Presentation: advice to students, from students

This presentation is given at the start of the second day of class, after discussion of the course syllabus and policies at the end of the previous first day of class. These student comments are taken from advice from students at the end of a previous semester (here, Fall 2009), to subsequent semesters of introductory astronomy students at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA.



The first comment is reasonably innocuous and bland.



A more pointed piece of advice.



Words of warning to the "free riders" during group work.



More words of warning to students who just mimic other students' responses, without understanding why/how their answers are correct.



Students should not leave anything unanswered/unresolved before leaving class, if they can help it.



An important resource not to be overlooked.



The last comment always gets a chortle out of many students. Following this last student comment is when the instructor tells the class that the intent of showing these comments is to respond to and expand upon them one-by-one, in order make several points regarding what is expected of students in this class.



Starting over from the first slide, each is addressed point-by-point in more detail:

• "Not a cake class, but it's fun."
  This is relatively straightforward--students already "get this."


• "Get all points you can (online reading assignments!)."
  The first online reading assignment link (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com) is shown, where students answer multiple-choice questions and open-ended response questions regarding concepts previously covered in class, and on material from the textbook to be covered in the next upcoming class. Credit is given primarily for serious completion.


• "Don't let teammates do all the work in the activities."
  Students are assigned into groups of 3-4 each, to work on in-class activities (i.e, "lecture-tutorials"). Students will get as much out of these activities as they put into it.


• "Genuinely try to get the right answers on flashcard questions."
  Test and quiz questions are pointedly adapted from think-pair-share (i.e., "peer-instruction") questions used in class, where students need to be able to explain their reasoning to another student, or at the very least listen to, and critically evaluate the merit of an explanation from a peer.


• "ASK QUESTIONS. Make sure you understand before you leave."
  Students need to make an effort to get intervention and clarification during class.


• "Study old tests and you'll be golden."
  Quizzes and exams from past semesters are posted online (without answers) to be accessible to all students, and not just those with acquaintances that took this course in a previous semester.


• "Upgrade weapons and save often."
  Good advice in nearly any situation, for this generation of students.

The last slide is the generic "time for questions" prompt.



Previous posts:

• Online reading assignment question: interesting, confusing, and advice de-brief (Spring Semester 2010)
• Online reading assignment question: interesting, confusing, and advice de-brief (Fall Semester 2009)
• Presentation: moderating course expectations with negative student reviews (no longer used).