Tip 21: How to Weed Out

by Dr Davis on October 21, 2008

Sometimes when you plan a course, there is plenty the school wants you to do and that you think is important and fascinating. Sometimes, in fact, there is too much to do. How do you keep the coursework manageable, both for you and the students?

Look for redundancy.

Do you have two works from the same time period? Two works by the same author? A work likely read in high school or a previous course?

If you do, there is something you can delete.

Do you have two papers of the same type? Do you have two expressive papers?

Again, if you do, there is something you can delete.

What if there isn’t redundancy in your course?

Keep major concepts over minor ones.

One of the real issue with eliminating in a course is determining the major concepts or issues over the minor ones.

Obviously in a freshman composition course I cannot teach every style of college writing the students may face. Equally obviously in a survey of literature course, I can’t have them read every work, or even every major work, of every period.

So I need to focus on the most important ones.

Students are more likely to have to write a compare/contrast paper than they are a narrative essay. If I need to drop papers, then I ought to drop the narrative (a type they are probably too familiar with) to keep the compare/contrast (a type they will be writing in exams throughout college).

Students are more likely outside of English class to hear a reference to Bunyan than to Herbert. I should deal with Bunyan over Herbert if I am teaching a literature course and need to actually finish a period within X amount of time. Then again, they are more likely to hear about Milton than Bunyan. So I would eliminate Herbert in order to include Bunyan, but eliminate Bunyan to include Milton.

Check your learning outcomes.

If you said the students should have written a compare/contrast paper, then you need to have them write one.

If you said they will have covered all the major authors, you should know who the major authors are and cover them.

If you said they are going to read in all four genres, then you should make sure that the students read works in all four genres.

Follow your learning outcomes or change them to better fit your view of the course.

{ 0 comments }

Tip 20: How to choose what to cover

by Dr Davis on October 21, 2008

What has to be done

Many of our colleges have expectations of what we will cover. Obviously those must be included in our course.

Examples from Freshman Composition at my three colleges

CC2 requires that the students get a strong introduction to computer usage. They have included this as a requirement because most students at CC2 are from just above the poverty level or lower and often have no exposure to the internet.

CC1 requires that we have four papers and a research paper. (It turns out that not everyone actually requires this, but the school itself does.) Not doing the research paper is a way to get yourself banned from teaching there.

SLAC requires three outside class papers and three inside class papers. The in-class papers must be graded more heavily than the out-of-class papers.

The things you think are most important

In my Early British Lit class, I include Beowulf. Many people don’t because Senior English can include Beowulf in the high schools. But I find that a) most people haven’t read it and b) even those who have can use the review. If they haven’t read it, it is an interesting way to start the course. If they have read it, it is an easy way to start the course.

I also include “women’s studies” type readings because I am a woman and too often the positive aspects of Old English/Middle English literature and women are ignored.

In addition, I include “old faithfuls” like Shakespeare and Chaucer, but with a twist. We watch a Shakespearean comedy, instead of reading another of his tragedies. We read “The Miller’s Tale,” a bawdy story unsuitable for teens (though they would probably appreciate it the most).

The things you think are most fascinating

Whatever you love, you should teach. Perhaps that should not be all you teach, but you should teach it. Your enthusiasm will show.

I teach the Exeter Riddles. Most people haven’t even heard of them. I know I didn’t until I got to graduate school. But there are some great ones in there. And it is an interesting way to introduce the culture of the era for British literature or to talk about descriptive writing in freshman composition.

One paper I have had a lot of success with in my freshman composition courses is a riddle paper in which the students write a riddle about an object that is important to them. I tell them that it has to be clear by the end of the riddle what it is, but that I shouldn’t be able to guess at the beginning. This particular paper is an expressive bridge into collegiate writing. It lets the students write about something they know and love, while following my guidelines and writing a college-level paper.

Stuff you know something about

I don’t recommend teaching something you don’t know. If you are supposed to, make sure you learn enough about it that you know more than anyone else in the class is likely to.

Obviously you can’t teach everything you know, so go back to the points above.

{ 0 comments }