I am happy to hear that I could create a welcoming environment at the beginning of the session. I’ve always managed to establish a light and friendly atmosphere with the students in this course. Since I began teaching it, these students have consistently sought support and shared updates on their projects, making the tutorials feel particularly engaging and relaxed. I wonder how I can achieve the same rapport with other courses and year groups, and I also ponder whether their maturity as Master’s students plays a role in this dynamic.
I agree with the feedback about asking students more specific questions rather than general inquiries like “How are your projects going?” I liked the suggestion to have them write two sentences in the chat; this approach reassures them that using the chat is a welcomed alternative if they prefer not to speak out loud. I know that I can be more comfortable giving additional time for them to ask questions after I invite them to do so. In this particular session, I didn’t wait long because I noticed nods from the students who had their cameras on, along with thumbs-up emojis appearing on the screen. However, I acknowledge that allowing more time could be beneficial, especially accommodating anyone who is typing or trying to turn their microphones on.
I have also struggled to keep students engaged in this type of session, but I appreciate the idea of asking more interactive questions. Now that I’ve read it in the feedback, it seems quite obvious, so I find it amusing that I had such difficulty thinking of a way to do it. This can strengthen college teaching relationships as a “gathering around a subject matter” which “opens up an endlessly rich and engaging community of learning for teacher and student alike and reminds us that the fundamental reason for teaching (both of teachers and students) is to engage with the world through the subject studied.” (Hobson, J. & A Morrison-Saunders, 2013).
On a related note, I found it interesting to reflect on the feedback about my talking pace—how I asked students if I was talking too fast or too slow, yet still ended up doing both! I realised this was driven by my desire to be clear and enthusiastic. It made me think of the “Passionate thought” defined by Anna Neumann in 2009. They experience “passionate thought” as peak moments of flow in their scholarship, which they describe as exhilarating, obsessive, and exciting. These emotions occur both in solitary scholarship and as shared experiences with colleagues or students (Quinlan, 2016). I would like to share my passion for the topics I teach students in the best way possible. So, I think asking more interactive questions, such as “How would you make this work better?” can be more helpful than just me talking fast out of excitement.
Lastly, I think I need to find a better way to integrate the pre-session tasks into the session rather than just “repeating” the contents in case they didn’t have time to do them.
References:
Hobson, J. & A Morrison-Saunders. 2013. “Reframing teaching relationships: from student-centred to subject-centred learning.” Teaching in Higher Education, 18 (7).
Quinlan, K.M., 2016. How emotion matters in four key relationships in teaching and learning in higher education. College Teaching, 64(3). Available at: Research gate
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