I recently read “The Civil Classroom in the Age of the Net” by P.M. Forni, which appeared in the fall 2008 issue of The NEA Higher Education Journal: Thought & Action. Forni discusses the issue of disengaged students in higher education, and offers some sage advice for responding to the many challenges which face today’s educator. He points out that when it comes to the Internet, “every single thing is equidistant from every other thing and from that person at the keyboard. It takes the same amount of time and the same effort to access anything you wish” (p. 17). Forni points out that his job as a teacher is to demonstrate that a “hierarchy of values does exist and does matter.” Forni suggests opening a conversation on what makes information trivial vs. important– that is, discussing the value of the information at hand. Kudo’s to Forni– who believes in developing his student’s “critical eye” when it comes to information evaluation (if only all educators (no matter what subject!) would take the time to hone their student’s critical thinking abilities!).
In regards to improving student engagement, Forni presents (among other things) a “fair convenant” to his students (pp20-21):
What I Expect from You:
That you will be punctual for every class
That you do not recieve or make telephone calls
That you respect what I and your fellow students have to say
That you come to class ready to ask and answer questions of substance on the day’s reading
That you will be mindful of time constraints when making presentations
That you will concentrate exclusively on this course during class hours…
He suggest also listing your own commitments, “What You Can Expect from Me”:
That I will be punctual for every class
That I will give everybody a fair share of my attention
That I will prepare you for your tests
That I will grade you on the quality of your work rather than on the amount of time and effort you spent on it
That I will work to make you perform better…
Forni suggests reading the covenant aloud on the first day of class and ask your students if they are willing to abide by it. Although it can be part of the syllabus, he suggests that separate copies make the covenant more memorable (you can staple to the syllabus later).
Even if you’re not teaching a 3.0 credit class, you can still bring elements of the covenant into your one-shot instruction sessions. In the beginning of the class, ask students to agree to refrain from checking their e-mail, facebook, e-bay, etc…”just give me 50 minutes…and I will show you how to locate the articles and books you need for your research project. You will *leave* this room with high quality articles e-mailed to yourself and call numbers for books. I will also show you how to save time in your research, save money, and (hopefully) get a better grade!”.
The fall 2007 issue of Thought & Action is currently available online (I’m not sure when the fall 2008 issue will be uploaded).
Here’s to an engaging spring semester!! – LF
