Second Tips for Teachers Meeting, Fall 08

In our second Tips for Teachers of the semester, we read and discussed any and all articles in the 
September 21st, 2008 Sunday New York Times Magazine: The College Issue, which can be found
 online at http://www.nytimes.com/pages/magazine/

We started our discussion by talking about the article on student evaluations, and commented on how Rutgers has well rounded questions, and how the Writing Program has specifically adapted questions to make them relevant to our pedagogy. In addition, we thought that we were different from the college mentioned in the article, in which there was a criterion to let a teacher go if he or she had less than a certain level of statistical support, because in addition to our evaluations, we also have folder review and mentoring, so we get to know the WP teachers from other angles. One person mentioned that she appreciates evaluations, as she has learned things about her teaching that she did not know before, such as that students see her as enthusiastic.

We talked about how midterm evaluations might also be useful to do, so that a teacher can get a sense of what works well and what changes to make with that particular group of students, and many of us indeed already perform a midterm reflections exercise with our students for this reason.

We also mentioned how the grades that students receive might influence how they evaluate us. And we said how students in a higher level class might write more expressive comments than a student in a more remedial course, since they might have not only different levels of capability but also a higher morale.

It was asked whether race or gender would affect how a teacher is evaluated. One member present spoke of an article he had read in which dress and social standards of beauty were looked at to see if they affect the evaluations a student might give, and it was found that there was a definite correlation between these factors, with an even bigger impact for women than for men. It was speculated that in the Rutgers Writing Program, however, race and gender would not be significant factors, since the university is so cosmopolitan, but it was thought that accent might make a difference, not because of bias but purely because it might make a teacher harder to comprehend. However, one male teacher present spoke of his experience teaching a course on feminism at a different university, and said how the students expected him to either be a woman or a gay man.

In addition to the diverse nature of the student population at Rutgers, we also spoke about how some students might be the first generation in their family to go to college, thus meaning that many of the topical and controversial issues we confront in our writing classes are directly relevant to them, and not just an ivory tower exercise.

Another member present said that despite some possible inherent problems with evaluation, there are generally no evaluations in high school, so once they get to college, students appreciate having a voice. We did talk, however, of how some schools and colleges have peer observations while a class is in session, though many of us agreed that the class dynamic might be altered by the presence of the observer.

We also talked about how students are different depending not only on the campus location, but also their major, since some science majors might not like taking a writing course.

Another point mentioned was that in the Writing Program we try to dispel any notion a student might have of being a “consumer” as, through collaboration, discussion and small group work as opposed to lecturing, we teach them about individual responsibility. We also teach them that a philosophy of maximum returns for minimum effort is not true in the Writing Program. Students learn the skill of writing, which can be applied to every walk of life.

Our attention turned to the article about the writer who became a teacher, and how he was concerned that since he spent so much time reading mundane student papers rather than literary works, he worried that his own writing might be negatively affected. But we said we did not think this was applicable to the WP here at Rutgers, since the readings deal with issues of relevance and complexity, and many of us teaching a 201 research writing course, said we felt so inspired by the research methodology that it made us want to do our own research.

And we all agreed that one of the beauties of teaching is seeing students getting inspired. This led us to look at the careful placement carried out in the Writing Program, so that hopefully students are not in over their heads, and we mentioned how hard it can be to teach students of different capabilities, as the fundamental question then becomes one of who do we aim for in our teaching – the bright and therefore risk losing some of the students, or the ones who need more help and therefore risk boring the bright ones.

We moved from here to a discussion of whether taking AP exams is a good idea for high school students, or whether they would be better off taking the class with an expert and their peers in college. Many of us thought that students taking a 201 writing class have benefited from having taken 101. Some also suggested that the brightest students might benefit from taking the class in college as opposed to as an AP exam, so that they can become leaders in their college class, and help their peers. And we reminded ourselves that even the best writers need editors.

Fall 08: Tips for Teachers (1)

In this first Tips for Teachers of the semester, we read and discussed “Is Google Making us
Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, in the July/August 2008 Atlantic Magazine, and which can be found
online at http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google

We started our discussion by talking about how the article mentions that Google aims for precision and efficiency, and yet this does not leave room for us to contemplate the sorts of ambiguity that we sometimes come across when reading books. From here we discussed about the impact that Google and the Internet might be having on our brains, and how this was the subject of a recent Brian Lehrer show on WNYC. Some of us admitted to feeling scattered when reading, but wondered whether this was also because of our busy lives and responsibilities, in addition to MTV, video games, channel surfing and so on.

One member present talked about the implications that this technology has on the election process, wherein we have quick sound bytes and no sustained information about which we can make some accurate assessments.

We talked about how freshmen today, born in 1990, were born into the Internet Age, and have generally been in the habit of looking for information online. Many are therefore quite unaccustomed to the types of long readings that they are asked to do in Expository Writing.

Another member present mentioned a film called Cheap, Fast and Out of Control, which asks the basic question as to what is wrong if we all start to function like efficient robots. This was answered by the view that if we behave as robots, we deny room for emotions, which are, amongst other things, an essential part of the learning process. This was countered by some information that some robots are now being programmed to simulate emotional reactions, and indeed that computer scientists think it is acceptable to mimic nature, even to the extent of emulating emotions.

Viewed from another perspective, one member present sad that this article about Google’s impact was analogous to people’s reactions to fast food. Fast food favours efficiency over enjoyment, and she mentioned how in some European countries there is now a re-emphasis on ‘slow food’ and enjoying the dining experience in a leisurely way. And so, on this basis, perhaps it would be better to return to ‘slow thinking’ as well. This would give us time not only to contemplate knowledge, but leave room for an emotional reaction to it as well.

We mentioned how, when going to the library, a person has the opportunity to browse and see what else might be interesting or useful on adjacent shelves. It was thought, in contrast, that when online, students don’t explore but read to confirm a priori knowledge and only look for quick, small sound bytes. Certainly there are some who will explore more online, but the problem is that many have not learned how to be discriminatory about the value of different sources. It was felt that many students have learned to ‘satisfice’, which is that they will stop as soon as they reach the minimum requirement as they do not want to exert more effort. There seems to be a pressure to do things quickly.

To counter this, though, some expressed the feeling that perhaps it has always been this way; that only a small subset of the population has ever been deeply curious. Additionally, to continue with the fast food analogy, perhaps no time is really saved after all and this is only an illusion; is it really that much faster to drive in one’s car to the fast food restaurant than to take out a pan and cook the food directly oneself?

We also wondered about the social impacts of being online. Even though the Internet gives us global links, are we still not isolated in physical space in front of our computer? But this was countered by one member’s remark that isn’t reading, whether books or online, the most isolating thing that humans do? In response to this, one member suggested that perhaps we read in anticipation of having a good discussion about it later, and also that reading might give us awareness of all sorts of other life situations. Also it gives us perhaps necessary time to turn inwards and day dream and become immersed.

Returning to the topic of whether our brains have actually adapted to our use of the Internet, one member commented that students’ learning is non-linear, and visual, and also some students now put their Ph.D.s online, and in place of footnotes they have video. And current freshmen are likely to think that even e-mail is old fashioned, and want more immediacy as is provided by Instant Messaging.

Another member commented on the fact that they were reading the Belkin article in a 100 class, which does not mention the fate of the sick children in the study, and during the class one student looked up the information on his computer and said that one of the children had died. Although it was impressive that the student immediately researched this, the teacher was concerned that students might not be interested in going beyond the facts to think about the implications, rather than just wanting immediate evidence.

We wondered if the medium is the message, and to that end questioned whether it would be better for students if we put The New Humanities Reader online. But some expressed concern that students would not read in depth online, and would be tempted to keep visiting other sites. Perhaps it would be best, we thought, if the NHR stays as a book, and that students use Google judiciously to complement their analysis and understanding.

It was said that years ago, before much of the technology which is now a part of many of our lives, we had to pay more attention. If we were driving somewhere, for example, we would have to think how to navigate rather than relying on an electronic device. And another said how he no longer needs to rely so much on his memory, as if he forgets something, he merely turns to Google to look it up. But another countered any lament about this by saying that aren’t we glad for medical advancements that have enabled patients to have artificial limbs, so why not also be able to change the brain?

Perhaps ultimately what we are discussing, we thought, is a generation gap, since our students have grown up with technology and we are immigrants to it. So maybe this in turn causes a communication gap. And hasn’t this occurred throughout history, such as when the printing press was invented? Maybe we are just confronting a paradigm shift, and with time things will adapt and be smoothed over, as has happened throughout history.

We wondered about the future of books and if indeed they have a future. One member asked her students across both sections of Expository Writing, and found that 6 out of 44 students said they were reading books. Then we moved on to look at the Jenkins article that the new teachers are using in their first sequence, and all of its implications about adolescents having read the Harry Potter novels. One teacher said that only two students in his class had not read any Harry Potter books. But we wondered whether the increased reading that many children of both genders embarked upon with Harry Potter books was continued and whether this gave them a love of reading more books in general.

Perhaps students are reading more than before, but are mostly reading through a different medium of the Internet and video games. And perhaps video games are good in that they are interactive and not passive as is watching TV. One member said that in the past parents objected to children reading comic books, but later it was discovered that comic books actually improved children’s vocabulary as they used many sophisticated words. And perhaps reading online is beneficial as generally we insert many other activities alongside reading a piece, and perhaps this is being productive and not distracted.

The fascinating question was brought up as to whether this article that formed the basis of this discussion, and which was online, was actually read online or as a print-out, and every single one of us present said we printed it out. The reason for this, many of us said, was because if we only read it online we would not remember it, but if we printed it out we could write marginal comments on it and therefore directly interact with it. Of course we could have read it online and hand written notes on it on a piece of paper, though.

Generally we concluded that we are being adapted to the technology that we create. Even time is understood differently online, as we might become frustrated by a 30 second delay in a page loading, whereas that might be a very insignificant amount of time if we are, say, waiting for our dinner to arrive. Expectations and behaviour, then, are different when online and when reading a book, but perhaps, we thought, it’s best to teach students that the Internet is a wonderful resource, and one that should be used hand-in-hand with books.

Sixth Tips for Teachers Meeting: Spring 08

In the final Tips for Teachers meeting of the Spring 08 semester, we watched excerpts from the film, The History Boys, adapted from the play of the same name by Arnold Bennett. The story takes place in a grammar school in Yorkshire in 1983, and mainly focuses on two teachers with different pedagogies; Hector, who is an older man and English Literature teacher, who believes in knowledge for its own sake, and an abundance of culture and creativity (the students often burst into song, recite poetry, or lines from a film when in his class); and Irwin, a very young new History teacher, who says that truth does not matter, but recommends that saying something different for the sake of making one’s exam paper stand out, is what is important.

The film follows the progress of a group of boys who are studying for the Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) entrance exams, under these two different teachers. Many of us commented on how outspoken and passionate the boys were, and how it is rare to see this amongst New Jersey students today. Often, it was agreed, we see students who are glib and do not pursue knowledge in such amazing depth as was the case for the boys in this film. It was suggested that possibly the very fact that the group of boys in the film had such longevity with each other, having been in the same class for many years, might have contributed to this trend in them, yet even so it was remarkable how nice they were to each other, and how they tolerated each other’s weaknesses and admired each other’s strengths.

A factor, too, was that this film took place in the 1980’s, and we speculated that perhaps students read more then than many do now, and how modern-day technology might have short circuited the depth of knowledge (a topic we have dwelt on in previous Tips for Teachers meetings). Some of us talked about how we ask our students if they read for pleasure, and sadly only a few do, and one WP teacher said she thought this was simply because students do not know how to choose. However, one remarked that students do approach librarians to ask for recommendations.

Returning specifically to the film, we asked about how similar or different were the teaching styles of Irwin and Hector. In one interesting scene, Irwin had taken the students to see a war memorial, and looking at the list of names, he said it was not so much “lest we forget” as it was “lest we remember”. In other words, he was implying that once we built a war memorial, we could then forget the dead. Hector, though, had asked one of the students to recite some words from Hardy, about a fallen young soldier, Hodge, fighting on a field, and whose bones were ground up and spread as fertilizer, yet who still had the dignity of a name and thus a means to be remembered. It was almost as if, we commented, that Irwin saw things as they were, and gave them a sharp angle of interpretation, whereas Hector saw truth through art, as in reciting a poem to understand the event.

These radically different approaches to teaching and learning confused the boys to the extent that when Irwin was asked by the headmaster, to team-teach with Hector, the class started off, despite the fact that the two teachers and the boys were sitting in a circle, in complete silence. When asked why nobody spoke, one student had, as a WP instructor remarked, impressive powers of metacognition, as he said, “Do you want us to be smart or thoughtful?” This illustrated the interesting question as to how much do students just give teachers what they want, in order to get a good grade, rather than embark in true learning?

As one member of our meeting said, Irwin wanted the boys to ignore the truth, but wouldn’t this mean that there should be a shared understanding of what’s expected as true, to know how to effectively create something that is different? And another WP teacher said that is it not the case that truth is not necessarily factual, but more that it is conventional wisdom?

In the class that Hector and Irwin team-taught, the subject of discussion that ultimately arose was that of the Holocaust. Hector asked how tourists could go to concentration camps and eat sandwiches and take photos of each other smiling, and this reminded some of us of Schlosser’s piece about building a McDonald’s one third of a mile away from the concentration camp of Dachau. One WP instructor asked if students need to know about the Holocaust now, as he doubted whether future employers would find it of relevance. Another WP member said that this sort of event was important to know as it would reflect upon values, and a true meshing of values between employer and employee was important in the workplace, to which the first WP said he thought this was of less importance. This brings up the crucial question as to how to decide what is significant to teach our students.

We concluded by lamenting that so much of high school teaching is teaching towards tests, and we asked about why couldn’t we infuse a love of learning for its own sake, as Hector did. However, many of us also said that we encourage students to take risks and say something different in their papers, which mirrors Irwin’s approach only to the extent, I think, that we still believe in authenticity whereas Irwin did not see this as important. But, asked one WP teacher, do students ever wonder why they need to be original?

Fifth Tips for Teachers Meeting

This time our Tips for Teachers discussion was based around the article, "Impact of Popular Culture on Communication Skills: A Commentary with Insights for Writing Instruction" by Linda Best and Christopher Lynch, which can be found at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4116/is_200604/ai_n17183359/pg_1 Again we had some teachers from Hackensack High School join us in this amazing discussion.

Our basic question was to discuss how much popular culture influences the lives and learning patterns of High School and College students. One Rutgers instructor said he thought TV short circuits students’ thoughts, and excessive numbers of activities substitute for deeper thinking as the quest is always looking for something to amuse. He said, for example, how students are often wearing headphones or listening to music on their iPods as they conduct their research. They are, in short, used to multi-tasking, but is this to the detriment of learning and the acquisition of knowledge? Or, to play Devil’s Advocate, is this constant noise and chaos actually realistic training for the workplace, in which it is quite likely that they will not work in complete silence? Maybe the distractions might not deter from learning, especially if students are taught a framework or structure within which to focus and organize their thoughts.

A High School teacher commented that most students at her school see education as a means to an end, as they have little incentive to learn. She said she asked her class if they ever use an encyclopedia, and students said they would not as they found them frustrating as there is too much information to thumb through, and they might be distracted by an article on another topic, or ultimately distracted by MySpace.

It seems fair to say that students prefer looking for information on the Web, but do they stop at the first piece of information they find, or do they browse further? A High School teacher said she thought that students stop at the first thing, as she asked facetiously why they would want to expand their knowledge! However, possibly the problem is that one can easily feel overwhelmed by excessive amounts of information, which is very typical of the age in which we live. One WP instructor said it would be advantageous to guide students so that they know how to be discriminating about what information to use, and that it should be acknowledged that it can take ages to find the exact information of true value for which one is hunting.

But how, it was asked, can we encourage students to do this? A High School teacher said she does this by telling students that they will need to know/do this in college, and a Writing Program instructor said that she tells her students they will need to know how to read and write well as it would help enormously when applying for a job. However, do employers care if their employees are not good readers or writers? It seems that some might care, as another WP instructor said that many US firms are offering their employees courses on how to write, and another said how accountants are asked to evaluate their writing frequently, since they often need to write reports. It seems that the answer lies in the fact that writing is a means of communication, so it is essential that everyone understands the same thing in terms of word choice and spelling.

Should we care that writing is changing, or should we recognize that the rules of language have always changed, a Writing Program instructor asked. After all, all we need do is read a Jane Austen novel to see how many differences there are in the spelling of certain words between then and now. Or should we be like the French, and have committees which strictly monitor word changes and mostly reject them? How far should it go? Some High School teachers said that they see students use “R U going…” instead of “Are you going…”, and one even admitted to having started doing this herself in her text messages. But another High School teacher talked about how cell phones now have predictive texting, and thinks that this might ultimately help students and other users with their spelling. However, in answer to this, one WP instructor said he sees a worsening of spelling in placement tests, and another said that she has a student who must so totally rely on the Spell Check feature on the computer, that he has so many wrong words as to make the overall paper incomprehensible. So it seems that Spell Check, as well as countless misspellings in society (ShopRite, EZ Pass) that bombard us with misspellings, are the ultimate culprits.

A WP instructor went on to say that it is well known that the US is lagging behind many other countries in terms of Math and Science, but what is not said is how it is lagging in terms of reading and writing.

A High School teacher remarked that most students are simply satisfied when they have written a paper rather than not. They do not seem to have pride in their work. Another from the High School said that all too often students are taught rules of writing, such as five sentences per paragraph, or how the letter [i]should be capitalized, yet are not sufficiently taught about inclusion of content. They might be told, for example, that a paragraph should contain a thought, but many students say they can express that thought in just one sentence. The High School teachers also said that they have to teach a recipe for how to pass the HSPA exams, and this is why they have to emphasise the rules. One teacher said how she had heard that the elementary school in their district had a 90% success rate on standardized tests, and this was because the children were taught a little song to better memorise the rules.

A WP instructor said that a lot of these changes in reading and writing reflect the incursion of technology at so many levels, and another talked about how many two year olds have a TV in their room, and there are such programs as Baby Einstein. Someone also made the comment about how in Japan some teenagers are writing novels on their cell phones, to which a High School teacher replied that students often bring in their homework on their cell phones!

We discussed how all this technology can lead to increased isolation. In fact one WP instructor asked her class why texting was more prevalent than voice mail, and they uniformly replied that with texting one can hide, be detached, and even lie because of the lack of intimacy. And often, as soon as class is over, students whip out their cell phones. It seems that they already have friends from elsewhere, and lack engagement with what is immediately surrounding them. Another WP instructor mentioned an E.M. Forster novel in which everyone lived underground in separate cells, and all were horrified at the thought of face-to-face contact. Are students currently living this way, he asked, shut in their rooms with their TVs and computers?

One WP instructor, who has been deeply involved in High School education over a number of years, said that our current discussion reminded him of a discussion they had had in the 1960’s in his school when they were lamenting educational standards. He said that he felt the real problem was not, in fact, isolation, but a lack of reflection. He said that reading, after all, is a completely isolated act, yet one needs to be solitary when reading so as to have a chance to ponder. However, as the article mentions, many students have become afraid of their own thoughts so avoid this isolation. Moreover, as another WP instructor said, in the workplace the emphasis is often on team work rather than individual work, so is isolation good?

And whether or not isolation is beneficial, we discussed the inherent irony in that we ask Expos students to enter into dialogue with the authors, yet they are increasingly not having dialogue with each other. Another Rutgers instructor talked about her son who is in seventh grade, who is capable of thinking things through, but he does not do this as he is not used to being in dialogue to explain and explore thoughts further. And we talked further about how young children can mend a computer yet are unable to write a coherent, meaningful paper.

A WP instructor said that given that technology exists, what should our teaching strategies be? He, for example, said that he told his students that he will accept e-mail from them, but will not read them if they are filled with errors instead of using proper language. To this, a High School teacher asked if it really matters if a student is reading Gossip Girl rather than something more scholarly, as it is still reading, and does it matter if a student writes on a Blog rather than writing an assignment paper, as it is still writing. He thought these acts might be beneficial, as he is willing to do all it takes to motivate a student. But another WP instructor said that the content of what students read or write, behind the technology, does matter, as it should be of substance, otherwise there is very little upon which to reflect. A High School teacher answered that students are only interested in what they already see as interesting or relevant to them as individuals, but we discussed how it might ultimately be important, if not glorious, for students to broaden their horizons and move beyond their preconceived ideas and a priori knowledge, to the wonderful discovery of new things.

Another member from the WP said that a lot of this depends on the teacher establishing trust in the classroom, which will help, if not enable students to accept new things. She said teachers should not only be entertainers and should not only try to be popular, but they should primarily be educators. After all, we all know how great it is to witness that moment when a student is excited by new knowledge and ideas. Furthermore, she said, as teachers we all have a lot to learn from our students, too. And also there are commonalities of activities between High School and College, in terms of peer reviews and group work, but where new activities are carried out in college, such as grammar presentations, it is always a good idea to explain to students why these are important.

However, some High School teachers thought that there is a big gap between teaching for the HSPA and teaching from the NHR, and that their students would probably find the readings in the NHR to be quite impenetrable. WP instructors answered that the idea of sequencing helps with tough readings, as they are revisited many times, and one commented on the teaching of Expos in the New Brunswick High School, which seems to be well received, and the students are relating some of their Expos readings to other subjects which they are learning in High School.

Fifth Tips for Teachers Meeting

This time our Tips for Teachers discussion was based around the article, "Impact of Popular Culture on Communication Skills: A Commentary with Insights for Writing Instruction" by Linda Best and Christopher Lynch, which can be found at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4116/is_200604/ai_n17183359/pg_1 Again we had some teachers from Hackensack High School join us in this amazing discussion. 

Our basic question was to discuss how much popular culture influences the lives and learning patterns of High School and College students. One Rutgers instructor said he thought TV short circuits students’ thoughts, and excessive numbers of activities substitute for deeper thinking as the quest is always looking for something to amuse. He said, for example, how students are often wearing headphones or listening to music on their iPods as they conduct their research. They are, in short, used to multi-tasking, but is this to the detriment of learning and the acquisition of knowledge? Or, to play Devil’s Advocate, is this constant noise and chaos actually realistic training for the workplace, in which it is quite likely that they will not work in complete silence? Maybe the distractions might not deter from learning, especially if students are taught a framework or structure within which to focus and organize their thoughts. 

A High School teacher commented that most students at her school see education as a means to an end, as they have little incentive to learn. She said she asked her class if they ever use an encyclopedia, and students said they would not as they found them frustrating as there is too much information to thumb through, and they might be distracted by an article on another topic, or ultimately distracted by MySpace.

It seems fair to say that students prefer looking for information on the Web, but do they stop at the first piece of information they find, or do they browse further? A High School teacher said she thought that students stop at the first thing, as she asked facetiously why they would want to expand their knowledge! However, possibly the problem is that one can easily feel overwhelmed by excessive amounts of information, which is very typical of the age in which we live. One WP instructor said it would be advantageous to guide students so that they know how to be discriminating about what information to use, and that it should be acknowledged that it can take ages to find the exact information of true value for which one is hunting. 

But how, it was asked, can we encourage students to do this? A High School teacher said she does this by telling students that they will need to know/do this in college, and a Writing Program instructor said that she tells her students they will need to know how to read and write well as it would help enormously when applying for a job. However, do employers care if their employees are not good readers or writers? It seems that some might care, as another WP instructor said that many US firms are offering their employees courses on how to write, and another said how accountants are asked to evaluate their writing frequently, since they often need to write reports. It seems that the answer lies in the fact that writing is a means of communication, so it is essential that everyone understands the same thing in terms of word choice and spelling. 

Should we care that writing is changing, or should we recognize that the rules of language have always changed, a Writing Program instructor asked. After all, all we need do is read a Jane Austen novel to see how many differences there are in the spelling of certain words between then and now. Or should we be like the French, and have committees which strictly monitor word changes and mostly reject them? How far should it go? Some High School teachers said that they see students use “R U going…” instead of “Are you going…”, and one even admitted to having started doing this herself in her text messages. But another High School teacher talked about how cell phones now have predictive texting, and thinks that this might ultimately help students and other users with their spelling. However, in answer to this, one WP instructor said he sees a worsening of spelling in placement tests, and another said that she has a student who must so totally rely on the Spell Check feature on the computer, that he has so many wrong words as to make the overall paper incomprehensible. So it seems that Spell Check, as well as countless misspellings in society (ShopRite, EZ Pass) that bombard us with misspellings, are the ultimate culprits.

A WP instructor went on to say that it is well known that the US is lagging behind many other countries in terms of Math and Science, but what is not said is how it is lagging in terms of reading and writing. 

A High School teacher remarked that most students are simply satisfied when they have written a paper rather than not. They do not seem to have pride in their work. Another from the High School said that all too often students are taught rules of writing, such as five sentences per paragraph, or how the letter [i]should be capitalized, yet are not sufficiently taught about inclusion of content. They might be told, for example, that a paragraph should contain a thought, but many students say they can express that thought in just one sentence. The High School teachers also said that they have to teach a recipe for how to pass the HSPA exams, and this is why they have to emphasise the rules. One teacher said how she had heard that the elementary school in their district had a 90% success rate on standardized tests, and this was because the children were taught a little song to better memorise the rules. 

A WP instructor said that a lot of these changes in reading and writing reflect the incursion of technology at so many levels, and another talked about how many two year olds have a TV in their room, and there are such programs as Baby Einstein. Someone also made the comment about how in Japan some teenagers are writing novels on their cell phones, to which a High School teacher replied that students often bring in their homework on their cell phones!

We discussed how all this technology can lead to increased isolation. In fact one WP instructor asked her class why texting was more prevalent than voice mail, and they uniformly replied that with texting one can hide, be detached, and even lie because of the lack of intimacy. And often, as soon as class is over, students whip out their cell phones. It seems that they already have friends from elsewhere, and lack engagement with what is immediately surrounding them. Another WP instructor mentioned an E.M. Forster novel in which everyone lived underground in separate cells, and all were horrified at the thought of face-to-face contact. Are students currently living this way, he asked, shut in their rooms with their TVs and computers? 

One WP instructor, who has been deeply involved in High School education over a number of years, said that our current discussion reminded him of a discussion they had had in the 1960’s in his school when they were lamenting educational standards. He said that he felt the real problem was not, in fact, isolation, but a lack of reflection. He said that reading, after all, is a completely isolated act, yet one needs to be solitary when reading so as to have a chance to ponder. However, as the article mentions, many students have become afraid of their own thoughts so avoid this isolation. Moreover, as another WP instructor said, in the workplace the emphasis is often on team work rather than individual work, so is isolation good? 

And whether or not isolation is beneficial, we discussed the inherent irony in that we ask Expos students to enter into dialogue with the authors, yet they are increasingly not having dialogue with each other. Another Rutgers instructor talked about her son who is in seventh grade, who is capable of thinking things through, but he does not do this as he is not used to being in dialogue to explain and explore thoughts further. And we talked further about how young children can mend a computer yet are unable to write a coherent, meaningful paper. 

A WP instructor said that given that technology exists, what should our teaching strategies be? He, for example, said that he told his students that he will accept e-mail from them, but will not read them if they are filled with errors instead of using proper language. To this, a High School teacher asked if it really matters if a student is reading Gossip Girl rather than something more scholarly, as it is still reading, and does it matter if a student writes on a Blog rather than writing an assignment paper, as it is still writing. He thought these acts might be beneficial, as he is willing to do all it takes to motivate a student. But another WP instructor said that the content of what students read or write, behind the technology, does matter, as it should be of substance, otherwise there is very little upon which to reflect. A High School teacher answered that students are only interested in what they already see as interesting or relevant to them as individuals, but we discussed how it might ultimately be important, if not glorious, for students to broaden their horizons and move beyond their preconceived ideas and a priori knowledge, to the wonderful discovery of new things. 

Another member from the WP said that a lot of this depends on the teacher establishing trust in the classroom, which will help, if not enable students to accept new things. She said teachers should not only be entertainers and should not only try to be popular, but they should primarily be educators. After all, we all know how great it is to witness that moment when a student is excited by new knowledge and ideas. Furthermore, she said, as teachers we all have a lot to learn from our students, too. And also there are commonalities of activities between High School and College, in terms of peer reviews and group work, but where new activities are carried out in college, such as grammar presentations, it is always a good idea to explain to students why these are important. 

However, some High School teachers thought that there is a big gap between teaching for the HSPA and teaching from the NHR, and that their students would probably find the readings in the NHR to be quite impenetrable. WP instructors answered that the idea of sequencing helps with tough readings, as they are revisited many times, and one commented on the teaching of Expos in the New Brunswick High School, which seems to be well received, and the students are relating some of their Expos readings to other subjects which they are learning in High School. 

Fourth Tips for Teachers Meeting

This Tips for Teachers meeting was a little different in that we were glad to have five teachers and the Principal from Hackensack High School as part of our group. As such, we discussed a topic of interest both to High School teachers and Writing Program instructors; namely, the transition from high school to college, and read and discussed Betsy O. Barefoot’s piece, “The First Year Experience: Are We Making it Any Better?” found at http://www.earlycolleges.org/Downloads/FirstYear.pdf

as well as “How is College Different From High School?” published by SMU, at http://www.smu.edu/alec/whyhighschool.html
.

We started our discussion by asking how many students the High School teachers have, and were told they each have about 120! We then went on to ask about student expectations, and whether students anticipate that college will be a 24 hour party. The Hackensack Principal replied that they do a lot of preparation with the seniors, in terms of asking them to plan what their major will be, and how to be financially responsible. Additionally, they invite back high school graduates to talk to current high school students. They also plan to reform the senior year so that students do not waste time after their APs. However, he said that their efforts were not yet reaching all Black males in terms of helping them to be admitted to community colleges, although there was improvement with the Latino males.

One High School teacher said there was a much smaller amount of required reading in high school than college; sometimes articles would only be about three pages in length, or longer pieces would have pictures and maps, and even then often students would complain or resist doing the reading. It was asked whether this was due to a lack of time – the students do, after all, have six academic subjects a day so they have a lot of work - or a lack of good study skills. Another High School teacher said that often there would be minimum effort on the part of students, who prefer to use Spark notes, or quickly glean some information from the Internet.

We feel better study skills is obviously of much importance, so that students in Expository and other writing classes, do not think that it is sufficient to write their papers the night before (or minutes before!) the class. One member present asked whether it was necessary for a student to fail, to realize that procrastination is not a good modus operandi. A Writing Program instructor said that she has a class in which she asks students to write down what they think are good study skills, and then cross out everything which seems unrealistic. In this way, she says, she lets students know that if they produce good work at 3.00 am, then indeed they should continue doing so.

Another Writing Program instructor said that students complain to her that writing an assignment takes ten hours, because of all the reading, and she said that this is definitely realistic, and should be done, as the essays need to be reread so that critical thinking, which takes time, can occur. She went on to say that critical thinking and making connections is something foreign to them. A High School teacher said that it’s true that the emphasis is more on memorization than critical thinking, as she says they teach for the tests, such as the HSPA’s, and these tests are specifically looking for certain information, so the more that information is included, the higher the grade for the students. In this way, she said, all good student papers look the same, the implication being that there is no room for original thought or analysis. Someone from the Writing Program said that he saw that in High School, students are taught to write very neat, structured papers with five paragraphs, but when they come here, they are encouraged to take risks and make discoveries, which might result in quite a sloppy paper initially, until they learn to structure that.

We asked the question as to whether a rethinking to the pedagogy of exposition and risk-taking comes with maturity, and therefore whether high school students are not yet ready for this approach. The Principal answered that maturity plays a part in this, and that there is a mix of those who are sufficiently mature, and those who are not so mature, but also that there are a multitude of socio’economic factors to take into consideration. He said that, for example, 40% of their student population is not living in the parental home, which was especially true for their Black and Latino students. Last week, he said, he had to deal with a rape case, and a case of a punctured eardrum, and he went on to say that these kinds of incidents are not unusual. He also said that in the same class, there is a huge mixture of student abilities, ranging from those with special learning needs, to those who are going to Harvard. They are starting, he said, to have classes in such non-academic topics as culinary arts and metal shops, to cater to some student needs. But he went on to say that those who will be coming to Rutgers better be ready!

We went on to discuss technology in teaching, and the High School teachers talked of the digital divide brought about by the fact that some students had Internet access in their homes, whereas others did not. However, they are teaching high school freshmen about credit cards and cell phones, and they think that most students throughout the school are tech savvy. There was some difference of opinion amongst the Writing Program instructors present who teach a Hybrid, as to how tech savvy their students are, as some Hybrid teachers thought their students very capable with technology, and others did not, though we wondered whether some of the excuses were the modern day equivalent of “the dog ate my homework”.

Still on the subject of technology, the Hackensack High School teachers said that they think when it comes to research, students turn to the Internet, yet they do not know how to separate between “junk” and scholarly sources. They went on to say that 12% of their students take an online course, as many go on to Bergen Community College, where they are mandated to take one Hybrid course a year. One Writing Program instructor who teaches a Hybrid here, said that she thinks that a Hybrid teaches students to use their time wisely, and that the best students do well online, though the Principal said that he thought that if a student was not a high achiever, he or she would possibly not do well in the traditional class or a hybrid.

We then moved to a discussion of structure, and how in high school, so much structure is given, with teachers writing explicit notes of what to do on the chalk board. The High School teacher went on to say that she thought that students are given much less structure in college, and so she wonders whether in high school they are doing the students a disservice, or whether it is beneficial as it helps students learn how to manage their time. One Writing Program instructor countered this by saying that it might not be time management that is needed to be taught, but the concept of independent learning. She said, for example, she has a class that meets only once a week, and the rest of the week they are given quite a bit of reading, yet the students do not know what to do, as they are unclear about how to work independently.

Still on the topic of structure, one Writing Program instructor asked whether it might be feasible to lessen the amount of structure given in the upper grades of high school, as presumably there was less structure given to these students at home too, and school and home mutually reflect each other. The Principal said that the problem in their school came from the fact that they had such diversity of home backgrounds, and there might especially be problems if an economically disadvantaged minority student clashed with a white middle class teacher. He referred us to a book entitled Unequal Childhoods, by Annette Lareau.

And it is not only structure in terms of time management, but also in terms of writing a paper that can be significant, as a Writing Program instructor said that she thought that however much we say that we are moving away from the structured paper typically written in high school, we still advocate a structured paper (albeit different) in terms of topic paragraphs and quotation sandwiches. It was argued by some that this structure, or format, opens the doors to interpretation and analysis instead of summary and regurgitation, as it juxtaposes two readings, but then others present said this might only be true for the bright students, and those who are less bright might just be following a formula and not making meaningful connections.

Spring '08: Third Tips for Teachers Meeting

In our most recent Tips for Teachers meeting, we discussed, based on the piece, "Academic Integrity at Princeton", which can be found at

http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/integrity/pages/discipline.html, the challenging concepts of Plagiarism and Academic Integrity. We started our discussion by stating that The Targum had recently published an article that plagiarism was more rampant than known about, as often it went unreported. Additionally, there is a lack of communication between departments, so that if a student is caught plagiarizing in one department, it might be documented, but generally stays within that department itself.

We then went on to talk about instances of plagiarism we have witnessed or known about. One teacher present talked of a student she had who lifted his paper from a model paper displayed on the website, only making minor adjustments to paragraphs. She happened to have recently looked at that very paper on the website, so recognized it immediately, and when she spoke with the student about it, he apologized, explaining that he was frustrated with the course as he had been working hard, yet only received a C+.

Another case known about was a student who had taken the course before with a different teacher, but one who had used the same first sequence. Although the assignment questions were therefore a little different, the authors were the same, and the student simply handed in papers from the previous semester, without even remembering to change the date! We laughed at how students are often not very good at covering up their tracks.

In yet another case, a student self plagiarized, by using half of what he had written in Paper 5 in Paper 6. He had been doing well up until then, and when confronted with what he had done, he said he was tired and could not redo it, which lowered his course grade, but he did not fail the course.

We also discussed students who are friends in the dorm or from the same class, handing in an almost identical paper, perhaps with the order of paragraphs changed.

A fascinating revelation was the increased scope to plagiarise in the Hybrid course, as it is simple to copy and paste, but what was completely unexpected was the fact that a student plagiarized a response in the Discussion Forum, by pasting in comments from Wikipedia as his own, as he did not acknowledge the source. Even though this is not plagiarism in an essay, which is the usual location of plagiarism, we decided that it was still plagiarism, none-the-less, and as such the student should be asked about it, and should confess.

We talked about whether, if students had to sign an oath that their work was their own, plagiarism would decrease, and one teacher present said it would.

We moved then to the question of the narrow dividing line between collaboration and plagiarism, and looked at, whereas it is clearly not acceptable to use someone else’s words without citing the source, whether it is acceptable to use someone else’s ideas without acknowledgment. Here we were quite divided, as some felt that a class is all about the mutual construction of ideas and knowledge-building, and that ideas function as important exemplars for teaching and learning. Furthermore one teacher thought it would be impossible to police and keep track as to who contributed each idea. But there were others who felt ideas and inspirations should be acknowledged as respect to the individual and independent thinker, and one teacher talked about the analogy with patents. We then started to tie this in to not only prestige of being the originator of an idea, but also wealth associated with invention.

But certainly discussions of plagiarism are not always straight forward. What do we do, for example, with “common knowledge”? Does everyone know it, or is it culture and time dependent, in which case should the source be acknowledged? And what should happen in the instances where a professor perhaps plagiarises from his or her graduate students? Furthermore, what if someone feels she is contributing an original thought, only to find that it has been discovered and discussed before? Are there, in fact, a finite number of ideas, and just many variations on the same theme? Or would it be fair to say that two students might, as a starting point, share similar ideas about a connection or topic, but might, in the execution, write what ultimately looks very different?