With Dr. Brenda McGill

Hello Everyone!

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Now allow me to re-introduce myself as I haven't done so in awhile.  I am Blu DuBois.  I am a member of the community of writers here at The Living Pen.  The website is new and still a work in progress, so I hope you will have patience and check back often.  The blog is currently running a series called "Method to the Madness" .  This series takes a look at different topics and the methods used.  Everyone is welcome to leave a comment and to become a TLPR, at the bottom right click on Register. 

On to the conversation I had with Dr. Brenda MeGill this week!

Blu:
Good Morning Brenda, have you recovered from last week's conversation?

Brenda:
Wow Blu, it felt like we covered a lot of information last week, so I’d like to focus on one point today, if you don’t mind.

Blu:
Not at all, what point would you like to focus on?

Brenda:
Faculty relationships in the 1st year experience course.

Blu:
Faculty relationships, that sounds interesting.  What kind of relationships?

Brenda:
You know that phrase, no one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. It’s that type of relationship I’m thinking of.  Four year institutions have been studying the sense of belonging and to me it boils down to student engagement.
I believe student engagement happens when faculty relationships with students motivate them to find their own path to learning, and their own passion with the course content. Many students would benefit more with a positive relationship added to lectures and listening, writing papers and taking exams. 

Blu: 
Most of us were at some point lucky enough to have that one teacher that took that course subject we were dreading and turned it into our favorite class.  So I guess my question would be, is it a different way of teaching, or a different approach to learning?  I mean I just put it down to, “Wow, what a great teacher!”

Brenda:
Well, wow. That’s quite a question. A different way of teaching verses a different approach to learning. I think your question is the answer! 

Blu:
Really?!  I don’t get it.  Explain please.

Brenda:
Teaching was taught the same way in America for a very long time and then learning theorists introduced different ways to learn, and things began to change. You’ve said this is an evolving process, and so it’s not easy to put my finger on this one. 

Blu:
So what do faculty members think about this shift in focus?

Brenda:
Many faculty members might say they would like their students to share their personal enthusiasm for a subject, and we can’t always promise that will happen. What we can do is create a classroom environment that engages them to think critically, use higher-order processes and to be actively involved in the learning process during the 1st year experience course. Then show them how these skills will benefit their future academic goals. 

Blu:
Which means that this 1st year experience course would help students learn to engage in the learning environment, navigate what is expected of them and would help the faculty actually be able to reach more students in the class, am I right? 

Brenda:
Absolutely!

Blu:
So it would be a win, win, for all involved.  Since you have taught, can you tell me if it works?

Brenda:
Yes, and it all sounds great, but to be transparent. I took one small step each semester for many semesters, before I felt my 1st year experience course was truly engaging in multiple ways across multiple learning styles. Half the battle was mine and the other half was the individual students’ decision to engage or not. Some students did not prefer working in a group or doing an oral presentation (this wasn’t a communications class), some performed well with the traditional path, so I never threw out the baby with the bathwater. 

Blu:
That makes perfect sense because students learn in different ways and the traditional way is just one of the ways and therefore still needed.  But offering content in multiple learning styles must be a challenge.  Where does faculty get training?

Brenda:
Faculty teaching the 1st year experience course can ask their faculty association for training on the impact of students transitioning to college, from high school or a returning adult. This would provide a foundation to increase awareness and sensitivity to our changing student demographic. For new faculty, they would benefit from exposure to the breadth of available student services, which will be covered in the 1st year experience course for students. 

Also, a great book to assist with building relationships is the “Student Engagement Techniques” by Elizabeth F. Barkley. There are also great websites linked to every university for faculty development in this area. One association, the Center for Community College Student Engagement, (cccse.org) has conducted research nationally through their surveys on engagement. There’s also NSSE, FSSE and BCSSE survey research from 4 year institutions.

Blu:
Whoa Brenda, wait a minute.  Teachers have to teach themselves and what do all those letters mean? (Lol)

Brenda:
Yes and no...
Learning should never end. So yes, faculty can take the initiative to read the research, discuss it with others in and across academic departments and take action. And no, they are not alone in this endeavor; administrative support of their professional development is also required. 
Sorry about the acronyms, here's the translation: 

National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE),
Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), and 
Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE). 

Blu:
I’m not sure about anyone else, but until our discussion I never thought about how the way we learn connects to the way a teacher teaches, but when you connect those dots you begin to see it is an important two way street.  Let’s face it, some of us like vanilla, some of us like chocolate and some of us prefer sherbet to ice cream..

Brenda:
(lol) Yes!
And this is just one tip of one iceberg of information. There are so many wonderful advances in our field of instruction that I hope for some, expect from others and anticipate for everyone, that we will rise to the occasion and meet our students where they are to prepare them for where they are going. Our country needs us to be our best and our students deserve it.

Blu:
Thanks Brenda, as always you were gracious and patient with my questions.  Have a good week.

Brenda:
You too Blu.

It appears that teachers are students too!  They are tasked with learning all the new ways of bringing their course content to students in multiple learning styles so that more students have the opportunity to learn the content.  Students,it appears, really need realize that they need to take responsibilty for their learning by discovering the way they learn best, applying it to all their course content and engaging in the learning process presented to them. The 1st year experience course, it appears, is what brings these two groups together to make a successful team.  

Join me next week for our final conversation with Dr. Brenda McGill and if you have any comments or questions for Dr. McGill, now is the time to join the conversation.  Have a great week!

                                                                                     Blu