Book Club: To My Professor: Student Voices for Great College Teaching Edited By Joe Grimm

Jennifer Albat (Instructional Design Learning Technology)

Anni Reinking (Teaching and Learning)

Tuesdays, February 5, February 19 and March 5, 9:30am-10:45am

Faculty Center Conference Room (LL2030)

To My Professor: Student Voices for Great College Teaching is a collection of student comments and bits of advice from professors turned into a cleverly organized, timely read. It should appeal to anyone interested in improving instruction or simply knowing what students think, beyond the seeming randomness of teacher rating websites or the targeted feedback in student evaluations of teaching.

You will hear from students who live at the margins, transfer students, students with invisible challenges and student veterans. Some feel excluded, isolated or misunderstood. Then, you will find strategies and resources for better college instruction in more than 50 situations. They include teaching a growing variety of students, being flexible and fair, recovering from mistakes, dealing with racial tensions, and using humor.

As part of this book study we will be engaging in discussions using text protocols, which are designed by the National School Reform Faculty Harmony Education Center. “Text protocols provide variety to more traditional ways of discussing a chapter or shorter piece of text, and allow [for] collaboration and critical thinking.” Text protocols are an efficient way to encourage open discussion, broaden perspectives, and narrow down a text quickly.