Research on Life-Changing Teaching

This week I would like to share a somewhat different SoTL article entitled, "The Research on Life-Changing Teaching" by Terada and Merrill (2022). The research asks “what are the fundamental levers that teachers can pull to refine their practices, improve their craft, and make a significant—or even life-altering—contribution to the lives of their students?” The metastudy of over two dozen research article reveals the following:

1. Always be collecting (targetted) feedback (Kumar, Martin, Budhrani & Ritzhaupt, 2019)

   1. Use student surveys (perhaps a mid-term small group perception session).

   2. Invite other teachers into your classroom.

   3. Video yourself (review for self-evaluation).

2. Attend to relationships (and classroom culture) (Cook et al., 2018)

   1. Check in daily. Begin sessions with daily temperature checks and exit tickets to build community.

   2. Conduct relationship audits, perhaps integrate into office hours.

3. Don’t give an inch on standards (Boser, Wilhelm & Hanna, 2014) - ​​students whose teachers had high expectations were three times more likely to graduate.

   1. Be direct.

   2. Embrace “productive failure.”

   3. Avoid busywork.

4. Humanize your teaching (Raygoza, León & Norris, 2020)

   1. Give grace.

   2. Opt for low-stakes tests.

   3. Give a break (2021 study) found that during breaks, the brain replays learned material over and over at high speed, compressing and consolidating it.

5. Check your biases (Quinn, 2020)

   1. Use grading rubrics. When rubrics articulate clear standards and are applied rigorously, bias in grading is greatly reduced.

   2. Get a second opinion. Periodically have other instructors review assessments.

   3. Conduct self-audits. Check your materials for inclusivity.

References

Boser, U., Wilhelm, M. & Hanna, R. (2014). The Power of the Pygmalion Effect: Teachers' Expectations Strongly Predict College Completion. Center for American Progress.

Cook, C. R., Fiat, A., Larson, M., Daikos, C., Slemrod, T., Holland, E. A., Thayer, A. J., & Renshaw, T. (2018). Positive Greetings at the Door: Evaluation of a Low-Cost, High-Yield Proactive Classroom Management Strategy. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 20(3), 149–159. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098300717753831

Kumar, S., Martin, F., Budhrani, K., & Ritzhaupt, A. (2019). Award-winning faculty online teaching practices: Elements of award-winning courses. The Official Journal of the Online Learning Consortium. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24059/olj.v23i4.2077

Raygoza, M., León, R., & Norris, A. (2020). Humanizing online teaching. http://works.bepress.com/mary-candace-raygoza/28

Quinn, D. M. (2020). Experimental Evidence on Teachers’ Racial Bias in Student Evaluation: The Role of Grading Scales. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 42(3), 375–392. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373720932188