Page 245 - Making Instruction Work

chap 19 3/11/97 5:15 PM Page 231

getting ready 231

“Fifty percent of this class won’t be here a month from
now.”

“I grade on a curve, so no matter how competent you are,
some of you will have to get low grades.”

“I’m not the one who designed this course.”

If you think back over your own academic history, you’ll
think of dozens of examples of instructor behavior that served
only to turn students off. The sad thing is that these events
occurred mostly because the instructors were unaware of the
effects of what they were doing. Fortunately, there is a way to
avoid the accidental turn-offs and to maximize the deliberate
turn-ons. Here’s how.

Learn to identify the favorable consequences under your con-
trol. For example, you can smile or not smile. If you smile on
undesired performance, either accidentally or because you
don’t know any better, you may get more of it. If you offer the
equivalent of a pat on the back when a student is goofing off,
you may get more of that, too.

If, on the other hand, you frown or somehow insult or
demean a student for asking questions or for trying, you’ll get
less of those positive efforts. So make a list of the things you
might do in response to desired performance. And if you’re
thinking, “There’s nothing I can do,” you’ve never been more
wrong. You ought to be able to list at least two dozen things
that you could do to encourage desired performance when you
see it, none of which have anything to do with money. I’ll help
you get your list started:

• a smile

• a favorable comment