“The nature of grading.

Grading is a tool, I tell my students. And like any other tool, it is meant to perform certain specific functions. To explain those functions, I like to use a simple analogy.

Consider a car’s speedometer. It is a tool that performs two interrelated functions: (1) It measures speed, and (2) it communicates that information to the driver. In a somewhat similar way, grading is a tool that also performs two interrelated functions: (1) It assesses academic performance, and (2) it communicates that information to the student. When driving, you glance at the speedometer to determine the speed of the vehicle—if it is what you want, you try to maintain it; if not, you make appropriate adjustments. That is analogous to how students are supposed to use, and benefit from, whatever it is that their grades are telling them.

It’s perfectly normal to desire good grades since they serve as evidence that a student has demonstrated competence in a particular area. But problems arise when students assume that their primary goal in college is to earn good grades so they can achieve or maintain a certain GPA. That is like believing that the primary goal of driving a car is not to reach a particular destination but to achieve or maintain a certain speed.

Since grades have only instrumental value—rather than any intrinsic value—they must be treated as only means to some end, and never as ends in themselves. I tell my students: If your primary goal in college is to receive good grades, you will probably view the required work as an onerous obstacle and you’re not likely to feel very motivated to do the work. But you are most likely to receive good grades when you are so focused on learning that grades have ceased to matter.”

Many higher education professionals find mentors with similar backgrounds to seek advice and test their ideas. Borrowing an idea from president Andrew Jackson, what if you create an informal cabinet of mentors from a set of diverse backgrounds? As we build a network of mentors, it is important to have a diversity of viewpoints and connections. Having a variety of mentors will serve as a strong sounding board for professional growth as we face different challenges. Five types of mentors are important to consider appointing to your mentorship cabinet. Each of these types of mentors can contribute a unique perspective to your professional and personal development.

The Friend: The friend mentor is someone who can see connections between your personal and office life, knows you outside of your professional pursuits, and can offer feedback as an “outsider” to your professional world. Although we have many friends, it can be helpful to have a dedicated friend with whom to talk about your professional goals and issues. When thinking about someone for this role, it is also important that this person knows enough about your field and even more about you. The friend can also give you feedback in a context outside of your work environment and will not have the biases of mentors within your profession.

Pick someone who has been a part of your life through several professional roles and has seen you through work and personal change. The friend mentor does not need to be an expert in your field; he or she only need be a person whom you can trust to give you authentic feedback. For example, I have a good friend who works on the career counseling side of higher education. She has been invaluable as I chart the logistics behind professional moves and has been someone who has seen me grow professionally since we were in graduate school together. She knows very little about my higher ed field and has learned more about it through my talks with her.

The Role Model: This member of your mentor cabinet is in the professional position and has the skill set that you strive to achieve. This person may have followed a similar educational or professional path to you. As you seek out this type of mentor, look for both professional role and skills. Having this mentor means first knowing what professional role and set of skills you are working toward. Role models can give you feedback about the challenges they face and the path they took to get where they are. The role model can also be valuable when you are looking to apply for a similar role at your institution and you need a reference. I am a firm believer in personal reflection on what skills you wish to develop, seeking out a mentor with those skills, and asking them if they would be willing to mentor you. The skills you develop lead you to the positions you are interested in. Many people think about position and work their way backward instead of thinking about abilities and working their way forward. Having a role model with the skills and position you aspire to will help you see at least one path and hopefully learn from it. I am still seeking out this mentor for myself.

The Insider: Higher education professionals do not always think to seek out this kind of mentor. The insider is a person who works at the institution at which you are currently employed, and has been there longer than you. Insiders can be situated in any part of the institution, and it is important to seek out a professional you feel knows the workings of the institution. The value of insiders is that they know you and they know the institution. They can offer feedback about your work in relation to the institution and give advice from an institutional process and historical perspective. This mentor can also help you learn and continue to understand the dynamics of your institution as well as offer feedback on your performance within the institution. You should find someone outside your department for this member of your cabinet.

Having a mentor like this will be important as specific institutional questions, issues, or concerns arise. I have been in my current position for seven months. I immediately sought out a mentor when I started. The one I found has been with the institution for over seven years and offers insight and advice that has helped bring me up to speed very quickly about the workings of the campus. Had I not met this mentor, it would have taken me years to learn all the information. She has also helped me to learn the personalities of the campus. So as these colleagues have sought me out for assistance the background knowledge has helped me to work better with them.

The Veteran: This member of your cabinet may be the most traditional way of looking at a mentor in the field. The veteran has been in his or her role for decades and may have held a variety of leadership roles. This person is also higher up in the leadership chain and therefore can offer a broader, more holistic, viewpoint. Many professionals see this mentor as a maternal or paternal figure. To this mentor you can take a variety of issues for a historical perspective as well as advice on how to handle the politics of higher education. A colleague of mine at Indiana University has been through many higher education roles, including residence life, student unions, and facilities. He has a holistic viewpoint, having had experiences from so many areas, and I have seen him successfully navigate the politics of the profession. He has both a breadth and depth of experience. His skill is in asking questions. Whenever I have an issu,e I know he will have a line of questioning, without ever telling me to do anything, which will open my mind as well as focus my thoughts. The veteran mentor has a long and deep view of the field. Many professionals already have this kind of mentor and it is the person who most impacted them during their undergraduate or graduate work.

The Teacher: Many of the mentors above have this role inherent in how you choose to work with them; the reason I list this one separately is to make sure you think about what you want to learn. Are you seeking managerial, pedagogical, research or other skills? We are eager to seek out mentors and do not always think about what we hope to learn from them. Think about how the teacher mentor fits in with the other mentors above. Many professionals can be teachers of what not to do as much as they can for what to do. It is important to understand what you are seeking to learn. Being a minority professional in higher education also means the possibility of needing a unique kind of teacher. Therefore, as you think about teachers, consider seeking a mentor with a similar background (i.e., racial/ethnic, faith, sexual orientation) who you feel can offer insight into addressing the specific needs of relating to your background. As a gay man, I have had several mentors who have talked through challenges I have faced and prepared me early in my professional life for unforeseen issues.

Each mentor serves a specific role in the cabinet and it is always good to have a variety of perspectives. However, make sure to know what role(s) you are looking for perspective mentors to fill.

Professionals who are new to the field or have been in it for decades can benefit from thinking about which categories their mentors fall into and seek out new mentors as needed. Some of the types above may be found in one person; however, seeking several mentors who are independent of one other provides you with multiple viewpoints. Some issues may be appropriate for one mentor while others fit better with a different one. Creating this network of mentorship offers multiple outlets to address the unique issues you will face on your path.

Higher education professionals are also called to be mentors for others, and it is important to think about what kind of mentor roles you are filling, or could fill, for others. Take a moment and write down the five mentor types on a piece of paper and start “appointing your cabinet.” As you write in the names, think about how they fit the role or roles you have assigned to them. Also, think about how you want to keep in touch with your mentors. You may connect with each mentor in a different way and it is important to have a regular connection. Each of these mentor types will play an important role in your professional life.

Answer: In any profession there are time management challenges. Right here at Emerson there is a way for you to focus on your writing endeavors. Between semesters, the CITL and the Iwasaki Library offer the Faculty Writers’ Retreat. It is two days of designated time for you to write. This “choose your own adventure” opportunity gives you permission to just write, or you can complement your writing with voluntarily-offered support from campus experts in several aspects of the writing process. Watch for the announcement for the next Faculty Writers’ Retreat.

Answer: When faculty members engage in scholarly teaching, they use disciplinary methods to study their teach­ing processes and student learning outcomes. They identify challenges in helping students learn, they read pedagogical literature, they test out interventions, and they use the results to enhance student learning. The scholarship of teaching and learning, or SoTL, extends scholarly teaching further by making the scholarly work public. Faculty present their findings at conferences or publish in journals that focus on teaching and learning in higher education. Follow this link for a chart that illustrates stages of faculty growth toward being engaged in SoTL: http://www.up.edu/showimage/show.aspx?file=6012. Contact Karen St. Clair – Karen_StClair@emerson.edu – if you would like to discuss moving from scholarly teaching to the scholarship of teaching and learning.

The typical college student dreads hearing, “Let’s review the chapters you read for homework.” What generally ensues is a question and answer drill in which students are peppered with questions designed to make clear who has and hasn’t done the reading. In reality, these exchanges do little to encourage deep thought or understanding of the assigned reading. They produce awkward silences during which students squirm in their seats, hoping to become invisible. Other times students decline to answer for fear of giving the wrong answer. Almost all the time a negative tone permeates the classroom during this review. I decided to restructure the way that I approached reviews of reading assignments, and found that by doing things differently, I could change both the tone and outcomes of the review activity. I’d like to share some of the ideas and techniques that I have found useful:

The Top Ten - Ask students to create their own “Top Ten List” of important concepts presented in the chapter(s). I encourage student collaboration in the creation of these lists. The activity provides a nice review of the material, and you’ll be amazed at what students consider to be most important. I use these lists as a starting point for discussions. They also let me know what areas of content need further explanation. For students who didn’t do the reading, the lists expose them to ideas in the text and that prepares them at least a bit for the subject of the day.

Secondary Sources - Gone are the days when the textbook is the only source of information available to students. With blogs, research articles, journals, informational pages, and news websites at the touch of a fingertip, students can easily learn more about the subject. After they’ve done the assigned readings, have students locate another viewpoint on the subject and bring it to class. In class, set a time limit (say 15 minutes) and have partners/groups discuss the reading material and their secondary sources. As you circulate around the room, you may hear some good examples that you can use later in the period. Interestingly, students often (without being asked) continue to bring in outside resources on the topics we study, which makes for rich and healthy discussions.

Journaling - For the ideas presented in the readings to become relevant, students need to articulate thoughts about what they are reading and they need to hear how others responded as well. I encourage my students to write journal notes, which I describe as what the brain is thinking while reading. Example: “Wow! I never considered how George Washington must have felt during this turbulent time in the nation’s history. I always thought of him as liking his role as president.” Students can share their journaling with a partner or small group. This exercise helps students get past initial impressions, and it connects what they already know to the new information.

Divide and Conquer - Divide up the next reading chapter among small groups of students. Student A reads the first section in the chapter, Student B reads the next section, and so forth. The next day, students meet in small groups and report on the section they read. Or you can have groups of students that read the same section meet with students who read different sections. Students become dependent on one another to create the full picture of what was in the reading material. My students seem to enjoy these group discussions, which are a way to become familiar with the material before being graded on it.

Using these and other strategies has really made a difference in my classes. More students are engaged in and contributing to class discussions, and they are moving beyond a simple repetition of facts and details. Students are digging deeper and connecting their world with other viewpoints, and that gives them a richer understanding of the content.

These new approaches are having an effect on me, too. I am more calm and confident in my role as a teacher and a learner. I find it easier to be more patient and thoughtful with my students. Most important, I have noticed that the classroom feels like a safe and positive place. Students show greater respect for one another and more appreciation of the material. In my opinion, all these responses make these changes worthwhile!

Dr. Sarah K. Clark is an assistant professor of elementary education at Utah State University.

• Ask students to process or translate course material using unusual rhetorical or expressive modes. I have always listened with skepticism to accounts of teachers asking their students to translate course concepts into 140-character status updates. But my workshop participants argued that having students take concepts and rework them in the form of a text message, or a Twitter update, or even visual representations or performances, could have the same defamiliarizing effect that might be achieved by a change in fonts.
• Require students to argue on behalf of unfamiliar positions. One of my participants was a political scientist who asks her students to debate issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict—and routinely requires them to argue against their personally held convictions. Another participant, who teaches a course for medical students on abortion, does the same. In both cases, they observed, students are forced into the uncomfortable and defamiliarizing position of having to look at a well-trod debate from a new angle.
• Ask students to find or identify mistakes. A professor of architecture noted that he occasionally makes mistakes while doing calculations on the board, and that his students had learned to watch out for those errors and correct him. A math professor then pointed out that he would sometimes deliberately seed mistakes into assigned problems and ask students to find them. In both cases students were nudged out of the mode of simply observing or running through the problems on automatic pilot. That may seem like an artificial technique, or like playing games with students—but only until you stop and think about how many jobs require people to review presentations, problems, performances, or communications and make sure they are mistake-free.
• Plan for failure. A faculty member in chemistry said you can wake students up by asking them to undertake short experiments that are designed to fail. Rather than simply going through the motions of a lab, and finding the expected result planned for them by the teacher, students learn what every experienced researcher in the world knows: that experiments, like scholarly research of any kind, almost never proceed exactly as you planned them, and that you can learn a lot from your failures.

Answer: The Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL) promotes excellent teaching for enhanced stu­dent learning. The word “innovation” in the center’s title simply means that as you work toward excellent teaching, new-to-you approaches are explored and used. More broadly, the CITL involves tailored support for any teach­ing and learning concern. Individual consultations and small group sessions are available to all faculty. Because the CITL promotes ways to enhance student learning, it encompasses three units that offer support for learning: the Lacerte Family Writing and Academic Resource Center, the Disability Services Office, and the Office of Ser­vice Learning and Community Action. The CITL also assists the College by investigating and recommending best practices in teaching for student learning in higher education. Frequently this is done through collaborations with other units on campus that promote excellent teaching for enhanced student learning.

Answer: There are many options and assistance is available. Through collaborations with Emerson’s Office of Ser­vice Learning and Community Action, faculty can enhance their courses by establishing relevant exchanges with established or new community partners. Students engage with community partners through volunteerism, and then students relate their experiences back to the course. Levels of community involvement range from engaging with partners one time to multiple times across the semester. It is not too late to enhance your Spring 2013 course. Contact Suzanne Hinton, Associate Director of Service Learning: Suzanne_Hinton@emerson.edu, ext. 8774. Visit the Service Learning and Community Action webpage: http://www.emerson.edu/academics/service-learning-and-community-action.