Second Meeting - The Seven Principles of Good Practice

Our second reading was “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education”, by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson. It can be found at http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm

We decided that the principles make inherent sense, but what was important was to discover and discuss the practical applications of each of them.

Principle 1: Establish Good Contact between Faculty and Students
We agreed that this makes sense, and the idea behind the Rutgers Freshman seminar was a way in which to encourage faculty to reach out to students. We also mentioned how the Writing Department provides very nice opportunities for students, since the classes are smaller and more intimate than many of the large lectures that the students may take. We did think, though, of trying to see this from the students’ point of view, and one participant said when she was an undergraduate, how faculty members seemed old and distant. It was suggested that e-mail is a good tool by which to encourage communication between students and faculty, especially since this is a medium that students use a lot and like.

Principle 2: Develop Reciprocity and Cooperation among Students
Under this section, the “think-pair-share” model was discussed, in which, when asking a question to the class, students are given time to think about it, pair up with another student, and share ideas between themselves and ultimately the whole class. Also, one member present said that she asks students in Peer Review to ask other students about what they did to make their papers successful. Another member said she asks students in 201 classes what they learned in 101 about successful essay writing.

Principle 3: Encourage Active Learning:
One member present talked about how she reduces herself in the sense that if there is a question that no one can answer, she tells the students to research it. Although the following statement was not actually brought up in discussion, I think it is fair to say that the philosophy of the Writing Program is for students to actively explore ideas and analyse issues, rather than merely regurgitate back what the readings say.

Principle 4: Gives Prompt Feedback
Again, this is part of the Writing Program philosophy

Principle 5: Emphasises Time on Task:
We started this topic by talking about the concept of “Just-in-Time” teaching, meaning bringing something fresh and spontaneous from the online discussion to the campus class. We talked quite a bit about what this would mean in the online section of a hybrid class, and said how, even though time is asynchronous in the online environment, that it is important that students move forward in their learning activities at the same approximate time, so that they can truly work collaboratively. We discussed, too, how there is a time lag in the asynchronous online environment, but maybe this can be advantageous, as perhaps students can respond to each other (as in Principle 2).

Principle 6: Communicates High Expectations:
We mentioned how it is important to create the right balance in expectations between challenge and comfort. The Writing Program already has a clear set of policies and grading criteria, and we still need to think through the appropriate expectations for the online environment, in terms of lateness, absences, and the frequency by which both the teacher and students should be participating online.

Principle 7: Respects Diverse Talents and Styles of Learning:
It is precisely because of the diversity of learning styles that we think that the hybrid class might provide some good opportunities for participation, giving, as it does, two different learning environments. Also, in the campus class, we talked about the merits of varying the class activities to suit different types of learners, and also to provide an element of surprise and overall variation.