Using Cell Phones for In-Class Activities

Cell phone use during class time is infuriating. Our students struggle to disconnect from their phones for even 50-75 minutes. (I am guilty, too. I check my iPhone at least 500 times a day.) But cell phones are absolutely forbidden in my class. I have an incredibly strict NO PHONE ZONE policy. My syllabus reads, verbatim, “If I see, hear, or sense a cell phone during class time, the entire class gets a pop quiz immediately.” This policy has proven incredibly effective. Students are terrified of having a pop quiz and loath to incite the ire of all their classmates. Over the entire semester, I maybe give 1-2 quizzes across all my course sections, and I have never given more than one pop quiz to the same class. The lesson is learned the first time.

But I am not immune to arguments on the other side of the spectrum. Rather than enforcing “no phone zones,” some educational experts suggest embracing cell phones as valuable learning tools that put the entire Internet at students’ fingertips.[1] Smart phones have become so pervasive and ubiquitous, it might be easier and more beneficial to integrate such devices into the classroom, instead of fighting the “inevitable.”[2]  Additionally, our students are growing more and more accustomed to (read: dependent upon) using technology, so they are comfortable with that learning platform.[3] Especially at larger institutions, like Texas Tech and Purdue, where I previously taught, mobile devices can be integrated into classroom participation and virtual discussions with programs like Socrative, Polls Everywhere, and HotSpot.[4] For larger classrooms where participation can be challenging, these apps allow students to ask and answer questions, offer feedback, and, generally, get involved, from the palm their hand. These apps are less necessary at Westfield State, perhaps, given our smaller class sizes, but they offer a glimpse at the educational possibilities of mobile devices.

I am not completely sold on the idea of cell phone use in the classroom for a number of reasons, however. First, I think they pose an enormous potential for distraction, even when very closely monitored. It only takes one text message or Tweet or Yak or Facebook notification to completely derail a student’s focus. The temptation to do other things often outweighs the ability of the instructor to maintain productive engagement within the specified activity. Second, I do not like the idea of our students further retreating into their cell phones and virtual worlds. Mobile devices and technology in the classroom should not be a substitute for them making eye contact, opening up their mouths, and speaking to each other. 

I feel like I am already noticing a decline in conversational confidence and interpersonal skills among millennial students.[5] I am inclined to blame this trend, at least in part, on the never-ending ability of our students to interact virtually and anonymously via the Internet and Social Media. I want my students to talk, out loud, to one another, on a daily basis, so technology will never replace verbal discussion for me. Lastly, although smart phones are incredibly common, they are not universal. I do not want to marginalize lower-income and non-traditional students because they do not have or want the latest mobile device. As a result, I am wary of creating an assignment that “requires” a smart phone. In the past, I have brought my own smart phone, tablet, and laptop to the class, and encouraged students with multiple devices to share with their classmates and it has never been an issue. Or, as you will see below, you can ask the groups to designate one “researcher” in order to limit them to one phone per group. (Also, the other implicit hesitation underlying all this is the fact that the Wifi rarely works in my classroom, so actually connecting to the Internet may be a concern.)

With all that said, I am trying. I have created a few activities for my upper-level history courses that include the use of cell phones. Each activity is highly-structured and closely monitored, in order to keep students on track. I have experienced wonderful success with these activities, and I intend to repeat them, with a bit of tinkering, of course. I follow a simple formula. I have a Tuesday/Thursday schedule for my upper-level courses in which I generally give a lecture introducing and explain the content on Tuesday, and then we have a discussion and/or activity on Thursday. For these cell phone activities, students engage in a group discussion based on preassigned readings and then break out into small groups to research a specific topic related to the readings. Students use their smart phones or tablets as personal research tools. I will provide a few examples of how I use this format with several topics and an assessment of the results.

Course: U.S. Environmental History

Topic: National Park creation

This discussion falls chronologically near the Progressive Era and the growth of conservation and preservation ideas with Gifford Pinchot and John Muir. Students read an article[6] explaining the early rationale for national park creation, i.e. American desire to distinguish ourselves from Europe by highlighting our rich natural history and minimizing our short cultural history, as well as promoting natural beauty as a unifying source of national pride in the post-Civil War years. The article focuses on how the parks’ founders and greatest supporters highlighted the beauty and uniqueness of places like Yellowstone and Yosemite when they advocated for protection. We discuss the early national parks and how they correspond to cultural values and perceptions of beauty, including wild open spaces and spectacular natural features.  Then I explain how preservation priorities changed in the 20th century. As scientific knowledge of ecosystems grew, some natural areas were set aside for biological diversity and unique species or features, rather than conventional ideas of natural beauty. Then I break the class (25-40) into groups of 2-4 students. I distribute the name of a national park to each group.  I instruct them to look up the national park on their devices. On an accompanying worksheet, they need to identify the park location, describe the appearance, important natural features, and determine, to the best of their abilities, why it was protected. Some of the National Park examples given to the student groups are the Everglades, Petrified Forest, Guadalupe Mountains, Redwoods, Arches, Theodore Roosevelt, Kenai Fjords, Dry Tortugas, Death Valley, Saguaro, Joshua Tree, Congaree, and several more. While a few of these parks correspond to the original aesthetic, but most were preserved for aspects that were/are not considered traditionally beautiful, but offer unique biological, geological, archaeological, or ecological benefits. After students have researched each of their national parks and reached a conclusion about their reason for protection, we go around the room and share our findings.

Course: U.S. Constitutional History

Topic: The Bill of Rights in Modern Cases

This course covers the formation and evolution of the United States Constitution. This particular activity occurs late in the semester after students have thoroughly covered the historical background of the Bill of Rights and are prepared to discuss current Supreme Court cases related to these rights. Students are divided into partners or groups of three and given a piece of paper with a constitutionally-protected right written on it. (These rights are more specific than simply “freedom of speech.” They are better classified as “elaborated rights.”  For example, it is difficult to say freedom of speech without specifically listing or explaining what that means in terms of more specific rights. Some of the “elaborated rights” protected under freedom of speech are protest speech in opposition to the government,  obscenity and pornography, symbolic speech like flag burning,  and recently,  political speech in the form of campaign donations, to name just a few examples.) So each student group receives an “elaborated right,” then they are assigned to find an example of a recent Supreme Court decision that interpreted this right. The small groups use their phones or other devices to look up cases and complete a worksheet which lists the case name, case events, case decision, and contribution to our understanding of the right. Each pair shares the cases with the class and I create a cumulative list of current cases.

Course: Gender and the Environment

Topic: Hyper-masculinity in Advertisements Displaying Nature

This interdisciplinary course explores male and female interactions and representations related to the natural environment in U.S. history and incorporating global examples. Over the course of the semester, students examine the many, many ways in which nature is infused with gender connotations and/or connected to gendered values and attributes. Very frequently, the environment is feminized, especially in relation to “mother nature,” the language of conquest, and who cares about protecting nature. Conversely, representations of men in/and nature are often hyper-masculinized. Advertising is an especially rich source for examining this dichotomy. Many advertisements featuring men and nature are comically, stereotypically, shamelessly masculine. In this activity, students are split into pairs. They are instructed to find the best example of an advertisement (print or video) that combines nature and a representation of masculinity. Students share links to their findings on a previously-used online forum, like Blackboard Discussion or Google Docs. The results are informative, hilarious, and appalling. (My favorites are Dr. Pepper Ten,[7] Old Spice,[8] and various reality TV shows, like Ax Men, Mudcats, or Man vs. Wild.)

Assessment

I believe this simple formula can be incorporated into a wide range of courses. Basically, the instructor just needs to develop a specific topic of inquiry that is relevant for their curriculum. If students are provided with context, clear instructions, and a final deliverable to ensure accountability, they will be able to use their mobile devices for a productive classroom assignment. At the same time, the instructor must be vigilant. I have no patience for tomfoolery.  The students have a task to complete and I monitor their progress closely.  At the end, each group must share their findings with the class. If I catch any non-assignment activity, the quiz rule still stands (which students are informed of in advance).

In part, I think the success of these activities is because I am so strict with phones for 99% of the class. My students are accustomed to absolutely no cell phones. Ever. For any reason. End of story.

Therefore, when they are allowed to use their phones, it is a fun and exciting activity. They know that I trust them and most want to have this same opportunity or activity again in the future. As a result, engagement is high, noncompliance is almost nonexistent, and outcomes are awesome.

For me, though, the distraction and temptation of cell phones far outweighs the daily classroom value. I will not be adopting a “run what you brung” approach anytime soon.[9] But I do think that mobile devices can be valuable for limited classroom activities in highly structured settings with pre-existing rules.

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[1] http://www.nea.org/tools/56274.htm

[2] http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/05/do-cell-phones-belong-in-the-classroom/257325/

[3] http://www.emergingedtech.com/2012/05/embracing-the-cell-phone-in-the-classroom-with-text-messaging-assignments/

[4] http://www.teachhub.com/how-use-cell-phones-learning-tools

[5] http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-are-losing-social-skills-2012-3

[6] www.historical-geography.net/volume_35_2007/figueiredo.pdf

[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zza3GqEL5B0

[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-XRzDt_bvo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLTIowBF0kE

[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jGzvusnRU8

Making citations fun (for real)

As we all know, it is incredibly difficult to make citations and attributions fun or interesting for students. More often they induce comas. I spend an entire day or week (depending on the schedule) on Quotations, Paraphrasing, and Citations. I want my students to understand how to cite and do not expect them to "look it up" on their own. (That's why I'm the "teacher.") It is a dense jam-packed, fast moving lesson, and I try my best to make it interactive and lively. 

We begin by covering definitions of plagiarism and the consequences (the dull stuff). I always start with the university definition of academic dishonesty and a fear-inducing outline of the consequences to communicate the importance of the lesson and instill terror. Then I explain the multiple forms of plagiarism in greater detail (directly stealing, changing a few words, missing or incorrect citations, and self-plagiarism). We look at examples of original passages and paraphrasing to determine which one is/is not plagiarized or bordering on plagiarism and why. I pass out a condensed Chicago-style guide that displays example citations of the most essential types of sources (books, journals, websites, etc.). I show the difference between bibliography and footnote formats. 

Next we learn how to quote and footnote. I explain the function of quotes is not restating information, but highlighting the most important details. We look at a passage and discuss which sentence is best used as a quote and why (i.e. essential information that should not be rephrased). Then we look at examples to see where the quotes and punctuation go (inside, outside, end), and when to block quote. I also show how to insert footnotes using Microsoft Word. I literally have a former research paper open on screen this entire time showing all these types of quotes and how to use the reference functions. (I have had some many students think that you make footnotes by doing superscript numbers and then writing those numbers in the footers, without knowing that Word does it automatically. At first I laughed, but why would they know that? Why would they know that unless someone showed them, because someone showed me.)

Next we do a paraphrasing exercise. The paraphrasing exercise ends up being really fun, too, actually. I explain the concept of paraphrasing and stress that it is difficult skill. I show a brief paragraph on the screen and I tell the students that we are going to paraphrase it. We read it as a group and then I switch to black screen and tell the class to paraphrase. It is a disaster, intentionally. None of them took notes so they barely remember it or they reuse all the words in the passage. It wakes them all up a little. Then I describe the steps to effective plagiarism - reading it multiple times, taking notes, stepping away, etc., and we try the same activity again. It goes much better the second time. To test their paraphrasing skills. I find one cogent two-page spread from a book with 4-5 clear paragraphs total. I divide the class into 4-5 groups depending on class size and assign each group a different paragraph. They are instructed to read their entire paragraph and condense it into one or two sentences that fully communicates the meaning without using any of the major words in the paragraph. It becomes a challenge to condense everything effectively, and there is a fair amount of debate and questions among the group members. Once the groups have written their sentence, we go around the room in order and read the sentences. It is amazing how an entire page becomes 4-5 sentences and effectively demonstrated the skills of paraphrasing. Sometimes I do this last activity twice sometimes depending on time.

Finally, class culminates with the Citations Game.  I divide the class into two teams.  I instruct students to use their condensed citation style guides during the game. I display a citation on the PowerPoint. I tell them that there is at least one error in every citation. The slide states what type of source the citation is (book, journal, newspaper, film, etc.) and students must search the citation guide to find right example. They frantically flip through the pages and scan the citation on the page and the one on the screen for mistakes. The first person to spot it correctly wins the point and prize. I give extra credit points to the team that wins. I also bring candy and prizes for correct answers.

Also, as a side note, many students say, what is the difference if you put one comma in the wrong place or forget one italicized/underlined portion. My response to this is that historical accuracy is crucial to our credibility. We want others to know exactly where we found our sources and evidence to prove that our research is accurate. Then to illustrate, I come up with a bunch of examples on the board where I misspell their names, miswrite rooms and times, or change their birth dates. I ask them if these mistakes matters and the answer is always yes, thereby proving my point. 

Anyway, I fill the lesson with energy and enthusiasm. I am over the top for citations. I act like citations are the best thing since sliced bread. (Because they are. Uh duh.) It seems dumb, but it works. Students learn citation styles inside and out. Their bibliographies are perfect. And they have a blast. Citations are made fun. Gasp!

Multiple choice, identifications, or essays?

Perhaps foolishly, this semester I decided to let my students choose the format of their exams (within reason).

I have always administered essay exams. I think essays are the only effective method to evaluate historical arguments and trends. I teach in broad strokes and concepts and essays are the only real way to explain big ideas.

But students HATE essays. They HATE HATE HATE essays. Essays cause fear and anxiety. They think essays are harder.

But they're not. Students never see that essays give them more leeway. I have explained over and over again that multiple choice leaves no room for negotiation. With an essay, I can interpret student nonsense. When they write that Teddy Roosevelt created the New Deal to end the Great Depression, I know that they meant Franklin.When they say Douglas MacArthur spread fear and paranoia about the spread of communism in the 1950s, I know they meant Joseph McCarthy. But if it was a multiple choice question and they circled A. Douglas MacArthur instead of B. Joseph McCarthy, they're fucked. Still, the message never gets through to them. Essays mean writing and writing is hard.

I decided to conduct this experiment knowing full well that I would have to include multiple choice questions. I loathe multiple choice. And I mean LOATHE. Multiple choice perpetuates every incorrect myth about historical instruction. That learning history is just about memorizing names and dates. (Which oddly enough, I am terrible at remembering dates.) Memorizing a bunch of random names and dates does not communicate the relevance of history. And truly, multiple choice does not accurately assess what I want my students to learn. I want my students to explain, not to recite verbatim. I would rather have my students tell me how the Great Depression scarred American families for generations than to know what year the SSA was passed.

However, students love multiple choice. They beg for multiple choice. I tried to bias them toward written responses. I reiterated over and over again that I cannot be lenient with multiple choice. Multiple choice is right or wrong. But here I am, writing multiple choice questions.

So to gauge student responses, I created an online survey that listed five types of questions and asked students to rank them in order of preference (www.surveymonkey.com/s/MQ7KBPC). And no surprise, multiple choice won. I decided to include a mixture of multiple choice, identifications, and essays, as a sort of experiment. I have a few findings.

First, I have literally never included multiple choice question on a test before. As a result, I had no idea how much work it was to write multiple choice questions. Turns out, I hate multiple choice questions even more than before. I discovered that multiple choice just shifts the workload. Writing multiple choice puts all the mental burden and work onto me up front. And writing the questions is tricky. They need to be hard, but not too hard. Complicated, but not too complicated. Clear and understandable but tough enough. It's a nightmare. But then in the end, the grading is a breeze. The work is all done up front with multiple choice.

Writing essay questions is tough, but different. When envisioning essay questions, you think about the huge range of information covered across multiple lectures and imagine how students can connect the material and concepts. The bottom line is, essays require them to explain the information. Essays put the onus on the students. Essays are harder for the students. It's true. Essays are harder because rather than simply guessing or picking whichever answer sounds familiar, the students need to show they understand the material independently.

But then, in the end, essays are more work for me too. Because of the grading. Ugh. The fucking grading. I have to read all those essays. And they are something. Some essays make me have that moment like the teacher in Christmas Story, while some make me question my entire career.

The other fascinating finding is that all the three types of questions scored exactly the same on average. Meaning, the mean of multiple choice questions, identification, and essays was almost exactly 44% in all three classes. This is not to say that all students scored the same. Some students BOMBED the multiple choice and NAILED the essays. Or vice versa. Or got equal grades among all three. It was just fascinating.

I guess the method of evaluation is all three. I do not want one group of students to fail because of the essays or another to fail because of the multiple choice. Multiple evaluation methods allows multiple methods of success for the students.

Preventing plagiarism

God damned fucking plagiarism. Every professor has seen it. Every student has done it. It is the most annoying, common, time-consuming problem in undergraduate education. 

I first encountered student plagiarism in my first class in my first assignment in my first semester of teaching. I was an instructor for First-Year Composition at Purdue. As such, the course required us to teach students about citations and plagiarism. In fact, we were considered the course that would teach students how not to plagiarize and they would retain that information for the rest of their undergraduate education. I literally covered every meaning of plagiarism. I made worksheets, examples, quizzes, everything. But of course, I encountered in the first assignment, a proposal for their research paper, which would be the one major assignment of the semester and their introductory training in how to research and compose an original paper. I was reading this research paper proposal, by a freshman, and I came across the word "hegemony" used in an unquoted, uncited sentence. Red flag. 

As a first-year Master's student, I barely knew the meaning of the word hegemony. I typed the sentence into Google and it appeared word for word in an Amazon summary of a book that was on a topic related to the student's paper and in their preliminary bibliography. I was FURIOUS! I had given every piece of instruction. I had given examples. I had given warnings. I had given threats. My students knew what plagiarism was and they knew the consequences. I had to figure out how to confront this student about their plagiarism. I had weekly writing conferences with students as a required part of the course, so I didn't have to make an excuse to meet with her individually. At our next conference, I asked the student to explain the main points from the proposal, specifically engaging the word "hegemony." They could not. I asked where they got the information. They said they wrote it. I again asked them to explain it to me. They could not. I revealed that I had found those exact words online. They acted shocked. I showed them. They claimed coincidence. I expressed disbelief. I informed them that they would fail this assignment and they would need to submit a new original proposal, for no credit, in order to proceed with the rest of the paper. They stopped attending class. And that was fine with me. 

So just to recap, in a class that was devoted to teaching students how NOT to plagiarize, I had my first case of plagiarism. and I had many, many more to come. And so, the question for the ages...

How can we prevent plagiarism?

Some of the most common methods include, depending on the type of assignment and course:

• Create original questions/assignments that require students to compose original answers  
• Provide instruction on the meanings of plagiarism
• Provide instruction on citation methods
• Provide examples of proper citations
• Require multiple steps, such as proposal, annotated bibliography, and rough draft, for major papers
• Use of plagiarism checkers like TurnItIn or SafeAssign
• Failure for assignment
• Failure for class
• Report to university office in charge

I have tried everything on this list and there is no one correct answer.  As noted above, it is all dependent on the class and the assignment. For example, I cannot require students to give rough drafts for quiz questions, but I can easily give them zero for cutting and pasting online answers. Plagiarism checkers are quite frustrating. They either catch every instance of "the" "it" "is" "be" "but" etc. or they catch nothing of use.For advanced courses with writing requirements, I provide copious instruction on the meanings of plagiarism, examples of citations, multiple parts of assignments, utilize plagiarism checkers, threaten with failure....basically, all of the above. I explain the definition and examples of plagiarism in every single class that I teach. And yet, I receive unoriginal work every single semester. In quizzes, in book reviews, in research papers. Nothing seems to stop this academic epidemic.  

I NEVER plagiarized in undergrad. Or high school for that matter. I admit I once submitted a book report for Hatchet twice. Once in Warrensburg in 7th grade and then again in Ticonderoga for 8th grade. So I committed self-plagiarism. But I was terrified of getting caught, even accidentally, for any unoriginal writing. Maybe it was because the Internet was slightly newer then, in the early 2000s. My students today have grown up with the Internet their entire lives. They are very accustomed to loosely quoting information from online sources, as well as reblogging and reposting without attribution. In addition, I have heard that some middle and high school teachers encourage students to cut and paste information for homework assignments. I have heard that from students in middle school and high school. Frankly, I don't fault them completely, because they have enough bullshit to deal with in terms of state requirements. But at the same time, if younger students are not penalized for copying information directly off the Internet, they think it is okay. They are taught it is okay. So they just keep doing it in college. And hence, my plight. 

I have no idea how to stop plagiarism. I will just keep fighting the good fight with instruction, examples, checkers, threats, and penalties. *Le sigh*

Asking the right questions

I have a problem when professors and teachers say things like, "My students are so dumb! They all got this question wrong!" For me, that means a mistake with the question. When all/most of my students make the same error in the same place/way, that means I fucked up. I don't blame students for my mistakes.

Earlier in the semester I asked my students an online quiz question and the answers were wildly wrong. Here is the question.

______________________________________________

 

Week 2 - Reading Quiz - Post-Civil War South 

Question 9 

 

The following image shows the Barrow Plantation, located in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, in 1860 and later in 1881. The plantation's residents stayed mainly the same across this time period, but their living arrangements changed. Explain how the living patterns appear to have changed according to the map and how this new arrangement demonstrates the shift from slavery to sharecropping/tenant farming across this time period?

 

Barrow Plantation, Oglethorpe County, Georgia

______________________________________________

In addition, the textbook (which the students were assigned to read) contained the exact same image, with an accompanying reading passage about how many former slaves became poor tenant farmers on the same or very nearby plots of land in the post-Civil War South, as well as a discussion of the horrible system of debt that emerged as farmers were forced to pay for land, equipment, supplies, and a host other expenses by white landowners, who were often former masters.

I assumed that students would use the passages in the book to help answer the question. I also assumed that students would be able to infer information from the pictures and labels that was not explicit. Essentially, I hoped students would see from the reading and the images that although the living quarters changed, the owner of the land did not change. I also hoped that would mention from the picture and book, that the landowners, who were often former masters, charged exorbitant rents, equipment fees, and required tenants to give back half their harvests. As a result, share-cropping and tenant-farming perpetuated poverty and economic inequality in the post-war South, and prevented economic advancement.

A fraction answered correctly using information from the book and/or previous knowledge. But the majority of students wrote that free blacks got to own their own land and start earning money to help them escape the inequality of slavery. They simply looked at the two pictures and saw the living arrangement change from slave quarters to scattered plots of land. They assumed the slaves had bought the land and were making a profit.

At first I was annoyed as I gave student after student 5/10 on the question. After about ten wrong responses, though, a red flag went up in my mind. Why were so many students getting it wrong? I went back and reread the question and then I realized, that was really all I had asked them to do in the question. I had hoped they would read the book and incorporate that information. I had hoped they would they the owner of the plantation remained the same. I had hoped they would consider the word "tenant" and know that it means renter.  But I didn't tell them to do any of those things. Instead, they read the information I gave in the question, looked at the two living arrangements, and gave the obvious answer. Not the correct historic answer. Not based on the information in the book. But it was correct based on the information given.

It is moments like this that I am frustrated by how literal and lazy my students can be at times.  But I held myself partially to blame. From this point forward, I started questions like this with the phrase, "Based on information in your reading...." as well as providing more essential content in the question. The questions have improved and the answers have improved. Lesson learned for me.

Workshop Junkie

I have a confession. I'm a workshop junkie. I fucking love going to workshops—especially workshops about teaching and pedagogy. I feel like I always have a lot of ideas floating around in my head and I get inspired very easily, so workshops provide a great environment for me to talk with others and learn new ideas and strategies for my courses and scholarship. And lately I prefer writing about teaching more than writing about my research, so workshops are yet another opportunity for me to develop innovative new course ideas. Lastly, going to workshops is self-serving. Inevitably, while I am learning new ideas, I am also getting reassurance about my good practices. It feels good to know I am doing the right thing and help others to improve their courses.

Luckily for me, attending workshops is a good activity to include in my tenure file at Westfield State and a great way for me to meet new people. So far I’ve gone to workshops about creating study-abroad courses, teaching green behavior at the K-12 level, biases in teaching evaluations, developing new writing assignments in the classroom, and writing on alternative platforms like blogs. That last one was today, and as I said, I’m easily inspired, so I decided to revive my old blog.

In the past, I ranted about politics and current events, which I might still do from time to time, but I want to try to make this more productive. Ostensibly, this blog will be about teaching and pedagogy, but it will also be a way for me to try to reinvigorate my love for writing and help me to get motivated to work on my dissertation revision (blerrrrrrrrrrrrrgh).

I want to pledge to write once a week, but I will surely break that pledge. Instead, I will just try to write often. I want to feel productive and enriched from this, not burdened.