Claire draws on her experience with fiction writing feedback to share with students that step one of feedback processing is to say thank you. Ruth is a fan of the compliment sandwich when giving feedback. Claire is working on providing students with the tools to use constructive criticism. Ruth wants to work on normalizing the feedback process.

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Ruth shares her experience of giving group exams. She uses them as an opportunity for students to slightly improve their grade while working together with their group to revise the mistakes on their tests. It works wonders! Students really engage with the material and much improve their understanding of the material.

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Ruth and Claire discuss helping students get the most out of internships. Ruth and Claire both want to remind students that they aren’t expected to know much about the research or the company before they start. Ruth suggests saying “yes” to all opportunities in order to maximize learning. Claire suggests asking questions. Ruth wonders about when to switch to another research group and when to stick it out. Claire wonders about the best way to help students prepare for internships - would an end-of-semester workshop be helpful?

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Claire just tried out self-grading, and it was phenomenal! Students interacted more with the material, had lively discussions about the content, and appeared more engaged. Several students spontaneously told Claire they liked the format. All that AND the grading only took a fraction of the time?! Claire is sold.

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Ruth and Claire discuss academic resource accommodations. Ruth has learned to go through official resource center channels. Claire finds it helpful to ask resource center staff for clarifications. Ruth is working on saying ‘no’ to unreasonable accommodations. Claire is working on making images of handwritten notes accessible.

Claire mentioned Life on the Tenure Track, by James M. Lang: https://books.google.ie/books/about/Life_on_the_Tenure_Track.html?id=DyydAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y

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Ruth and Claire discuss opportunities for students to share their research. Claire finds that the on-campus research poster session is an excellent opportunity for students at all levels of experience. Ruth found it helpful to assign managerial jobs to a student in the preparation of a poster or paper. Claire is working on balancing the benefits of dissemination with the time away from research needed for preparation. Ruth is working on setting expectations early in the process.

Ruth and Claire mentioned NCUR and AJUR: https://www.cur.org/what/events/students/ncur/2022/ncur_2022/

http://www.ajuronline.org/

Ruth and Claire discuss talking about grades with students. Ruth has found it helpful to discuss grade changes once students have written a description of the review request. Claire has found redirecting conversations from grades to the content shifts the focus back to the purpose of the exam. Ruth is working on setting expectations about partial credit. Claire is thinking about setting students on a good trajectory when they are in danger of failing.

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Ruth and Claire discuss the return to being physically present in the classroom. Claire and Ruth are delighted to be teaching face to face, the immediate feedback of facial expressions, the informal connection opportunities and, of course, the eavesdropping! Claire is working on reestablishing norms of physically attending labs. Ruth is working on reversing the expectation of total flexibility.

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Claire likes to be physically present when onboarding new students to her research group. She wonders how to make individual projects meaningful. Ruth gives a research talk for students interested in joining the group. She also wants to hold students accountable for reading papers.

Claire mentioned: The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz: https://www.miguelruiz.com/the-four-agreements

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Is traditional lecturing really so bad? Ruth and Claire discuss a 2019 article that argues it’s not. They both choose to do a combination of more traditional lecturing (“sage on the stage”) and student-led active learning in their classes. Claire is reassured that there are demonstrated benefits to sage on the stage. Ruth feels that building trust is crucial for any active learning exercises. Ruth is working on finding the balance between lecture styles. Claire has been inspired by Professor Gilbert Strang’s advice about how to work through content at a speed understandable to a new student.

Article discussed:

Back from “guide on the side” to “sage on the stage”? Effects of teacher-guided and student-activating teaching methods on student learning in higher education: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035518316823

Claire mentioned this interview with math Professor Gilbert Strang at MIT on his lecturing style: https://youtu.be/7UJ4CFRGd-U

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