Serene Smyth, SPC's New Kinesiology Prof Interview
Talking Shop with Serene Smyth
by Daniel Delury, Graduate Student Assistant, GMCTE
Last week I had the opportunity to sit down and "talk shop" with a talented new educator and researcher at the U of S, Serene Smyth. Serene just finished her first year of a Masters of Science program in Kinesiology. Unlike most people just beginning a Masters Program, she has also just finished teaching a full course in her discipline, (Kin 223: Contemporary Health Issues), with stellar results. Although she has had some TA experience as an undergraduate, (at the Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo), she had never taught a full course before Kin 223. I heard rave reviews about her teaching, and I wanted to find out for myself what she was doing that made her jump into teaching at such an early stage of her studies? What enabled her to do so well as a teacher "the first time around"? During our interview her experience and ideas on performing in teaching and learning were fresh and insightful, and I found myself reflecting back on my own classroom experiences to see where her techniques might have come in handy. One or two of them I will definitely use the next time I am in front of a class. However, I think you have heard quite enough from me; let's hear what Serene had to say about her teaching experience:
I have heard good things about your work as a sessional lecturer. Do you want to speak to that?
Well, in my course evaluation I had a high response rate-only one or two students didn't comment.
I am sure it was more than just response rate, though!
Yes, the feedback was good too. I was very happy with my student evaluations; it was all quite positive and encouraging. In the written comments the first thing that became apparent was that the students appreciated my enthusiasm. This was one of the qualities I wanted to bring to my teaching. I had identified it in the GSR 989 1 course [I took last term], when I was questioned about what made a good educator. I liked the vibrant, humorous, and engaging professors. In the literature I have read enthusiasm is the number one quality of the best college educators. I guess I am passionate about Kinesiology,and that passion came through naturally in my teaching.
Besides enthusiasm, were there any other points that came through in the evaluation?
Yes, in the SEEQ evaluation, the students liked the strong relationships and good rapport I had established with them.
Sorry, what is SEEQ again?
Students Evaluation of Educational Quality. It is an anonymous and detailed evaluation, with set questions as well as a section for written comments. It can be done on-line or written in class, although I found that those that are filled out online are not filled in as "fully" as the paper forms. The university might be moving to a completely on-line version, so that is a bit of a concern.
Back to the written part - I felt the information concurred with undergraduate courses that I have taken. Courses that I did the best in I had strong relationships with the instructors. Luckily this was most of my courses!
In the GSR 989 course, this as well as enthusiasm were noted as traits of a high quality instructor.
What were some of the strategies to achieve this enthusiasm and teacher/student relationship?
One of the strategies was to learn the students' names. It was a small class, so it wasn't too bad. It was important for my class too, because 10% of the mark was for participation, and I had to keep records of the students' frequency and quality of responses. I could only do this if I knew their names. This also brings in inter-personal relationships outside academics. Students are people with multidimensional lives and they respect you as an educator and person when take time to get to know them.
What technique did you use to learn their names?
Before the class started, I contacted all of the students by e-mail and asked for their background in the area of the course and asked for a picture as well, if they were comfortable providing one. Almost everyone did.
This also allowed you to understand the demographics of the classroom, right?
Yes, before I stepped into the classroom I could see the diversity of the learners!
Is there anything else you would like to add to strategies to create strong relationships and good rapport?
I was able to use my age as strength.
Do you mean because you are so old?
No, I mean the students and I are very close in age. We have similar attributes, concerns, expectations and are at similar stages in life. I can remember not long ago balancing a job, classes, as well as family and social life; actually that's what I'm doing right now too! As I went through the textbook and started developing lectures I thought about what was most interesting and relevant to my life and I realized that these same issues and topics were what many students would find interesting.
How did you do that, make it relevant for them?
Well, I would look at the textbook and see what resonated as a concern for me. This worked well because the class was on contemporary health issues. I also tried to "read" the students in class, as well as taking feedback at the end of the day.
How do you read students and adjust a lesson for them? Do you use power point or some other method in class? Can you adjust that?
I do use power point. But when something comes up that seems to interest students, I make it flexible. I shut off the power point and explore that issue more.
You just shut off the power point? Don't you run out of time for your class?
No, because I plan the lesson to take 80% of the time, the rest is flex time that is built into the day, and I can use it as I need to. I post my power point slides before class and then the students take notes just on the details that aren't on the slides. This technique allows students to spend time engaging in discussion
instead of frantically writing to keep up, which saves time. If something is important or needs further explanation, I engage the students in active learning through group work or discussion. I also use these discussions as topics for the exams, and develop case studies around them. When they are interested the students can handle very complex case studies and do very well.
What about taking feedback at the end of your day, how do you do that?
I just talked to students at the end of the lesson. It was casual and informal, and they told me a lot. Sometimes they ask questions, say what they found most interesting and sometimes they let me know that they already learned all that in some other class, so it gives me a way to contextualize my classroom experience. Having a good relationship with students helps facilitate these casual discussions.
My research is based around the knowledge that youth have, so this helps me center my class around the students as well. I am a teacher and a researcher,2 and they reflect each other. My research is based on building relationships with young Aboriginal people. I think that what you value in one aspect of your life transcends into other aspects of your life.
I find it interesting that you have an approach of "Age as a Strength". What about people that are not close to their students age? Do you have any advice for them?
I think it is important to build a relationship with your students. Know who they are as students and people. It is amazing what you would find out just by sitting down and having a cup of coffee with your students. Lastly, don't forget what it's like to be a student.
What other points were brought out in the SEEQ evaluation?
Students thought the material was relevant and well organized. I tried to relate the material to students lives. This may be part of teaching in Kinesiology, where there is something every day that you can take home and integrate with your life. I think this keeps people engaged in class and in school. Being able to take home knowledge and apply it immediately shows students that their time, effort, and money are well spent.
I was also happy to see that students really appreciated the class discussions, and interactive group work. I really tried to make my classroom an active learning environment that catered to different learning styles. I noticed on the written exams that students did very well on questions about discussion material.
There was also good feedback about humour. I like to bring humour into my classroom; you can't fall asleep when you are laughing!
You have pointed to the GSR 989 course a few times during this interview. Can you explain what this is for people who are not familiar with it?
It is an introduction to teaching course for graduate students. (There is also a similar course for faculty). Basically we meet for two hours a week where we sit down and actively learn about the art of teaching.
We learn about best practices in teaching (something that has been very helpful), we learn a lot about ourselves and who we are as educators, as well as tangible skills and knowledge we can integrate into our teaching immediately, such as fitting teaching methods with learning styles. Also there were things that were extremely important in setting up the course I taught, how to build a syllabus, what a good lesson plan looks like, evaluation techniques, etc.
The best thing for me was that it was based on research and theory. I like evidence-based teaching knowledge.
In your first response you alluded to your teaching philosophy and your learning outcomes. Can you tell me more about that?
The teaching philosophy statement was the end product of the course. For me, because I didn't have post-secondary teaching experience before taking the course, I was writing what I wanted to be. This may be different than someone who has been teaching for some time already, who are expressing who they are. My philosophy statement coincided very well with my course evaluation which I think was because of the guidance I received in GSR 989.
So do you think your philosophy will change?
With experience comes knowledge. I think I will change it, but not right now. Maybe after a year it will shift as I teach different classes and see different realities, such as larger classes. Maybe not the underlying philosophy, but the examples and details.
How do you imagine teaching the class would have been without taking the GSR 989 course?
Well, I think I could have taught the course and done a good job, but I don't think the quality of the course would be anywhere near what it was. It is not just about getting information across, but how you do it.
I decided to take the course after I had been to a workshop3 for TAs at the GMCTE. I heard about the course, and said "Why not?" I wanted to teach, but didn't imagine doing it without being in a PhD program or having completed my MSc. Originally I was concerned the course would be too much work, but I came for a few sessions and it was fantastic, so I kept coming.
I couldn't fathom teaching the way I did without the tools it gave me. It increased by classroom confidence 100%. The confidence knowing that what I did in the classroom was considered good practice makes all the difference. It also helped in getting the sessional position, as well as executing it. If I hadn't taken the course, I wouldn't have known what a rubric was, let alone how to design a course and set learning outcomes.
For many who get a sessional position, getting started is the hardest part. But with the course I can go from laying out the first day all the way to the last day just by flipping through the coursework binder.
Was your teaching stable, everything worked out?
Not every class was perfect. I remember one particular lecture I felt was poor, it was an "off" day and I wasn't completely comfortable with the topic that day. The next class I apologized to the students and we had a laugh. One student commented after that she really appreciated that I felt accountable and cared enough about the class to discuss it with them. But 99% of the time, I felt it was a good day after teaching.
One thing I would do was to research all the questions students had the evening after the class, and have answers for them the next day. I can't know everything, but I can find out. Students have some really good questions!
Do you have any advice for graduate students that would like to teach?
Stay relevant with respect to the material you are teaching. Stay in touch with the literature for best practices in your teaching, and learn what the best practices are!
You can take a course like 989, but if you don't have time, take workshops when you can, or even get a college teaching book and read it when you have time - there are lots of books at the GMCTE library.
Also be true to your own characteristics. Learn who you are as a student and educator, I had to learn about my own learning style before I could teach others effectively.
One last thing, relationships with students are important; whether it is on an individual level or group, such as in a large class. These relationships are enhanced by using active learning techniques- learning is not a spectator sport!
Endnotes
1. GSR 989: Introduction to University Teaching is a two-term non-credit course for graduate students with some teaching experience, offered Wednesdays, 3-5:30pm from Sept.16.-Mar.31. To register for this course, fill out the online application form at http://www.usask.ca/gmcte/drupal/?q=node/411.
2. Serene was also just selected for a Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) Masters Scholarship!
3. Our GMCTE orientation for new graduate student teachers this fall will be held all-day on Wednesday, August 26th. Register for this event on the GMCTE website: http://www.usask.ca/gmcte.
