NUTSHELL NOTES "Teaching tips in a nutshell" - The University of Colorado at Denver's One-page Web-page Newsletter for Teaching Excellence

In our last issue we began to consider why we gravitated originally, toward becoming university professors, as contrasted with what now gives us satisfaction and affects our current enthusiasm.

These are important themes. The act of becoming a professor required a lot of time, money, and dedicated work, and we obviously wanted something special as a result. Perhaps that something may have been the excitement of working within an environment where ideas and creative thinking are encouraged and respected. Perhaps it was because of the desire to "make a difference" by helping or mentoring students who now struggle as we struggled. Perhaps it was because of an affinity for creating new knowledge through research, or perhaps we tried other professions and discovered we simply felt more alive on a campus than in any other place. Whatever aspirations and choices brought us here, we need to clearly know them. Our original aspirations are probably still important to our teaching success. Some things we should be accomplishing in our classes may well include what we wanted to do from the time we chose to become professors.

Research defines two important personality traits that aid success in teaching: enthusiasm and self-confidence (See NN v. 2 n. 4). It's hard to nurture these particular traits if we are not happy about the outcomes our efforts are producing. Doing well what we truly want to do is helpful to these two personality traits.

It is said that "change is the only thing that remains the same." Change is probably negative when it diminishes our self-confidence and enthusiasm. If we note our enthusiasm is becoming diminished, we should not accept that as trivial, inevitable, or irreversible. To do so may result in a transition from a career launched with fresh hopes and enthusiasm to a job that makes us bitter and cynical. If we sense a negative transition, then we should define, and next alter, the practices that are having damaging effects on us. For example, we may recognize that "university politics" are making us cynical and causing us to invest too much energy in worry about what others are doing and too little in what we could be doing. A solution may rest in reconcentrating our energies into more wholesome and clearly defined activities that will produce tangible, satisfying benefits.

Positive changes that occur after we became professors are associated with some personal growth. With time, we should have learned how to better integrate the three areas of teaching, research, and service to make them mutually supporting. We should find that we can offer more to students, simply because our knowledge, our professional contacts, and our opportunities have all grown. We might choose to concentrate either on teaching or on research because one brings us the greatest satisfaction at this time. We might get bored even with doing something well too many times, so we may change by developing a new expertise or even a new profession. If we see our choices can fit well within our institution, that is the best of all situations. If we see a poor fit developing between ourselves and an institution, we might wisely pursue a change to an institution with a better fit. However, without reflective thinking on such matters, we are not likely to see the best choices available. Therein lies the value of drafting a written philosophy.

Next we are going to examine some origins from which we got our own ideas about what constitutes "good teaching." The most common cliché in faculty development is "we teach as we were taught." Hopefully, each of us had inspirational role models in teachers, and they greatly influenced both our initial aspirations to teach and how we initially taught. Their influence may still be very great, even after we have taught for decades.

To pursue your origins a bit further, turn the page and complete the brief exercise. Save the results in your file, word processor or on your door--depending upon how you are following this series.

Developing a Teaching System: Exercise 2 - Looking Toward Your Origins

© E.B. Nuhfer

1. Recall an influential teacher who had a very positive impact on you. Next visualize the setting that accompanies this memory. Below are some key words that others have used to describe their influential teacher. Pick the three that most apply to your former teacher, particularly in the special event you are remembering. If better terms seem to apply, write these below under "other" in the final three entries.

SOME KEY WORDS