Prepare for Your First Semester

Throughout the semester
Lecture effectively, enhance interaction, use multiple media, embrace diversity, organize, utilize course reserves, write test questions that encourage critical thinking, and have students apply subject matter to solve real problems.

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  Lecture effectively
  Explore Instruction at FSU, Chapter 7 – Lecturing Effectively ( 264 Kb) for ideas on organizing your lectures and making them interactive so that students remain engaged with the material throughout the class. Chapter 11 – Teaching Contexts ( 908 Kb) discusses interactivity in large classes and laboratory settings.
  • Be redundant
    Students should hear, read or see key material at least three times.
  • Organize
    Give visible structure by posting the day's "menu" on chalkboard or overhead.
  • Use multiple media
    Use variety in methods of presentation every class meeting. Consider overhead projection from your laptop, slides, streaming media, film, video, audio, models, sample material.
    

• Enhance interaction
  See our section on student engagement for particulars on group dynamics, making lectures effective and engaging, and maintaining professional classroom relations. One way to enhance the learning experience of your students is through "active learning" -- shifting the student role from that of passive receptor to active participant. Chapter 8 (192 Kb) in the handbook Instruction at FSU contains descriptions of active learning strategies. A simple strategy for integrating active learning into your class sessions and assignments is to ask yourself: “How can I get them to discover the connections and build on the readings or lectures?” or “How can they apply or practice in class what we’ve been studying?” Listen to Teaching Award Winner, Elizabeth Goldsmith discuss how she transforms her large enrollment class into an active learning community.
  
  
• Write test questions that measure achievement
  View the video Issues in Testing & Grading Practices with Dr. Jeanne O'Kon for guidance on how to create test items aligned with instructional objectives. She encourages the use of Bloom's Taxonomy for creating test questions that encourage different levels of critical thinking. The goal is to measure achievement, not to trick your students or make them guess about what you are looking for. Contact ODL staff for guidance in creating test questions that align with course objectives.
  
  
• Organize grading criteria in a rubric
  A rubric helps define your grading criteria and, if shared with students, can show them how their work will be evaluated and broaden their understanding of an assessment. Rubrics can be used for essays, papers, participation, presentations, projects or work groups. List the criteria for the assessment and assign points according to their relative importance. See Instruction at FSU, Chapter 13 ( 256 Kb); then scroll to pp. 5 for examples and more information. Also: A quick search of Google using keywords "rubrics" plus the type of assessment to be administered (e.g., "class discussion," "groups," or "participation") will yield many examples. 
  
  
• Help students maintain integrity in their papers and projects
  Remind students about their pledge to uphold the FSU Academic Honor Policy and review strategies for avoiding plagiarism. Many students are unsure about the ownership of web material and tend to see content from the virtual (and casual) space of the Internet quite differently from the content housed in the "protected" (and hallowed) space of a physical library. Discuss plagiarism in your classroom:
  • why students should avoid it
  • how students can avoid it through organized research and proper citations
  • how they can integrate sources into their own work without violating copyright law or the Honor Code
  Visit SafeAssign for more information on how your students can submit their work to SafeAssign through Blackboard.
  
  
• Keep a teaching journal
  While you are still experiencing the successes and challenges of this semester, consider recording some notes on practices and activities that are or aren't moving the class towards your stated objectives. You might want to reflect on your teaching and note what you might like to try or change in a future course. Once the semester is over, we tend to forget the assignment that didn’t work as well as intended or the lecture that created confusion – and thus be destined to repeat the same mistakes in subsequent semesters. Even a few notes could prompt you on how to design more effective instruction in the future. See Improving Your Teaching with Feedback ( 108 Kb), particularly the section on Self-Reflection in Instruction at FSU, the faculty teaching handbook.
  
  
• Use course reserves in Blackboard
  Have students access articles and book chapters directly from your course website without having to use an additional system or learn a separate password. Access through the "E-Reserves" link at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar on your course's Blackboard site.
  
  
• Help students learn to appreciate diversity
  FSU's commitment to research, service and excellence in teaching requires faculty to not just tolerate diversity but to embrace it. The concept, explained by School of Theatre Associate Professor Dr. Carrie Sandahl, is to foster an environment rich in intellectual and moral development based on a mix of ideas, backgrounds and perspectives.
  
  

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