Teaching Vignette #1

Instructional Design Decisions

Reading:  A series of right decisions

Preview of the Reading:  The first vignette (of three on the scroll linked above) tells about finding a way to include 5 reluctant students in an educational system that had excluded them.  Rick Lybeck of the University of Minnesota tells about dumping the standard (irrelevant) textbook, seeking help from a colleague, and rewarding students in a way that gave them prestige among their peers.  As a result, the students stopped ignoring their own education and became enthusiastic and more conscientious participants.  

Learning from This Reading (linked above): This vignette (linked above) will be most helpful to faculty in developmental classes, but any teacher of nontraditional students may encounter a similar situation.  The particular grade level and the particular reward object are irrelevant; the teacher's thinking and assumptions are what will help you sharpen your teaching skills.

Thinking Further: Tell in your teaching journal (start one?) about a way in which you have involved reluctant students.  You might report or speculate about the causes of their reluctance, the effects of their reluctance on your class, any efforts to engage the students that didn't work so well, how you hit upon a method that did work,  how other faculty might adapt this method in their own classes, and any cautions you would advise for faculty who wish to try applying the method.

 This page last updated May 16, 2006

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