This article first appeared in the December 2011 issue of The Teaching Professor.
I can’t remember when it happened; I just know that it did. I changed vocations in 2003, becoming a full-time academic after being president of a heat treating company in Ohio. I had long dreamed of being a college professor and imagined I’d be joining a collegial community where faculty would help each other improve as teachers. But that didn’t happen. Instead, I discovered that professors are just too busy teaching to help one another become better teachers. So I turned to the literature. I’ve read a treasure trove of articles, books, and websites that deal with “teaching tips” and “faculty development.” Some encouraged me; others left me feeling as though I were a mechanic trying to find the right tools to fix my car. And there were so many things to remember! What do I do to encourage discussion in my classroom? How do I get my students to do their assigned readings? Why doesn’t group work ever seem to be profitable to the students? The more I read, the more questions I had. I had almost resigned myself to a numbing journey that would only get more tedious and strained as the semesters rolled by. But then something happened.
One Response
This is insightful and true to my own observations in the classroom. Thank you for sharing!