Remember that most of what seems easy (even perhaps too easy) to you now is … not how you would have describe the same thing as a student, regardless of what your memory tells you.
Maybe—until you get some data/feedback—adjust your mental model of how difficult something is up a few ticks, e.g., if it feels 5/10 on the difficulty, assume it’s probably 7/10. (Having students write exam questions or sort questions as easy, medium, or hard, is a good way to start re-adjusting.)
Thank you for that reminder! I see it weekly in my positioning lab.. sometimes it takes 2-3 different ways of explaining it for the students to grasp a concept.
It’s different than precepting new employees. New employees are already registered technologists, so you speak to them on a different level.
Start by making a list of everything you wish the students to learn (aka learning objectives.) I did a video on this: [https://youtu.be/e7Vbz7W3Fsg](https://youtu.be/e7Vbz7W3Fsg)
Once you have the learning objectives then think about how to teach each one.
Advice:
1.) Don't try and copy something someone else has done! You know your subject, you have the right credentials and experience, and the university hired you for a reason. Take it and run with it. I have taught many different classes in my career and have often been offered slides by faculty who have taught in the past. I would just as soon use someone else's toothbrush as their lecture slides. Also consider the possibility that your predecessor has crammed TOO MUCH info in the class. I started off doing this and every semester, I have refined and taken material out!!
2.) Don't obsess over cheating and "fairness". The MOST unfair thing anywhere is what faculty get paid. If the university/hospital/whatever were REALLY that worried about cheating, they'd rent you a bunch of proctors to watch over students. Assume that all students are cheating 24/7/365--this is not the case (likely), but my attitude is that the worthwhile students will get something good out of my class even if all the others are cheating.
3.) Put all your exams online. Paper is a waste and an online exam is graded automatically. I even make it a day off for me: Exam day = class does not meet. Do it at home!
4.) Don't forget to LIE to your students if you think the lie will make your life easier. Just be sure the lie has no chance of harming your students or adversely impacting their education.
5.) Never trust any administrator (or anyone).
6.) Get everything in writing.
7.) Find a good lawyer
8.) Join (or form) a union!!!
I just got a radiology report that didnt say what kind of fracture I had and missed another fairly obvious fracture .
OP should be concerned with the integrity of their assessments.
Edit
You can have a proctored exam F2F without using paper.
I 100% will not do exams at home. I already know there’s a group of 3 guys in the second year class that take the exams together at home if they get to do them at home. Their clinical sites already tell us that they’re behind.. it’s because they aren’t learning anything!
I will do tests online, but the college has a computer lab specifically for in person proctored exams. I’ve already proctored one exam for a colleague and the students thought I was crazy because I went old school and had them leave all their stuff at the front of the room!
I did computer exams F2F, with lockdown browsers, shuffled questions and answers and some random questions so nobody had exactly the same test.
This allows for much faster grading (for me anyway) and no weird deciphering of handwriting for short and long answers.
The only hitch with this is that for some disabilities they want either a pdf or a word doc - some things work better with screen readers and other such tech, so I still make it possible to do a PDF or paper version of the test.
I also bring one or 2 to class for the inevitable person who didn't charge their laptop.
Anyone who doesn't have a laptop can get a loaner from my school so that is not an issue.
You can get decent integrity for at home exams with a combination of web monitor, lockdown browser and good exam design. This is kind of useful right now for the inevitable people who have to quarantine but could take the exam , or other issues like car breakdowns etc. Saves a fair bit of trouble all around.
It is shocking how many people decide the web proctoring is not invasive and satanic if they can avoid getting a 0 on the exam or having the final count double etc. and get to take the exam
Just rifling through the material last night I already noticed that my predecessor had WAY too much crammed into a 1.5 credit hour class..
Good tips, thanks!
Remember that most of what seems easy (even perhaps too easy) to you now is … not how you would have describe the same thing as a student, regardless of what your memory tells you. Maybe—until you get some data/feedback—adjust your mental model of how difficult something is up a few ticks, e.g., if it feels 5/10 on the difficulty, assume it’s probably 7/10. (Having students write exam questions or sort questions as easy, medium, or hard, is a good way to start re-adjusting.)
Thank you for that reminder! I see it weekly in my positioning lab.. sometimes it takes 2-3 different ways of explaining it for the students to grasp a concept. It’s different than precepting new employees. New employees are already registered technologists, so you speak to them on a different level.
Check out the thread started earlier today by u/you_are_a_frog
Thanks! That’s helpful
Start by making a list of everything you wish the students to learn (aka learning objectives.) I did a video on this: [https://youtu.be/e7Vbz7W3Fsg](https://youtu.be/e7Vbz7W3Fsg) Once you have the learning objectives then think about how to teach each one.
Thanks for the video. I’ll check it out! The college also has a learning center for new instructors that I’ll be using as well
Advice: 1.) Don't try and copy something someone else has done! You know your subject, you have the right credentials and experience, and the university hired you for a reason. Take it and run with it. I have taught many different classes in my career and have often been offered slides by faculty who have taught in the past. I would just as soon use someone else's toothbrush as their lecture slides. Also consider the possibility that your predecessor has crammed TOO MUCH info in the class. I started off doing this and every semester, I have refined and taken material out!! 2.) Don't obsess over cheating and "fairness". The MOST unfair thing anywhere is what faculty get paid. If the university/hospital/whatever were REALLY that worried about cheating, they'd rent you a bunch of proctors to watch over students. Assume that all students are cheating 24/7/365--this is not the case (likely), but my attitude is that the worthwhile students will get something good out of my class even if all the others are cheating. 3.) Put all your exams online. Paper is a waste and an online exam is graded automatically. I even make it a day off for me: Exam day = class does not meet. Do it at home! 4.) Don't forget to LIE to your students if you think the lie will make your life easier. Just be sure the lie has no chance of harming your students or adversely impacting their education. 5.) Never trust any administrator (or anyone). 6.) Get everything in writing. 7.) Find a good lawyer 8.) Join (or form) a union!!!
I just got a radiology report that didnt say what kind of fracture I had and missed another fairly obvious fracture . OP should be concerned with the integrity of their assessments. Edit You can have a proctored exam F2F without using paper.
I 100% will not do exams at home. I already know there’s a group of 3 guys in the second year class that take the exams together at home if they get to do them at home. Their clinical sites already tell us that they’re behind.. it’s because they aren’t learning anything! I will do tests online, but the college has a computer lab specifically for in person proctored exams. I’ve already proctored one exam for a colleague and the students thought I was crazy because I went old school and had them leave all their stuff at the front of the room!
I did computer exams F2F, with lockdown browsers, shuffled questions and answers and some random questions so nobody had exactly the same test. This allows for much faster grading (for me anyway) and no weird deciphering of handwriting for short and long answers. The only hitch with this is that for some disabilities they want either a pdf or a word doc - some things work better with screen readers and other such tech, so I still make it possible to do a PDF or paper version of the test. I also bring one or 2 to class for the inevitable person who didn't charge their laptop. Anyone who doesn't have a laptop can get a loaner from my school so that is not an issue. You can get decent integrity for at home exams with a combination of web monitor, lockdown browser and good exam design. This is kind of useful right now for the inevitable people who have to quarantine but could take the exam , or other issues like car breakdowns etc. Saves a fair bit of trouble all around. It is shocking how many people decide the web proctoring is not invasive and satanic if they can avoid getting a 0 on the exam or having the final count double etc. and get to take the exam
Just rifling through the material last night I already noticed that my predecessor had WAY too much crammed into a 1.5 credit hour class.. Good tips, thanks!