January 8, 2025 • 19 mins
Dr. Cameron Harris joins Keystone Concepts host, Dr. Rachel Yoho, to discuss the logistics and considerations for teaching when you are assigned to teach a new-to-you course.
Resources: Please be sure to also check out Episode 9, “Syllabi Supporting Learners and Instructors” https://stearnscenter.gmu.edu/season-1-fall-2024-keystone-concepts-in-teaching/ Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning Current Syllabus Guidance: https://stearnscenter.gmu.edu/knowledge-center/current-syllabus-guidance/ Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning Designing Your Syllabus: https://stearnscenter.gmu.edu/knowledge-center/designing-your-syllabus/ Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning AI Text Generators: Resource Page https://stearnscenter.gmu.edu/knowledge-center/ai-text-generators/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rachel (00:08):
Hello and welcome to the Keystone Concepts in Teaching
podcast.
My name is Rachel Yoho, and I'myour host for this podcast from
the Stearns Center for Teachingand Learning.
In this work, we share impactfuland evidence based teaching
practices to support allstudents and faculty.
In this episode, we're going tobe exploring the situation in
which you are a new facultymember, an adjunct faculty
(00:29):
member, or any other space inwhich you're handed a syllabus
and told to go teach a class.
We'll talk about what to do,what to ask, how to personalize,
and really how to supporteveryone, especially you as the
instructor in this situation.
I'm joined by this episode'sguest, Dr.
Cameron Harris.
Cameron is an AssociateProfessor and area Chair in the
(00:50):
Costello College of Business forBusiness Foundations, and a
former faculty fellow in theStearns Center for Teaching and
Learning at George MasonUniversity.
So thank you so much for joiningus, Cameron.
Cameron (01:02):
Thank you, and thank you for having me.
Rachel (01:04):
So as we're getting started, you know, being handed
a syllabus and being assigned toteach a class can be a really
challenging situation.
We might think about this astrying to go for a walk or a run
in someone else's shoes.
It might, might not work, butit's going to not be certainly
as comfortable as our own ourown shoes or a class we design
or have more control over.
(01:26):
So the framing for ourconversation today is that we're
a new faculty member or anadjunct and we're given a
syllabus and what we want to do.
So let's start off with whatquestions would you recommend
this faculty member should ask?
Cameron (01:39):
I think the first idea that I have is to think about
why this availability exists.
And so maybe it's the former HRbackground that I have or the
idea that there's a reason thatthere's a need for a new person
teaching this course, whetherit's an adjunct or a full time
person.
(01:59):
And so thinking about the biggerpicture and the curriculum that
supports the need for thisperson teaching this course is
the first place I would go to.
Why is it a new need or is it anexisting need where someone
left?
What role does this course playin the fulfillment of a
student's, whether it's anundergraduate or graduate or
(02:20):
another program, in theircurriculum?
And so thinking about the bigpicture and how it fits into the
goals of a academic program, Ithink, is really important.
The other piece is the adjunctculture.
So if you are a new person, andare there other new people,
thinking about the network ofsupport you have, and whether or
(02:41):
not you have been teaching orteaching is new to you, how you
will get the support to makesure that you are feeling
confident in the work thatyou're doing, but also thinking
about what experience you havethat you can bring to bear so
that it is a successfulsituation.
So, a couple of questions andthings to consider about why
there's a need for a new personteaching a course, what skill
(03:05):
set do I bring to it, and howdoes it fulfill a requirement or
maybe multiple requirements formultiple constituent groups or
student groups across campus.
Rachel (03:15):
Yeah, I agree.
I think that's reallyinteresting and something we
might not think about as oftenwith the syllabus.
You know, we might look at thesyllabus and be like,"Okay, this
is what we're supposed to cover,this is what the students are
supposed to get out of it." Butit's also important, like you
were saying, to think about thatsequencing or whatever that
looks like in that particularprogram or area of study is what
(03:36):
the students are learning beforethis.
What are they supposed to becoming into your course with?
What are they building on inthis course?
And then what are they going todo after that, is really
something that isn't perhaps asoften discussed.
And so that's a reallyinteresting question as we're
thinking about that.
And so to expand on that alittle bit, particularly when
we're looking at standards oroutcomes based courses, this
(04:00):
might be in programs withsecondary accreditation, or
really just looking at thelearning outcomes, or just in
general, a course with analready defined and unchangeable
set of learning outcomes, howwould you recommend thinking
about what you could or shouldmodify?
Cameron (04:17):
Knowing the sort of guardrails that exist for a
course based on how it hasexisted in the past.
So to get a history of why thiscourse exists, how it has
existed in the past, maybe fromother folks who have taught it,
I think is really helpful toknow how did you reach this
outcome?
How did you create this sectionof a course or learning
(04:40):
objective for a course thatmeets a requirement.
And if there is wiggle room,right?
So one of the things that I hopehappens in most places where
adjuncts are hired is that theyhave experience that they can
bring to the classroom that theycan bring to the curriculum.
And yes, there are things thatneed to have happen.
So I think about in the Collegeof Business, for example, we
(05:02):
have assurance of learning.
And so they are programmaticacross various programs within
the college.
And so they are assessed everyyear or every three years, I
think it is, so that weunderstand that a particular
course has a connection to othercourses that connect to the
bigger program.
And so if that is the case,having a key understanding of
(05:24):
why and how that happens andwhere there is space to sort of
bring your own flavor andinterest.
And even if it meets the programoutcome, there are various ways
that you could do that.
And so my hope is that in mostplaces that there is
flexibility, so that new folkscan bring in their expertise,
(05:45):
they can try new things, theycan, you know, try something and
maybe see if it works and thenadjust as needed, of course,
with the oversight of folks whohave done it in the past.
So that would be my biggestsuggestion is to figure out what
is the requirement and wherethere's flexibility and sort of
build in between those two.
Rachel (06:07):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I think we see therethat we're not often or perhaps
ever changing learning outcomes.
But we are looking at the otherperhaps spaces that we can
change.
And so certainly a gooduniversity or program or
department or other academicunit should take advantage of
the insights and the experiencesand the professional expertise
(06:30):
of both new and adjunct faculty.
Their experience, what theybring to the courses, their
richness of information they cangive to the students.
And so maybe can you give ussome more examples about what
they might be able topersonalize in different
situations and how we becomemore than just say a fill in
person following a script.
Cameron (06:52):
I think oftentimes new faculty, new adjuncts are
brought in because they haveexpertise, they have knowledge
that is both academic in nature,but also practical, right?
There's stories that they cantell.
There's experience that they canshare with students in courses,
but also with other faculty,that could be useful to the
(07:13):
learning environment.
So the example is a real one,that I teach professional skills
courses.
And so often, adjuncts who areteaching maybe one or two
sections, have a little bit moreflexibility to bring in guest
speakers, to do things that arecreative in nature because they
have a lower volume, right?
If they're teaching one sectionversus four, having six of your
(07:37):
friends who work in HR come into provide feedback to students
is a much easier, potentially atleast, much easier task to do
versus doing that for foursections.
And so I think there's a way toconsider how you organize a
course, how you can be creativeabout deploying even the same
(07:58):
thing in a different way whenyou have the flexibility to test
it out, to learn how otherpeople have been doing it, and
then maybe adjust for your ownexpertise and experience.
The second piece is the storiesthat they have.
Having experience, especially ina practical way that you can
talk to students about how theconcepts they're learning in a
(08:20):
course apply to the work thatthey could potentially be doing
in the future.
I think in places like business,of course, that makes a lot of
sense, but there are otherplaces where that could really
be useful as well.
Rachel (08:32):
Absolutely.
And so it all sounds good as aconcept, but let's talk about
perhaps a situation in whichyou're teaching one of those
courses, where you're teachingone or two sections of a many,
many section course.
And maybe you do have theopportunity to bring in guest
speakers, which is a hugechallenge of its own.
But let's talk about theassignments in that type of
(08:53):
course.
We have often standardizedassignments across multi section
courses to make sure we'remeeting those learning outcomes.
But what would you recommendpeople consider for what
personalization of thosestandardized assignments might
look like in practice?
Cameron (09:10):
You're right.
As someone who teaches a coursethat has, or two courses that
has, 20 sections a semester,that's a real application of
issue.
So I think understanding howfull time folks in this case,
deploy an assignment, how theyexplain it, how they provide
(09:32):
background and additionalinformation, I think, is really
helpful.
And where possible I know it'snot always possible in academia
to do this if you can shadow orsee how 1 or more full time
folks or folks who have done itbefore sort of go through the
assignment.
How they consider it, how theyshare the conceptual pieces, how
(09:54):
they share even the details ofthe assignment.
I think it's really helpful ifyou can see how someone else
does it.
And in my head, how multiplepeople do it.
Right.
So maybe it isn't, you'll do oneperson's way wholesale, but
you'll take pieces of how oneperson does it sort of adjust
for your own personal way.
(10:15):
And then watch someone else doit and take that in as well.
So I think there's, and back tothe first question, thinking
about ways that we can shareinformation, especially in
courses that have multiplesections, if it is possible to
have a place in the coursemanagement system that tells
you, okay, here are theassignments and here are the
(10:37):
instructions that I give.
Maybe your instructions look alittle different, but you have a
starting place.
And I know for so many adjuncts,especially new adjuncts or new
faculty, having a starting placeis really the most important
aspect, right?
So you're not starting fromscratch.
You don't have to designeverything new necessarily, but
even if you do, you have someoneyou can talk to about how it's
(10:59):
happened previously, what theoptions are, what the guardrails
are, so that you know what it isyou can adjust for and can do.
Rachel (11:09):
I think that's really key here is that we're not
starting from scratch.
So even if we're handed asyllabus that might not be how
we want it, we have something,which is in many cases,
hopefully, better than nothingfor a course.
But even like you said, Cameron,with the assignments, seeing
what other people do, you know,some areas, some departments
(11:29):
have a little bit moreformalized mentor or
instructional buddy or whateverthat they might call them.
But even if your area doesn't,many faculty, many other people
who have taught the course orare currently teaching the
course are often very willing toshare insights, to, you know,
get a cup of coffee or a virtualcup of coffee or, you know,
(11:52):
whatever other beverage and justkind of talk over what works,
what doesn't work, what I'vetried, things I've learned.
And so it doesn't have to be alot of time, but maybe there are
some of those insights we cangain and really get that because
again, it's not, it's notcheating.
It's not copying, or somethinglike that, if we take the
insights we can learn,especially like you said, from
(12:14):
multiple people.
And so when we're thinking aboutthe week to week, the
implementation side of thecourse, and we've talked a
little bit about the syllabusand some of the guardrails, like
you mentioned there, andassignments.
But how might we think aboutpersonalizing and making a
course or a section of a course,if you will, our own, bringing
(12:36):
yourself, your expertise intothe classroom in whatever
modality your instruction is,rather than just say the
assignment instructions orsomething.
What could that look like on aweek to week basis?
Cameron (12:48):
I'm going to start in a non traditional place.
I think the first thing I'll sayis to make it fun.
If there's an opportunity toshare a story, to share a video,
to share an audio clip or apersonal something that could be
interesting to students, buildit in.
I think if it is interesting toyou, hopefully chances are it'll
(13:11):
be interesting to students.
So that's the first place I'llstart.
If you can think about the weeksof a semester or a quarter,
whatever organization, thissemester or the class may have,
where do you have expertise andknowledge and experience that
could be useful and interestingand connect to the learning
(13:32):
outcomes?
And I think that's the 1st placeto start, because in any course,
there are going to be thingsthat you're more excited about,
and maybe other things thatyou're less excited about.
And so, finding a way topersonalize a section of the
course or multiple sections ofthe course.
And also understanding that youdon't have to shift everything
the first time you teach it.
(13:53):
If there's something that works,if there is a lesson plan
already laid out and you'recomfortable with it, go for it.
I think the second and thirdtime you teach the course, you
become that much morecomfortable with the content.
You can be comfortable to shiftthings and maybe to add your own
flair and your own resources andreadings and et cetera.
So figuring out the place whereyou want to have a value add and
(14:18):
in going with that.
You don't have to changeeverything, especially if you're
given a syllabus and you'reteaching it for the first time,
it is a lot to try to shiftevery week, every lesson plan to
be your own.
And if you don't have to, youdon't necessarily have to at
least the first time you do it.
So relying on what is there, butalso relying on your own
(14:41):
expertise so that you can makeit yours, because the more you
make it yours, the more you feelaccountable to it, the more you
feel interested in it and themore that it connects to your
students.
Rachel (14:52):
Yeah, I like that point of making it interesting and
having that be a focus, becauseit's really looking at, where
we're investing our time withour interests and passing that
along to the students.
You know, we're not going tohave every single thing be
completely unique.
But having that be where webring the excitement, you know,
that might be personal stories,like you mentioned, or maybe
(15:13):
we're bringing in currentevents.
Current being, oh, this was inthe news last year, or maybe I
just spend too much time onlineand thinking about my classes
and bringing in this feature andhey, did you see this?
And did you know this was goingon?
But whatever it is that we'reexcited about, we can bring that
and hopefully pass it along tothe students to make it more
interesting and more engaging.
So I think those are greatpoints.
(15:34):
And so, as we're also thinkingabout this, you know, I think
when we're talking about makingour course a little bit more of
our own, making somethinghopefully less awkward the first
time through, a little bit lessuncomfortable, and just sharing
information with other faculty,being a little open to passing
along that knowledge, if youwill, what works, what was less
(15:56):
successful.
As we're wrapping up ourconversation for today, can you
tell us how this conversation toyou represents a keystone
concept in teaching?
Cameron (16:08):
I think there's an increasing reliance on
adjunct/contingent faculty, andit is important that
institutions/departmentsrecognize how important it is to
invest.
And so I would encourage newadjuncts to ask questions of
their area or department thatcould be helpful in them being
(16:30):
successful.
And so a couple of the thingsthat I would recommend is to ask
how reviews are done.
If there is real time feedback,if there are opportunities to do
shadowing, there areopportunities to do observations
and to be observed as well.
Those are all important steps ingetting feedback that is going
to be useful to your teaching,but also in learning the culture
(16:52):
of teaching and in a new area, anew department.
So seeing how someone else doessomething is going to be really
helpful to see what theexpectation might be of you.
To think about professionaldevelopment opportunities.
So in most places, there areopportunities to learn
instructional techniques tothink about inclusive teaching
to think about modality and ifthere are opportunities to teach
(17:17):
in a variety of ways andexperiential learning.
There are a ton of otheropportunities to think about how
to expand your skill set, butalso to expand the offerings
that are available in adepartment or an area.
And the last thing is to thinkabout the network that you have.
So I think it's incumbent uponthe department or area to think
(17:40):
about how to socialize a newperson in an area.
For example, how are youconnecting adjuncts who may be
teaching the same course?
I think it's great to build inthat network.
We have the adjunct coordinator,for example, and I know other
places have similar things.
If you have a person who isresponsible, how are they then
(18:01):
connecting all of the peoplethat teach a particular course
or have a scholarly interest ina topic, right?
It could be really helpful ifthere are ways that you can
connect people even acrosscampus that may have similar
interests.
And so being able to think aboutthem, yes, as an instructor, but
also as someone who has abackground or interest that
(18:24):
could connect to theinstitution.
Because yes, we are teaching ina course, but we're also part of
a community.
And so making sure that a newadjunct or a new professional is
connected to the largercommunity, I think it's really
important.
Rachel (18:40):
I agree.
Thank you so much Dr.
Harris.
I really appreciate your timeand your insights and your
expertise.
As we finish up our conversationagain, thank you so much for
joining us.
We look forward to sharingfuture episodes of Keystone
Concepts in Teaching with you.
And so please make sure tosubscribe on your podcast
(19:00):
platforms as well as followalong with some of our other
episodes, announcements, andshow notes.
So thank you so much, Dr.
Harris.
Cameron (19:09):
Thank you.
Hello and welcome to the Keystone Concepts in Teaching
podcast.
My name is Rachel Yoho, and I'myour host for this podcast from
the Stearns Center for Teachingand Learning.
In this work, we share impactfuland evidence based teaching
practices to support allstudents and faculty.
In this episode, we're going tobe exploring the situation in
which you are a new facultymember, an adjunct faculty
(00:29):
member, or any other space inwhich you're handed a syllabus
and told to go teach a class.
We'll talk about what to do,what to ask, how to personalize,
and really how to supporteveryone, especially you as the
instructor in this situation.
I'm joined by this episode'sguest, Dr.
Cameron Harris.
Cameron is an AssociateProfessor and area Chair in the
(00:50):
Costello College of Business forBusiness Foundations, and a
former faculty fellow in theStearns Center for Teaching and
Learning at George MasonUniversity.
So thank you so much for joiningus, Cameron.
Cameron (01:02):
Thank you, and thank you for having me.
Rachel (01:04):
So as we're getting started, you know, being handed
a syllabus and being assigned toteach a class can be a really
challenging situation.
We might think about this astrying to go for a walk or a run
in someone else's shoes.
It might, might not work, butit's going to not be certainly
as comfortable as our own ourown shoes or a class we design
or have more control over.
(01:26):
So the framing for ourconversation today is that we're
a new faculty member or anadjunct and we're given a
syllabus and what we want to do.
So let's start off with whatquestions would you recommend
this faculty member should ask?
Cameron (01:39):
I think the first idea that I have is to think about
why this availability exists.
And so maybe it's the former HRbackground that I have or the
idea that there's a reason thatthere's a need for a new person
teaching this course, whetherit's an adjunct or a full time
person.
(01:59):
And so thinking about the biggerpicture and the curriculum that
supports the need for thisperson teaching this course is
the first place I would go to.
Why is it a new need or is it anexisting need where someone
left?
What role does this course playin the fulfillment of a
student's, whether it's anundergraduate or graduate or
(02:20):
another program, in theircurriculum?
And so thinking about the bigpicture and how it fits into the
goals of a academic program, Ithink, is really important.
The other piece is the adjunctculture.
So if you are a new person, andare there other new people,
thinking about the network ofsupport you have, and whether or
(02:41):
not you have been teaching orteaching is new to you, how you
will get the support to makesure that you are feeling
confident in the work thatyou're doing, but also thinking
about what experience you havethat you can bring to bear so
that it is a successfulsituation.
So, a couple of questions andthings to consider about why
there's a need for a new personteaching a course, what skill
(03:05):
set do I bring to it, and howdoes it fulfill a requirement or
maybe multiple requirements formultiple constituent groups or
student groups across campus.
Rachel (03:15):
Yeah, I agree.
I think that's reallyinteresting and something we
might not think about as oftenwith the syllabus.
You know, we might look at thesyllabus and be like,"Okay, this
is what we're supposed to cover,this is what the students are
supposed to get out of it." Butit's also important, like you
were saying, to think about thatsequencing or whatever that
looks like in that particularprogram or area of study is what
(03:36):
the students are learning beforethis.
What are they supposed to becoming into your course with?
What are they building on inthis course?
And then what are they going todo after that, is really
something that isn't perhaps asoften discussed.
And so that's a reallyinteresting question as we're
thinking about that.
And so to expand on that alittle bit, particularly when
we're looking at standards oroutcomes based courses, this
(04:00):
might be in programs withsecondary accreditation, or
really just looking at thelearning outcomes, or just in
general, a course with analready defined and unchangeable
set of learning outcomes, howwould you recommend thinking
about what you could or shouldmodify?
Cameron (04:17):
Knowing the sort of guardrails that exist for a
course based on how it hasexisted in the past.
So to get a history of why thiscourse exists, how it has
existed in the past, maybe fromother folks who have taught it,
I think is really helpful toknow how did you reach this
outcome?
How did you create this sectionof a course or learning
(04:40):
objective for a course thatmeets a requirement.
And if there is wiggle room,right?
So one of the things that I hopehappens in most places where
adjuncts are hired is that theyhave experience that they can
bring to the classroom that theycan bring to the curriculum.
And yes, there are things thatneed to have happen.
So I think about in the Collegeof Business, for example, we
(05:02):
have assurance of learning.
And so they are programmaticacross various programs within
the college.
And so they are assessed everyyear or every three years, I
think it is, so that weunderstand that a particular
course has a connection to othercourses that connect to the
bigger program.
And so if that is the case,having a key understanding of
(05:24):
why and how that happens andwhere there is space to sort of
bring your own flavor andinterest.
And even if it meets the programoutcome, there are various ways
that you could do that.
And so my hope is that in mostplaces that there is
flexibility, so that new folkscan bring in their expertise,
(05:45):
they can try new things, theycan, you know, try something and
maybe see if it works and thenadjust as needed, of course,
with the oversight of folks whohave done it in the past.
So that would be my biggestsuggestion is to figure out what
is the requirement and wherethere's flexibility and sort of
build in between those two.
Rachel (06:07):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I think we see therethat we're not often or perhaps
ever changing learning outcomes.
But we are looking at the otherperhaps spaces that we can
change.
And so certainly a gooduniversity or program or
department or other academicunit should take advantage of
the insights and the experiencesand the professional expertise
(06:30):
of both new and adjunct faculty.
Their experience, what theybring to the courses, their
richness of information they cangive to the students.
And so maybe can you give ussome more examples about what
they might be able topersonalize in different
situations and how we becomemore than just say a fill in
person following a script.
Cameron (06:52):
I think oftentimes new faculty, new adjuncts are
brought in because they haveexpertise, they have knowledge
that is both academic in nature,but also practical, right?
There's stories that they cantell.
There's experience that they canshare with students in courses,
but also with other faculty,that could be useful to the
(07:13):
learning environment.
So the example is a real one,that I teach professional skills
courses.
And so often, adjuncts who areteaching maybe one or two
sections, have a little bit moreflexibility to bring in guest
speakers, to do things that arecreative in nature because they
have a lower volume, right?
If they're teaching one sectionversus four, having six of your
(07:37):
friends who work in HR come into provide feedback to students
is a much easier, potentially atleast, much easier task to do
versus doing that for foursections.
And so I think there's a way toconsider how you organize a
course, how you can be creativeabout deploying even the same
(07:58):
thing in a different way whenyou have the flexibility to test
it out, to learn how otherpeople have been doing it, and
then maybe adjust for your ownexpertise and experience.
The second piece is the storiesthat they have.
Having experience, especially ina practical way that you can
talk to students about how theconcepts they're learning in a
(08:20):
course apply to the work thatthey could potentially be doing
in the future.
I think in places like business,of course, that makes a lot of
sense, but there are otherplaces where that could really
be useful as well.
Rachel (08:32):
Absolutely.
And so it all sounds good as aconcept, but let's talk about
perhaps a situation in whichyou're teaching one of those
courses, where you're teachingone or two sections of a many,
many section course.
And maybe you do have theopportunity to bring in guest
speakers, which is a hugechallenge of its own.
But let's talk about theassignments in that type of
(08:53):
course.
We have often standardizedassignments across multi section
courses to make sure we'remeeting those learning outcomes.
But what would you recommendpeople consider for what
personalization of thosestandardized assignments might
look like in practice?
Cameron (09:10):
You're right.
As someone who teaches a coursethat has, or two courses that
has, 20 sections a semester,that's a real application of
issue.
So I think understanding howfull time folks in this case,
deploy an assignment, how theyexplain it, how they provide
(09:32):
background and additionalinformation, I think, is really
helpful.
And where possible I know it'snot always possible in academia
to do this if you can shadow orsee how 1 or more full time
folks or folks who have done itbefore sort of go through the
assignment.
How they consider it, how theyshare the conceptual pieces, how
(09:54):
they share even the details ofthe assignment.
I think it's really helpful ifyou can see how someone else
does it.
And in my head, how multiplepeople do it.
Right.
So maybe it isn't, you'll do oneperson's way wholesale, but
you'll take pieces of how oneperson does it sort of adjust
for your own personal way.
(10:15):
And then watch someone else doit and take that in as well.
So I think there's, and back tothe first question, thinking
about ways that we can shareinformation, especially in
courses that have multiplesections, if it is possible to
have a place in the coursemanagement system that tells
you, okay, here are theassignments and here are the
(10:37):
instructions that I give.
Maybe your instructions look alittle different, but you have a
starting place.
And I know for so many adjuncts,especially new adjuncts or new
faculty, having a starting placeis really the most important
aspect, right?
So you're not starting fromscratch.
You don't have to designeverything new necessarily, but
even if you do, you have someoneyou can talk to about how it's
(10:59):
happened previously, what theoptions are, what the guardrails
are, so that you know what it isyou can adjust for and can do.
Rachel (11:09):
I think that's really key here is that we're not
starting from scratch.
So even if we're handed asyllabus that might not be how
we want it, we have something,which is in many cases,
hopefully, better than nothingfor a course.
But even like you said, Cameron,with the assignments, seeing
what other people do, you know,some areas, some departments
(11:29):
have a little bit moreformalized mentor or
instructional buddy or whateverthat they might call them.
But even if your area doesn't,many faculty, many other people
who have taught the course orare currently teaching the
course are often very willing toshare insights, to, you know,
get a cup of coffee or a virtualcup of coffee or, you know,
(11:52):
whatever other beverage and justkind of talk over what works,
what doesn't work, what I'vetried, things I've learned.
And so it doesn't have to be alot of time, but maybe there are
some of those insights we cangain and really get that because
again, it's not, it's notcheating.
It's not copying, or somethinglike that, if we take the
insights we can learn,especially like you said, from
(12:14):
multiple people.
And so when we're thinking aboutthe week to week, the
implementation side of thecourse, and we've talked a
little bit about the syllabusand some of the guardrails, like
you mentioned there, andassignments.
But how might we think aboutpersonalizing and making a
course or a section of a course,if you will, our own, bringing
(12:36):
yourself, your expertise intothe classroom in whatever
modality your instruction is,rather than just say the
assignment instructions orsomething.
What could that look like on aweek to week basis?
Cameron (12:48):
I'm going to start in a non traditional place.
I think the first thing I'll sayis to make it fun.
If there's an opportunity toshare a story, to share a video,
to share an audio clip or apersonal something that could be
interesting to students, buildit in.
I think if it is interesting toyou, hopefully chances are it'll
(13:11):
be interesting to students.
So that's the first place I'llstart.
If you can think about the weeksof a semester or a quarter,
whatever organization, thissemester or the class may have,
where do you have expertise andknowledge and experience that
could be useful and interestingand connect to the learning
(13:32):
outcomes?
And I think that's the 1st placeto start, because in any course,
there are going to be thingsthat you're more excited about,
and maybe other things thatyou're less excited about.
And so, finding a way topersonalize a section of the
course or multiple sections ofthe course.
And also understanding that youdon't have to shift everything
the first time you teach it.
(13:53):
If there's something that works,if there is a lesson plan
already laid out and you'recomfortable with it, go for it.
I think the second and thirdtime you teach the course, you
become that much morecomfortable with the content.
You can be comfortable to shiftthings and maybe to add your own
flair and your own resources andreadings and et cetera.
So figuring out the place whereyou want to have a value add and
(14:18):
in going with that.
You don't have to changeeverything, especially if you're
given a syllabus and you'reteaching it for the first time,
it is a lot to try to shiftevery week, every lesson plan to
be your own.
And if you don't have to, youdon't necessarily have to at
least the first time you do it.
So relying on what is there, butalso relying on your own
(14:41):
expertise so that you can makeit yours, because the more you
make it yours, the more you feelaccountable to it, the more you
feel interested in it and themore that it connects to your
students.
Rachel (14:52):
Yeah, I like that point of making it interesting and
having that be a focus, becauseit's really looking at, where
we're investing our time withour interests and passing that
along to the students.
You know, we're not going tohave every single thing be
completely unique.
But having that be where webring the excitement, you know,
that might be personal stories,like you mentioned, or maybe
(15:13):
we're bringing in currentevents.
Current being, oh, this was inthe news last year, or maybe I
just spend too much time onlineand thinking about my classes
and bringing in this feature andhey, did you see this?
And did you know this was goingon?
But whatever it is that we'reexcited about, we can bring that
and hopefully pass it along tothe students to make it more
interesting and more engaging.
So I think those are greatpoints.
(15:34):
And so, as we're also thinkingabout this, you know, I think
when we're talking about makingour course a little bit more of
our own, making somethinghopefully less awkward the first
time through, a little bit lessuncomfortable, and just sharing
information with other faculty,being a little open to passing
along that knowledge, if youwill, what works, what was less
(15:56):
successful.
As we're wrapping up ourconversation for today, can you
tell us how this conversation toyou represents a keystone
concept in teaching?
Cameron (16:08):
I think there's an increasing reliance on
adjunct/contingent faculty, andit is important that
institutions/departmentsrecognize how important it is to
invest.
And so I would encourage newadjuncts to ask questions of
their area or department thatcould be helpful in them being
(16:30):
successful.
And so a couple of the thingsthat I would recommend is to ask
how reviews are done.
If there is real time feedback,if there are opportunities to do
shadowing, there areopportunities to do observations
and to be observed as well.
Those are all important steps ingetting feedback that is going
to be useful to your teaching,but also in learning the culture
(16:52):
of teaching and in a new area, anew department.
So seeing how someone else doessomething is going to be really
helpful to see what theexpectation might be of you.
To think about professionaldevelopment opportunities.
So in most places, there areopportunities to learn
instructional techniques tothink about inclusive teaching
to think about modality and ifthere are opportunities to teach
(17:17):
in a variety of ways andexperiential learning.
There are a ton of otheropportunities to think about how
to expand your skill set, butalso to expand the offerings
that are available in adepartment or an area.
And the last thing is to thinkabout the network that you have.
So I think it's incumbent uponthe department or area to think
(17:40):
about how to socialize a newperson in an area.
For example, how are youconnecting adjuncts who may be
teaching the same course?
I think it's great to build inthat network.
We have the adjunct coordinator,for example, and I know other
places have similar things.
If you have a person who isresponsible, how are they then
(18:01):
connecting all of the peoplethat teach a particular course
or have a scholarly interest ina topic, right?
It could be really helpful ifthere are ways that you can
connect people even acrosscampus that may have similar
interests.
And so being able to think aboutthem, yes, as an instructor, but
also as someone who has abackground or interest that
(18:24):
could connect to theinstitution.
Because yes, we are teaching ina course, but we're also part of
a community.
And so making sure that a newadjunct or a new professional is
connected to the largercommunity, I think it's really
important.
Rachel (18:40):
I agree.
Thank you so much Dr.
Harris.
I really appreciate your timeand your insights and your
expertise.
As we finish up our conversationagain, thank you so much for
joining us.
We look forward to sharingfuture episodes of Keystone
Concepts in Teaching with you.
And so please make sure tosubscribe on your podcast
(19:00):
platforms as well as followalong with some of our other
episodes, announcements, andshow notes.
So thank you so much, Dr.
Harris.
Cameron (19:09):
Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com