Hofstra University Center for Teaching and Scholarly Excellence Newsletter - Fall 2009

CENTER FOR TEACHING AND SCHOLARLY EXCELLENCE CTSE Official CTSE Newsletter

Fall 2009

Vol. 6, No. 1

Caring for Adjuncts Does Hofstra give its part-time faculty members the support they need?

Photo by F.J.Gaylor

More than 600,000 adjunct instructors are teaching in American colleges and universities, and the number is growing.

But, until recently, little was known about this unheralded work force. In 1993 Judith Gappa and David Leslie published The Invisible Faculty, which categorized adjunct faculty into four groups: experts, who maintain full-time professional jobs in addition to teaching; aspiring academics, who are ultimately looking for full-time teaching positions; career enders, who teach as a transition into retirement; and freelancers, who opt for the freedom of careers cobbled from multiple part-time jobs. Nationwide, experts make up almost half of all adjunct instructors.

Although sometimes viewed as an itinerant army, the adjunct workforce is actually quite stable; indeed, 30 percent of the

adjuncts Leslie and Gappa surveyed had been at the same institution for more than 10 years. Still, many part-time instructors are hired on short notice. With little more preparation than being handed an old syllabus, they are plunked down in front of a class and expected to survive.

At a recent series of CTSE-sponsored seminars, consultant Richard E. Lyons of Faculty Development Associates asked Hofstra administrators and faculty to consider the needs of a new adjunct professor. These needs range from the practical to the pedagogical: from where to park and how to log on to the University e-mail system to how to reach a group of students who may be very different from those the adjunct remembers from his college days. An adjunct professor is likely an expert in her field, but may not be familiar with the department’s goals, how her course fits into the overall program, or how to use active learning strategies and integrate technology seamlessly into her teaching.

Lyons, who is editor of the 2007 book Best Practices for Supporting Adjunct Faculty (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass), encouraged his audience to consider the costs of not properly supporting adjuncts. These may include subjecting students to suboptimal teaching, failing to prepare students properly for subsequent courses, and continued on page 2

IN THIS ISSUE From the Director: Susan Lorde Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Science Education in the City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Test Banks for Sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Teaching the Reluctant Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Laying the Groundwork for Civic Engagement . . . . . . . . . . 6 Managing a Rowdy Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Split Infinitives and Other Rules You Can Break . . . . . . . . 10

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Caring for Adjuncts

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initiatives. These might include: systematic orientations using online approaches, such as links to useful forms; mentoring programs; and systematic recognition for excellence in teaching. “Common needs of part-timers,” said Lyons, “include a grounded orientation to the institution, a basic teaching tool-kit [how to use contemporary teaching tools such as problem-based learning], and a sense of belonging.” Indeed, many adjunct professors who attended Lyons’ lunchtime seminar agreed that they would have welcomed a more comprehensive orientation when they started out.

lowering student retention. A part-timer who is not familiar with the institution’s rules and practices may inadvertently give incorrect information to students, and create fires that the chair or other leaders must then extinguish. On the other hand, wellsupported part-timers can lend a program up-to-date professional expertise and enhance connections with the community.

At a meeting with Lyons, many chairs pointed to programs to help orient new faculty and keep them connected with the department. Faculty Computing Services, for instance, offers a summer orientation that is open to all faculty (which includes an orientation to library services as well as computing services).

Most CTSE programs are available to all faculty, and some departments host regular gettogethers for part- and full-time faculty and their spouses and partners.

“When people feel well-prepared and supported by their instructional leaders,” says Lyons, “they will do a better job and be more loyal.”

A former professor of business management, department chair, and instructional dean at Indian River State College, Richard E. Lyons is also the author of Success Strategies for Adjunct Faculty (Allyn & Bacon, 2004), The Adjunct Professor’s Guide to Success (Allyn &

In addition to institutionalizing “pockets of excellence” already in place at Hofstra for supporting adjunct professors, Lyons encouraged attendees to consider other

Richard E.

Bacon, 1999) and Teaching College in an Age of Accountability (Allyn & Bacon, 2003).

Photo by John McKeith

From the Director Encouraging Academic Integrity Academic Integrity Office — who has published widely on academic ethics — indicated a variety of ways faculty could discourage cheating and encourage integrity in their classrooms.

Susan Lorde

Martin

Dear Colleagues, During the spring semester, the CTSE presented a video program about the efficacy of honor codes in encouraging academic integrity at universities. In the program, Gary Pavela, a professor at the University of Maryland and recently appointed director of Syracuse University’s

Lyons

Statements about academic integrity on syllabi and, particularly, at the beginning of exams can be effective in reducing cheating.

It is helpful to discuss these statements so that students understand the importance of academic integrity to our profession and to academia in general. Dan Ariely, professor of behavioral economics at MIT, has said, “When we are removed from any benchmarks of ethical thought, we tend to stray into dishonesty …. but if we are reminded of morality at the moment we are tempted, then we are much more likely to be honest.”

Of course, merely talking about academic integrity will not necessarily accomplish it.

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Assignments should be designed to make cheating less likely. They should make clear what kind of research, collaboration, and citation is required and permissible so that students do not engage in “negligent” plagiarism. Sometimes students do not intend to deceive, but rather do not know the rules of attribution.

It can be helpful to take some simple, practical steps to make it easier for students to behave honorably. Faculty can consider: using exam questions that are new or sufficiently revised from old questions or test bank questions; giving students sitting next to each other different versions of an exam; being diligent if proctoring an exam; and making copies of exams and telling students about the copies before returning the originals to eliminate the temptation to change answers and ask for a “re-grade” because of a grading “mistake.”

Science Education in the City My semester at the American Museum of Natural History and Hunter College High School by JANICE KOCH For any academic, having unfettered time to pursue one’s scholarly interests is a gift.

A teaching leave recommended by the Center for Teaching and Scholarly Excellence afforded me the opportunity to temporarily suspend the demands of college teaching and service and concentrate on developing science curricula for middle and high school teachers. In collaboration with colleagues at the American Museum of Natural History and Hunter College High School, I worked on a National Science Foundation grant with a goal of developing middle school ecology units based on electronic material from the museum.

teacher and student materials aimed at enhancing student understanding of the following big ideas:

and analyze museum-produced media to connect the questions that they investigated to broader ecological issues.

1) How the daily lives of people impact the ecology of their surroundings.

After developing the two units, the principal investigator on the grant, Dr. Yael Wyner, taught them to her seventh grade class at Hunter College High School. I visited her class several times a week over a month to observe the implementation of these cutting-edge modules. It was exciting to be back in a middle school environment! By observing how students reacted to the units, we were able to fine-tune the material.

The museum produces Web-based Science Bulletin Snapshots, short digital slideshows on contemporary issues. Our project used scientific data from these bulletins to create inquiry-based lessons from which students could draw their own significant conclusions. We developed

5) Why a small population size increases the likelihood of inbreeding and the health problems that result.

If you were unable to attend Professor Pavela’s program and would like to see it, we have made it available online. You can view the presentation at hofstra.edu/honorcodepresentation.

If you have any difficulty accessing the presentation, contact Faculty Computing Services at (516) 463-6894.

Best wishes for a successful and enjoyable fall semester.

Susan Susan Lorde Martin is director of the CTSE and the Cypres Family Distinguished Professor of Legal Studies in Business.

3) The role of abiotic and biotic factors in ecosystems, and how they interact.

4) Habitats: how subtle, unintended habitat changes can negatively impact the organisms that live there.

6) How constructing and reviewing graphs helps scientists analyze their data.

Overall, the project’s goal was to develop curricular resources for teachers of grade 7 and higher that advance understanding of basic science and fundamental ecological principles, as well as to support schools in using engaging media to disseminate scientific research.

To achieve these objectives, we completed two draft ecological curriculum units for pilot-testing. The materials were designed to be used over a six-day period and included an introductory slide show, photographs and background materials, data analysis activities, media produced by the museum, and pre- and post-activity assessment.

Each module was constructed around a question linking daily human life to ecology. One module asks the question, “How do snowy and icy roads put the Baltimore area’s water supply at risk?” The other module asks, “How does being able to drive between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in less than five hours put the bighorn sheep at risk?” The students are asked to use source material to develop hypotheses to address these questions.

They then analyze real scientific data to test their hypotheses. Finally, they watch

Janice

Koch

We then used the museum’s extensive outreach and dissemination channels to recruit pilot-testing teachers from schools with underrepresented groups. We introduced the pilot teachers to the materials at the museum’s teaching facility.

The racial and ethnic diversity of New York City was well represented by the participating teachers and their students.

Students were African American, Hispanic, and non-native English speakers, among others. Students also represented a wide range of performance levels, including some who were taking remedial and special education classes and others who were taking advanced biology. In order to continued on page 4

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Photo by Jackie Hlavenka

Each faculty member can create relationships of trust so that the classroom culture discourages an “us versus them” mentality, i.e., students try to cheat and teachers try to catch them. The classroom should be a partnership between students and the faculty member. Students should know that the faculty member values academic integrity and will work to achieve it in the classroom.

2) The nature of scientific inquiry: students asked questions, researched a problem, developed hypotheses, analyzed and interpreted real scientific data, and communicated findings.

Science Education in the City continued from page 3

maximize feedback from our teachers, we held three workshops and developed a Web site to facilitate communication.

Students were excited by the two pilot modules — particularly the opportunity to

My experience in New York City, both at Hunter College High School and at the museum, was a wonderful opportunity for me to contribute to and gain insight into the extensive work the American Museum of Natural History is doing in science education. My thanks to Yael Wyner, who is now an assistant professor of science education at CUNY/CCNY, and Steve Gano, director of technology for the National Center for Science Literacy, Education and Technology at the museum, for sharing their work with me.

Janice Koch, Ph.D., was a professor of science education at the School of Education, Health and Human Services.

Dr. Koch also directed Hofstra’s Institute for the Development of Education in the Advanced Sciences (IDEAS) and is past president of the Association for Science Teacher Education.

Test Banks for Sale Technology has made it much easier for students to cheat. Students are able to use an assortment of electronic devices, such as cell phones, personal data assistants (PDAs), and programmable calculators to cheat on tests. Now there is another, even simpler, path students can take to cheat on an exam. Students can buy or exchange test banks online through Internet forums or other sites such as Facebook or eBay. Recently, a professor from Indiana State University complained to eBay after she discovered that test banks were for sale on eBay’s site. According to eBay, anyone found selling test banks on its site can face sanctions, including suspension from the site. It appears that eBay’s efforts have done little to address this issue, however, because test banks are still for sale on the company’s site. Therefore, faculty now have to be more creative in preparing exams. (See Loughlin, 2008, at http://www.tribstar.com/archive search/local_story_078213134.html )

Photo by Brian Ballweg

The goal of the first meeting was to introduce and orient the teachers to the two modules, including the option to modify a module of their choice to a short two-day lesson. The goal of the second meeting was to hear preliminary results about what worked and what didn’t, share techniques, and provide encouragement and motivation to complete the pilot-testing. Finally, the goal of the third meeting was to discuss the efficacy of the modules and how they could be improved, as well as to focus on assessment strategies. Teachers were asked to complete evaluations and to administer surveys to their students upon completion of the units. Teachers posted reflections on the community Web site about what worked and what needed modification.

Many teachers brought in student work, as well as supplementary activities they had developed for use with these lessons.

analyze real data. The feedback from teachers and students was tremendously helpful for prioritizing our goals and strategies for the coming year.

Using resources from the Museum of Natural History, Dr. Koch and Dr. Yael Wyner developed science curricula that they field tested at Hunter College High School.

To find out how Hofstra faculty can apply for a teaching leave, visit hofstra.edu/ Faculty/CTSE/ctse_teaching_leaves.html.

by JACQUELINE A. BURKE

The following are just some of the sites that have test banks for sale, along with sample posted comments. (Individual names and e-mail addresses have been replaced with the letter x.) www.ebay.com v “Physics, by Giancoli, 6th Edition, Test

Bank File The Test Bank is 600 pages and contains thousands of multiple choice questions and answer key; for all 33 Chapters….

Asking Price: $9.99” v “Test Bank Test Item File for Principles

of Marketing by Kotler & Armstrong, 12th Edition, 2008 copyright.

Asking Price: $49.99” v “Essentials of Psychology, 3rd edition

Test Bank by Nash & Bernstein Asking price: $34.95”

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http://www.topix.com/forum/science/ chemistry/T9OIUO53DS8UIHLT0 v Message: “For Test Banks Email xxxxxxx@gmail.com.” The seller then provided a list of more than 30 test banks for sale, including those for: Fundamentals of Physics, 7th edition by Holiday Intermediate Accounting, 12th Edition (UPDATE), Donald E. Kieso, Jerry J. Weygandt Macroeconomics by Williamson, 3rd edition v Message: “If you need any of these Test Banks email xxxxxx@gmail.com Will even trade test banks.” http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid =2223589499&topic=6465 v Message: “Test Questions and HW Solutions for Accounting, Business, and Finance Courses These study aids will almost guarantee you get an A.... I have the test bank files

Test Banks for Sale from which most instructors choose their questions and the full end of chapter solutions for a lot of Accounting, and Finance Courses and....”

(This message appears to have been posted by a student from a very prestigious university.) http://answers.yahoo.com/question/ index?qid=20080720211600AA214nN

continued from page 4 v Comment: “… contact xxxxx@yahoo.com

he really helped me out in getting an excellent grade” Other sites include: http://www.managementparadise.com/ forums/sell-buy-notes-products-services-etc/ 47602-test-banks-solution-manuals.htm

v Comment: “Does anybody know where I

http://www.foolsearch.com/question/?q= 20090326175649AA955yR

can find accounting and finance test banks and solution manuals?”

http://sci.tech-archive.net/Archive/sci. electronics.design/2009-03/msg01746.html

http://www.alibaba.com (An extensive source of test banks can be found on this site after entering the search term “test banks.”)

The Internet has obviously provided students with a simple method to obtain test banks.

Faculty members need to be aware that these resources are now easily available to students.

Jacqueline A. Burke is associate professor of accounting in the Department of Accounting, Taxation, and Legal Studies in Business and a member of the CTSE.

Teaching the Reluctant Student

by MICHAEL J. BARNES Over the past 28 years, I have taught introductory statistics to students in a variety of majors, from psychology to general business. Most of the students enrolled in these courses are required to take them, thus presenting the instructor of introductory statistics with a formidable challenge.

“Outing” of the obvious Students are oblivious to the fact that statistics and the application of statistics are evidenced in practically everything they do.

I believe this inability to recognize that statistics permeate their lives is due not to any intellectual shortcoming, but to their abject fear of the subject. Therefore, my first objective in any introductory statistics course is to point out that I am fully cognizant of the following: (1) their fear of the subject matter, (2) their ignorance of the importance of statistics in their lives, and (3) their resistance to understanding this topic. By doing this, I reflect their “anxiety” regarding the subject matter.

Allaying fears Next, I try to allay their fears. When people are afraid, it is important for them to realize that they are not alone. So, I share with them that when I was a young person, I felt the same way they do. In fact, I made a promise to myself that when I actually (and finally) understood the material, I would teach it — in such a way that would be clear … simply because this is what I would have liked at the time that I took my introductory statistics class. (For that matter, the same applied to my advanced statistics classes!)

I also try to alleviate fears by providing work breaks. I tend to be somewhat demanding of my students ... ok, very demanding. Statistics can be difficult and dense, and many students require an extended length of time to come to an understanding of certain concepts. The students are often fatigued. Therefore, as a rule, I try not to extend the teaching of a

Michael J.

Barnes

particular concept beyond 30 minutes.

Students need frequent breaks, particularly in the extended two- and three-hour classes that I often teach.

I also attempt to infuse my teaching with a bit of levity whenever it is appropriate (or not appropriate, for that matter). Humor serves as a welcome break in the intensity of focus required to understand difficult material. Interjecting a brief comical (or even corny) story tends to create active listeners … and gives me a refreshing break as well. Moreover, a little “edutainment” makes the time pass more quickly.

I suggest that you interject something about your everyday life. You do not have continued on page 7

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Photo courtesy of Hofstra University

Over time, I’ve come to believe that to teach introductory statistics effectively, I not only have to determine the central concepts I want my students to remember, but also — perhaps even more critically — I must address “psychological” concerns and issues of my students. How I attempt to do this may be of interest to other professors teaching required courses and facing a room full of apprehensive students.

Confronting anxiety It is important to confront people when they are resistant. Therefore, initially, I ask students to honestly and openly admit to their fear, ignorance and resistance by raising their hands. We spend some time addressing (and chuckling at) the fact that the number of students raising hands is probably an underestimate of the actual number of students who are experiencing “anxiety.” This levity serves as an ice breaker during our initial meeting.

Classroom Lessons Laying the Groundwork for Civic Engagement “Classroom Lessons” highlights examples of excellent teaching by our Hofstra colleagues.

Each issue, Andrea Libresco, associate director for pedagogy at the CTSE, will visit a different classroom in search of effective teaching techniques that can be applied across disciplines. If you have a colleague whom you would like to volunteer for observation (or if you would like to volunteer yourself), please contact Dr. Libresco at Andrea.Libresco@hofstra.edu.

It seems that every week another newspaper in a major city folds. Here at Hofstra, Newsday is no longer given away free to students, and the bins that hold The New York Times are often overflowing with unread papers. Thus, it can sometimes feel like a real challenge to engage students in issues of the day. Dr. David Green, associate professor of political science, is up to that challenge. I was fortunate to observe him in his introductory American Politics course, taught primarily to nonmajors.

Several days prior to the class, the students and I were e-mailed a list of eight articles that had appeared in the previous couple of days in The New York Times (though Professor Green regularly uses other news sources, as well). When I read the articles, I was struck by the diverse issues represented in the pieces: the widening war in Afghanistan, a kickback scheme

Green

Photo by LadyKat Photography

David

by ANDREA S. LIBRESCO

perpetrated by Pennsylvania judges, Obama’s history-making live Internet video chat, a photo and accompanying article about a 2009 Hooverville in California, the repeal of the Rockefeller drug laws in New York, Hillary Clinton’s speech acknowledging the culpability of the United States in the Mexico drug trade, the Obama/Geithner plan to regulate the finance world, and an Op-Ed column on the economy by Paul Krugman.

I wondered how Professor Green would be able to address all these diverse issues in one class.

It turns out that Professor Green did not expect to address every issue in detail.

Instead, he briefly reminded students about the main point of each article and then said, “OK, that’s the menu. Where do you want to go?” And students eagerly responded.

They weighed in on whether and how America could be responsible for Mexico’s drug trade, as well as whether America should feel the need to apologize to another country — in this situation or any other.

The kickbacks article led a student to recount a program she had seen on prison kickbacks, which, in turn, led another student to share an article she had read about Victoria’s Secret using prison labor (to which Professor Green playfully quipped, “Be careful; we could be wearing killer underwear.”).

Professor Green encouraged students to make associations such as those above, yet he also connected the students’ points to larger questions. When the Three Strikes law came up (in the context of the prison labor topic), he raised the issue of how such a law could pass and informed students that the prison guards union had been behind the referendum on the California ballot.

The big question then became: “Who is governing and in whose interest? Is it in the public interest?” Clearly, this question is of relevance beyond the immediate topic.

In fact, the question of public interest led to some comments about agriculture subsidies that benefit agribusiness in the United States, even as they may undermine economies and lead to higher numbers of

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Andrea S.

Libresco

hungry populations abroad. The power of agribusiness to affect legislation that may not be in everyone’s interest led to a discussion of campaign contributions and campaign finance law, as well as the extent to which campaign spending ought to be categorized as “speech.”

This wide-ranging current events conversation, undertaken by engaged students, and periodically directed by Professor Green, the guide-on-the-side, took up almost half of the class time (though he indicated that it usually accounts for roughly one third of each class); the remainder of the class time was devoted to a more traditional lecture on the powers of the judicial branch. Professor Green feels that the time devoted to current events is time well spent, as current events becomes a vehicle for analyzing the process by which America is and ought to be governed. In addition, it is clear that students relish this part of the class where, in democratic fashion, their choices about which topics to discuss are valued and honored. While he used to direct the conversation more and have a particular agenda for each article, Professor Green now allows for free-ranging discussion.

The students clearly understand that it is their responsibility, not only to read and

Classroom Lessons

continued from page 6

think about the articles assigned, but also to be attentive to other issues in the world so that they can make text-to-text and text-toworld connections with all that they read.

It is probably not surprising that Professor Green would emphasize students’ connections to the world, as he is on the board of the Center for Civic Engagement at Hofstra and writes a weekly online column about political issues. In addition, he has created a number of experiential learning opportunities, both credit and noncredit, for students, including a course he teaches onsite at the United Nations, and weeklong trips to national political conventions and the New Hampshire primaries.

It is worth noting that while he himself holds strong political views and is committed to acting on them outside the classroom, Professor Green models and encourages a more dispassionate, academic

Photo by Brian Ballweg

Getting students interested in politics in this way is one of Professor Green’s goals, but he has a broader agenda as well. “Using the newspaper in and out of class makes politics relevant and can make students better citizens; it plugs them in,” he says.

“I will have done a real service if I can get them reading the newspaper with regularity; it’s a contribution that can last forever.” In fact, Professor Green hears from former students who tell him that they started reading the newspaper for his class five or 10 years ago, and it’s now a habit, a necessary part of their day.

Students discuss the economic crisis with visiting CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. analysis of issues in his classroom. He sees his role as one who facilitates thoughtful, analytical discourse and an ability and propensity to engage in critical thinking, with the hope that civic engagement will be a byproduct.

At a time when more students seek information only on the Web, often “narrow-casting” by going to favored sites, Professor Green’s current events discussions ensure that Hofstra students are exposed to a broad range of views.

This can help any individual be better prepared with the analytical perspectives that foster engaged citizenship and support Thomas Jefferson’s notion that, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.”

Teaching the Reluctant Student to have great timing, or even be funny for that matter. Your effort will be appreciated by your students … trust me. I share stories about my family, friends and … sometimes ... oops ... my colleagues.

Having empathy, and adjusting your expectations Professionals tend to get a lot of practice doing what they do, derive benefit from it, and eventually get quite good at it. So they may forget that others are not as gifted or experienced as they are. Teachers are no

Andrea Libresco is associate professor of curriculum and teaching in the School of Education, Health and Human Services and associate director for pedagogy for the CTSE.

continued from page 5

exception; they often expect that students can acquire information and skills more quickly than is actually possible.

It is important to realize that our introductory students are just that: students who are being “introduced” to an area. We must recognize the anxiety (fear, ignorance, and resistance) of our students, and alter our expectations of them and their “rate of absorption.” For some of us, it has been a long time since we were “introduced” to our disciplines.

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In his 2008 book, Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth About the American Voter, Rick Shenkman asks: “Are America’s voters prepared to shoulder the responsibility of running the most powerful nation on earth? Do a majority know enough? Care enough? Think hard and clearly enough?... What if the real problem isn’t with [our leaders] but with us?” After observing David Green engage his students in thoughtful, reasoned analysis of issues of the day, I suspect that both Jefferson and Shenkman would approve.

It can be helpful to remind ourselves of subjects that were not easy for us to master.

For me, it helps to remember what a struggle it was to learn French. A little humility can be beneficial when teaching students daunted by your subject.

With a little anxiety management, humor, and empathy, it is possible to get almost any student through the first statistics course.

Michael Barnes is professor of psychology and the quantitative analysis consultant for the CTSE.

Alternatives to Lecture by BRUCE TORFF What to Do When the Class Gets Rowdy Displeased with boisterous students in his classes, a professor is visibly miffed. “I’m a professor, not a teacher,” he insists, “and I should not have to discipline students as if this is high school.” This hardly seems an unusual complaint. Although the severity of the infractions varies from one classroom to the next, most professors have been confronted with disruptive behavior at one time or another. And many wonder how to react, since for most of us this was not the sort of thing covered in graduate school.

At issue is “classroom management” — keeping control of the class so that the lesson can proceed uninterrupted. By far the most common problem is talking — having side conversations or “calling out” without raising hands. Incidents involving cell phones have become common, too.

Sometimes more serious misbehaviors occur (although professors rarely have to deal with fires in the trash can, freshmen stuffed into lockers, and such).

It’s regrettable when students are unruly, no doubt. But it’s normal behavior, not evidence that the troublemaker is unfit for college or destined for Sing Sing. When students act out, it’s usually not about your authority or their lack of respect for you.

It’s usually about students trying to advance their social lives, avoid the lesson, or attract attention. So try not to cock a snoot when students get rowdy. We can

understand their behavior condoning or tolerating it.

without

In any instance in which a person has authority over others (e.g., professor, parent, employer), the style of interaction can be placed along a continuum from permissive to authoritarian, with authoritative in the middle. As so often happens, the Goldilocks advice applies in this case. A permissive style leaves you without control of the room, and perhaps also lacking students’ respect.

An authoritarian style inhibits class participation and engenders fear and loathing. Either way, students end up learning less than they should. A better style is the authoritative one, wherein you strike a balance between establishing friendly relations with students and serving as an authority figure.

For some professors, it’s all too easy to go overboard when classroom management problems appear. That is definitely a pitfall to avoid. Students learn much more in classrooms where they have some semblance of rapport with their professor.

When students feel respected and listened to, they tend to work harder and achieve more.

Avoid doing anything that jeopardizes this rapport, since your efforts to maintain order may unwittingly diminish student learning. For example, yelling at students may seem like it shows who’s boss, but it is usually counterproductive; it

Bruce

Torff

may appear to students that your ego has run wild and your humanity has run thin.

It’s not in a professor’s best interests to be mean, no matter what students have done.

Consider also the psychological phenomenon “vicarious reinforcement.”

When you single out a student for a public admonition, the bad vibes affect all students within earshot, not just the miscreant. You are in charge of the tone in classroom discourse, and you don’t want to establish one in which students fear getting insulted or embarrassed.

They will participate less, cut class, avoid you, and trash-talk you in the hall, among other things. Because admonitions often cause collateral damage, it’s better to reprimand in private and praise in public whenever possible.

Let the small stuff go. Intervention is necessary only when a disruption is seriously waylaying your lesson (or incidents as such have become chronic).

That usually means ignoring a bit of talking here and there, and chuckling at students’ jokes now and then. As a general rule, do as little intervening as possible but as much as is necessary to keep the lesson on track.

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At the same time, intervention is sometimes necessary. (Otherwise, I wouldn’t be writing this column!)

For starters, do as much nonverbally as you can. Use eye contact — a disapproving gaze sends a clear message. Physical proximity also works; stand near disorderly students, or move students to desks far away from their partners in crime. Useful as nonverbal tactics are, I’m not a big believer in the petulant pause (when the professor stops teaching, crosses his/her arms, and stands silently in a fit of pique until the class quiets down). This makes your ego a major player in the room, which does not help you establish rapport or teach the subject.

But sometimes you have to speak to students about their behavior, and that can take some practice. Linguists call it “codeswitching” — when you speak one way to your mother, another way to your best friend, and a third way when pulled over by the police. You may need to learn a

new “code” to do effective classroom management.

Here’s a scheme that might help. Consider four levels of speech with increasing firmness. At the lowest level, make a calm and easygoing request for compliance (e.g., “OK, let’s quiet down now,” or “Gentlemen, please!”). This is as much a call to order as a moment of classroom management.

At the second level, use a firmer tone of voice and mention students’ names (e.g., “Ted and Bill, can we quiet down now?” or “Jennifer, you know you aren’t supposed to turn on your cell phone in class.”).

At the third level, make a direct command: “Angela, you need to quiet down now,” or “Mark, please rejoin us.”

At the fourth level, indicate that there will be consequences if problem behaviors do not stop (e.g., “If you won’t cooperate, I’ll have to take points off the midterm, and

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neither one of us wants that.”). Of course, if the problem persists, you have to make good, but hopefully it won’t come to that.

Go no further down these levels than you must, but let your response fit the infraction. When you have to intervene, and students comply, thank them for so doing.

“Positive discipline” is when you reward desirable behavior, and in general it works better than punishing undesirable behavior.

Done right, classroom management does not detract from rapport with students and has potential to help students learn a lot more. We benefit from knowing how to deal with the occasional disruptive student — even if we usually don’t have to extricate freshmen from lockers.

Bruce Torff is professor of curriculum and teaching, director of the Doctoral Program in Learning and Teaching in the School of Education, Health and Human Services, and pedagogical research consultant for the CTSE.

Having a Word Yes, We Can!

Carol

Porr

I have to admit I’m a bit of a grammar snob, albeit a very forgiving one. And I think I’m more forgiving of my students than I am of my peers. Perhaps it’s because I know that people my age actually studied English grammar in elementary school.

(We even used to call it grammar school, but there’s technically another reason for that appellation.) Kids today just pick up the rules bit by bit as they progress through the various school systems throughout the country. Foreign-born students are a different breed — some study English as a language and are therefore more attuned to the “rules” of the language and try to apply them, while others are simply thrust into the melting pot and try to apply the rules of their native tongue to English. (Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.)

At any rate, those of us who respect language can sometimes get so caught up in what is “correct” that we miss the mark; as a result, we run the risk of passing erroneous “rules” on to our students.

Reading a piece titled “Got Bad Grammar?” that was given to me by a colleague, Rich Pioreck, gave me the inspiration for this article on “rules” that are wrong.

Myths: Rules We Lived By Got is wrong. In “Got Bad Grammar?”

Martha Brockenbrough complains about the ridicule imposed upon people who use got, the past participle of the verb to get.

The verb to get means “to come into possession.” Its past tense is got, and its

past participle (the form you would use with the auxiliary verb have) can be either got or gotten. Here’s where the snobbery comes in. Although both got and gotten are perfectly acceptable forms of the past participle of the verb to get, gotten is by far the preferred form in the United States, and got has come to be considered the embarrassing relative that people don’t like to invite to dinner. As a result, as Brockenbrough illustrates in her article, ad campaigns like “Got Milk?” have received unnecessary scorn. Since the slogan is elliptical, the subject and verb could just as well be meant to be “Have you got milk?” as “Have you gotten milk?”

The British, by the way, prefer got! Here’s a quote (by way of Garner’s Modern American Usage) attributed to a British writer, Charles Whibley, regarding the American penchant for the longer form of the past participle: “America need not boast the use of ‘gotten.’ The termination, which suggests either willful archaism or useless slang, adds nothing of sense or sound to the word. It is like a piece of dead wood in a tree, and is better lopped off.”

Granted, that was written in 1908 — 100 years ago! — but I imagine that British grammar snobs still feel the same way.

We Americans, however, recognize a nuance in the use of this past participle that the British don’t: have gotten means that something has been obtained, while have got pretty much denotes possession.

Brockenbrough points out that “I got an A on my English paper” (using the simple past tense of get) is fine because it expresses an action in the past, something that you received, but “I got cooties on my head” (for those readers who were born after 1970, “cooties” is slang for head lice!) for the present tense is incorrect. “I have cooties on my head,” while a revolting thought, would be the correct way to express that particular dilemma. Or, Brockenbrough says, you could say, “I have got cooties on my head,” meaning that you have the little buggers (pun intended) in your possession.

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with CAROL PORR

Don’t begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction. Many of my students tell me they’ve been taught NEVER to begin a sentence with and or but. There is a difference between boring or unexciting writing and writing that is just incorrect. Coordinating conjunctions join independent clauses, and this means that one could feasibly separate those clauses with a period. I warn students to begin sentences with these conjunctions sparingly and only when they wish to emphasize a point: I really enjoyed my date with the captain of the debate team. And I like the way he convinced me to go out with him again.

Media is always plural. This one gets me where I live! For years I’d been teaching my students that, while it is often referred to as singular, the noun media is actually the plural of medium — and it is. I was challenged every semester, especially by my communication majors, so I recently referred to my Garner’s Modern American Usage. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that, yes, media is the plural of medium; however, it is increasingly used as a collective noun, and, as a result, can take a singular verb (especially when the noun is preceded by the article the.) Garner adds, “While that usage [the singular] makes some squeamish, it must be accepted as standard.” Just when I thought I knew all the rules — foiled again!

None is always a singular pronoun.

Here’s another “rule” that just isn’t.

Despite the fact that it has often been supposed to be singular, the indefinite pronoun none can be either singular (not one) or plural (not any).

Example: None of the papers in my bag [is] are graded yet.

In fact, R.W. Burchfield, editor of Fowler’s Modern English Usage, notes that none has been used in the plural form since the days of King Alfred the Great, who used it as a plural as far back as 888 A.D.!

“Those of us who respect the language can sometimes get so caught up in what is ‘correct’ that we miss the mark ... ” You cannot split an infinitive. For years and years English teachers (and grammar snobs) have used this “rule” as evidence of their linguistic superiority. An infinitive is a verbal — a verb form — that appears with the marker to (I like to complain).

A split infinitive occurs when an adverb or adverbial modifier is placed between the “to” and the base form of the verb, thereby “splitting” the verbal (I like to constantly complain). The only explanation for this rule that grammarians can come up with is the fact that English grammar is based on Latin grammar despite the fact that English and Latin are not similar languages. In Latin the infinitive appears as one word, while in English the infinitive is two words; hence in English we can place an adverbial modifier between the “to” and the verb. Technically, there is no reason why the mission of the members of the Starship Enterprise can’t be “to boldly go where no man has gone before”! (We use the expression “to more than double” all the time. How on earth could we express that sentiment without splitting the infinitive?)

in “I wish to quickly and carefully complete this project”). I also tell them that if the construction sounds just as good with the adverbial modifier before or after the infinitive as it does by placing the adverb between the “to” and the verb, don’t split it. If, however, placing the adverb between the “to” and the verb (I wish to strenuously object) emphasizes the point the writer wishes to make, by all means split away!

Don’t end a sentence with a preposition.

This “rule” dates back to one of the first grammar books, again, probably because English grammar is based on Latin grammar. So when in Rome, do as the Romans do, but when in England, you can end a sentence with a preposition! If your sentence sounds better by keeping the preposition within the confines of the first and last words, by all means do so, but often perfectly natural-sounding sentences contain prepositions at the end of them.

Here are some examples from Garner’s Modern American Usage: Correct and Natural • What are you thinking about?

• [I saw] the man you were listening to.

• ... a person I have a great amount of respect for Correct and Stuffy • About what are you thinking?

• [I saw] the man to whom you were listening.

• ... a person for whom I have a great amount of respect

Addendum: I just heard about a book that concerns itself with more of the above. It’s called Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language.

The authors are Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman. I’m placing my order on Amazon now, so perhaps there will be a Part 2 to this piece sometime in the future!

Carol Porr is adjunct assistant professor of English and assistant director of the English Composition Program. She is also the English editing consultant for the CTSE.

Photo by John McKeith

In 1998 the Oxford American Dictionary actually made headlines by declaring that it was perfectly all right to split infinitives.

(On a related note, there are even those who frown upon placing adverbial modifiers between the auxiliary verb and the root verb, and consider the verb as “split,” as in “I have been greatly saddened,” or,” I will probably call.” These people are applying the same Latin grammar rule to English, and it’s unnecessary.)

In one of the first columns I wrote for this newsletter, I included a famous quip about this erroneous rule that had always been attributed to Winston Churchill. I must add immediately that Professor Mark Landis of the Political Science Department later informed me that the statement was never actually made by Winston Churchill. (I guess it’s like that famous Kurt Vonnegut commencement address that was never given by Vonnegut, or anyone else for that matter!) It’s just too good to let go, however. The story goes that when told he couldn’t end a sentence with a preposition, the famous orator replied, “That is the type of errant pedantry up with which I shall not put”! (I should have known it was a bogus statement because every time I see a reference to it, the wording is slightly different.) My apologies to Dr. Landis. I just had to do it! This is what writing this column has brought me to!

But old habits die hard. I teach my students to avoid placing too many modifiers between the “to” and the verb, as

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Current CTSE Members Habib Ammari, Ph.D. (Computer Science), 2009-2012 Jacqueline Burke, Ph.D. (Accounting, Taxation and Legal Studies in Business), 2007-2010 Timothy Daniels, Ph.D. (Anthropology), 2007-2010 Dietmar Heidemann, Ph.D. (Philosophy), 2008-2011 Elena Jurasaite-Harbison, Ph.D. (Curriculum and Teaching), 2009-2012 Daisy Miller, Ph.D. (English), 2007-2010 Dorothy Pumo, Ph.D. (Biology), 2009-2012 Ronald Sarno, Ph.D. (Biology), 2009-2012 Andrew Spieler, Ph.D. (Finance), 2009-2012 Daniel Tinkelman, Ph.D. (Accounting, Taxation, and Legal Studies in Business), 2008-2011 David Weiss, Ph.D. (Health Professions and Family Studies), 2007-2010

CTSE Staff and Contact Information Director Susan Lorde Martin, J.D. Cypres Family Distinguished Professor of Legal Studies in Business 208 Weller Hall Phone: (516) 463-5327 Fax: (516) 463-6505 E-mail: Susan.L.Martin@hofstra.edu Associate Director for Communications Carol Fletcher, M.A. Associate Professor of Journalism 403 New Academic Building Phone: (516) 463-6464 E-mail: Carol.T.Fletcher@hofstra.edu Associate Director for Pedagogy Andrea Libresco, Ed.D. Associate Professor of Curriculum and Teaching 128 Hagedorn Hall Phone: (516) 463-6543 E-mail: Andrea.S.Libresco@hofstra.edu Senior Assistant Jeanne Racioppi, B.A. 200 West Library Wing Phone: (516) 463-6221 Fax: (516) 463-6505 E-mail: Jeanne.Racioppi@hofstra.edu English Editing Consultant Carol Porr, M.A. Adjunct Instructor of English Assistant Director, Composition Program 208 Calkins Hall Phone: (516) 463-5252 Fax: (516) 463-6505 E-mail: Carol.J.Porr@hofstra.edu

Pedagogical Research Consultant Bruce Torff, Ed.D. Associate Professor of Curriculum and Teaching 128 Hagedorn Hall Phone: (516) 463-5803 Fax: (516) 463-6196 E-mail: Bruce.A.Torff@hofstra.edu Program Evaluator Marc Silver, Ph.D. Professor of Sociology 202F Davison Hall Phone: (516) 463-5645 Fax: (516) 463-6505 E-mail: Marc.L.Silver@hofstra.edu Public Speaking Consultant Cindy Rosenthal, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Teaching Fellow, School for University Studies 107 Roosevelt Hall Phone: (516) 463-4966 Fax: (516) 463-4822 E-mail: Cindy.D.Rosenthal@hofstra.edu Quantitative Analysis Consultant Michael Barnes, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology 101 Hauser Hall Phone: (516) 463-5179 Fax: (516) 463-6505 E-mail: Michael.J.Barnes@hofstra.edu

Hofstra University continues its commitment to extending equal opportunity to all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national or ethnic origin, physical or mental disability, marital or veteran status in the conduct and operation of its educational programs and activities, including admission and employment.

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