Student Guide Corner

Occasionally, someone will ask me to give them my number one piece of advice for becoming a better teacher. Teaching is such a complex art that I really think that is close to impossible. However, I do think there is one thing that every teacher (and I do mean every teacher) should do that will help them immediately to become a better teacher. Can you believe it? I�m almost guaranteeing you success with just one piece of advice. Every teacher should get a reality check by enrolling as a student each year in a class in something about which they have no real knowledge. In other words, they should walk around to the other side of the desk and put themselves into the student role just as a reminder of how it feels to be the struggling one. I don�t mean for a history teacher to take another history class. There�s no benefit. I don�t mean for an English teacher to take a class in poetry. I mean for a history teacher or an English teacher to take a class in quantum mechanics. Two weeks ago, ...

My department chair (Darrell Walden) sent out the following link to an article from The Washington Post . You may have to register to read it but it is well worth your time. (If the link doesn�t work, just go to www.washingtonpost.com and search for �Is college too easy� as of May 21, 2012.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/is-college-too-easy-as-study-time-falls-debate-rises/2012/05/21/gIQAp7uUgU_story.html Darrell summarizes the story quite well in just a few words. �Over the past half-century, the amount of time college students actually study � read, write and otherwise prepare for class � has dwindled from 24 hours a week to about 15, survey data show. And that invites a question: Has college become too easy?� As I travel around the country talking about teaching, I very frequently hear faculty members complain that �college students are not like they used to be.� My feeling (after 41 years in this job) has always been that college students really do not change much o...

A good friend of mine who teaches at a university in Texas wrote to me a few days ago and posed the following question. My guess is that all college teachers have felt this same way at times over the years. It is very difficult to get students to leap tall buildings with a single bound if you can�t get them to prepare for class. �For the past two semesters I have become so totally frustrated with the students in my classes. They do NOT come to class prepared AT ALL. They don't read the book. Some of them don't even get the book until the 3rd or 4th week of the semester. �Do you have a secret for getting students to read their textbook, especially in Intermediate? Do you threaten them with hanging at dawn? Do you give them a quiz every class? �I really want my fall Intermediate students to develop some better habits, so I'm looking for a way to facilitate that.� Okay, I think the first way to approach this quandary is to consider where most of the students are coming from in...

I was going through some files this evening and discovered a quote that I received some years back from a person in India .  There's a lot to like about this quote but I especially appreciate the line:  "The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods."   I sometimes think in teaching (and maybe many other things in life) that we are too obsessed with finding the perfect method.  "Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it. The man who knows how will always have a job. The man who also knows why will always be his boss. As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble".      Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just a quick reminder (because I know adoption decisions for the fall semester are being made as I write), if you would like to receive a copy of the second edition of my Financial Accounting textbook (written with C. J. Skender of UNC and published by Flat World Knowledge) which just came off the press a few weeks ago, all you need do is send a note to faculty@flatworldknowledge.com.  Okay, I�m biased but I honestly believe you will get the best textbook on the market AND your students will each save $100 to $200. In these days and times, those are two very good reasons to give it a look.   (If you are interested, drop me a note at Jhoyle@richmond.edu and I'll send you a survey we did of all the students using the first edition just to see how they liked the book.) ** I have written this type of blog entry before over the years BUT last night at 9:47 was my very favorite time of the entire semester by far. Right before I entered my final grades for the semester into the...

There are many times in teaching that a teacher needs to explain things to students. In many college classes, they are young people with limited experience. Occasionally, they simply don�t understand, especially when things are not as they have experienced them in the past. Part of my job as a teacher is to explain things beyond my subject matter. There are stories that can sometimes help them come to a better understanding. I often have students come to my office after I return a test. They are upset that they didn�t make the grade they had wanted or expected. It is common for me to hear something like �I cannot tell you how hard I studied. In fact, I studied with Mr. A and Ms. B and I knew just as much as they did. We worked every question from class 8 times apiece. Yet, they made a 95 and I made an 83. What am I supposed to do?� I guess this is on my mind because one of my students told me this afternoon that the 83 he got on a recent test was the first grade he had received in coll...

This blog went over 50,000 views a few days ago. Obviously, no one would have ever heard of this blog over the past 27 months if it weren�t for people like you who have spread the word. First, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I cannot tell you how very much I appreciate your helping out by telling other people about my writings. Second, I�d like to ask you for a very personal favor. The second edition of my Financial Accounting textbook that I wrote with C. J. Skender (of UNC) came out today. (Today!!!!) I feel like I just experienced the birth of another child. I thought the first edition was good but I honestly think the second edition is great. It approaches the introduction of financial accounting differently because it is written in a Socratic Method style. It is the book that I have always wanted to write and I am thrilled with it. It covers what I think college students should learn in an introductory course. And, although I am obviously bia...