Cross Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
and Professor of Sociology
Illinois State University
My teaching philosophy consists of a variety of beliefs about teaching, learning, teachers, students, and my discipline. These beliefs come from my own practical experience and reflection as a teacher and learner, from studying theory and research on teaching and learning in both my discipline and higher education in general, from conducting my own scholarship on teaching and learning, and from my faculty development work with other teachers. Some of those whose theory and research have influenced my beliefs include, for example, Marcia Baxter Magolda on socially constructed knowledge and student development, Parker Palmer and Stephen Brookfield on reflection in teaching, K. Patricia Cross, Lee Shulman, and Paul Baker on classroom assessment and the scholarship of teaching and learning, and Alexander Astin and George Kuh on student involvement and out-of-class learning. I share six of my key beliefs below. In addition, I offer a brief discussion of how these beliefs impact my teaching.
These beliefs, then, impact my teaching-learning practice. For example, I have published a teaching note titled "FACES: Five Components of Quality Teaching." Though my teaching philosophy has continued to evolve since that time, I find that my philosophy still implies the importance of these five components: fairness, application/relevance, challenge, entertainment/enthusiasm/engagement, and service. In addition, my practice fits closely the Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education as summarized by Chickering and Gamson (active learning, cooperation among students, contact with faculty, prompt and useful feedback, time on task, high expectations, and respect for diversity).
I specify behavioral objectives for my students in each course. My courses are learning-centered. I use diverse pedagogical practices. I offer a great deal of scaffolding (without "lowering the bar") for students who are willing to climb it. I emphasize active and collaborative practices. I give students some control and choice in the course. I offer and require out-of-class learning opportunities. I have high expectations and make these (and how to achieve them) explicit. I do all that I can to help students experience passion for the subject and the course, to become engaged and intrinsically motivated. My students and I both reflect on the teaching and learning experience. I use classroom assessment techniques, making changes in response to student feedback and my own reflection. Conducting work in the area of the scholarship of teaching and learning is a priority for me. The desire and the skills to engage in life long learning is a goal I have, not only for my students, but also for myself.
My 12 hour per semester teaching load currently includes one course; the rest of my time is administrative as I serve as interim coordinator of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching. Recently, however, my load has included three hours reassigned to research and nine hours of teaching. While editor of Teaching Sociology, an additional three hours were assigned to the journal, leaving six hours of teaching. As part of my effort to have challenge and application in my teaching, I have collaborative learning groups and written assignments in all my classes, even the 220-320 person section. I have one to two teaching assistants (only when I teach the mass class), but I do much of the grading myself for consistency and to maintain high standards. I also give essay exams in all classes except the large introductory class, thus I spend many hours grading. In addition to introduction to sociology, I have taught (in the last seven years here at ISU) upper division courses in research methods, sex roles, small groups, honors colloquium and social psychology, and a graduate seminar on family/sex roles. Thus, I teach classes ranging in size from 12 to 300 students and in level, from freshmen to graduate students. I think teaching different topics, levels, and class sizes helps you to be a better teacher as you face a variety of teaching problems and challenges.
In addition to classroom teaching, which I feel is only one part of what we should do as teachers, I am involved with a wide range of students in many other ways. This involvement takes a great deal of time and is rewarding to me and, I hope, the students. These activities represent some of the service component of teaching which, as stated in my philosophy, I see as so important. This service benefits students in a number of ways including giving them more direct exposure to me as a role model, providing them with individualized and challenging learning opportunities, working with them on their professional socialization, and allowing me to get to know them better which is helpful when I write letters of reference for jobs and graduate school.
The teaching service I have engaged in includes (see Appendix B for recent supporting material) being a faculty mentor for 4th floor Walker Hall, having multiple students working with me on independent study projects and/or Honors contracts every semester, chairing or sitting on four to eight thesis committees per year, working with students in the new Learning Communities Program, acting as the Sociology Club/AKD co-advisor for 2 years (and continued involvement with that group), serving as the sociology graduate teaching assistant coordinator for 4 years, establishing and administering (through the American Sociological Association) a department level graduate student award, giving numerous presentations about teaching or my research to student and campus groups, sitting on numerous committees dealing with student and instructional issues (e.g., committee on undergraduate research opportunities), and keeping an open door office policy (with 220-320 students per semester, I spend many hours talking one-on-one with students).
Over the years, I have developed teaching materials including course syllabi, assignments, exams, review sheets, practice tests, and hand-outs. I will focus here only on limited material from my large Introduction to Sociology course and from two, smaller upper-division courses. (See Appendix C for supporting material.)
I believe that syllabi, assignments, and exams should reflect one's teaching philosophy and goals. Thus my teaching materials are used to demonstrate and strengthen the challenge and application in my classes. In addition, I view the syllabus as a contract, presenting in detail what the students and I should expect from each other. This helps to keep the course and grading fair for all students. My concern with writing and active learning means that I insist that all my students (even in a class of 300 or more) be involved in multiple writing assignments, informal application class exercises, "hands-on" assignments, and formal collaborative learning groups. To help students perform well, these are always described in detail in my syllabi (objectives, requirements, instructions, grading criteria, hints, examples). Of course, a syllabus must include specifics on other topics such as make-ups, late work, extra-credit, what to do if the student is having trouble, computation of final grade, working with other students, meeting with the faculty member, required readings, and classroom norms. Because I do some things differently than most faculty members (e.g., I do not use a point system, I do not offer extra credit), it is essential that these issues are explained to the students in the syllabus. In addition, I think it is crucial for students to understand how they will be examined in a course and to study in a way that is similar to the tasks they will be asked to perform on the exam, so I offer review sessions with review sheets (including hints, content to know, and practice questions) and hand-outs with optional learning exercises.
Though I attempt to apply all aspects of my teaching philosophy to all my classes, it is necessary to consider the level and size of the class, as well as student characteristics and motivations when designing ones' course. Therefore, I am better able to use more innovative teaching techniques in smaller classes and to offer greater challenge and difficulty in advanced classes, compared to larger and introductory courses.
One of several ways to assess teaching and learning is through student outcomes. I include here a few examples of student outcomes or products. (See Appendix D for recent documentation.) These example outcomes or products illustrate the challenge, application, and service I put into my teaching. I offer students the chance to do multiple drafts of papers so their work can develop. This also illustrates my belief that you can better challenge students if you help them meet that challenge. I have published five articles or notes co-authored with undergraduate or graduate students. I have worked with several students who have presented papers at professional meetings such as the Illinois Sociological Association meetings, the Oklahoma Psychological Association meetings, and the Midwest Sociological Society meetings. In some cases (e.g., Bridget Joyce and Theresa Chandler), these students have won paper competitions. At least one student also won an ISU Thesis Support Award. Students with whom I have worked or informally advised have also been accepted into graduate school (e.g., University of Iowa, Purdue University, University of Arizona), and/or have obtained good jobs in the discipline (e.g., teachers at community colleges such as Spoon River College; administrators in organizations such as Planned Parenthood and in residence halls at various universities).
In this section, I summarize qualitative and quantitative summative student course evaluations from several recent courses. In Appendix E, I include letters about my teaching from my department chairperson and from students, and a copy of a formative course evaluation form. Summative course evaluations are required near the end of each semester. A number of questions are asked, but we routinely record and compare mean scores on a global item about the instructor/course. The scale used is a 1 to 5 Likert scale; with 1 = outstanding; 5 = poor. My mean scores from students on the global item are always between 1.0 and 2.0, even in the large class (research shows course evaluations are negatively related to class size). These numbers have generally been above the mean for the department. Given the many outstanding teachers in my department, I consider these to be strong evaluations.
I read all the open-ended comments students make on my course evaluations every semester, even for the class of 320. I take student evaluations very seriously. I do not, necessarily, believe they are a measure of good teaching, but they are a measure of student perceptions and satisfaction. These beliefs and feelings are very important and influence the teaching-learning process. Though the comments students make are about many aspects of the course, it is my subjective perception (and that of my Department Faculty Status Committee) that these comments are overwhelmingly positive (e.g., She is really a great teacher; very competent, thorough, interesting and funny; She is dynamic and makes class interesting; Dr. McKinney is very clear, concise, interesting, and energetic about the subject). Students seem especially appreciative of my organization and enthusiasm. Of the negative comments I receive, many are about aspects of the situation or the class which I can not change (e.g., the class is too large, the room is too cold) or are complaints about the quantity or difficulty of the work (e.g., we shouldn't have to write papers in a large class; three books are too many). I do pay attention to these comments, but am not usually willing to make the class less challenging. Rather, I will try to be fair by making changes to help the students meet the level of difficulty. I have also given formative evaluations of my courses/teaching in some semesters at about midterm or use other types of classroom assessment techniques (e.g., one-minute papers). I use these for immediate feedback to try to correct any problems in the course.
In recent years, I have received a number of teaching award nominations, teaching awards or honors, invitations to direct and/or speak at teaching workshops, and the opportunity to coordinate the ISU Center for the Advancement of Teaching (CAT). (See Appendix F for documentation of these honors.) I believe I have received these honors because I try, both inside and outside of class, to be a good role model for students and to engage in Fairness, Application, Challenge, Entertainment, and Service in all aspects of my teaching.
I have been a finalist for, or received, eight teaching awards at the college or university level at two different institutions and one national award (ASA Hans Mauksch Award for Contributions to Undergraduate Education) over the course of my career thus far. For these honors, I have received recognition, plaques, and/or monetary awards. I am particularly proud of the nominations and awards received at ISU because of the number of wonderful teachers at this institution. Other teaching honors include being interviewed in Teaching Sociology as an award winning teacher, and being invited to conduct national teaching workshops for the American Sociological Association and to speak in a plenary session on teaching at the Midwest Sociological Society meetings.
Two additional honors include my selection as a member of the prestigious American Sociological Association's Teaching Resources Group, a group of about 50 sociologists from around the nation who serve as teaching experts for the discipline. We are asked to do department reviews at other institutions, conduct regional and national teaching workshops, and edit teaching resource material. I have also been asked to direct (for seven consecutive years) the ISU three-day, annual University Teaching Workshop open to all graduate students and faculty members. This workshop utilizes 15-20 presenters covering 15 or more topics. I manage the budget, plan the sessions, recruit the speakers, handle the physical arrangements, help with advertising, host the actual workshop, conduct an evaluation, issue completion certificates, and write an annual report. In addition, I present a workshop on sexual harassment at the workshop.
Finally, in 1996-1997, I began serving as the interim coordinator for CAT. This teaching center is a brand new ISU unit. My role has been to start up the Center, establish a physical location, recruit and hire staff, work with the University Teaching Committee to set priorities, supervise faculty and graduate student associates, and begin programming and services. We have, thus far, created a brochure, produced a newsletter, established a web site and an isuteach listserv, created a local teaching resources group, planned five panel/workshops/discussion hours, responded to numerous requests for individual assistance, and begun looking into several other ideas (e.g., master teacher award, faculty fellows, teaching manual, chair workshops).
I have been active in publishing for (e.g., supplementary texts, instructors manuals, textbook chapters) and on (e.g., articles and notes in pedagogical journals) teaching. (See Appendix G for documentation of these publications.) Writing and publishing on pedagogy has tremendous value to both teacher and student: I am better able to keep up with new pedagogical ideas or problems, I review the most current knowledge in a particular area of sociology, and I have to think of new ways to present and explain material to students.
I have co-authored or co-edited three books on human sexuality which are used as supplementary texts in courses throughout the country. These books were conceived because my co-author and I felt a neglect of the sociological and social psychological perspectives in texts about human sexuality. In addition, I have written or edited a resource manual on teaching Introductory Sociology, a manual on teaching Introduction to Sociology for the First Time, instructor's manuals for a social psychology text and a sexuality in close relationships text, a correspondence study guide for a human sexuality course, book chapters in three supplementary texts in a variety of areas, a monograph on advising, two book reviews of books used for or about teaching, and syllabi for inclusion in syllabi packets (published by ASA).
Finally, I have published five papers on teaching in pedagogical journals. These papers focus on some of the issues I am especially concerned about including qualities of good teaching, collaborative learning, application/experiential learning, teaching ethics, and curriculum improvements.
Teaching Sociology is owned by the American Sociological Association and is a national/international, refereed journal publishing articles, notes, and reviews. The journal is recognized as one of the top six journals on college teaching. (See an example issue of the journal and other documentation in Appendix H.) From January of 1986 to December of 1990, I served as an associate editor (member of the editorial board) of TS. From July of 1993 to December of 1993, I was the editor-designate. I was selected as editor by the ASA Publications Committee and Executive Council in a competition of qualified candidates. My term as editor is from January of 1994 to December of 1996. This service to my profession (I receive only a small annual honorarium to help with travel expenses) is extremely time-consuming and challenging, but very rewarding. I am in charge of, and directly involved with, all aspects of the publication of the journal including recruiting quality manuscripts, processing papers, reviewing, conducting public relations, writing decision letters, advertising, copyediting, desk-top publishing, handling the budget (about $35,000 per year not counting printing costs), and appointing and directing associate editors. Along with conducting the daily operations of the journal, I have made some changes and innovations including improving the look (format) of the journal, adding a new feature (ISSUES), publishing two special issues per year on various themes, and starting a Teaching Sociology computer listserve and web site. I estimate that I spend about 15-20 hours per week on editor related duties.
Some of the most rewarding aspects of this position are the opportunity to help colleagues improve their papers and gain a publication, and the chance to read hundreds of articles and notes on teaching sociology. Thus, I have the privilege of being aware of new pedagogical techniques, problems in teaching in my discipline, new substantive areas, and current research on teaching sociology. This has an ongoing effect on my efforts to improve my teaching.
