Effective Teaching Is A Skill That Researchers Can Learn

University professors, although highly trained in their subject, often have had no formal training in teaching. Even if they were teaching fellows as graduate students, their performance may not have been monitored, and they may not have had good role models. Also, because teaching skills are often not a qualification for promotion at large research institutions, many scientists acknowledge that they are not motivated to improve their performance in this area. Thus, some of the most innovative scientists are not necessarily good teachers, and many bright lecturers take great "leaps of logic," leaving their audiences far behind. In addition, cautions Bruce Alberts, who will assume office as president of the National Academy of Sciences July 1, "Many large laboratories represent a poor training environment for young scientists" (Cell, 41:337-8, June 1985). Alberts writes that in such labs, students are often treated like factory workers, "contributing [to a] production line. This does not prepare them to function as independent scientists." Educators say that teaching is a skill that can be learned. Good teachers with many years of experience agree that it is less important to impart facts than to teach students to be independent thinkers and self-reliant individuals, to view tasks as problems to be solved, and to use learned concepts to formulate and test qualitative solutions to real life or work situations. Education professionals can offer valuable advice to science professors. "Learning to view one's own knowledge and expertise as instrumental to others' learning, rather than as something to be displayed" is an important component of being a good teacher, writes Richard Elmore, a professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education (Education for Judgment, edited by R. Christensen, D.A. Garvin, and A. Sweet, Harvard Business School Press, 1991). Elmore writes that teachers can help students think independently by showing them that it is all right to disagree with the teacher, by praising them when they come up with an idea that's better than the teacher's--and letting them take full credit for it--and by understanding that students' ideas and queries may, quite legitimately, be counter to long- standing tenets held by the leaders of the discipline. In a contribution to Education for Judgment, James Wilkinson, director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University, and Heather Dubrow, a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, point out that "the need for security [leads some students] to the flawed assumption that every question has but one correct answer, and the teacher knows what it is." Wilkinson and Dubrow add that "good teaching should help students importance of "context" in making judgments, the importance of testing "ideas against . . . stringent standards," and the need to avoid "[confusing] proof with intensity of belief." In science, it is generally accepted that intuition may play an important role in formulating hypotheses; nevertheless, senior scientists must teach young researchers to view data objectively, repeat experiments sufficiently, and do rigorous statistical analyses so as not to bias the outcome of studies in favor of their initial premises. Many successful scientists say that "study-buddies" with whom to hash over difficult concepts are crucial to in-depth understanding of material that professors teach in class, but some students report that such cooperation does not thrive in overly competitive environments. "It is important to encourage learning rather than competition," says Dudley Herschbach, a professor of chemistry at Harvard and a 1986 Nobel laureate. Herschbach thinks that "many grading systems are punitive and cause competition rather than teamwork among students." To eliminate competition in his classes, he assigns team problems and uses an absolute scale in lieu of grading on a curve. "This means students compete only against my absolute scale and encourages them to help each other," he says. Because Herschbach's objective is to get students to think, and because in real life one often gets a "second chance," he has developed a unique system for grading exams. Students get credit for correct answers on hour-long exams, but they do not lose points for incorrect answers--or for missing an exam. The final exam gives students a chance to gain extra credits. (The score can exceed 100.) Herschbach says his policy conveys the message that "you don't have to be a genius, you just have to be obsessive" to do well. "In the past," he says, "some students would panic, miss an exam, and then come to me with some calamitous excuse." Because taking his exam now carries no penalty and may result in "points in the bank," there have been "no `dead grandmother' alibis" since Herschbach implemented the new system, he reports. "Helping students develop good study habits early is very important," says Herschbach, because "in science, as with foreign languages, if one learns the fundamentals and new vocabulary well, the course often gets easier with time; if you don't, you get more and more lost and the going gets harder and harder." Herschbach also suggests "getting students to discuss the discrepancies between theoretical calculations and experimental measurements," and "inspiring students by pointing out problems that the students may help to solve in the future." Because he has found that students remember best those things that are presented under impression-provoking circumstances, he tries to make his subject come alive by creating "catchy lecture titles that whet the students' appetites," adding "drama" to lectures, using vivid problems and parables as a "story line" around which to link several lessons, doing multiple demonstrations, and asking students questions to get them involved "in a constructive way." Professors can also use computers and interactive videos to give all students access to the best teachers and brightest minds of the world. This technique has the added benefit of protecting students from the chance offerings of proximal professors who may not be good at--or committed to--teaching. The new technology can also help ease the pain of initial learning by students who are shy or have poor science backgrounds by allowing them to work at their own pace and by protecting them from the embarrassment and censure that often accompany wrong answers presented to real people. Professional educators say that assessing the success of one's classes is an important aspect of being an effective teacher. Har- vard's Herschbach, for example, obtains frequent feedback about his students' needs and reactions to his teaching from an advisory board of elected student representatives with whom he meets every three weeks. He teaches the student representatives to present their critiques in tactful, positive ways that make it easier for the students to be candid. Herschbach says he tries to implement all useful suggestions received from student evaluations. However, he says, it is difficult for a professor to objectively assess the long-range results of his or her efforts in relation to specific course goals, especially with respect to how they may play out in the student's future. Some teachers use individual interviews with students to determine what has been absorbed because grades often indicate little about students' intimate understanding of subject matter or their ability to use learned concepts in a research or practical application. Ellen Sarkisian, an associate director of Harvard's Derek Bok Center, says it is important for teachers to ask themselves, "What can I give to the students that they cannot get from a book?" For one thing, she says, "in addition to communicating subject matter to their students, teachers can communicate their passion for the subject." It is also vital to teach young people high ethical standards and to make them aware of the "culture" specific to their chosen profession, experts say. For example, Daniel Goodenough, a professor of anatomy and cellular biology at Harvard Medical School and a recipient of numerous teaching prizes, writes in Education for Judgment: "When teaching medical students, help [them] assimilate the kaleidoscope of emotions--pride, fear, excitement, awe, alienation--involved in becoming medical doctors." In addition, students need to be tutored in the practical matters that will help them advance in their chosen field. For example, academic physicians and scientists need to learn to write grant proposals and research papers and how to give a good talk at a scientific conference. Future clinicians need training in "bedside manner," computer literacy, and medical practice management. Most students benefit from some training in good public relations, how to deal with job interviews, and how and where to acquire information--for example, how to locate the best funding sources. "It is difficult [for teachers] to remember just how vulnerable students really are," write Wilkinson and Dubrow, noting that young people "fear humiliation." However, they add that "the first steps toward independence entail that risk." Herschbach says that to "dissipate students' anxieties," he tries to personalize science; for example, he has music playing before class begins. Teachers who respond to students with only positive criticism will be rewarded with livelier classes. Making students feel good about themselves also raises their self-esteem. Good teachers listen attentively and take students and their problems seriously. As Goodenough points out, there is an important distinction between "talking with" students and "merely speaking in their presence." Some professors forget "how time-consuming certain assignments can be for beginners," caution Wilkinson and Dubrow. Good teachers have a sense of the students' absorption capacity and avoid either overloading or boring students. They also "monitor the volume of assigned work, . . . confine assignments to a limit that allows true mastery," and understand that struggles do not necessarily motivate or educate and may demoralize a student. In the sciences, in particular, there is a tendency toward elitism. Walter Massey, former director of the National Science Foundation, in an impromptu remark at Harvard University last December, complained that "science takes pride in its failures-- in the number of people it weeds out rather than includes in." Good teachers can often distinguish between students with real inadequacies and those who merely lack confidence or suffer from deficits in earlier education. Good teachers need to adapt to new environments. For example, an increasing number of faculty and teaching fellows now come from a variety of cultures. Harvard's Sarkisian, author of Teaching American Students: A Guide for International Faculty and Teaching Fellows (Harvard University, 1990), says that students born in the United States "appreciate personal contact with professors, like to be recognized as individuals, and are encouraged to ask questions of teachers." But, she cautions, "some foreign faculty members may consider such expectations as alien or even a challenge to their authority." Likewise, she says, "informal behavior of Americans, such as eating in class, chewing gum, or even casual dress, may be taken as signs of disrespect by people from more formal cultures." Teachers may be in a good position to help students understand the real life of real scientists: perhaps how to juggle career and family responsibilities, or how to deftly combine a demanding science career with a serious avocation in one of the arts. The important thing, the experts say, is that mentors understand that, when the occasion warrants it, a word of encouragement--or expression of "I've been there, this is what I did, and this was the outcome"--is likely to cost the mentor very little but may help the student enormously. Liane Reif-Lehrer gives workshops on grant proposal-writing, time management, and related subjects. She is president of Erimon Associates, a consulting firm based in the Boston area. The third edition of her book Writing a Successful Grant Application (2d ed., Boston, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1989) is scheduled for publication this winter.

Effective Teaching Is A Skill That Researchers Can Learn

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