Fourth of a series
By Rick Vacek | October 9, 2024
Adrienne Large Lockwood had never been a regular teacher before. As she contemplated how to spend her first day instructing School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences students in a career-exploration class, she felt as if she needed some instruction, too.
“I had the mindset of, ‘Well, we all know the syllabus day might be kind of a slog, but we have to make the best of it,’” said Large Lockwood, special programs coordinator for career readiness in the University Career Center at The University of Texas at Dallas.
But when she saw an email about a Center for Teaching and Learning workshop, Nailed It! Strategies for a Welcoming, Engaging First Day of Class, she remembered something a former mentor had told her when she was a guest teacher in his classes: “If you want to do teaching, you need to subscribe to CTL because they have all the resources.”
So she watched the webinar taught by Dr. Salena Brody, a CTL associate director. Just like that, the slog was transformed into an invigorating walk in the park.
“I think the workshop definitely helped spark creativity for the beginning of the class,” Large Lockwood said. “I think one of the best things about it is that there were a lot of action items and there was no expectation that you have to do everything. But there were definite, clear ideas that you could focus on. She’s one of the best presenters I’ve ever heard.”
In an email exchange after the workshop, Brody advised her to spark curiosity and wonder in her students from the moment class starts. Rather than covering the nuts and bolts of the course in minute one, Brody suggested, start with something that will set the tone for what Large Lockwood wants students to experience throughout the semester.
Properly inspired, Large Lockwood decided to first have students “pair-and-share” and discuss the Ship of Theseus concept: Every few years, pieces of the ship get replaced, but it’s still the same ship. It has an interesting application to navigating a career choice.
“It doesn’t really matter if you’re the same or a different ship,” she said. “The point is, we don’t need to have an identity crisis because that’s just inviting needless pain when we’re trying to figure out a career. That’s something we see frequently.”
This also is the point: CTL serves everyone, no matter what they’re teaching.
“We’re trying to create a space where it’s supportive, where people can share their best ideas and best practices – things they’ve tried that have worked and things they’ve tried that haven’t worked – and facilitate those connections across faculty members and across disciplines,” Brody said.
Dr. Ben Porter, associate professor of instruction in bioengineering, is what the CTL leaders like to call a “frequent flier.” He’s a regular at their events.
But he still hasn’t forgotten the first time he attended.
“When I started off, I wasn’t trained to be a teacher. I wasn’t sure exactly what we were supposed to do, how it was supposed to work. I didn’t know best methods,” he said. “I went to them, kind of out of desperation, and they helped me out a lot. They had some good references and made me comfortable with the fact that I wasn’t the only one.
“It really started helping me expand my skills and learn more about teaching in general. I didn’t realize there was this whole body of research out there devoted to improving teaching. It’s weird that as faculty we may be focused on our own research, but we don’t realize that there’s this other thing out here to help us improve this second aspect of our jobs.
“Getting up and lecturing to people until they fall asleep is not effective. It’s learning those other ways to help reach the students and help prepare them for their careers, for making use of their degrees.”
What he has learned has had a dramatic effect on his teaching style.
“I started off doing what everyone had done with me – get up and lecture. If you didn’t retain it, too bad. It’s definitely changed over time. It has gotten more personable and interactive. I’ve tried to develop a better rapport with the students, and I try to be more approachable as a teacher.
“I’m constantly evolving. I tell my students at the beginning of every semester, ‘The class is in development. It’s always in development. So help me out. If you have any feedback on what would be better, things I should stop doing …
“‘I’m not going to stop the dad jokes, but anything else, help me out.’”
The effect has been remarkable, and not just in the classroom. Students regularly come to him for advice, and he makes it even more comfortable for them by holding his office hours at Starbucks.
“Students can find it pretty intimidating having to go to somebody’s office,” he said. “It’s like you’re going to their fiefdom. At Starbucks, it’s really visible. Anybody walking by can say, ‘Oh yeah, I want to talk to him.’ It’s more accessible.”
Maybe they just want to hear more dad jokes.
“It gets a lot of eye rolls,” he said, “but then I know they’re awake.”
Brody loves another Porter idea: “10-minute talkies.” He matches students in pairs, and the assignment is to meet outside class for 10 minutes and talk about whatever they want.
CTL workshops are for sharing ideas like that, and that doesn’t happen as much unless relationships cross the bounds of school and department cohorts.
“That is the kind of thing that comes from having a community of faculty getting together,” Brody said. “I have so many friends across campus now because of CTL events. That’s the only time I ever would have met them.”
Dr. Karen Huxtable-Jester, the CTL director, said it’s the same concept that works so well in the classroom:
“Quite often, when you ask students, ‘How did you make a friend?’, they’ll say, ‘Well, it was the person who sat next to me in class.’ Sometimes students can sit next to someone in class for an entire semester and never talk to them once.
“But if the faculty member says, ‘Turn to the person next to you and share this information and then answer this question together,’ that can make a huge difference in students saying, ‘Let’s have coffee after class,’ or ‘Let’s meet to study for the next exam.’”
All this faculty togetherness wouldn’t be nearly as effective, however, if the information and advice weren’t solid. The Nailed It! session that Large Lockwood attended also impressed her colleague, Jennifer Lynch, assistant director of career readiness for the Career Center.
Like Large Lockwood, she is the new instructor for another career-exploration class, for students in the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology.
But unlike Large Lockwood, Lynch has teaching experience – just not in higher education. That’s why the CTL workshop intrigued her when Large Lockwood told her about it.
Now, after hearing Brody’s presentation, she plans to join Large Lockwood in accessing CTL’s monthly office hours and signed up for a workshop on Perusall, an interactive social learning tool.
In other words, they’re hooked. They just want to keep hearing more about teaching.
“There’s an art to it,” Lynch said. “You’re constantly working on your craft. I think people underestimate that. Really good teachers, strong teachers, are constantly improving and working on that. It’s not just about the content. That’s important. But so is that piece of whether the students are engaging and have understanding.
“There will be new innovations in teaching and education all the time, and I think it’s important to stay on top of this.”
If Porter’s experience is any indication, they won’t stop there. Not only is he constantly talking about new teaching methods, he’s now the assistant dean of teaching effectiveness for the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
“I’ve gone from learning about all the teaching methods,” he said, “to wanting to develop more.”
It’s contagious, and the CTL keeps spreading the word.
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Also in this series:
CTL’s ‘Pedagogical Magic’ Shares Tricks of Good Teaching
CTL Workshops Offer Neighborly Advice to Faculty