As we're approaching the end of Fall semester here at IU, I've pre-empted the dreaded student evaluations by asking my undergraduate students to anonymously file a one-page assessment on what they feel they are getting out of my Media Life (wideranging introduction to new media, culture & society) class.
After reading through their lucid comments, just wanted to share an interesting and paradoxical insight.
Just about every student makes the same remarks: they think the course is interesting and it seems to make them aware of the dominant role their media (esp. cell phones, iPods, internet-enabled computers) play in everyday life. Some also 'get' the next step: that understanding the way media structure and are structuring all aspects of everyday life in fact offers us a mirror on a changing global society in terms of its fragmented (think social isolation and disintegration of the nuclear family), networked (think glocalization), and convergent (think worldwide virtual as well as geographical migration) character.
While its gratifying to read many, if not most like the course and some even are kind enough to write that I am a "great teacher", its disconcerting and perhaps more telling that they also in great numbers write that my lectures are "depressing" and (especially) "boring."
Oops.
Many feel I should show more videoclips (visual literacy, anyone?) and should make more effort to be interactive and participatory.
Ay, there's the rub: 'show and tell' in combination with the acknowledgement that the lived experiences of students are valid contributions to an undergraduate pedagogy.
Of course in a way the students are completely right. In fact, what I am teaching about a society that is becoming increasingly individualized, networked, fragmented and connected (all at the same time), the modernist notion of (as Henry Rollins says) sitting the f**k down and shutting the f**k up (stfd & stfu) in order to listen for 60-70 minutes to a Man in a Suit (or something like that) seems awkwardly ancient.
Of course I could restructure the entire course as a wiki, as a co-creative and largely visual environment. Yet I am not sure if that way young people will learn anything that they did not already know. Maybe all of this is about (getting out of one's) comfort zones. Ultimately it is good to know that you are "slightly boring" and "really helpful" at the same time.
You know, consistency is sooo 20th century.
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I believe that classes like yours should be taught in a more “new age” way. Everyday students such as myself learn about how technology is the driving force of today’s society. IU has done a great job facilitating this by incorporating technology as much as possible in the classroom. One thing that I have seen outside of your classroom (yes I am one of your T101’ers ☺) is that some classes are starting to incorporate a radio clicker device to take in class surveys and quizzes. I believe that this forces students to participate and actually actively learn rather than passively listen. Understandably, in a lecture hall of size, one is going to have to lecture most of the material in order to get the information out. However, I think that the projects we did were much more valuable. If there was a way to incorporate more of the material into more projects, I believe that once again people will engage the material rather than just sit and listen. Interaction is the key in a class like this. In math, most people’s biggest complaint is the question, “but when and where am I actually going to have to apply this?” Telecommunications and the way media effects society is an everyday interaction. Media consumes everyone and everything at all hours of the day and this class teaches students to understand this and control it. Incorporating more interactive teaching methods forces students to experience real life situations. More importantly, it causes students to take what is taught in the lecture hall and apply it. Your lectures are very informative and I enjoy listening to the new theories and idea’s brought to the table, but, I believe that being able to actually apply these principles and look for these key terms in society would be extremely beneficial. I love your class and I am a telecommunications major. I hope I have you as a teacher again in the near future.
Interesting comments about your student pre-final evaluations. We're considering implementing the same "clicker" tool, of which one of your "anonymous" students wrote, in some of our large lecture classes at my University. It's refreshing that one students took the time to write this much about your class without it being a class requirement. Guess they have been intrigued with your teaching as I have your research (hence, I looked you up!).
Without scanning your entire blog, I can see from the latest postings, you don't get much more traffic I do on mine. I still like to post on it once in a while. And, if you're teaching/talking about blogging and other new media technologies, it certainly can't hurt to know what bloggers do.
@Geoff: thx, I appreciate the comment. About that 'clicker' tool: I'm sure its a fun device, but as a new media scholar I am concerned about the illusion of interactivity it provides. In a strange way I find myself becoming increasingly 'oldskool' when it comes to lecturing.
@anonymous: great comment, and I hear you. My only defense is the massification (and corresponding standardization) of higher education: we simply do not have the resources to allow a 120+ class to all pursue individual projects all the time.
Most students would like to get recognition of what they (think they) already know about the media in their lives, and everybody (myself included) likes to look at moving images. However, I hesitate (again): the point of these intro-classes is to raise awareness about artifacts, arrangements and activities often taken for granted. That does require some disassembling of common sense.
ps: about visitors to this blog: on average about 37 new & returning a day.
I am a student at Grand Valley State University and am participating in a online Computers in Education class. Your anonymous student mentioned using projects in your class rooms, which I agree with, but see your point of the difficulty of large classrooms to use specific resources with the students' "individuality" coming through. In my course we do labs so that our professor understands not only that we are participating in the class, but also understand what we are doing. These “labs” can be very personal and each student choices how to do their own, such as making a short PowerPoint about yourself meeting specific criteria. These may seem “dull and boring” to some students, but I have found in all of my classes I have been in - me being one at some times – there are students that are always bored.
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