亚洲色吧视频

Giesen 鈥榙efends the lecture鈥 during his first as an MSU Grisham Master Teacher

Giesen 鈥榙efends the lecture鈥 during his first as an MSU Grisham Master Teacher

During his first formal lecture as a John Grisham Master Teacher on Thursday [Oct. 19], 亚洲色吧视频 Associate Professor of History Jim Giesen said an active learning environment depends on well-trained lecturers who engage students through their senses. (Photo by Megan Bean)

Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擠uring his first formal lecture as a John Grisham Master Teacher on Thursday [Oct. 19], 亚洲色吧视频 Associate Professor of History Jim Giesen said an active learning environment depends on well-trained lecturers who engage students through their senses.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all familiar with what makes a lecture bad鈥攊nformation overload; a boring, one-sided delivery; the tendency in big classes to think of students as big vessels into which information is poured; or worse, data,鈥 Giesen said. 鈥淏ut I argue these characteristics are actually about the person giving it and not the format itself.鈥

Giesen, who has taught for 12 years in the College of Arts and Sciences鈥 Department of History, said lecturers can make the higher education learning experience meaningful for students by embracing the social atmosphere that permeates a classroom, especially one large in size.

Giesen said he arrives early to welcome students and engage in discussion with them upon entering the classroom. At the beginning of class, he plays music from the time period on which the lecture is based, so students can think about how the music relates to the historical materials they鈥檝e read.

鈥淚 want to get to know them,鈥 Giesen said of his pre-class interaction with students. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big class, but I want to break it down and allow them to ask questions and get to know me as more than just a person on the stage.鈥

Engaging students through their brain, eyes and ears also is key to effective classroom instruction, Giesen said.

鈥淚 like to explain to my students why they should be active listeners by giving them the stakes of the history itself,鈥 he said. 鈥淵ou must engage the 鈥榮o what鈥 question and relate the subject of the lecture to the students鈥 lives and the times we鈥檙e living in. Providing goals and objectives gives them a sense of what we鈥檙e doing and the question we鈥檙e trying to answer by the end of the lecture.鈥

To engage students on a visual level, Giesen uses historical images and adds short, small amounts of text with help from the Keynote presentation software program.

鈥淏y having words pop up after I鈥檝e introduced the topic, students are following me, not the text,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 tend to write very short snippets they can get right away and use effects to draw them in or make a final point before I advance the slide.鈥

Giesen said he also uses a 鈥渃all and response鈥 method to bring history to life, and it鈥檚 an approach that students seem to enjoy.

鈥淚f there鈥檚 a theme I introduce that I want students to remember over the next few lectures, I will refer to a physical space in the room,鈥 he said. 鈥淔or example, at the end of a World War II lecture, I introduce the Cold War. I say 鈥楴ow we鈥檙e going to talk about the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, and the women鈥檚 movement, but hanging over our heads is the Cold War.' I will point to the ceiling and tell my students 鈥楲ook up. That鈥檚 the Cold War hanging over our heads,鈥 so later on in class, I just point to the ceiling (to reinforce that concept). My students will say at once 鈥楾he Cold War!鈥 Having that sense of 鈥榳e鈥檙e all in this together鈥 is another way to keep their attention.鈥

At the end of his presentation, Giesen noted that lecturing effectively is no easy task, but one that can be accomplished with proper training.

鈥淎s an institution, as a profession, as higher ed faculty, I think we have to pay more attention to how we prepare our graduate students to teach by focusing on the nuts and bolts, like how to grade, control a class and write a test,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e also need to consider the pros and cons of presenting information in the form of a lecture and include the discussion of teaching in our regular graduate classes and seminars. If the main problem with lectures is the lecturer, we need to take seriously the training of them.鈥

Now in its 25th year, the Grisham Master Teacher Award is a tribute to classroom instruction excellence that is named for the MSU accounting alumnus and internationally recognized author who provided funds to endow the award. Joining Giesen as a recipient of this year鈥檚 prestigious honor is Robert Banik, an 11-year instructor in the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

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