Guidelines for Student Partners

Student-Faculty Partnerships Program

Leslie Ortquist-Ahrens, DirectorKhadijah Seay, Student-Faculty

Partnerships Fellow

2017-2018

Adapted with permission from Alison Cook-Sather, Guidelines for Student Partners 2012-2013

This program is supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Fund

Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….….…. 3

Guidelines for Creating, Maintaining, and Concluding Partnerships..………..……………..….3-7

Midcourse Feedback………………………………………..…………..…………..………...8-9

Common Areas of Focus…. . ...............................................................................................................10

Sample Observation Notes……..…………...............................................................................….11-14

GST 286A Course….……………………………………………...……..…………………15

Advice from Experienced Student Partners……………………………...…………………..15

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Introduction

Classroom teaching is generally conceptualized and practiced as a private, teacher-defined, and teacher-controlled activity. It is, therefore, rare for most teachers to invite outsiders — colleagues, students, or others — into their classrooms to confer about what happens there. Those who choose to participate in the Student-Faculty Partnerships Program through the Center for Teaching and Learning are interested in moving beyond this tradition, stepping out of what Lee Shulman, President Emeritus of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, calls “pedagogical solitude.”

Faculty members who invite student partners into their classrooms are interested in gaining insights that a student can offer from her, his, or their perspective, engaging in dialogue with that student, and working with that student and those enrolled in the target classes to make the educational experience the best that it can be. Because the project represents for faculty members an unusual move not only out of pedagogical solitude but also into structured, collegial dialogue with students, the Student-Faculty Partnerships Program (SFPP) presents a new set of challenges and possibilities: to faculty members who invite student partners into their classrooms, to those student partners, and to students enrolled in the classes student partners visit.

Important: Every student-faculty partnership is different. Although everyone receives the same guidelines, each partnership will evolve based on the personalities of the faculty member and student partner, the kinds of experience both have had with teaching and learning, the particular class under study, and many more variables. For the partnerships to foster the kind of learning they have the potential to promote, it is essential that all participants feel as safe and supported as possible as they venture into this new forum for critical reflection on and dialogue about teaching and learning.

Guidelines for Creating, Maintaining, and Concluding Partnerships

Students who visit faculty members’ classrooms through the Student-Faculty Partnerships Program are designated “partners.”

A few words about what student partners are not: Student Partners are not evaluators in any formal sense for the faculty member or the teaching. Student Partners are not the supreme authority with all the answers or solutions. Rather, what partners bring is a unique perspective as students with the goal of putting that perspective into dialogue with the faculty member’s angle of vision on and set of goals for the class.

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The following guidelines for partnership were developed by the Coordinator of the Teaching and Learning Institute at Bryn Mawr College in collaboration with faculty members and students, and they have been adapted for use at Berea College. Aiming to acknowledge the complexity of creating new roles and relationships within conversations about teaching and learning as well as the equal but different risks that faculty members take in opening their classrooms to partners and that partners take in offering their perspectives on aspects of faculty members’ teaching, the guidelines strive to support the community building and learning that all participants can experience when those involved are respectful, thoughtful, and communicative throughout the process.Important: Partnerships are for learning purposes and in no way formally evaluative (i.e., they will not be used for review, promotion, etc. unless faculty members choose to include them in their dossiers). Student Partners’ perspectives on faculty members’ teaching should remain strictly confidential unless the faculty member wishes to share with others what he, she, or they learns through the partnership process.

Steps for building and maintaining a partnership

1. Establish Relationship/Rapport● The first step in building a partnership is to establish a relationship as people

o During your initial meeting, introduce yourself and say something about why you are interested in this work. What interests, skills, and hopes do you bring?

o Learn from the faculty member about why s/he is interested in this work.o This discussion should be about you two as people, not yet about the work you

will do together during the partnership, although it will lead into a discussion of that work.

2. Establish a Focus for Your Work● As part of your initial meeting, before visiting his/her class, clarify what the

faculty member’s teaching and learning goals are for the partnership overall. You can ask questions like:o What are the course goals?o What are some specific pedagogical goals you have within the course?o What kind of learning experience do you want students to have and why?o What do you see as my role in helping you to explore these pedagogical

issues?● Make sure you understand what the faculty member wants you to focus on when

you visit his or her class. Based on his/her responses to the questions above, formulate with the faculty member a clear statement of what the initial focus of your observations will be (this focus will likely evolve and change over the course of the semester).

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3. Establish Your Role and Responsibilities● Discuss with the faculty member what your role will be during classroom visits.

o Will you be silent and simply take notes? o Will you participate, and if so, how and when?

There is no set answer to these questions, it depends on the class, the professor, etc., but you and the faculty member should decide up front what you will do and then, as the semester unfolds, reconsider these questions. It is not advisable to participate too much, or you will not be able to take good observation notes.● Decide how often and where you and your faculty partner will meet, and set a

regular time, if possible (a regular [i.e., weekly or bi-weekly] time if you are in an ongoing partnership). Note: Before class is generally not a good time to meet, although some people have found that it works for them.

● Confer with your faculty partner about whether s/he wants you to email your observation notes prior to your post-visit discussion or bring the notes with you to the meeting.

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4. Discuss How You Will Be Introduced to the Class● It is important that you be introduced to the class. The most effective approach is:

o The faculty member explains to his/her class on the first day that s/he is choosing to take part in the Center for Teaching and Learning in order to engage in dialogue about teaching and learning in ways s/he would not otherwise have the opportunity to do and that the project is not about evaluation in any remedial or punitive sense but rather about critical reflection on teaching and learning for the purpose of improving both, and then…

o You introduce yourself. You should reiterate that the purpose is to foster dialogue about teaching and learning, and that you are there to hear from students as well as work with faculty members regarding what might help ensure that the course meets their learning needs and goals.

5. Observing and Note Taking● When you visit the classroom, be sure you are on time, respectful, and stay

focused on what the faculty member wants you to focus on; do not focus on issues you were not invited to examine, unless you and the faculty member decide to change the focus of your visit.

● Take detailed notes for yourself with the goal of documenting and making sense of what you see. These notes will not be shared with the faculty member (unless you both agree this is the better way to go); rather, you will draw on them to prepare a set of written observations and thoughts that you will share with the faculty member at your subsequent meeting. Use the following structure for notetaking o Draw a line down the center of each page you plan to use and label the left

side “Observations” and the right side “Reflections.” o As you are observing the class, write in the left column what might be called

field notes in anthropology or ethnography: notes that describe in as much detail as possible, without analyzing, examples or instances of the issue the faculty member has asked you to focus on. You should note the time in this column so you know how much time is spent on what kinds of activities in the class.

o During and after your visit to the class, write in the right column thoughts, reflections, questions, ideas, and suggestions for the faculty member based on what you have observed and written in the left column.

o Write notes to the faculty member (i.e., use “you”; “You ask the students…”) rather than about him/her (i.e., “Prof X asks the students…”). This will make the exchange more of a dialogue and more constructive.

● When you leave the class, be sure to say something about how you enjoyed, learned from, appreciated, etc. what you saw — something true and validating.

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6. Writing Up Your Notes● Start out the partnership using the following format. You may want to revise it as

you move through the semester. Look over your field notes and write or type up a version of your observations and reflections to share with the faculty member. In the version you share, be sure to do the following:o Make sure the left column is descriptive—that you simply describe what you

saw happening without analyzing or commenting on it. This is important because it gives faculty members the opportunity to analyze the observed events of the class themselves rather than having an interpretation already imposed.

o Include in the right column positive, validating, supportive comments as well as questions and suggestions. It’s easy to notice and comment on “problems” or issues, but it is harder — and as important — to comment on what appears to be working well.

o Frame questions or suggestions in your right column as respectful inquiries that invite further reflection and dialogue: Use phrases such as “I wonder about…” or “If I were a student in this class, it might make me feel X when you do Y…” or “I wonder what would happen if you tried…” Constructive suggestions framed in this way are best received and most beneficial.

o In addition to your observation notes, you might want to generate a list of points that capture the main themes or issues you address. Start with ways you think the faculty member is successful/good at the focal issue s/he identified, then name 2 or 3 (not 10 or 20 or some overwhelming number) of ways the faculty member might address the focal issue differently. As with your observation notes, be sure you are respectful and supportive in this section (and again, use phrases such as “I wonder what would happen if you tried…”).

o Imagine yourself in the position of receiving the notes you have generated and read the entire document over to see how you would feel were you to receive it. Make any revisions necessary to produce a document that will promote constructive dialogue and learning.

7. Meeting with Your Faculty Partner● When you meet with your faculty partner, do the following:

o Start by asking the faculty member how he or she felt about the class and his/her treatment of the issue s/he had asked you to focus on. (If you email your notes, you obviously cannot do this, so consider and discuss with the faculty member whether you want to email your notes or wait to share them until you meet.)

o Share your notes and talk with the faculty member about what you saw and thought about. Remember that receiving feedback of any kind puts one in a vulnerable position, so be prepared for a variety of reactions.

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8. Revising Your Focus● Somewhere around Week 10 or 11 of the semester, or sometimes earlier or later,

you may want to turn your focus to helping your faculty member begin to plan for next semester’s courses.

● As part of this process, or even if you do not turn your focus in this way, look back over your observation notes, make a list for your faculty partner of things s/he learned, accomplished, might take forward — basically, a validating list of what s/he did this semester as well as a few (maybe 1-3) ideas about what to continue to work on.

9. Concluding Your Partnership● Discuss with your faculty partner the possibility of your conducting the final

feedback for the class, using the College’s and/or a revised form, to afford the same benefits as your doing midcourse feedback and also to give you a chance to say thank you and good-bye to the class.

● Have a final conversation with the faculty member with whom you have been working in which you o share what you got out of working with him/her and o ask for some feedback about your work with him/her (i.e., What did I do that

was particularly useful? What could I have done more of or better?). This latter is particularly important to make the exchange feel reciprocal —so you are also getting feedback on your teaching.

● Write a letter to your partner telling him/her what you got out of the partnership — lessons you learned, insights you gained, aspects of the relationship you appreciated, and/or ways this experience enriched you as a learner, teacher, and/or person. Give this letter to your partner at your final meeting.

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Gathering Midcourse Feedback

1. Check with the faculty member to make sure s/he is willing to respond to the feedback s/he gathers — that is, that the faculty member is willing to make some sort of change in response to student feedback and thoughtfully explain why s/he can make those changes and cannot make other of the suggested changes. (Both educational research and students argue that it is worse to ask for feedback and ignore it or rationalize/defend all one’s current practices than not to ask for feedback at all.)

2. It is important to help your faculty partner think about the goals of the midsemester feedback. It could be for learning about the students’ perspective on a specific question, about finding a new focus for the partnership, emphasize expectations, and/or to prompt students to think about their engagement in the class. Deciding what the goal of the process is can help you decide what types of questions to include.

3. Ask the faculty member what s/he wants feedback on. Simply listen to what s/he has to say, take notes, and try to think about ways to frame what s/he says into questions. Generate with the faculty member 3-5 questions to ask students in the class.

Each set of questions should be tailored to the particular course within some more general parameters. Many faculty have found variations on the following basic questions very useful and informative:

(a) What is working well for you in this class? (perhaps specifying particular components of the class upon which the faculty member wants feedback: readings, class discussions, assignments, class dynamic, etc.)

(b) What is not working or what are you struggling with? (c) What is the professor doing to support your learning and what could the

professor change to improve your learning experience in this class? (d) What are you doing to further your own learning and what could you do

differently to improve your learning experience in this class?

4. Type up the questions on a sheet of paper with spaces for student responses, and make enough copies for everyone in the class.

5. When you introduce the feedback session, emphasize the importance of students offering constructive, detailed, useful feedback. Reiterate that the goal is productive dialogue. Emphasize that your role is to deliver the feedback to the faculty member; you are not responsible for acting on the feedback or “making changes” yourself.

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6. When you conduct the feedback session, have the students in the class first answer the feedback questions on paper in silence and then draw on what they have written to have a discussion in which you identify broad categories of feedback and record these for the professor. IMPORTANT: Have the students write first then talk, not the other way around.

7. Take the student responses away and type them up in a form that can be shared with the faculty member and other students in the class. Generally, it is a good idea to type up all student responses to each question—simply fill in under each question all student responses to that question—and also provide an overview with the categories or themes you discern. Transcribe feedback word for word so students’ voices are preserved. (If there are verbatim repetitions, like “fine” or “good” or “no” or “yes” or other simple statements, type the response once and then put the number of times it is repeated in parentheses, i.e., Fine [5]). Destroy the original forms students completed.

8. Arrange to meet with the faculty member to share and discuss the feedback. This step has two parts: (a) processing the feedback with the faculty member and (b) helping the faculty member think about how to share the feedback with the class.

a. Ask the faculty member whether s/he would like to receive the typed up feedback before you meet or when you meet. There are benefits and drawbacks to each: If you send it ahead, the faculty member can work through it on his/her own first and then you can meet to discuss it; if you walk the faculty member through it, you can facilitate the process of sense making, but it might be harder for the faculty member to take it all in. In either case, be sure there is a discussion in which you both interpret the feedback and consider how to share it with students. An important dimension of this phase is helping the faculty member process, on an emotional level, the feedback from students.

b. Sharing the student feedback with the class is very important: students in the class as well as the faculty member teaching the class need to see the range of responses and think about how to address the diversity of student needs while still pursuing the faculty member’s goals for the course. You need to support the faculty member in identifying some meaningful changes to make and in formulating explanations—not defenses—for why other changes cannot be made.

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Common Areas of Interest among Faculty and Aspects of Those Areas to Consider

1. Setting up clear expectations for participationa. Are these expectations established at the beginning of the semester?b. Does the faculty member return to them throughout the semester, revise or

reaffirm them?c. Are there clear, detailed guidelines for student presentations?d. How does the faculty member help the students prepare for presentations?e. What role does the faculty member play when students are leading the

class and what effect does that role have on the students and on the presentations?

2. Lecturea. Is the lecture well organized, clear, delivered at an appropriate pace,

engaging?b. How does the faculty member use the blackboard, whiteboard, or other

technology?c. Does s/he face the students or the board most of the time?d. Does the faculty member allow pause time for answers to questions s/he

poses?e. Does the faculty member create space for students to ask questions?f. What kinds of questions do students feel comfortable (or uncomfortable)

asking?g. What does students’ body language tell you about their experience of the

lecture?

3. Leading good discussionsa. Do the discussions have a clear focus and movement/direction or do they

tend to jump around, b. go off on tangents, remain unfocused, and not really get anywhere?

i. What could the faculty member do to keep focus and momentum?ii. What could the students do to keep focus and momentum?

c. What kinds of questions does the faculty member ask and encourage?i. Questions with answers the faculty member obviously has in mind?

ii. Open-ended questions with multiple possible answers?d. Do students talk to/with one another or are all responses or questions

directed back to the faculty member?e. Does the faculty member make connections among student contributions

and between what students say and the course readings?

4. Transitioning between lecture and discussiona. Is there a clear signal of a transition?

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b. Does the faculty member provide a frame or focus for the discussion in relation to the lecture?

c. How does the faculty member invite students to move from a listening role to more active engagement?

5. Respect in the classrooma. Does the faculty member answer questions clearly and respectfully?b. If the topic under discussion is sensitive in some way (i.e., about religion,

race, etc.), does the faculty member respect the individual student’s experience of and investment in the topic?

c. Is there a respectful climate or atmosphere in the class?d. Do students respect one another?

Sample Observation Notes

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TIME

OBSERVATIONS REFLECTIONS

2:40 You come in, and explain how you want everyone to move the tables. Once everyone is settled, you comment on how much better the new setup is, and how happy you were with the discussion last time with everyone talking to each other. You then go over a few basic orders of business about getting people on the list for the blog, There are now 13 students enrolled in the class. You talk about what you want people to be writing on the blog, thinking about questions such as “What is it about the text that grabs you? What strikes you, what are you confused by?” You ask if there are any questions, and you explain how for next week the two major events are the staring of the blog and [guest speaker] Skyping to class on Wednesday.

I think the movement of the tables was a huge improvement! I think that was a good idea and definitely helped the class feel like a more intimate environment. I also thought the way you laid out your expectations of the blog was very clear, and you gave the students a number of good ways to approach that assignment.

2:45 You have all the students go around briefly and say their names, years and majors. There is a wide range of both

I think it was good that you did this again, getting to know names especially in such a

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majors and class years. small class is so important. 2:47 You briefly discuss last time, then

write the words ‘culture’ and ‘texts’ on the board, with the right side saved for terminology from the reading. You explain how through writing on the board you want them to be able to make connections (as opposed to a list format).

I thought you nicely explained the purpose of the activity, and that it worked really well as a jumping off point for your discussion. As we discussed after class, maybe returning to what was written on the board periodically could have been helpful, or adding to the board during class, but your conversation was flowing very naturally, so I understand why you sort of forgot about it.

2:55 You begin by writing the term [term] on the terminology section of the board, and explain what it means. Several other students add terms, such as [term] and [term].

I thought this was a good exercise; you made clear to the students that it was okay to not know every word in the reading, and it was a good way to clarify some points.

3:00 You ask them what strikes them about what is written on the board. One student has written the word ‘tradition’ at the top of the board with lines connecting it to a lot of other terms. You comment, “There is a sense that it all comes out of tradition.” You then ask some probing questions, “What is the relationship between text, culture, and tradition? Are there differences between the words traditional and tradition?” These questions lead nicely both into a discussion of what the students think the words mean and how the author uses the word ‘tradition’ in the readings.

I thought that the silent board discussion worked very well to jump start conversation, for almost immediately the topic of tradition brought the class into the text. I think that tradition was a good topic to start with, though next time you could have students speak first about what strikes them about the board, instead of being the first to comment.

3:15 The students begin to really drive this discussion. When they have comments on what someone has said, they really address them directly, asking for clarification or challenging their ideas.

I noticed at this time that though only half the class had passed, every student except for one had already contributed to the discussion,

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Occasionally there will be a number of students who have their hands raised, but another student (who maybe cannot see them) jumps into the conversation.

which I thought was amazing. I thought it was amazing how the students were really engaging with each other during this discussion. I don’t know how you’ve dealt with the hand raising versus just jumping in during discussions before, but perhaps clarifying on whether or not you prefer hand raising or just jumping in could help.

3:20 You come to a passage in the text and say, “Let’s stick with this quote and unpack that.” Several students are reading the quote in a few different ways, and as the students are explaining their interpretations, you repeat what they have said in your own words, to make sure you understand what they mean. [One student] has a lot to say about this passage, and while you don’t initially seem to understand what she is saying, you keep trying to figure it out. While she at one moment apologizes (for being unclear perhaps), you reassure her, explaining, “As a teacher once told me, ‘If you’re confused, that means you’re in the argument.’”

I thought it was really nice how you engaged each student individually by explaining how you interpreted what he or she said. I thought what you said to [the student] was great, for you really made it clear that it wasn’t a bad thing that you didn’t completely understand what she meant when she first explained. I thought it was a great thing to say to set the tone of the class, that it’s good to question and clarify your colleagues (which I already saw them doing today).

3:35 The conversation moves to a discussion of [topic]. You bring these questions back to address the text directly, asking, “Where does the author stand on this?” You write the central points of the author’s arguments, about the differences between learning from family or culture versus learning from texts. You add in a personal anecdote about an acquaintance of yours and your son to illustrate the point about learning

I thought you did a nice job of taking the interesting questions that the students were raising and bringing it back to the reading—it was great that you didn’t totally allow the class to go off on a tangent but also kept the conversation about the ideas the students found interesting. I also liked your diagram on the board about the author’s

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from family and those around you. After making your diagram on the board, you bring the conversation back to questions of conversion, and [a student] brings in a passage from the text

arguments, I found it a very clear way to represent what you were talking about.

4:00 At the end of the class, several people have their hands up, you say, “We are going around the room, then I get the last word.”

I thought it was good that you didn’t leave the class without people getting a chance to speak, and I was also impressed how people wanted to keep talking even though it was after 4:00. No one seemed anxious to leave, and everyone seemed very invested in the conversation.

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TIME

OBSERVATIONS REFLECTIONS

11:42 You go over the prompt for the paper.

Gives students an opportunity to ask questions.

11:43 You tell them to use this paper to look ahead for the final research paper.

Lets them know what you are hoping will be another purpose of the paper.

11:49 A student answers one of your questions and you then ask “Does anyone want to elaborate or respond to that?”

Great way to provide an opportunity for students to participate. This also guided students to directly address the student instead of you when they comment, but it didn’t seem to work out this way.

12:08 You say “I know you had a lot of reading” and ask them to think about the main argument of the reading because they may want to incorporate that in their small group discussions.

You were very understanding, but you also let them know why the document is still important for the class. This may have been a good time to explicitly say why it is important to do the reading even though you don’t always go over it in class.

12:20 You write on the board the terms that you would like them to focus on.

Great way to keep the groups on task.

12:22 Several groups aren’t talking. They are reading the text.

It may have been helpful to give them points to focus on in advance so that they are better prepared for the discussion. This may eliminate time wasted by re-reading, and the time spent in the smaller groups would be more effective.

12:27 You give them time to discuss, and then you walk around the room talking with each group. They ask you questions which you answer with questions.

Great way to help them answer their own questions. You guide them without disallowing them to figure things out for themselves.

12:35 A student reads text and says “I think that’s very interesting” and you ask why.

I noticed that students often say that they found something interesting but do not explain why. It’s good that you push them to explain the reasons for their thoughts and opinions because they are not always obvious.

12:40 You ask if anyone saw signs of Great way to cover a large amount of 17

any of the aspects on the board (literary motifs, metaphors, poetry, etc.) in their assigned chapters. This leads to groups speaking about their chapters when they feel that their chapter fits into the discussion.

reading. I wasn’t sure of how you were going to go over 20 chapters in an effective way. This way allowed students to make connections between several of the chapters.

12:55 Two students compare and contrast their background to what they read in the text. You elaborate on their comparison.

Great way to use and address students’ experiences as a part of the learning experience.

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GST 286A Students as Partners Theory and Practice

♦ Attendance at all class sessions is required. If you will be unable to attend, email Leslie Ortquist-Ahrens (Leslie_Ortquist-Ahrens@berea.edu) ahead of time.

♦ Weekly class sessions are a time to explore together what is happening in your partnership, to share celebrations, concerns, questions, learnings, uncertainties. It is essential that people are honest, open, respectful, and supportive of one another at these meetings.

♦ If you have suggestions for or concerns about how the meetings are conducted, please contact Leslie Ortquist-Ahrens to communicate your thoughts.

Advice from Experienced Student Partners

“This program helped me to understand how to give and receive helpful feedback. The most important lesson I learned from this is that learning can be bidirectional; the faculty is wanting to develop and learn just the same as the students.”

“Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated if it is delivered in the proper way. I think this program has provided me with ways to give feedback a student and has also prepared me to receive feedback in future professions.”

“This experience has truly shown me that teaching can be a difficult profession. There is simply no one formula for how to teach. There are so many different ways that material can be taught and teachers have to be aware of that because not all students learn the same way. “

“I have always wanted to be an early childhood educator after grad school. Although I worked alongside college students, these same principles apply and will be useful for my future profession.”

“I would tell future consultants to be patient with the program and that the benefits are not always immediately apparent. The program is kind of like a weight-loss program and sometimes it’s hard to see the results. However, it is important to keep in mind that progress is being made.”

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“One last thing… you get out what you put in. The program only works if the students take it seriously and do the work required. Taking the program seriously is what really provided the benefits.”

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