Student Affect and the

Transition to College

Katie Budris, MFABonny Chezik, MAT

Andrew Davison, MFARachel Howe, MA

Rowan University

Fear No Feedback:The First Year Writing Classroom as

a Model for Flexibility and GritRachel Howe, MA

Einstein Demonstrates Fun and Failure

College: It’s a Different World

How can we apply this to the classroom?

It’s okay to strike out

Coaches can help you

Feedback is useful

You will improve with hard work

Soon you’ll be knocking them out of the park!

Typical First Year Rowan Students

The following four slides were provided courtesy Dr. Rory McElwee from her presentation First Year Students: What to

Know, How to Help

What are first-year college students like?

• First year students as immigrants (Chaskes, 1996)

• More diverse: age, ethnicity, high school preparation

• More likely to be first generation and ESL

• More likely to report goal of financial gain

• Lower mental health, more invisible disabilities

• More co-curricular & service involvement, study abroad, satisfaction with college

• More family involvement & “wired” (Keup & Kinzie, 2007; Nevill, 2011; Pryor et al., 2007, 2010)

Rowan First-Years (typical)

Rowan First-Years(typical)

Rowan First-Years (Typical)

• Their concerns:• Handling the academics: ≈

60%

• Financing their education: ≈ 50%

• Making new friends/social: ≈ 45%

• Being on my own: ≈ 35%

• Not meeting parents’ expectations: ≈ 25%

First Year Writing Prepares Students for Success in the

World

“But I NEED an A”:

Resisting Grade Inflation and Student Entitlement

Katie Budris, MFA

Does this sound familiar?

• But I never missed a class.

• I did all the assignments and I tried really hard.

• I followed all your notes to revise my paper.

• I need an A or B... to keep my scholarship... • to stay on the soccer team...

• or my dad is gonna kill me...

Email from Student Who “Deserved” an A

After getting my grade for your class a couple of days ago, I keep going over and over what exactly you expected out of your SOC 152 students. I’m questioning who/what sets the standard for your class.... To me, if a student does/hands in all assignments, misses class no more than two times, participates during lecture, takes notes, attentively watches videos, and obviously observes/notes sociology in his/her life, it would make sense for that student to receive a respectable grade—an A. It seems like the work and time that I (and I’m assuming other students) put into this class didn’t create the results that I (or you) wanted. Personally, I can’t comprehend how my performance in your class equated to an 87 percent. (Lippemann, 2009)

Student Expectations

• Just completing the work is above average

• Default grade is an A

• Effort should be a strong factor

• Value personal life over academics

Can we blame

students?

Consistent grade inflation since the 1990’s may be part of the problem.

(gradeinflation.com)

(apa.org)

(gradeinflation.com)

Reasons for Grade Inflation

• Job insecurity

• Rate My Teacher/Professor.com

• Pressure from administration to show retention/graduation rates

• Pressure over state funding

Reasons for Student Entitlement

• Parenting

• Consumer Mentality

• Coping Mechanism for Demanding Academics

• K-12 Experiences (Roosevelt, 2009; Lippemann, 2009; Greenberger, 2008)

What can WE do?

• Make expectations clear (syllabus)

• Provide anonymous examples of excellent work

• Allow for and acknowledge improvement

• Let them know you’re in their corner

Class as Society:norms, mediocrity, and pressures

against participationAndrew Davison, MFA

Classroom Norms

First articulated by author Aksel Sandemose in A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks (1936)

“A set of laws which expresses the small society's tyrannical attitude toward the individual who stands out in the crowd.” New Words in Norwegian 1945-1975

Janteloven

“The other-directed person … seeks not fame, which represents limited transcendence of a particular peer-group or a particular culture, but the respect and, more than the respect, the affection, of an amorphous and shifting, though contemporary, jury of peers.”

Riesman, David, Denney, Reuel, and Glazer, Nathan. Yale Nota Bene : Lonely Crowd : A Study of the Changing American Character (2nd Edition). New Haven, CT, USA: Yale University Press, 2001. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 14 May 2015.

“Other-directed Person”

Mediocrity, anonymitylow investment, low risk

Exclusion

Embarrassment

“Fear of appearing unintelligent to instructor / other students”

Feeling ideas are unformed Wary of being challenged / criticized

–Often perceived as the same

Embarrassment

Seen as acting out of self-interest “Upsets the normative arrangement of the

classroom”

–Making others look worse Potentially “raising the bar” for others Seen as betraying the “student team” Creating an environment uncomfortable to other

students.

Exclusion

“I sometimes find myself getting annoyed with students who talk too much.”

– Students: 3.71 (neutral leaning toward agree)

– Instructors: 2.08 (solid disagreement)

“I sometimes find myself getting annoyed with students who do not participate in class discussion.”– Students: 2.49 (disagreement)

– Instructors: 3.23 (neutral)

Howard, Short, and Clark

Howard, Short, and Clark

• “If they have something to say, then I appreciate it. But there are some classes, every day the same person has a conversation between that person and the teacher. That gets on my nerves.”

• “There’s people who act like know-it-alls and babble on and on and on. And then there’s people who actually do know what they’re talking about and don’t babble.”

• As with Karp & Yoels, the group is more likely to reject those who contribute too much than those who contribute too little.

• “Consolidation of Responsibility”

• Observed by Karp and Yoels (1976) and later supported by Howard, Short, and Clark (1996)

• A small minority of students “carry the verbal load” and contribute the majority of responses.

• “Banking” model of education

• “Critical” Engagement

• Students may perceive “Socratic” questioning as criticism.

Other Considerations

“Convert students' questions to statements and ask for other opinions.

“Convert students' opinions to questions for the quiet or withdrawn students.

“Rather than being the authority who answers each question, the instructor can deflect questions of interpretation to other members of the group.

“In response to students' assertions, the instructor can ask for examples from other students.”

Pedagogical Suggestions (Clark)

Bringing Out Student Voice:

The Struggle to Take a StandBonny Chezik, MAT

Understanding Modern Students and Why They May Struggle to Express Themselves

• Teachers need to understand the introverted and extroverted students equally

• Extroverts: stimulated by others, much activity, and exchanges of ideas• These students will usually freely participate

• Introverts: stimulated by internal impressions, ideas, and internal feelings• These students are usually judged as not interested in the class

or not knowledgeable

How do we teach students to form actual opinions?

• Encourage students to express opinions by having them define what an opinion is.

• Teach students that each opinion has bias and that is okay as long as you recognize it and use the appropriate writing format for the purpose and content.

As a teacher, you must be aware of a student’s:

• Prior knowledge

AND

• Intellectual development (adapted from Baxter-Magolda, 1992)

• Dualism

• Multiplicity

• Commitment

(adapted from Baxter-Magolda, 1992)

You Have the Knowledge—Now What?

• Start a dialogue using student voice

• Strive for “emancipatory outcomes”

• Students need to feel like they matter

• Teachers must be open to developing strong student/teacher relationships as well as strong listening skills; this openness to listen must be apparent to students

Questions?