a college professor.


To: Students from the Spring Semester

Hope your summer is off to a great start. As with the rest of the world, it has been terribly hot here in Richmond but we all hang out with the air conditioning and manage to survive.

Now that your summer vacation is about 1/3 over, I wanted to take a moment to urge you to do stuff over the summer that will make you smarter. You are at a stage in your life when your mind is fast developing so make the most of that. You ought to make it a goal to come back to school in the fall smarter than when you left in as many ways as you can. You are forming a foundation for the rest of your life. Build that foundation well.

Go to museums, go to plays, go to art galleries, take in an opera. You never know when you’ll discover something unexpectedly wonderful.

And, think about business. I’m always interested that students want to go into the wars of business and high finance (and those really can be wars) but aren’t inclined to do any real work to get ready for the battle. Here’s a story I read today about Warren Buffett and his education.

“Buffett was very interested in learning about business and its workings. In his graduate years, he studied under Benjamin Graham who is considered the father of Value Investing. Under Benjamin Graham’s training Warren Buffett learned value investing. It is said that Benjamin Graham was so perfect in value investing that he never used to give A grades to his students as he was never satisfied with their answers. But when Buffett joined him as a student, he was forced to give him A grades again and again. Buffett learned to master the art of reading and analyzing financial statements of companies. He could analyze Balance Sheets and Income Statements faster than anybody else in his college. One day somebody asked Buffett about the secret of his success. He said ‘when everybody was else was reading Playboy, I was reading the balance sheets of companies.’ Even today his major time is invested in reading financial statements of companies around the world.”


So, read a lot. Read the Wall Street Journal every day and just marvel at what goes on in the world of business and high finance. But, don’t just stick to newspapers. There are lots of things to be learned out there in the real world. I am currently reading “The White Lioness,” a mystery that is set in South Africa and Sweden (and unlikely duo) and also reading “Too Big To Fail,” and I suppose everyone knows what that is about. Good stuff—expands the brain cells.

Lastly, I went to a great movie yesterday. It was sadly brutal at times but the movie was just crafted brilliantly. Marvelous. I would highly recommend it. It was called “Incendies” and it was in French with English subtitles.

Okay, you are out of my class and you can obviously ignore me. I will just repeat what I have probably told you before: the more you learn, the more the world opens up to you. And, that’s where you start creating a life for yourself that can make a difference.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and don’t get too baked out.

What Do We Accomplish?

A few years ago a dear friend of mine died at the age of 95. When he was a young man, he worked in the Massachusetts area in construction. He once told me that on many days they would finish their work and step back and someone would speak out in pride “Look at what we accomplished today.”

That has to be a great feeling. You put in a hard and full day of work and at the end of the day you see that you have created something tangible from your labors, something you can be proud of right then. The world is different because of what you did.

I have always thought that was one of the most difficult parts of being a teacher. At the end of the day, it is hard to see what (if anything) we have accomplished.

Oh, sure, we all know that we are changing lives. We all know that we are making a difference. Is that enough to keep us moving forward? At the end of the day, whether we did a great job or a lousy one, things look about the same.

If you are a baker, at the end of the day you can point to the lovely wedding cake you created. If you are a carpenter, you can hold up a table or chair and say “I made this myself.”

But, at the end of a day, your students walk out of the room looking exactly like they did when they first walked in (maybe a little sleepier).

I think this is one of the reasons that teachers sometimes become mediocre. The results seem the same regardless of their efforts. They don’t get the positive reinforcement for their work that comes from seeing a tangible output. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that I believe this has had negative consequences for the U. S. as it has morphed from a manufacturing economy to a service economy.

I was reminded of this last Friday evening when I went to a reception held at our school in connection with the 2011 Reunion. I had the pleasure of talking with former students from 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006. Sure, we reminisced about “the good old days” when they were college students. But, more importantly, they told me all about their lives since graduation – the careers they have fashioned, the jobs they have worked, the graduate programs they have attended. For me, it was a moment to see the tangible evidence of my work as a teacher. My influence on most of them had been slight. In jest, I usually take credit for everything they accomplish. But, in truth, I’m just happy to have been any influence at all. They have fashioned wonderful adult lives and they have gone out and made their own difference in the world. I’m pleased that I was able to give them a push while they were in college.

I left the reunion just so proud to be a teacher.

So, if you have been feeling down about your role as a teacher, perhaps you need to find out when the next reunion is slated and plan to attend. Mixing with some of the students whom you have worked with over the years might just be the reminder of what you are accomplishing that you really need to keep energized.

I once compared teaching to playing the role of Johnny Appleseed. You plant seeds and hope that 5, 10, or 20 years down the road those seeds will bear fruit. Maybe it is time to go to a reunion and see what those seeds you helped plant have managed to accomplish.

My Latest Problem

In every job, problems arise and, unfortunately, there are not always great solutions.

I ran into a problem on Saturday and I wasn’t sure what to do with it. When you are dealing with a group of college students and the decisions you make are important to those people, inconsistencies can drive you crazy.

I have two Intermediate Accounting II classes this semester. At many schools, Intermediate II is considered one of the most challenging courses in the entire university. Consequently, the grade in that class is often viewed as extremely important to the students. The difference of one letter grade can have major implications in the direction of a career.

Our final exam schedule this semester ran from Monday morning at 9 a.m. until Saturday evening. As luck would have it, one of my Intermediate II classes had its final exam in the very first slot from 9 until noon on Monday. The other class had its exam on Friday evening from 7 until 10 p.m. Because my classes were small this semester, I allowed my Intermediate II students to take either exam. I didn’t care. Eight students chose to take the first exam and 25 chose to take the second. Most students seemed uncomfortable trying to take the exam on Monday without sufficient time to prepare. That was fine by me.

I gave the first group 37 problems ranging in time from 3-8 minutes in length. No one left early but everyone seemed to be finished or close to finished by the end. I graded that exam and came up with a raw score for each. I did not curve the exam at that time because I only had 8 tests and wanted to see how the other 25 students did. For convenience, let’s assume that the raw scores ranged from minus 20 to minus 60. I liked the test; I liked the range of raw scores; I liked the length of time that my students took to finish the exam; I liked the distribution from top to bottom.

I would have loved to give the same test to my second class but I worried (especially over a 5-day period) that too much information would get out. I trust my students but I don’t want to put too much temptation out there for them. My guess is that every university worries about cheating.

So, I took each of those 37 problems and changed it slightly – I increased a 6 percent interest rate to an 11 percent rate, I changed a residual value from $10,000 to $25,000, I changed a $5,000 gain to a $9,000 loss. I then rearranged the questions into a different order just in case some student had slipped information out such as “the first question requires you to deal with a 20 percent stock option.”

I honestly believed that I was giving the second group a test that was the equivalent of the first test.

However, the results were so much worse that I was stunned. For the second group, the raw scores ranged from roughly minus 20 (same) to minus 90. Worse still, and this is what really caught my attention, approximately half of the students in the second group did worse than my very worse student in the first group. It was like the two groups took two completely different exams.

My problem became immediately obvious to me. Should the students in the first group get significantly higher grades than the second group or was there something about the second test that made it harder (and that I was not seeing)? I thought I had given comparable tests but maybe not. For example, maybe some of my changes managed to create more complex situations. Or, perhaps changing the order of the questions caused a problem for the students (maybe the first questions were now harder and slowed them down or discouraged them).

And, to make matters even worse, although virtually all of the first group finished the test on time, many of the students in the second group did not come even close to completing it. I had page after page of blanks. It is hard to give any partial credit to a blank sheet of paper.

--Could the better students have all taken the first test rather than the second? If so, then I had a justification for giving them a higher grade. But, for the most part, I couldn’t see any difference in the abilities of the two groups (and I looked very carefully).

--Could the first class have been bright and awake at 9 a.m. and the second class sleepy at 7 p.m.? They didn’t look any different but I could not peak inside of their heads. And, should that make a difference in the final grading?

--Could the first class have been fresh because it was their first final exam and the second class exhausted because it was their fourth or fifth? And, again, if so, should that have any effect on the grading? Should you factor in the time of the test when handing out grades? If two students both make minus 60 can you give one student a different grade because he or she took the test on Friday night after 3-4 other tests over a long week?

--Could some of the changes I made in the questions have subtly changed easy questions (on the first test) into hard questions (on the second test) without my awareness?

Why Why Why is the question I have asked over and over since then? Why were the raw scores so different and what should I do about that in arriving at final test scores?

It is several days later and I still do not have a good answer for that question.

Some Good Thinking

In writing this blog, I have occasionally shared one of my favorite quotes about teaching: "Teaching does not come from years of doing it. It actually comes from thinking about it.“ I bring up this quote whenever I lead any discussion of teaching. Almost inevitably, someone in the audience asks how a teacher goes about thinking about teaching. It is easy to make a joke about sitting in a dark room in focused contemplation but most of us would just fall asleep.

I believe one of the best ways to think about teaching occurs when you write an examination for your students. Since I have spent most of my current weekend writing a test, the process certainly has been on my mind.

Writing a test brings up so many questions having to do with your class.
--What level of understanding is a student supposed to have developed based on how you structured the coverage?
--What are you trying to test? What are your priorities?
--How do you write questions that differentiate between students who truly understand the material and those that don’t?
--How do you write questions that stress thinking and understanding rather that just pure memorization?
--How do you write questions that are not too vague without simply lining up the information that the students need in a tidy row?
--How much information do you provide and how much should students be able to figure out on their own?
--What exactly do you expect an A student to know?
--Or, put another way, if students were in your class and did what you asked them to do each day, could they answer each of the questions that you are posing on the test? Are there any questions that go beyond what has been covered (and, if so, does the student still have a reasonable chance of arriving at a proper answer).
--Do you want students to have to rush through the exam to complete it or would you prefer for them to be able to work at a leisurely pace?
--Do you just want answers or do you want answers with explanations?
--How much time do you want them to spend reading the test. For example, a 20-page test can have great depth but does not leave much time for actually answering questions.
--Are you asking the same thing in more than one question? If so, does the redundancy add anything to the test?
--Are you leaving out material that should be tested?

I woke up at 6:15 this morning and realized that I was lying in bed trying to figure out how to structure a question about a particular piece of material. I knew that I could ask the question in such a way that it would be overly complex and no one could get it correct. Or, I could make some adjustments and it would be too easy and every student would be able to answer it. Neither of those does me much good in trying to determine a fair grade. How should I tweak that question so that I can gauge who knows and who doesn’t know?

The material I was thinking about at 6:15 was important material for my class. How could I set up the question in such a way that the students with a deep understanding would get it correct while the students with no understanding could not get it correct by guess work or luck?

Of course, that leads to the question: How well have we covered this material? What should I expect the average student to know in order to achieve the average grade?

I know a lot of teachers use test banks produced by textbook publishers or they carry over exams from year to year. I even meet teachers occasionally who seem to be afraid of writing their own test questions. I’m honestly not sure what they are afraid of. I do know that writing a good test can take an enormous amount of time. However, nothing makes you think more carefully about what you have covered and what you wanted to cover than spending a long morning writing a test that successfully allows students to demonstrate in a fair manner what they have come to understand.

Time well spent – even at 6:15 on a Sunday morning.

What It Takes To Be Great – Part II

I did a little experiment over the last two weeks and, to tell you the truth, I was a bit surprised by what I discovered. I asked my students in Intermediate Accounting II (virtually all are second semester juniors) to identify the very best teacher they have had since they entered college. For most students, their teachers provide them with the best examples of leadership. I really wanted my students to consider the attributes that it takes for a person to be a successful leader. Most of them will graduate from college and, within a year or two, they will be in a position where other workers must report to them. Often, the upward trajectory of their careers is not based on their knowledge of accounting but rather on their ability to guide and lead the people who form the members of their team. A teacher is not exactly a team leader but the characteristics for success would seem to be somewhat similar.

My students were asked to identify their very best (“best” not “favorite”) college teacher and then write a short paragraph justifying this selection. In a follow up assignment, I asked each student to boil down the characteristics of this person into just three words. I wanted to see what I could discover (and what they could discover) about being the best by looking at these descriptions.

What I fully expected to receive was what I call the 2 C’s and 3 E’s of teaching: Caring, Challenging, Engaging, Energetic, and Enthusiastic. I have always said that a teacher can go far by simply focusing on these 2 C’s and 3 E’s.

What I got was a much wider variety of responses than I had expected (some of which I didn’t even understand). So, I had to figure out how to create an organizational pattern for the information that I had gathered. I finally decided that I could take each word that I was given and assign it to one of three classifications:

Teacher’s connection to students
Teacher’s personal attributes
Teacher’s method of instruction

Okay, some of the descriptive terms could fit into more than one category but I chose to use my best judgment and force them all into one category or another. Below you will find what I learned from my students. If you want to become a better teacher (on the road to becoming a great teacher), pick out a few of these terms and work to get a bit better. As a good friend of mine recently told me, it is really hard to know how to become a better teacher – it is such a nebulous goal. However, perhaps becoming a bit more enthusiastic will help or maybe a bit more helpful. Don’t attack the goal, attack the attributes.

Or, possibly a more efficient approach would be to take this list and grade yourself: “For each of these characteristics, what grade would my students give me?”

After that, ask yourself which grades bother you the most? There are undoubtedly some areas where you won’t be pleased with your own grade. Then, as you might with one of your students, ask yourself: “What could I do to get that grade up?” Merely, by identifying the attributes where you don’t like your grade, you are taking the first steps to becoming a better teacher.

The number in parenthesis indicates a term that was mentioned by more than one student to describe their best teachers. Remember, I created the categories myself after looking at the overall list of characteristics as a method of organization.

Teacher’s connection to students
--Caring (6)
--Engaging (5)
--Helpful (5)
--Approachable (2)
--Fair (2)
--Inspirational (2)
--Motivational (2)
--Accessible
--Accommodating
--Considerate
--Empathetic
--Fear
--Friend
--Influential
--Inspiring
--Respect
--Sympathetic
--Trust

Teacher’s personal attributes
--Personable (4)
--Intelligent/smart (4)
--Knowledgeable (3)
--Down-to-earth (2)
--Energetic (2)
--Enthusiastic (2)
--Attentive
--Charismatic
--Cool
--Dedicated
--Experienced
--Genuine
--Laid-back
--Professional
--Trustworthy

Teacher’s method of instruction
--Interesting (3)
--Entertaining (2)
--Humorous (2)
--Passionate (2)
--Compelling
--Creative
--Fun
--Involved
--Organized
--Prepared
--Realistic
--Resourceful
--Storyteller
--Unpredictable

What Keeps Us from Being Great

One of my very favorite words in the English language is “Great.” I just think everyone should decide on a few things in life where they honestly want to shoot to be great. Okay, we may never achieve that greatness but it is hard to get better without a little ambition. And, I believe life just lives better if (a) we know in what ways we would like to become great and (b) we have the satisfaction of going for that greatness. The effort alone will make us better people. (In that regard, I am a big proponent of the Zen expression: “the journey is everything.”)

I simply refuse to believe that settling for mediocrity can prove to be meaningful. For one thing, I believe our students deserve better than that since this is their one shot at a college education.

When I give teaching presentations, I urge the members of the audience to work gradually to become better teachers. That seems like a reasonable goal. And, if we improve year by year, eventually we will get to greatness. In the past, I would then make various suggestions on how to achieve that annual improvement.

Recently, though, I have been considering the idea of greatness from the opposite direction. Maybe, we shouldn’t think so much about how to get there but rather focus on what holds us back. What keeps us (you or me) from becoming better teachers each year? What is the most significant wall that stands in our way? More specifically, over a longer period, what is blocking us from becoming truly great teachers?

I am fortunate that, at my school, I get to work with a very strong teaching faculty. The people with whom I work do a great job of educating our students. But, even the best can get better. Therefore, I posed the following question to my fellow faculty members last year. Basically, the question asks the simple question of what holds each person back from getting better and, hence, stands in the way of our achieving greatness as a teacher. Maybe just contemplating that question is the first step toward greatness.

“Assume that you make the personal decision that, over the next 12 months, you would like to become a slightly better teacher. Maybe it was your Valentine's Day resolution for 2011. Let’s assume, for example, that you currently view yourself as a B teacher and you’d like to feel like a B+ teacher by this day in 2012. Seems like a reasonable goal. My question is this: What would be the most important thing that would keep you from achieving that goal? I’m just looking for one thing but I’ll accept more than one thing. I’m not asking for a lot of thinking—just tell me what comes to your mind right off the top of your head.

“Notice that I didn't ask what keeps most people from getting better over the next 12 months -- I want to know what would keep you from getting better over the next 12 months.”

What was the purpose of this question? That is simple – it seems to me that if we come face to face with the thing that is holding us back we can decide if we really want to be held back in that way. I’m a big believer that self-reflection can make us better (in many, many ways).

So, how would you have answered my question? Be honest with yourself—what is keeping you from being a better teacher over the next 12 months? Once you have identified your own personal wall, you can decide whether you are willing to be limited in that way. Maybe you are but maybe not. You can’t address the wall preventing you from going forward if you never identify it.

Here’s what my colleagues had to say (I’m going to paraphrase these a bit). Maybe some of these apply to you. Maybe they will make you think more about your own teaching and what really does prevent you from getting better over the next 12 months.

I’ll let you guess which one of these I wrote.

1---Lack of willpower to review every lecture carefully before class, when I might tell myself I already know the material well.
2---If something is working (albeit not as successfully as I would like), it is difficult to try something new for fear that it will get worse. That is, my natural reaction is to dig in and do what I’ve been doing more intently rather than make changes that have an uncertain result.
3---The quality of my teaching is directly related to the amount of time that I put into it. It is my opinion that to be an effective teacher most people need just two things: 1.) a real desire to be an effective teacher; and 2.) the willingness to put the time into it that is required. If you are truly committed to being an effective teacher (i.e. you want to improve from a B to a B+), then you’ve met the first criterion. All you really need then is a willingness to put in the time. The time to prepare more for each and every class, the time to meet with students during and outside of office hours, the time to create materials (problem sets, extra questions, study materials, etc.) to supplement the class. So the only thing that really “prevents” me from improving my own teaching is that I don’t put in the extra time. Why not? Every extra hour I devote to teaching is an extra hour I cannot spend on something else. One less hour on research. One less hour on committee/service work. One less hour with my family.
4---I think the lack of feedback that I get from the students on what works and what doesn’t would be the thing.
5---For me, the most difficult part of the teaching process is being able (or maybe willing) to be well prepared for each and every class. When I really prepare, class usually goes well. It is just hard to take the time to be that well prepared on a very consistent basis.
6---I think at this point in my career I have taught so many courses for the first time that I haven’t been able to fully develop any course. It helps me to see what works and then make changes and try different methods. So I would say too many preps too close in time would prevent me from achieving that goal. Also, there is always the issue of finding that perfect balance between the time spent on research and teaching.
7---If I push my students to do better, they will start coming by and asking questions and wanting assistance and I just don’t have the time necessary to do that. I’d really like for them to do better without me having to do any additional work.
8---I am pulled in so many directions and believe if I had more dedicated time to focus on teaching techniques--rather than on completing tasks--then I would be a better teacher.
9---The weight and importance we put on the teaching effectiveness questions found on the student course evaluations in combination with the three-year evaluation window. This greatly reduces my incentive to experiment with new ideas and teaching techniques.
10---I don’t seem to know what I might do to improve or change. Thus, I am not certain how to get better.
11---I have discovered that, for many things in life, the closer you get to the ideal, the more effort it takes to squeeze out the last little bit of excellence. It is easy to be average, quite a bit harder to get to 90%, but that last 10% is harder than the entire first 90%. And the last 5% is harder than the first 95% and so on asymptotically approaching 100% (whatever that is). I have had semesters where I KNOW I wasn’t at my best and I’ve had times that I knew I was close to doing as well as I can do. The truth is that the students don’t really notice – or, more accurately, they don’t appreciate that last 10% as much as they do the first 90%. I put in a good bit of time and energy already and probably get 85-90% of what I’m capable of consistently. On the other hand, reviewers for journals and my scholarly colleagues DO notice that last 5% effort. Similarly, I think my colleagues here do as well when we speak of school and university service work. I’m also confident that my friends and family notice my investments in them as I consider work/life balance. With this in mind, if I have an extra hour or two (my most scarce resource), where do I invest that time (i.e., marginal investment). Should I put it into making improvements to my classroom work (likely to go largely unnoticed) or should I put it into making my scholarship, university or family life better (likely to be noticed and sincerely appreciated)? So, my greatest obstacle to improved teaching is the competing demands and the return I get out of investments in those projects relative to the returns I get from teaching.
12---First -- Lack of knowledge. For example, I would like to help my students write better, but I really don’t know how to do it. Second -- Fear of failure. I’m a B teacher and I have an extremely risk-averse personality. Any change that has the potential to improve the class also has the potential to mess up what is already working reasonably well.
13---My spontaneous answer is not being able to “read” the student’s learning process as well as I would like to. Some students seem to be doing fine when you interact with them but then their exams and assignments disappoints you. Other students seem inactive but they surprise you when they deliver strong exam results and great assignments. Thus, not fully understanding the student’s learning process might be what hinders me from reaching the next level as a lecturer.
14---The way to improve teaching is to know your students just slightly beyond their names (for example, know their major or graduation year or area where they are from…nothing that is especially difficult to find out) because then the teacher can engage them in class because they have become more “real” to you. What will prevent me from doing it is the fact that it is so easy to not do it and it sounds so trivial to be beneficial.
15---For me, the pressure put on the teaching effectiveness questions on the teaching evaluations. I often feel that I am at the mercy of the students and their push-back.
16---It seems that no matter what attempts I make, if it requires the students to “get into it”, they resist. I sometimes feel like we have established an unrealistic, romanticized vision of what our student body is really like. As a result, perhaps I have unrealistic expectations of their intrinsic interest in engaging in the learning process. Or maybe the problem is that I am approaching this the wrong way.
17---I don’t think there is anything in my way other than I don’t listen enough. Sometimes we get into our routine, thinking that what we have done in the past is still as good as it once was – and don’t listen or respond when change is called for. I also have to constantly remind myself that teaching is ONLY about student learning. It doesn’t matter if students like me or don’t, it doesn’t matter if I’ve been fabulously entertaining or not – all that matters is that I have created an environment where they are maximizing their learning.
18---My deficiencies boil down to a small number of root causes. The central of these causes are disorganization and poor time management.

Recognize yourself and your own walls?
What is keeping you from becoming better as a teacher and moving on toward greatness?

Perhaps the first thing you need to do is identify what is holding you back and then deciding whether you want to be held back.

A Critical Moment

It seems to me that there are a few moments that are terribly critical in connection with how a student does in your class. Most days are like most other days. However, I think the period of time immediately after the first test is really critical and can make a big difference in how well a student eventually does. As you would imagine, my concern is always with the students who do not do terribly well on that first test. I worry that they will see that low first grade and simply assume that is proof positive that they are dumb so they might as well stop trying. Instead of working to get better, they begin to crawl into a hole and their grade spirals downwards after that.

Or, they will start trying to make random attempts at pushing their grade up without any logical plan and become frustrated by the lack of improvement.

Or, maybe worse still, they will think that I have given up on them and seek less help from me rather than more.

Consequently, I try to provide some relatively immediate help and encouragement to the students who make less than an A or B on my first test. I want them to know that only a small part of their grade has been settled and they can still do well BUT ONLY IF they start making some real improvements. Then, I provide suggestions and point up that I am happy to help.

Humans tend to underrate their abilities. Students often latch on to any bad news (“you made 66 on the first test”) as proof of what they have suspected: They are not really capable of learning this material. I want to dispel that myth as quickly as possible. I want to prod them into making changes. I want to provide some direction for those changes.

I gave my first test in each of my three classes about a week ago. I returned the tests recently and some students did well while others did not. I wasn’t worried about the ones who did well. The taste of success often spurs those students to work harder. A good grade builds confidence. But I wanted to try to get the other students turned around. For that reason, I sent the following email out yesterday to each of my students who made less than a B on my first test. In simple terms, it says “you can do it – don’t give up,” “here are some ways that you can do better,” and “don’t forget that I’m here to help.”

Here is what I actually wrote. Not surprisingly, a number of students have come by my office since that note went out. They had some of their questions answered with just a few minutes of assistance and, subsequently, did much better in our class discussions.

Email – February 17, 2011
“I am only sending this note to my students who made a C or less on our first test. As you and I both know, this grade was only a small part of your grade. There is no reason why you cannot turn your grade into an A or (at least) a B. However, my experience is that students tend to keep their same grades unless they make some changes. Without changes, the first test is a pretty decent indicator of the final grade. And, I don’t like that – I didn’t get into this business to give Cs, Ds, and Fs. I want As and Bs.

“So, what changes can you make? And, I realize that I have already talked with several of you about this. And, even better, several of you have already started to do the following.

“The very best thing you can do to improve your grade (without a doubt) is to come up with 2-4 questions as you prepare for a class: “I don’t understand this.” “I couldn’t figure out how to do that.” “I’m not sure what this question means.” Etc. Then, take 10 minutes (just 10 minutes) and come to my office prior to class and let’s go over those 2-4 questions. Yes, that takes self-discipline on your part but the more you know before class, the more you will learn in class. I have students who come by and see me every single day for about 5-10 minutes. That always helps. Those people tend to do very well.

“The second thing you can do is review the material carefully after class and write out 2-4 questions about the stuff that you still don’t quite get, stuff that doesn’t yet make sense. And, again, come by for 10 minutes and let me help you with that. Sometimes just hearing stuff one more time makes all the difference in the world.

“Students often get scared after one bad grade and come by for one day and ask good questions and then get distracted and never show back up until the next test. Then, they make another bad grade and wonder why they didn’t come by on a regular basis. You are not in a hole yet but if you make another C or less on the next test, you will be in a hole. I want to prevent that. I want you to learn; I want you to do well. I want you to be proud of your effort. I want you to be successful. Come by and see me.

“Here are my scheduled office hours. I am able to come in occasionally at other times but most students can work one of these six times into their schedule.

MWF
--8:30 (usually 8:15) until 8:50
--10:00 until 10:20
--12:30 until 1:20
--2:30 until (usually) 3:00

Tuesday
--1:00 until 1:45

Thursday
--11:00 until 11:45

“I will not come out into the hall and drag you into my office. You are an adult; it is your grade. I expect you to take the initiative. But it is VERY helpful to walk in with your list of questions. That shows you are prepared for the conversation.“