Professor Daniel B. Levine, University Professor in the World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, led a discussion on Learning from Our Students, and Learning About Our Students at the March 2021 Wally Cordes Chair Discussion.
“The person who is wise learns from everyone” was the theme of Dr. Levine’s Cordes Chair Discussion. He stressed that we learn from other master teachers, but we also learn from our students and everyone else we meet.
Get Excited
Students are more likely to engage in our courses if we get them more involved. One of the best ways to do that is to get excited about your material. If you’re excited about it, then they’re more likely to get excited about it too. Dr. Levine will even share a joke at the beginning of each class. They then discuss what makes it funny and how it might relate to Greek Comedy.
If you don’t know, ask!
If students use an expression that you don’t know or reference a person or thing that you are not familiar with, then ask them about it. It delights them to teach you about something you didn’t know. Once they realize that you’re interested in them and what they know, then it helps them to see how their work can affect others.
This often leads to students sending him books and websites that relate to the course material.
Non-Literary Assignment
In Dr. Levine’s class on Homer, he gives an assignment that is non-written. It is a low-stakes assignment so that the students can feel free to be creative and playful. He has gotten a multitude of different mediums in this assignment. Students have written plays, created sculptures, made architectural models, decorated vases and urns, and even forged swords.
Thoughtful Thoughts
Students also have assignments called “Thoughtful Thoughts”. They are small written assignments that ask that they compare something they’ve learned in his class to something else they have learned in the outside world or in another course. This often brings him a new perspective.
Feedback
Sometimes these Thoughtful Thoughts also bring him feedback – both negative and positive – and allow him to get a better idea of how the class is going. Students have the opportunity to express their concerns in a mature and analytical way and lets them know that they have been heard, which is sometimes all they needed.
Encourage constructive criticism. He lets them know that he will point out their errors, and they are welcome to point out his. He thanks them each time they point out one of his mistakes. This is a very valuable lesson for them because it lets them know that it’s okay to make mistakes. You learn from your mistakes and you move on.
“Our students are our people.” We can learn from them and become better people and better teachers.
For more information on Professor Levine’s teaching methods, the presentation can be viewed on Scholarworks.
This content was developed from a presentation by Professor Daniel Levine which was sponsored by The Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center (TFSC) at the University of Arkansas.
Portrait courtesy of Lilly Kusteck of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.