Your introduction is the first impression your readers will have of your writing. A good introduction will show them that you know what you're talking about and that you're going to complete the task in question. It will also make them want to carry on reading and feel well disposed to what is to come. A bad introduction will have the opposite effect and might even prejudice the reader against the rest of the writing, even if it does improve.
The most common mistakes made by students are:
not to include an introduction at all
to include an introduction, but one which is unrecognizable as such
to include too much background/historical information in the introduction
to make the introduction too long
A good introduction will:
show that you are going to answer the question or complete the task
show that you understand the issues and their implications
show how you are going to do this by indicating the structure of your answer and making clear the main areas that you are going to write about (your plan).
show evidence that you have carried out some research by making a reference to one of your sources
be totally relevant
be concise: 8-9% of the total number of words is usually recommended (eg 120 words in a 1500 word assignment).
You want your tutors to say to themselves "Good! This student has understood the question, has done some research and is going to answer the question set, not another one. Let's read on!"
So more specifically, how do you do this?
include a "topic sentence" which indicates the main thrust of your answer. For example:
This essay deals with the economic and political decline in Britain's world role.
This assignment will examine Britain's peculiar unwritten constitution.
Four major features of the influence of human behaviour on planning are considered in this report.
This report will analyse the relative advantages and disadvantages of the different operating systems.
This essay will first describe the recent changes in the tax system and will then go on to argue that these changes are unfair and impracticable.
use the same, or very similar, wording as in the question. If part of the question is "Discuss recent developments in communication technology" then in your introduction say something like "This essay will consider recent developments in the field of communication technology and will ... ". Don't leave any room for doubt.
use words and expressions which clearly show the plan behind your writing, for example:
The essay is divided into four main sections.
It will first consider ...
It will then go on to describe ...
The third part compares ...
Finally, some conclusions will be drawn as to ...
The importance of introductions (and conclusions) cannot be stressed too much.
Here are some examples of good (and bad!) introductions.
Example introductions
Imagine you are studying the mass media as part of your course and you have been set the following essay title:
Examine the sociological evidence of stereotypes of social groups in the mass media. What are the causes of stereotyping in the mass media and to what extent do they influence social attitudes?
Word limit: 2000 words
Read the following examples and decide which meet the criteria for a good introduction.
Example 1
As we all know, Britain is a multicultural society. In the 1960s many thousands of immigrants came to the country, mostly setting up home in the major cities. The majority of these immigrants came from the West Indies, India and Pakistan and Hong Kong. Racism has always been a problem, with the various groups of immigrants seen as stereotypes, although over the years there has been increasing integration into British society, particularly by the children of immigrant families. This is reflected in the mass media. Twenty years ago black people were rarely seen on television and very few held jobs in the press. However, nowadays, more and more black people work as journalists and are thus able to look at events from a different perspective.
Your comments: _______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Example 2
Stereotypes are everywhere: the reserved British, the disorganised Italians, the shopping-obsessed Japanese. This essay will talk about these stereotypes and ask if they are true. It is going to look at the different types of stereotypes and their representation in the media. The following areas will be covered: television; radio; the press, and the cinema. I will particularly look at television and ask the question "Does television reinforce these stereotypes?"
Your comments: _______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Example 3
Stereotypes abound in today's society. People seem to have an innate compulsion to categorise others into various groups and then to apply rigid and limited descriptions to these groups. There are therefore, amongst others, stereotypical nationalities and races; stereotypical sexes and sexual orientations and stereotypical classes. And one place where these stereotypes often thrive is in the mass media, particularly in the tabloid press and popular television, such as in situation comedy. Some, for example Hick (1996), claim that this is a harmless phenomenon, whereas commentators such as Ealham (1998) point to the possible dangers of obsessive stereotyping in the media. This essay will examine what sociological evidence there is for the process of stereotyping in the mass media, and will then go on to analyse the reasons for its occurrence. The final part of the essay will ask how far society's attitudes are in fact shaped by this portrayal of the various kinds of stereotypes.
Your comments: _______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Introduction 1
Your tutor would read an introduction like this with a great sense of foreboding. There's no real problem with the actual English, but the writer shows no indication whatsoever of answering the question. The word 'stereotype' has been picked up on, and narrowly interpreted as meaning racial stereotype. But even then there is no attempt to focus on the actual question, and most of what is said is irrelevant. Probably a fail.
Introduction 2
Too short for a start, and not very well written (inconsistency of tenses: will/going to) No attempt to put the question into some sort of context, to get the reader interested in what's to come. At first, it looks as if stereotypes are being interpreted simply as national stereotypes and also the writer goes off on the wrong tack: the question does not ask for a simple description nor asks about the validity of these stereotypes. The last part of the introduction, however, does indicate that the last part of the question will be addressed. If the writer manages to focus more on the actual question, the essay might just scrape a pass.
Introduction 3
This is a very good introduction. It's about the right length (c8%); gives a little relevant background and context, indicating that the writer has thought about what a stereotype is in its broadest interpretation; makes some initial references to sources; and finally focuses precisely on the question, showing the reader that it has been fully understood and that it will be answered. Note that the wording of the final part of the introduction is very close to that of the question. If the essay follows in the same vein, it should get an excellent mark.
Selasa, 26 April 2011
Starting to write the dissertation
Supervisors have different ways of working and you will, to some degree, need to negotiate your approach to supervision style. For example, your supervisor may advise you to write a short proposal or abstract, say of about 300 words, in which you set out as clearly as possible what you intend to do in the dissertation. The value of this exercise is that it requires you to focus and articulate your thinking. It may be that you will be able to summarise the exact nature and scope of your study, in which case the proposal can serve as guide to refer to as you write the main chapters of the work. Alternatively, it may make you aware of gaps in your knowledge and understanding, and show you the areas that need further thought and research.
It is useful, therefore, to write the proposal and to retain it for reference and revision. It helps to attempt such an abstract even if your supervisor has not suggested that you write one. However, practice varies, and your supervisor will advise you on how to proceed. As you continue to write the main chapters of the work, you may find that your initial plan has changed. This means that when you have completed the chapters that form the main body of your dissertation you can return to the proposal and revise it as much as you need, to form the introduction.
It is highly advisable to draft a plan of the dissertation. There is a lot in common between different dissertations regarding the structure and although you do not need to stick slavishly to a standard plan, such a plan is very helpful as a template to impose some order on what may seem an unmanageable task. Here is an indicative structure that might help you with your initial plan.
Dissertation Structure
Section Section Information
Introduction The field of study, the research question, the hypothesis (if any) or, more generally, the research question that is to be investigated. It should also include a summary of the contents and main arguments in the dissertation.
The Literature Review Usually, this comes immediately after the introductory chapter. This may be more than one chapter, but should certainly be written in sections. This should include previous work done on the field of study and anything that you consider to be relevant to the hypothesis or research question and to its investigation. It will include a large number of references to the literature in your chosen area.
Methodology This section should include an account of the research questions and/or hypotheses to be investigated, relevant methods of investigation and an argument for why you think these methods are the most appropriate ones for the question and for your circumstances. You should consider the benefits of your chosen method as well as identifying any disadvantages and how you overcame them. Ethical issues and the ways in which you dealt with them should be noted. This section should also discuss any variations from the original fieldwork plan, and should conclude with a reflection on the experience of doing fieldwork.
Findings This section should present the main findings of your research together with an account of the strengths and weaknesses of your data relative to your research question/hypothesis. You may also wish to include an evaluation of any difficulties you encountered in collecting and analysing data, together with an assessment of how this affected your plan of research.
Evaluation Here you can provide an assessment of whether and how well you were able to answer your research question and/or confirm/reject your hypotheses.
Discussion This chapter must relate the findings to the theoretical/policy discussion in your literature review. You should NOT introduce any new literature at this stage.
Conclusions and recommendations An overall assessment of what you found out, how successful you were and suggestions for future research.
Beginning work on the main body of the dissertation
Once you have produced the proposal and discussed it with your supervisor, you may want to write the first draft of a chapter of the dissertation. When you hand in this draft, you should arrange a tutorial to receive your supervisor's verbal or written comments and suggestions on how it may be improved. You may, for example, produce a draft introduction setting out the issue, together with a literature review which covers what, if any, treatment of the topic has gone beforehand. You may also wish to draft those sections of the methodology chapter that cover the methods that you wish to use, together with a justification for why you think those methods are best.
Revising sections after receiving the supervisor's comments
When you have received your supervisor's comments on the draft of any chapter, you should revise that particular chapter immediately. Prompt revision is easier than letting things drift, and you should do it while the advice of your supervisor is fresh in your mind. This will also avoid building up a backlog of work that needs to be revised, which can be discouraging. Having the material on a computer disk will enable you to do revisions efficiently and with a minimum of fuss. Be sure to back up all your work on a floppy disk, CD, or memory stick.
Organising your time
Depending on the credit rating of the dissertation, the amount of time you devote to it should be equivalent to the time you would devote to a taught course with the same credit rating; that is, seminar and lecture time plus time for private study.
Findings from our Research
In our research we found that students often did not think about the credit rating of their dissertation and actually spent more time working on it than they should have! They saw it as such an important part of their degree that they wanted to put more into it:
It [the dissertation] took up more of my time ... Once you get into it, you have to out in the effort. It’s 8000 words, plus there’s so much to do. When you’re doing it, it seems so much more that the rest of your work (Todd, Bannister and Clegg, 2004, p341).
However, this can have a detrimental effect on your other modules - one student said ‘I did the dissertation and left the other work’ - don’t make his mistake. All the modules in the final year are important.
You will find that once the final year begins, the weeks go by very quickly, and you will need to organise your time well from the start so that the ongoing preparation of your dissertation continues alongside work for the taught units you are studying. Once you have a workable plan it is much easier to plan the work in sequence and to set yourself targets for the completion of the separate parts (see the section on Getting Started with the Dissertation). Allow plenty of time for final revisions after your tutor has seen a complete draft.
SUGGESTION
If you are taking a dissertation over two semesters, you should aim to spend the equivalent of one full half-day per week working on your dissertation during each semester of your final year if it is worth 20 credits - nearer twice that amount of time if it is a 40-credit dissertation.
Click on the icon to read a case study relevant to this section.
Deadlines for producing drafts
You will decide with your supervisor precisely when to produce drafts, but if you are taking a dissertation module over one academic year then by the end of the first semester you would normally expect to produce a proposal or abstract and a first draft of one or two chapters. You would then produce the drafts of the remaining chapters and complete the process of revision and writing-up during the second semester.
In the second semester, when drafting the remaining main chapters of the dissertation, you will follow the practice established in the first semester of submitting the drafts to your supervisor for comments and advice. You should take advantage of the period between the first semester and the start of the second semester to write a draft of a chapter, and you should plan to have produced first drafts of all the main chapters by at least four weeks before the submission date (also allowing for any vacation periods when staff may not be available).
If, however, you are taking the dissertation module over one semester, you will need to adjust this time frame accordingly.
Writing the introduction
The introduction to your dissertation should explain to the reader what you are going to investigate. It should describe the dissertation's topic and scope. You should explain your reasons for investigating your chosen topic by referring to the appropriate literature. Having completed the work on the main substance of your dissertation, you should have a much clearer idea of its nature and scope than you did when you wrote your preliminary abstract or proposal. The introduction to your dissertation should explain to the reader what you are going to investigate. It should describe the dissertation's topic and scope. You should explain your reasons for investigating your chosen topic by referring to the appropriate literature.
It is important, however, to write the introduction as though you are setting out on a process of investigation. You need to emphasise the exploratory nature of your work. You should also avoid anticipating the discoveries and conclusions that you have made in the course of your investigations. So, you might simply say that you have identified certain common features in the relevant literature, or a particular issue that it deals with, and that your dissertation will examine the literature closely in order to demonstrate the relationships between treatments of the issue in the sample texts. When you have completed the main body of the work and your tutor has commented on your complete draft, you may well wish to revisit the introduction to take into account your findings and your tutor's comments on their significance.
Writing a literature review
Your dissertation is a substantial piece of written work that ideally should conform to a number of academic conventions. One of the most important of these academic conventions is the literature review. In short, the literature review is a discussion or 'review' of secondary literature that is of general and central relevance to the particular area under investigation.
Often students ask how long a literature review should be. This is a difficult question given that the total length of your dissertation might be anything from five to twelve thousand words. Obviously your supervisor may be able to give some indication of the approximate length of your literature review. However, don't become pre-occupied with word length, the main thing is that your literature review should capture the general and specific aspects of the literature of your subject.
Why is a literature review necessary?
The literature review is an important device in your dissertation as it performs a number of related functions:
1. It demonstrates to whoever reads the dissertation that the author of the work has read widely and is aware of the range of debates that have taken place within the given field. It provides the proof that you have more than a good grasp of the breadth and depth of the topic of the dissertation - your dissertation gives you the opportunity to show off how clever you are! The literature review is a great place to start, because it should demonstrate that you know what you are talking about because you have read everything that is relevant to your dissertation.
2. It can provide the rationale for the research question in the study. This can be done by highlighting specific gaps in the literature – questions that have not been answered (or even asked), and areas of research that have not been conducted within your chosen field. In this way the literature review can provide a justification of your own research.
3. It can allow you to build on work that has already been conducted. For example you might adopt a similar methodological or theoretical approach in your work to one that exists within the literature, yet place your actual emphasis elsewhere. In this way you are building on work that has already been conducted by adopting similar strategies and concepts, yet focusing the question on something that interests you.
4. It helps to define the broad context of your study, placing your work within a well defined academic tradition. Poor dissertations often fail to relate to broader debates within the academic community. They may have a well defined research question, yet without placing this question in the appropriate context, it can lose its significance. The literature review therefore can add weight to your question by framing it within broader debates within the academic community.
How do I 'do' a literature review?
Writing a literature review is not as simple as at first it may seem. What follows is a step by step guide on how to go about conducting and presenting your literature review.
1. Generate a list of references
The first stage of your literature review is to collect a list of literature that is relevant to your study. You have already seen in the section Help with Finding Literature and Research how you can get a list of useful references.
2. Make sense of your reading
Once you have a list of references for your dissertation, you now have to access and read this material. This process is going to be time consuming because you will be reading a large amount of material. Furthermore once you start your reading you might find that some of the literature is of little relevance to your study. Don't panic, this is something that many researchers and dissertation students go through and is often a necessary part of the process. It is better to read something that is not central to your dissertation than miss something that might be an important and relevant contribution to the field.
While reading, make notes about the central themes and arguments of the book, chapter or article. These notes can then be incorporated into the finished version of your literature review. Try and get a sense of the theoretical perspective of the author, this will be of use when you come to organise and present your literature review. Also, emphasise the way in which the piece of literature you are reading seeks to set itself apart from other literature. Importantly, start to think critically about the piece you are reading; ask: what is this person trying to say and why? How is it different from the way others have dealt with this issue? This critical component is very important as it demonstrates that you are engaging with relevant literature in an appropriate manner and that you can discriminate between different perspectives and approaches that exist within your chosen field.
3. Organisation and presentation
Once you have generated a large number of notes around your reading you might start to feel overwhelmed by the literature. In terms of the organisation and presentation of your literature review, it is worth dividing your review into two main areas: general reading and literature that is of central importance. You will also need to further divide the literature into specific areas relevant to your study for e.g. theories and concepts; policy analysis; empirical studies and so-on. What follows are some general guidelines on how you might do this.
General texts
It will be clear that some of the reading you have done is of more relevance than others. It is important, however, that you do not discard the less relevant work; instead this can form the broad background of your discussion of the more relevant literature within your field. For example you may mention different authors that have dealt with a question related to your field but may not be central to it. Highlight these in broad terms, state how these works have impacted on your particular area. You need not go into great detail about these more general works, but by highlighting these works you are demonstrating your awareness of the scope and limits of your study and how it touches upon other areas of study.
Central texts
Once you have discussed the range of literature that is only of general interest to your study, you can then go into more detail on the literature that more sharply focuses on the questions that are of interest to you. Devote more detail to these particular works as they are more important to your topic. Indeed they may highlight the gap in the literature that exists that you seek to fill; they may provide the basis on which you seek to build, or they might be works which require some critique from your particular perspective.
Further categorisation
When you have divided your literature review into general works and works of central importance, you should also further divide the literature into sub-categories. By further dividing your literature in this way, you are adding more organisation into your literature review by providing specific sub-categories of relevant literature.
For example in the general works section of your literature review, you might want one sub-heading on the main theoretical debates, one on empirical studies and maybe one on policy. With reference to the more central literature, you could organise this more important reading in a similar way. For example, if relevant, you could have a section on competing theoretical perspectives; a section on the main findings of important empirical studies; a section on policy implementation and its impacts. See the table below.
Breakdown of Literature Review
General Literature Theoretical Approaches
Empirical Research
Central Literature
Detailed analysis of theoretical and conceptual debates
Discussion of main findings of important empirical studies and their critiques
Focused analysis of policy implementation
If appropriate you might also want to divide your sub-headings further.
One final note on the more central literature is that this more focused analysis can also serve to bring your empirical or theoretical work into sharper focus. In this sense you are prefacing your work and how it relates to other academic studies by your discussion of it in your literature review. One thing to remember however is that just because you talk about an author's work in your literature review, doesn't mean you never mention it again in your dissertation. In the discussion section of your study you will necessarily relate your findings to those central studies that you have highlighted in your literature review.
Then what?
When you have written your literature review, this is not the end of the process. Throughout your dissertation process, you will come across literature that is of relevance to your area of study, do not ignore this material, you can always add more literature to your review as you come across it.
Finally, make sure that you keep a record of all your references, even the ones that have been of little use. This will help you organise your bibliography and reference list. You may even need to go back and look over something that you looked at earlier in your studies that may have more relevance than you first thought.
Writing the Methods section
This must clearly identify the epistemological (i.e. your stance on what should pass as acceptable knowledge) basis of the study and demonstrate a good working knowledge of the methods to be employed. It should include good coverage of the process of the fieldwork and indicate how the analysis was undertaken. As well as covering the ethical issues it should also contain an element of reflection on the research process.
Writing the Findings section
Many students confuse findings with discussion and it is important to keep them separate. The findings are often presented in charts and tables (even from qualitative data). Verbatim references to participants' comments are particularly helpful. It is important to ensure that findings are truly analysed, rather than described. Finding ways of cross relating the findings is therefore important.
Writing the Discussion
Traditionally, the discussion links findings to the literature presented in the literature review.
There are arguments for extending the coverage of literature in this section but only in exceptional circumstances. The discussion should be precisely that: an opportunity to raise the different voices of interest in the research question and to explore the findings in the light of the literature and different perspectives within it.
Writing the Conclusion
The main chapters of your dissertation will have focused on particular topics or issues. For example, each chapter may have focused discussion on a particular text. Alternatively, you may have structured your work so that each chapter is devoted to discussion of a particular aspect of your overall topic. The conclusion offers the opportunity to review your work as a whole, to identify the points of comparison and contrast the various texts you have examined, and to show that, in the process of your study, you have developed a more precise, critical understanding of the way they deal with your topic. This is also an appropriate place for you to point to the limitations of small-scale research of this kind and to indicate possible avenues for researchers to address the issues in the future.
SUGGESTION
Before you submit the dissertation, you should check that the final version of the title is an accurate reflection of what the dissertation is about and, if not, change the title.
Final draft
The process of preparing your dissertation for submission begins with a careful final drafting of all your chapters and sections. Here you have the opportunity:
• To ensure that your argument is clearly developed from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph.
• To check the accuracy of your spelling and punctuation - do not rely on spellchecker software!
• To make sure that your sentences are well constructed and that you are expressing yourself clearly, precisely and fluently.
• To ensure that you have not contradicted or repeated yourself.
You need to check that your quotations from and references to both primary and secondary texts are clearly and consistently identified according to the conventions of the HARVARD referencing systems (or whatever system your department requires). There is more about this in the section on Plagiarism. You will check that your bibliography is properly presented and contains all sources cited throughout your work.
Guidelines on presentation
You should refer to the guidance provided by your own department, but in general you should think about the following:
• Your dissertation must normally be typed or word-processed on A4 paper.
• Your own text must be double-spaced.
• Indented quotations must be single-spaced.
• The pages of the dissertation must be numbered.
• It must have a title page.
• It must have a table of contents.
Submitting the completed dissertation
The completed dissertation should be submitted in the form set out by your department. If there are no formal styles, submit the dissertation in a format that makes it easy for the examiner to handle - avoid complicated spring-back or ring-backed files.
Summary
• Abstracts of sections and of the dissertation as a whole will help to focus your writing and direct your thoughts.
• Set yourself deadlines for drafting chapters. Agree these with your supervisor if you think that will motivate you.
• Depending on the rules and regulations of your own institution, give your supervisor drafts of chapters as you write them, and try to be responsive to criticism. Revise chapters as soon as you get them back.
• Read through each completed chapter. Check that your argument flows logically.
• Even if you write the introduction last, write it as if you have yet to find the answers to your questions. Don't give away the ending!
• Finally, check that the title refers accurately to the finished dissertation. If it does not - change the title!
• Follow some basic rules:
1. Type or word-process your dissertation - do not write it out.
2. Use double line spacing for your own writing.
3. Use single line spacing for indented quotations (and footnote these!)
4. Number the pages.
5. Include a title page and a table of contents.
• Remember to adhere to any format stipulated by your department.
• IMPORTANT: Check how many copies your department requires.
Key Questions
• How long is your dissertation going to be?
• Have you mapped out the content of each of your chapters?
• In what order will the content flow best?
• Is your evaluation doing its job? Likewise, is your conclusion suitably conclusive?
• Is the order of the chapters logical and coherent, will it make sense to the reader?
• Are the beginning, middle and end clear?
• Do your sentences and paragraphs make sense?
• Do you know someone else who can proof-read the dissertation for you?
• Have you allowed enough time to proof-read properly?
Further Reading
BRYMAN, A. (2004). Social Research Methods. 2nd ed. Oxford, Oxford University Press, chapter 26 - Doing a research project
DENSCOMBE, M. (2003). The Good Research Guide for Small-scale Social Research Projects. Maidenhead, Oxford University Press, part III
HART, C. (2000). Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Imagination. London, Sage
Web Resources
Writing up your dissertation:
http://www.learnerassociates.net/dissthes/
More on writing up your dissertation:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/learning/online/dissertation.html
Conducting a literature review:
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/litrev.html
It is useful, therefore, to write the proposal and to retain it for reference and revision. It helps to attempt such an abstract even if your supervisor has not suggested that you write one. However, practice varies, and your supervisor will advise you on how to proceed. As you continue to write the main chapters of the work, you may find that your initial plan has changed. This means that when you have completed the chapters that form the main body of your dissertation you can return to the proposal and revise it as much as you need, to form the introduction.
It is highly advisable to draft a plan of the dissertation. There is a lot in common between different dissertations regarding the structure and although you do not need to stick slavishly to a standard plan, such a plan is very helpful as a template to impose some order on what may seem an unmanageable task. Here is an indicative structure that might help you with your initial plan.
Dissertation Structure
Section Section Information
Introduction The field of study, the research question, the hypothesis (if any) or, more generally, the research question that is to be investigated. It should also include a summary of the contents and main arguments in the dissertation.
The Literature Review Usually, this comes immediately after the introductory chapter. This may be more than one chapter, but should certainly be written in sections. This should include previous work done on the field of study and anything that you consider to be relevant to the hypothesis or research question and to its investigation. It will include a large number of references to the literature in your chosen area.
Methodology This section should include an account of the research questions and/or hypotheses to be investigated, relevant methods of investigation and an argument for why you think these methods are the most appropriate ones for the question and for your circumstances. You should consider the benefits of your chosen method as well as identifying any disadvantages and how you overcame them. Ethical issues and the ways in which you dealt with them should be noted. This section should also discuss any variations from the original fieldwork plan, and should conclude with a reflection on the experience of doing fieldwork.
Findings This section should present the main findings of your research together with an account of the strengths and weaknesses of your data relative to your research question/hypothesis. You may also wish to include an evaluation of any difficulties you encountered in collecting and analysing data, together with an assessment of how this affected your plan of research.
Evaluation Here you can provide an assessment of whether and how well you were able to answer your research question and/or confirm/reject your hypotheses.
Discussion This chapter must relate the findings to the theoretical/policy discussion in your literature review. You should NOT introduce any new literature at this stage.
Conclusions and recommendations An overall assessment of what you found out, how successful you were and suggestions for future research.
Beginning work on the main body of the dissertation
Once you have produced the proposal and discussed it with your supervisor, you may want to write the first draft of a chapter of the dissertation. When you hand in this draft, you should arrange a tutorial to receive your supervisor's verbal or written comments and suggestions on how it may be improved. You may, for example, produce a draft introduction setting out the issue, together with a literature review which covers what, if any, treatment of the topic has gone beforehand. You may also wish to draft those sections of the methodology chapter that cover the methods that you wish to use, together with a justification for why you think those methods are best.
Revising sections after receiving the supervisor's comments
When you have received your supervisor's comments on the draft of any chapter, you should revise that particular chapter immediately. Prompt revision is easier than letting things drift, and you should do it while the advice of your supervisor is fresh in your mind. This will also avoid building up a backlog of work that needs to be revised, which can be discouraging. Having the material on a computer disk will enable you to do revisions efficiently and with a minimum of fuss. Be sure to back up all your work on a floppy disk, CD, or memory stick.
Organising your time
Depending on the credit rating of the dissertation, the amount of time you devote to it should be equivalent to the time you would devote to a taught course with the same credit rating; that is, seminar and lecture time plus time for private study.
Findings from our Research
In our research we found that students often did not think about the credit rating of their dissertation and actually spent more time working on it than they should have! They saw it as such an important part of their degree that they wanted to put more into it:
It [the dissertation] took up more of my time ... Once you get into it, you have to out in the effort. It’s 8000 words, plus there’s so much to do. When you’re doing it, it seems so much more that the rest of your work (Todd, Bannister and Clegg, 2004, p341).
However, this can have a detrimental effect on your other modules - one student said ‘I did the dissertation and left the other work’ - don’t make his mistake. All the modules in the final year are important.
You will find that once the final year begins, the weeks go by very quickly, and you will need to organise your time well from the start so that the ongoing preparation of your dissertation continues alongside work for the taught units you are studying. Once you have a workable plan it is much easier to plan the work in sequence and to set yourself targets for the completion of the separate parts (see the section on Getting Started with the Dissertation). Allow plenty of time for final revisions after your tutor has seen a complete draft.
SUGGESTION
If you are taking a dissertation over two semesters, you should aim to spend the equivalent of one full half-day per week working on your dissertation during each semester of your final year if it is worth 20 credits - nearer twice that amount of time if it is a 40-credit dissertation.
Click on the icon to read a case study relevant to this section.
Deadlines for producing drafts
You will decide with your supervisor precisely when to produce drafts, but if you are taking a dissertation module over one academic year then by the end of the first semester you would normally expect to produce a proposal or abstract and a first draft of one or two chapters. You would then produce the drafts of the remaining chapters and complete the process of revision and writing-up during the second semester.
In the second semester, when drafting the remaining main chapters of the dissertation, you will follow the practice established in the first semester of submitting the drafts to your supervisor for comments and advice. You should take advantage of the period between the first semester and the start of the second semester to write a draft of a chapter, and you should plan to have produced first drafts of all the main chapters by at least four weeks before the submission date (also allowing for any vacation periods when staff may not be available).
If, however, you are taking the dissertation module over one semester, you will need to adjust this time frame accordingly.
Writing the introduction
The introduction to your dissertation should explain to the reader what you are going to investigate. It should describe the dissertation's topic and scope. You should explain your reasons for investigating your chosen topic by referring to the appropriate literature. Having completed the work on the main substance of your dissertation, you should have a much clearer idea of its nature and scope than you did when you wrote your preliminary abstract or proposal. The introduction to your dissertation should explain to the reader what you are going to investigate. It should describe the dissertation's topic and scope. You should explain your reasons for investigating your chosen topic by referring to the appropriate literature.
It is important, however, to write the introduction as though you are setting out on a process of investigation. You need to emphasise the exploratory nature of your work. You should also avoid anticipating the discoveries and conclusions that you have made in the course of your investigations. So, you might simply say that you have identified certain common features in the relevant literature, or a particular issue that it deals with, and that your dissertation will examine the literature closely in order to demonstrate the relationships between treatments of the issue in the sample texts. When you have completed the main body of the work and your tutor has commented on your complete draft, you may well wish to revisit the introduction to take into account your findings and your tutor's comments on their significance.
Writing a literature review
Your dissertation is a substantial piece of written work that ideally should conform to a number of academic conventions. One of the most important of these academic conventions is the literature review. In short, the literature review is a discussion or 'review' of secondary literature that is of general and central relevance to the particular area under investigation.
Often students ask how long a literature review should be. This is a difficult question given that the total length of your dissertation might be anything from five to twelve thousand words. Obviously your supervisor may be able to give some indication of the approximate length of your literature review. However, don't become pre-occupied with word length, the main thing is that your literature review should capture the general and specific aspects of the literature of your subject.
Why is a literature review necessary?
The literature review is an important device in your dissertation as it performs a number of related functions:
1. It demonstrates to whoever reads the dissertation that the author of the work has read widely and is aware of the range of debates that have taken place within the given field. It provides the proof that you have more than a good grasp of the breadth and depth of the topic of the dissertation - your dissertation gives you the opportunity to show off how clever you are! The literature review is a great place to start, because it should demonstrate that you know what you are talking about because you have read everything that is relevant to your dissertation.
2. It can provide the rationale for the research question in the study. This can be done by highlighting specific gaps in the literature – questions that have not been answered (or even asked), and areas of research that have not been conducted within your chosen field. In this way the literature review can provide a justification of your own research.
3. It can allow you to build on work that has already been conducted. For example you might adopt a similar methodological or theoretical approach in your work to one that exists within the literature, yet place your actual emphasis elsewhere. In this way you are building on work that has already been conducted by adopting similar strategies and concepts, yet focusing the question on something that interests you.
4. It helps to define the broad context of your study, placing your work within a well defined academic tradition. Poor dissertations often fail to relate to broader debates within the academic community. They may have a well defined research question, yet without placing this question in the appropriate context, it can lose its significance. The literature review therefore can add weight to your question by framing it within broader debates within the academic community.
How do I 'do' a literature review?
Writing a literature review is not as simple as at first it may seem. What follows is a step by step guide on how to go about conducting and presenting your literature review.
1. Generate a list of references
The first stage of your literature review is to collect a list of literature that is relevant to your study. You have already seen in the section Help with Finding Literature and Research how you can get a list of useful references.
2. Make sense of your reading
Once you have a list of references for your dissertation, you now have to access and read this material. This process is going to be time consuming because you will be reading a large amount of material. Furthermore once you start your reading you might find that some of the literature is of little relevance to your study. Don't panic, this is something that many researchers and dissertation students go through and is often a necessary part of the process. It is better to read something that is not central to your dissertation than miss something that might be an important and relevant contribution to the field.
While reading, make notes about the central themes and arguments of the book, chapter or article. These notes can then be incorporated into the finished version of your literature review. Try and get a sense of the theoretical perspective of the author, this will be of use when you come to organise and present your literature review. Also, emphasise the way in which the piece of literature you are reading seeks to set itself apart from other literature. Importantly, start to think critically about the piece you are reading; ask: what is this person trying to say and why? How is it different from the way others have dealt with this issue? This critical component is very important as it demonstrates that you are engaging with relevant literature in an appropriate manner and that you can discriminate between different perspectives and approaches that exist within your chosen field.
3. Organisation and presentation
Once you have generated a large number of notes around your reading you might start to feel overwhelmed by the literature. In terms of the organisation and presentation of your literature review, it is worth dividing your review into two main areas: general reading and literature that is of central importance. You will also need to further divide the literature into specific areas relevant to your study for e.g. theories and concepts; policy analysis; empirical studies and so-on. What follows are some general guidelines on how you might do this.
General texts
It will be clear that some of the reading you have done is of more relevance than others. It is important, however, that you do not discard the less relevant work; instead this can form the broad background of your discussion of the more relevant literature within your field. For example you may mention different authors that have dealt with a question related to your field but may not be central to it. Highlight these in broad terms, state how these works have impacted on your particular area. You need not go into great detail about these more general works, but by highlighting these works you are demonstrating your awareness of the scope and limits of your study and how it touches upon other areas of study.
Central texts
Once you have discussed the range of literature that is only of general interest to your study, you can then go into more detail on the literature that more sharply focuses on the questions that are of interest to you. Devote more detail to these particular works as they are more important to your topic. Indeed they may highlight the gap in the literature that exists that you seek to fill; they may provide the basis on which you seek to build, or they might be works which require some critique from your particular perspective.
Further categorisation
When you have divided your literature review into general works and works of central importance, you should also further divide the literature into sub-categories. By further dividing your literature in this way, you are adding more organisation into your literature review by providing specific sub-categories of relevant literature.
For example in the general works section of your literature review, you might want one sub-heading on the main theoretical debates, one on empirical studies and maybe one on policy. With reference to the more central literature, you could organise this more important reading in a similar way. For example, if relevant, you could have a section on competing theoretical perspectives; a section on the main findings of important empirical studies; a section on policy implementation and its impacts. See the table below.
Breakdown of Literature Review
General Literature Theoretical Approaches
Empirical Research
Central Literature
Detailed analysis of theoretical and conceptual debates
Discussion of main findings of important empirical studies and their critiques
Focused analysis of policy implementation
If appropriate you might also want to divide your sub-headings further.
One final note on the more central literature is that this more focused analysis can also serve to bring your empirical or theoretical work into sharper focus. In this sense you are prefacing your work and how it relates to other academic studies by your discussion of it in your literature review. One thing to remember however is that just because you talk about an author's work in your literature review, doesn't mean you never mention it again in your dissertation. In the discussion section of your study you will necessarily relate your findings to those central studies that you have highlighted in your literature review.
Then what?
When you have written your literature review, this is not the end of the process. Throughout your dissertation process, you will come across literature that is of relevance to your area of study, do not ignore this material, you can always add more literature to your review as you come across it.
Finally, make sure that you keep a record of all your references, even the ones that have been of little use. This will help you organise your bibliography and reference list. You may even need to go back and look over something that you looked at earlier in your studies that may have more relevance than you first thought.
Writing the Methods section
This must clearly identify the epistemological (i.e. your stance on what should pass as acceptable knowledge) basis of the study and demonstrate a good working knowledge of the methods to be employed. It should include good coverage of the process of the fieldwork and indicate how the analysis was undertaken. As well as covering the ethical issues it should also contain an element of reflection on the research process.
Writing the Findings section
Many students confuse findings with discussion and it is important to keep them separate. The findings are often presented in charts and tables (even from qualitative data). Verbatim references to participants' comments are particularly helpful. It is important to ensure that findings are truly analysed, rather than described. Finding ways of cross relating the findings is therefore important.
Writing the Discussion
Traditionally, the discussion links findings to the literature presented in the literature review.
There are arguments for extending the coverage of literature in this section but only in exceptional circumstances. The discussion should be precisely that: an opportunity to raise the different voices of interest in the research question and to explore the findings in the light of the literature and different perspectives within it.
Writing the Conclusion
The main chapters of your dissertation will have focused on particular topics or issues. For example, each chapter may have focused discussion on a particular text. Alternatively, you may have structured your work so that each chapter is devoted to discussion of a particular aspect of your overall topic. The conclusion offers the opportunity to review your work as a whole, to identify the points of comparison and contrast the various texts you have examined, and to show that, in the process of your study, you have developed a more precise, critical understanding of the way they deal with your topic. This is also an appropriate place for you to point to the limitations of small-scale research of this kind and to indicate possible avenues for researchers to address the issues in the future.
SUGGESTION
Before you submit the dissertation, you should check that the final version of the title is an accurate reflection of what the dissertation is about and, if not, change the title.
Final draft
The process of preparing your dissertation for submission begins with a careful final drafting of all your chapters and sections. Here you have the opportunity:
• To ensure that your argument is clearly developed from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph.
• To check the accuracy of your spelling and punctuation - do not rely on spellchecker software!
• To make sure that your sentences are well constructed and that you are expressing yourself clearly, precisely and fluently.
• To ensure that you have not contradicted or repeated yourself.
You need to check that your quotations from and references to both primary and secondary texts are clearly and consistently identified according to the conventions of the HARVARD referencing systems (or whatever system your department requires). There is more about this in the section on Plagiarism. You will check that your bibliography is properly presented and contains all sources cited throughout your work.
Guidelines on presentation
You should refer to the guidance provided by your own department, but in general you should think about the following:
• Your dissertation must normally be typed or word-processed on A4 paper.
• Your own text must be double-spaced.
• Indented quotations must be single-spaced.
• The pages of the dissertation must be numbered.
• It must have a title page.
• It must have a table of contents.
Submitting the completed dissertation
The completed dissertation should be submitted in the form set out by your department. If there are no formal styles, submit the dissertation in a format that makes it easy for the examiner to handle - avoid complicated spring-back or ring-backed files.
Summary
• Abstracts of sections and of the dissertation as a whole will help to focus your writing and direct your thoughts.
• Set yourself deadlines for drafting chapters. Agree these with your supervisor if you think that will motivate you.
• Depending on the rules and regulations of your own institution, give your supervisor drafts of chapters as you write them, and try to be responsive to criticism. Revise chapters as soon as you get them back.
• Read through each completed chapter. Check that your argument flows logically.
• Even if you write the introduction last, write it as if you have yet to find the answers to your questions. Don't give away the ending!
• Finally, check that the title refers accurately to the finished dissertation. If it does not - change the title!
• Follow some basic rules:
1. Type or word-process your dissertation - do not write it out.
2. Use double line spacing for your own writing.
3. Use single line spacing for indented quotations (and footnote these!)
4. Number the pages.
5. Include a title page and a table of contents.
• Remember to adhere to any format stipulated by your department.
• IMPORTANT: Check how many copies your department requires.
Key Questions
• How long is your dissertation going to be?
• Have you mapped out the content of each of your chapters?
• In what order will the content flow best?
• Is your evaluation doing its job? Likewise, is your conclusion suitably conclusive?
• Is the order of the chapters logical and coherent, will it make sense to the reader?
• Are the beginning, middle and end clear?
• Do your sentences and paragraphs make sense?
• Do you know someone else who can proof-read the dissertation for you?
• Have you allowed enough time to proof-read properly?
Further Reading
BRYMAN, A. (2004). Social Research Methods. 2nd ed. Oxford, Oxford University Press, chapter 26 - Doing a research project
DENSCOMBE, M. (2003). The Good Research Guide for Small-scale Social Research Projects. Maidenhead, Oxford University Press, part III
HART, C. (2000). Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Imagination. London, Sage
Web Resources
Writing up your dissertation:
http://www.learnerassociates.net/dissthes/
More on writing up your dissertation:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/learning/online/dissertation.html
Conducting a literature review:
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/litrev.html
Cohesion: linking words and phrases
You can use words or short phrases which help to guide your reader through your writing, and to link sentences, paragraphs and sections both forwards and backwards. Good use will make what you have written easy to follow; bad use might mean your style is disjointed, probably with too many short sentences, and consequently difficult to follow. Your mark could be affected either way.
The best way to "get a feel" for these words is through your reading. Most textbooks and articles are well-written and will probably include a lot of these cohesive devices. Note how they are used and try to emulate what you have read. Do make sure though that you fully understand their meaning: incorrect use could change completely what you're trying to say. Try to use a variety of expressions, particularly in longer pieces of writing.
Don't forget "AND"! Two short sentences are often best connected together with this little word.
There follows a list of words and phrases that can be used. The list is not exhaustive, and BE CAREFUL: although grouped together, none is totally synonymous. Their position in the sentence can also vary; this is where your reading and dictionary come in.
Listing Giving examples Generalising
first, second, third for example in general
first, furthermore, finally for instance generally
to begin, to conclude as follows: on the whole
next that is as a rule
Reinforcement in this case for the most part
also namely in most cases
furthermore in other words usually
moreover Result/consequence Highlighting
what is more so in particular
in addition therefore particularly
besides as a result/consequence especially
above all accordingly mainly
as well (as) consequently Reformulation
in the same way because of this/that in other words
not only ... but also thus rather
Similarity hence to put it more simply
equally for this/that reason Expressing an alternative
likewise so that alternatively
similarly in that case rather
correspondingly under these circumstances on the other hand
in the same way Deduction the alternative is
Transition to new point then another possibility would be
now, in other words Contrast
as far as x is concerned in that case instead
with regard/reference to otherwise conversely
as for ... this implies that ... on the contrary
it follows that if so/not in contrast
turning to Stating the obvious in comparison
Summary obviously Concession (sth unexpected)
in conclusion clearly however
to conclude naturally even though
in brief of course however much
to summarise as can be expected nevertheless
overall surely still
therefore after all yet
Here are just a few examples of some of the words in action:
REINFORCEMENT
Desktop computers are cheaper and more reliable than laptops; furthermore, they are more flexible.
RESULT/CONSEQUENCE
Prices fell by more than 20% last year. As a result, sales increased by 15%.
GENERALISING
On the whole, his speech was well received, despite some complaints from new members.
CONTRAST
The South East of the UK often has the coldest weather in the winter. Conversely, the North West of Scotland frequently has the mildest temperatures.
CONCESSION
It was a very expensive holiday, the weather was bad and the people weren’t very friendly. Nevertheless, we would probably go back to the same place.
Top of page
Transition word exercise
Always ask yourself what the exact relationship is between the sentences or parts of sentences. Are you leading to the result of something? Are you making a deduction? Are you introducing some contradictory evidence or ideas? Your choice of word or phrase obviously depends on this. And always check in a good dictionary if you're not quite sure about a word's use or its position in a sentence. Remember that punctuation will affect what you use.
Insert the best alternative
1 Polls show that Tony Blair is the most popular Prime Minister this century. ______________ , there are even members of his own party who are uneasy with his approach.
In particular However For instance
2 There are some slight variations in temperature, but ________________ 26 to 27ºC should be expected.
consequently otherwise as a rule
3 The two main Channel Islands, ________________ Jersey and Guernsey, are much closer to France than to England.
for example namely in particular
4 It was announced that nurses' working hours would be increased by 25%. ______________ , even fewer trainee nurses are expected to join the profession.
As a result So that Likewise
5 Sales of CDs have experienced a small but steady fall over the past 12 months. _____________ , vinyl records have seen an increase in their share of the market, up to 1.7%.
Above all Correspondingly In contrast
6 The Vice Chancellor explained that in light of the current financial climate and because of unexpected bad debts, it would be necessary to peg salary levels at their current level for all grades of staff. ______________ , no-one was getting a pay rise.
Nevertheless In other words Similarly
7 It is clear, therefore, that the situation in Brazil will improve only slowly. ______________ the economic problems being experienced in Japan, the outlook is slightly more optimistic.
Furthermore In comparison With reference to
8 In order to try to reduce car use in the inner cities, the government has announced new restrictions on company parking spaces and ______________ , a new tax on individual car use.
as well as in addition in the same way
9 Essays must be handed in by the deadline, ______________ they will not be marked.
obviously otherwise as a result
10 ______________ it has been shown that fractures can occur at even relatively low pressures, the use of the material should not be completely discounted.
Nevertheless Because Even though
The best way to "get a feel" for these words is through your reading. Most textbooks and articles are well-written and will probably include a lot of these cohesive devices. Note how they are used and try to emulate what you have read. Do make sure though that you fully understand their meaning: incorrect use could change completely what you're trying to say. Try to use a variety of expressions, particularly in longer pieces of writing.
Don't forget "AND"! Two short sentences are often best connected together with this little word.
There follows a list of words and phrases that can be used. The list is not exhaustive, and BE CAREFUL: although grouped together, none is totally synonymous. Their position in the sentence can also vary; this is where your reading and dictionary come in.
Listing Giving examples Generalising
first, second, third for example in general
first, furthermore, finally for instance generally
to begin, to conclude as follows: on the whole
next that is as a rule
Reinforcement in this case for the most part
also namely in most cases
furthermore in other words usually
moreover Result/consequence Highlighting
what is more so in particular
in addition therefore particularly
besides as a result/consequence especially
above all accordingly mainly
as well (as) consequently Reformulation
in the same way because of this/that in other words
not only ... but also thus rather
Similarity hence to put it more simply
equally for this/that reason Expressing an alternative
likewise so that alternatively
similarly in that case rather
correspondingly under these circumstances on the other hand
in the same way Deduction the alternative is
Transition to new point then another possibility would be
now, in other words Contrast
as far as x is concerned in that case instead
with regard/reference to otherwise conversely
as for ... this implies that ... on the contrary
it follows that if so/not in contrast
turning to Stating the obvious in comparison
Summary obviously Concession (sth unexpected)
in conclusion clearly however
to conclude naturally even though
in brief of course however much
to summarise as can be expected nevertheless
overall surely still
therefore after all yet
Here are just a few examples of some of the words in action:
REINFORCEMENT
Desktop computers are cheaper and more reliable than laptops; furthermore, they are more flexible.
RESULT/CONSEQUENCE
Prices fell by more than 20% last year. As a result, sales increased by 15%.
GENERALISING
On the whole, his speech was well received, despite some complaints from new members.
CONTRAST
The South East of the UK often has the coldest weather in the winter. Conversely, the North West of Scotland frequently has the mildest temperatures.
CONCESSION
It was a very expensive holiday, the weather was bad and the people weren’t very friendly. Nevertheless, we would probably go back to the same place.
Top of page
Transition word exercise
Always ask yourself what the exact relationship is between the sentences or parts of sentences. Are you leading to the result of something? Are you making a deduction? Are you introducing some contradictory evidence or ideas? Your choice of word or phrase obviously depends on this. And always check in a good dictionary if you're not quite sure about a word's use or its position in a sentence. Remember that punctuation will affect what you use.
Insert the best alternative
1 Polls show that Tony Blair is the most popular Prime Minister this century. ______________ , there are even members of his own party who are uneasy with his approach.
In particular However For instance
2 There are some slight variations in temperature, but ________________ 26 to 27ºC should be expected.
consequently otherwise as a rule
3 The two main Channel Islands, ________________ Jersey and Guernsey, are much closer to France than to England.
for example namely in particular
4 It was announced that nurses' working hours would be increased by 25%. ______________ , even fewer trainee nurses are expected to join the profession.
As a result So that Likewise
5 Sales of CDs have experienced a small but steady fall over the past 12 months. _____________ , vinyl records have seen an increase in their share of the market, up to 1.7%.
Above all Correspondingly In contrast
6 The Vice Chancellor explained that in light of the current financial climate and because of unexpected bad debts, it would be necessary to peg salary levels at their current level for all grades of staff. ______________ , no-one was getting a pay rise.
Nevertheless In other words Similarly
7 It is clear, therefore, that the situation in Brazil will improve only slowly. ______________ the economic problems being experienced in Japan, the outlook is slightly more optimistic.
Furthermore In comparison With reference to
8 In order to try to reduce car use in the inner cities, the government has announced new restrictions on company parking spaces and ______________ , a new tax on individual car use.
as well as in addition in the same way
9 Essays must be handed in by the deadline, ______________ they will not be marked.
obviously otherwise as a result
10 ______________ it has been shown that fractures can occur at even relatively low pressures, the use of the material should not be completely discounted.
Nevertheless Because Even though
Writing abstracts
An abstract is a concise summary of a body of information should as a report, dissertation, thesis or article. Its purpose is to make it possible for potential readers to quickly find out if the work is relevant to their needs and worth reading.
Writers of articles for journals will always be asked to provide an abstract, and these are usually included on CD-ROM and online databases for worldwide reference.
You may be asked to include an abstract at the beginning of a piece of academic work, although confusingly this may also sometimes be called a summary, executive summary or executive abstract. Check with your department which term you should use.
There are in fact two different kinds of abstract: the descriptive abstract and the informative abstract.
Descriptive abstracts
These provide a description of the report’s main topic and purpose, together with an overview of the contents. They are usually very short – just a sentence or two – and may even appear on the title page (or at the beginning of a journal article). All this type of abstract does is give a very general idea of what the writing is about; it like a slightly extended title, or a topic sentence in an introduction. Consequently, it is not necessary to summarise any details or conclusions found in the text.
A descriptive abstract will look something like this:
The research analyzes the different approaches to reducing traffic congestion in the UK and provides conclusions and recommendations for future implementation.
However, if you are asked to provide an abstract here at Birmingham City University, you will probably need to produce an informative type.
Informative abstracts
As the name implies, informative abstracts should inform the reader: they should make clear what the research is about and give the key information from each section of the report; indicate how it was carried out; and summarise what the main findings and conclusions are. You should not, however, indicate the structure of the writing – this would be included in your introduction.
As suggested by Reading University(www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~kcshuwil/cme/abstract.html), the essential parts of an informative abstract are:
• Background: A simple opening sentence or two placing the work in context.
• Aims: One or two sentences giving the purpose of the work.
• Method(s): One or two sentences explaining what was done.
• Results: One or two sentences indicating the main findings.
• Conclusions: One sentence giving the most important consequence of the work.
They also give the following advice:
• Do not commence with "this paper…", "this report…" or similar. It is better to write about the research than about the paper. Similarly, do not explain the sections or parts of the paper.
• Avoid sentences that end in "…is described", "…is reported", "…is analysed" or similar. These are simply too vague to be informative.
• Do not begin sentences with "it is suggested that…", "it is believed that…", "it is felt that…" or similar. In every case, the four words can be omitted without damaging the essential message.
• Do not write in the first person in any form. Thus, not only should you avoid "I", but also "we", "the author", "the writer" and so on. Again, this is because the abstract should be about the research, not about the act of writing.
Other useful advice:
• Check with your tutor what length of abstract is expected; normally they will be short and concise, with the result that the sentences will be fairly dense and information-heavy.
• Don’t include any secondary information, and take out any unnecessary words, obviously keeping everything grammatical.
• Don’t include any references in the abstract, but do include relevant numerical data.
Here is a sample abstract
(Source: http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/skills/Writing/abstrax.html)
ABSTRACT
Computerized speech recognition takes advantage of the most
natural form of communication, the human voice. During
speech, sound is generated by the vocal cords and by air
rushing from the lungs. If the vocal cords vibrate, a voiced
sound is produced; otherwise, the sound is unvoiced. The
main problem in speech recognition is that no two voices
produce their sounds alike and that an individual voice va-
ries in different conditions. Because voices do vary and
because words blend together in a continuous stream in
natural speech, most recognition systems require that each
speaker train the machine to his or her voice and that words
have at least one-tenth of a second pause between them. Such
a system is called an isolated word recognition system and
con sists of three major components that process human
speech: (1) the preprocessor which removes irregula rities
from the speech signal and then breaks it up into parts; (2)
the feature extractor which extracts 32 key features from
the signal; and (3) the classification phase which
identifies the spoken word and includes the training mode
and reference pattern memory. Spoken words are identified on
the basis of a certain decision algorithm, some of which
involve dynamic programming, zero crossing rate, linear pre-
dictive coding, and the use of state diagram.
Voice recognition systems offer many applications including
data entry, freedom for mobility, security uses, telephone
access, and helpful devices for the handicapped. However,
these same systems also face problems such as poor
recognition accuracy, loss of privacy among those who use
them, and limited vocabulary sizes. The goal of the
industry is the development of speaker-independent systems
that can recognize continuous human speech regardless of
the speaker and that can continually improve their
vocabulary size and recognition accuracy.
Writers of articles for journals will always be asked to provide an abstract, and these are usually included on CD-ROM and online databases for worldwide reference.
You may be asked to include an abstract at the beginning of a piece of academic work, although confusingly this may also sometimes be called a summary, executive summary or executive abstract. Check with your department which term you should use.
There are in fact two different kinds of abstract: the descriptive abstract and the informative abstract.
Descriptive abstracts
These provide a description of the report’s main topic and purpose, together with an overview of the contents. They are usually very short – just a sentence or two – and may even appear on the title page (or at the beginning of a journal article). All this type of abstract does is give a very general idea of what the writing is about; it like a slightly extended title, or a topic sentence in an introduction. Consequently, it is not necessary to summarise any details or conclusions found in the text.
A descriptive abstract will look something like this:
The research analyzes the different approaches to reducing traffic congestion in the UK and provides conclusions and recommendations for future implementation.
However, if you are asked to provide an abstract here at Birmingham City University, you will probably need to produce an informative type.
Informative abstracts
As the name implies, informative abstracts should inform the reader: they should make clear what the research is about and give the key information from each section of the report; indicate how it was carried out; and summarise what the main findings and conclusions are. You should not, however, indicate the structure of the writing – this would be included in your introduction.
As suggested by Reading University(www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~kcshuwil/cme/abstract.html), the essential parts of an informative abstract are:
• Background: A simple opening sentence or two placing the work in context.
• Aims: One or two sentences giving the purpose of the work.
• Method(s): One or two sentences explaining what was done.
• Results: One or two sentences indicating the main findings.
• Conclusions: One sentence giving the most important consequence of the work.
They also give the following advice:
• Do not commence with "this paper…", "this report…" or similar. It is better to write about the research than about the paper. Similarly, do not explain the sections or parts of the paper.
• Avoid sentences that end in "…is described", "…is reported", "…is analysed" or similar. These are simply too vague to be informative.
• Do not begin sentences with "it is suggested that…", "it is believed that…", "it is felt that…" or similar. In every case, the four words can be omitted without damaging the essential message.
• Do not write in the first person in any form. Thus, not only should you avoid "I", but also "we", "the author", "the writer" and so on. Again, this is because the abstract should be about the research, not about the act of writing.
Other useful advice:
• Check with your tutor what length of abstract is expected; normally they will be short and concise, with the result that the sentences will be fairly dense and information-heavy.
• Don’t include any secondary information, and take out any unnecessary words, obviously keeping everything grammatical.
• Don’t include any references in the abstract, but do include relevant numerical data.
Here is a sample abstract
(Source: http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/skills/Writing/abstrax.html)
ABSTRACT
Computerized speech recognition takes advantage of the most
natural form of communication, the human voice. During
speech, sound is generated by the vocal cords and by air
rushing from the lungs. If the vocal cords vibrate, a voiced
sound is produced; otherwise, the sound is unvoiced. The
main problem in speech recognition is that no two voices
produce their sounds alike and that an individual voice va-
ries in different conditions. Because voices do vary and
because words blend together in a continuous stream in
natural speech, most recognition systems require that each
speaker train the machine to his or her voice and that words
have at least one-tenth of a second pause between them. Such
a system is called an isolated word recognition system and
con sists of three major components that process human
speech: (1) the preprocessor which removes irregula rities
from the speech signal and then breaks it up into parts; (2)
the feature extractor which extracts 32 key features from
the signal; and (3) the classification phase which
identifies the spoken word and includes the training mode
and reference pattern memory. Spoken words are identified on
the basis of a certain decision algorithm, some of which
involve dynamic programming, zero crossing rate, linear pre-
dictive coding, and the use of state diagram.
Voice recognition systems offer many applications including
data entry, freedom for mobility, security uses, telephone
access, and helpful devices for the handicapped. However,
these same systems also face problems such as poor
recognition accuracy, loss of privacy among those who use
them, and limited vocabulary sizes. The goal of the
industry is the development of speaker-independent systems
that can recognize continuous human speech regardless of
the speaker and that can continually improve their
vocabulary size and recognition accuracy.
Academic writing style
There's no great mystique about an "academic writing style". The most important thing is to keep your writing clear and concise and make sure that you get your ideas over in a comprehensible form. It's clear expression of these ideas that will impress your tutor, not a string of long, inappropriate words found in your dictionary. A wide range of vocabulary is of course important, but you must use the right word, and shorter ones are often better than longer ones.
The most important thing to remember is generally to try to avoid everyday, informal language, especially colloquial expressions and slang. Also, spoken language is naturally full of hesitations, repetitions, grammatical errors and unfinished ideas. In your writing, however, structure is much more important: sentences should be complete and ideas arranged into paragraphs or sections, and you should aim for perfection in your grammar and spelling. However, especially if English is not your first language, don't become too obsessed with this, to the point perhaps of copying word for word from your sources. What’s important is that you clearly show your understanding of the subject and your ability to manipulate information to answer a specific question or complete a specific task, and as long as any grammar errors you make don’t impede this, then it shouldn’t be a problem.
Here are a few general points to remember when you are writing your assignments. As well as using appropriate language and aiming for 100% accuracy in your grammar and vocabulary, you should also remember that you're writing for someone else, and hence the importance of punctuation, sentences, paragraphs and overall structure, all of which help the reader.
AVOID SOME ASPECTS OF INFORMAL ENGLISH
don't (do not!) use contractions (eg it's, he'll, it'd etc): always use the full form (it is/has, he will, it would/had).
don't use colloquial language or slang (eg kid, a lot of/lots of, cool)
always write as concisely as you can, with no irrelevant material or “waffle”.
generally avoid "phrasal verbs" (e.g. get off, get away with, put in etc): instead, use one word equivalents.
avoid common but vague words and phrases such as get, nice, thing. Your writing needs to be more precise.
avoid overuse of brackets; don’t use exclamation marks or dashes; avoid direct questions; don’t use “etc”.
always use capital letters appropriately and never use the type of language used in texting!
See the practice exercises at the end of the guide.
STRUCTURE YOUR WRITING CAREFULLY
make sure you write in complete sentences (see Guide 1.34).
divide your writing up into paragraphs (see Guide 1.35).
use connecting words and phrases to make your writing explicit and easy to follow (see Guide 1.39).
check your grammar and spelling carefully (see Guide 1.42).
MAKE YOUR WRITING FORMAL AND IMPERSONAL
avoid too much personal language (I, my, we etc). Some tutors prefer you to avoid it completely. Never use emotive language; be objective rather than subjective.(See Guide 1.22).
avoid being too dogmatic and making sweeping generalisations. It is usually best to use
some sort of “hedging” language (see below) and to qualify statements that you make.
you should consistently use evidence from your source reading to back up what you are saying and reference this correctly.
avoid sexist language, such as chairman, mankind. Don’t refer to “the doctor” as he; instead, make the subject plural and refer to them as they. Avoid he/she, herself/himself etc.
use nominalisation; that is, try to write noun-based phrases rather that verb-based ones.
For example, instead of
Crime was increasing rapidly and the police were becoming concerned.
Write:
The rapid increase in crime was causing concern among the police.
In general, academic writing tends to be fairly dense, with relatively long sentences and
wide use of subordinate clauses. Remember, however, that your main aim is clarity, so
don’t be too ambitious, particularly when you’re starting to write.
HEDGING/AVOIDING COMMITMENT
In order to put some distance between what you’re writing and yourself as writer, to be cautious rather than assertive, you should:
avoid overuse of first person pronouns (I, we, my, our)
use impersonal subjects instead (It is believed that ..., it can be argued that ...)
use passive verbs to avoid stating the ‘doer’ (Tests have been conducted)
use verbs (often with it as subject) such as imagine, suggest, claim, suppose
use ‘attitudinal signals’ such as apparently, arguably, ideally, strangely, unexpectedly.
These words allow you to hint at your attitude to something without using personal language.
use verbs such as would, could, may, might which ‘soften’ what you’re saying.
use qualifying adverbs such as some, several, a minority of, a few, many to avoid making overgeneralisations.
Exercises
Exercise 1
Replace the phrasal verbs in the sentences with a more appropriate verb from the list below. Don't forget to keep the same tense.
fluctuate investigate eliminate raise reduce
propose intervene establish
1 Researchers have been looking into the problem for 15 years. ______________________
2 This issue was brought up during the seminar. __________________________
3 It is assumed that the management knows what is happening and will therefore step in if
there is a problem. _________________________
4 Schools cannot altogether get rid of the problem of truancy. _________________________
5 The number of staff has been cut down recently. _____________________
6 It was very difficult to find out exactly what happened. _______________________
7 House prices have a tendency to go up and down. ¬¬_______________________
8 A potential solution was put forward two years ago. ¬¬¬______________________
Exercise 2
Replace the following phrasal verbs with a more formal single word.
1 The locals could not put up with the visitors from the city. __________________________
2 The decline was brought about by cheap imports. __________________________________
3 The university is thinking about installing CCTV. ___________________________________
4 Sales are likely to drop off in the third quarter. ____________________________________
5 He went on speaking for over an hour. ____________________________________________
6 The meeting was put off until December. __________________________________________
7 The cinema was pulled down ten years ago. ________________________________________
8 People have cut down on their consumption of beef. ________________________________
Exercise 3
Which of the two alternatives in bold do you think is more appropriate in academic writing?
1 The government has made considerable/great progress in solving the problem.
2 We got/obtained excellent results in the experiment.
3 The results of lots of/numerous tests have been pretty good/encouraging.
4 A loss of jobs is one of the consequences/things that will happen if the process is
automated.
5 The relationship between the management and workers is extremely/really important.
6 Some suggestions springing up from/arising from the study will be presented.
Exercise 4
Use a more formal word or phrase to replace those in bold.
1 The reaction of the officials was sort of negative. _______________________
2 The economic outlook is nice.__________________________
3 Car manufacturers are planning a get together to discuss their strategy.
________________________
4 The resulting competition between countries is good._________________
5 The economy is affected by things that happen outside the country.
________________________________
6 She was given the sack because of her poor record. __________________
7 The examination results were super. ________________________
Exercise 5
Replace the contractions in the following sentences with full forms where necessary.
1 The results weren't very encouraging. _________________________
2 We'll have to conduct another experiment. _____________________
3 She's been all around the world. _________________________
4 It's the best solution to the problem. ______________________
5 Our questionnaire shows that teachers aren't paid what they're worth.
______________________
6 His response was, "A job's a job; if it doesn't pay enough, it's a lousy job'. _______________
7 He'd rather announce the findings at the conference. _________________
8 The department's approach didn't succeed. _________________________
Exercise 6
Suggest improvements to the following sentences to avoid use of “you” and “we”.
1. You can apply the same theory of learning to small children.
_______________________________________________________________
2. You can only do this after the initial preparation has been conducted.
______________________________________________________________
3. The figures are accurate to within 1%, but you should note that local
variations may apply.
______________________________________________________________
4. In the second section of the report, we will consider the environmental
consequences.
______________________________________________________________
Exercise 7
Suggest alternatives to the following to avoid use of personal language.
1 In this essay I will discuss the main differences between the English and Scottish legal systems.
2 I have divided my report into five sections.
3 I will conclude by proposing that all drugs should be legalized.
4 The opinion of the present author in this essay is that the importance of the monarchy should be reduced.
5 In the third part of the essay, we will look at the reasons for public
hysteria over the SARS virus
6 Although I am not an expert in the field, I have tried very hard to
understand the main ideas.
Exercise 8
Make these statements more cautious.
1 Today everyone uses credit cards for all their shopping.
___________________________________________________________
2 Drinking wine is bad for you.
___________________________________________________________
3 Global warming will have disastrous consequences for the whole
world.
___________________________________________________________
4 Teleworking leads to isolation.
___________________________________________________________
5 Women are worse drivers than men.
___________________________________________________________
Exercise 9
Rewrite the following in a more formal style.
1. The positive feedback made up for the problems we came across during
the trials.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
2. You can clearly see the differences between these two learning
processes.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
3. The subjects didn't have much difficulty with the task.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
4. We found example after example of autonomous systems in lots of
countries.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
The most important thing to remember is generally to try to avoid everyday, informal language, especially colloquial expressions and slang. Also, spoken language is naturally full of hesitations, repetitions, grammatical errors and unfinished ideas. In your writing, however, structure is much more important: sentences should be complete and ideas arranged into paragraphs or sections, and you should aim for perfection in your grammar and spelling. However, especially if English is not your first language, don't become too obsessed with this, to the point perhaps of copying word for word from your sources. What’s important is that you clearly show your understanding of the subject and your ability to manipulate information to answer a specific question or complete a specific task, and as long as any grammar errors you make don’t impede this, then it shouldn’t be a problem.
Here are a few general points to remember when you are writing your assignments. As well as using appropriate language and aiming for 100% accuracy in your grammar and vocabulary, you should also remember that you're writing for someone else, and hence the importance of punctuation, sentences, paragraphs and overall structure, all of which help the reader.
AVOID SOME ASPECTS OF INFORMAL ENGLISH
don't (do not!) use contractions (eg it's, he'll, it'd etc): always use the full form (it is/has, he will, it would/had).
don't use colloquial language or slang (eg kid, a lot of/lots of, cool)
always write as concisely as you can, with no irrelevant material or “waffle”.
generally avoid "phrasal verbs" (e.g. get off, get away with, put in etc): instead, use one word equivalents.
avoid common but vague words and phrases such as get, nice, thing. Your writing needs to be more precise.
avoid overuse of brackets; don’t use exclamation marks or dashes; avoid direct questions; don’t use “etc”.
always use capital letters appropriately and never use the type of language used in texting!
See the practice exercises at the end of the guide.
STRUCTURE YOUR WRITING CAREFULLY
make sure you write in complete sentences (see Guide 1.34).
divide your writing up into paragraphs (see Guide 1.35).
use connecting words and phrases to make your writing explicit and easy to follow (see Guide 1.39).
check your grammar and spelling carefully (see Guide 1.42).
MAKE YOUR WRITING FORMAL AND IMPERSONAL
avoid too much personal language (I, my, we etc). Some tutors prefer you to avoid it completely. Never use emotive language; be objective rather than subjective.(See Guide 1.22).
avoid being too dogmatic and making sweeping generalisations. It is usually best to use
some sort of “hedging” language (see below) and to qualify statements that you make.
you should consistently use evidence from your source reading to back up what you are saying and reference this correctly.
avoid sexist language, such as chairman, mankind. Don’t refer to “the doctor” as he; instead, make the subject plural and refer to them as they. Avoid he/she, herself/himself etc.
use nominalisation; that is, try to write noun-based phrases rather that verb-based ones.
For example, instead of
Crime was increasing rapidly and the police were becoming concerned.
Write:
The rapid increase in crime was causing concern among the police.
In general, academic writing tends to be fairly dense, with relatively long sentences and
wide use of subordinate clauses. Remember, however, that your main aim is clarity, so
don’t be too ambitious, particularly when you’re starting to write.
HEDGING/AVOIDING COMMITMENT
In order to put some distance between what you’re writing and yourself as writer, to be cautious rather than assertive, you should:
avoid overuse of first person pronouns (I, we, my, our)
use impersonal subjects instead (It is believed that ..., it can be argued that ...)
use passive verbs to avoid stating the ‘doer’ (Tests have been conducted)
use verbs (often with it as subject) such as imagine, suggest, claim, suppose
use ‘attitudinal signals’ such as apparently, arguably, ideally, strangely, unexpectedly.
These words allow you to hint at your attitude to something without using personal language.
use verbs such as would, could, may, might which ‘soften’ what you’re saying.
use qualifying adverbs such as some, several, a minority of, a few, many to avoid making overgeneralisations.
Exercises
Exercise 1
Replace the phrasal verbs in the sentences with a more appropriate verb from the list below. Don't forget to keep the same tense.
fluctuate investigate eliminate raise reduce
propose intervene establish
1 Researchers have been looking into the problem for 15 years. ______________________
2 This issue was brought up during the seminar. __________________________
3 It is assumed that the management knows what is happening and will therefore step in if
there is a problem. _________________________
4 Schools cannot altogether get rid of the problem of truancy. _________________________
5 The number of staff has been cut down recently. _____________________
6 It was very difficult to find out exactly what happened. _______________________
7 House prices have a tendency to go up and down. ¬¬_______________________
8 A potential solution was put forward two years ago. ¬¬¬______________________
Exercise 2
Replace the following phrasal verbs with a more formal single word.
1 The locals could not put up with the visitors from the city. __________________________
2 The decline was brought about by cheap imports. __________________________________
3 The university is thinking about installing CCTV. ___________________________________
4 Sales are likely to drop off in the third quarter. ____________________________________
5 He went on speaking for over an hour. ____________________________________________
6 The meeting was put off until December. __________________________________________
7 The cinema was pulled down ten years ago. ________________________________________
8 People have cut down on their consumption of beef. ________________________________
Exercise 3
Which of the two alternatives in bold do you think is more appropriate in academic writing?
1 The government has made considerable/great progress in solving the problem.
2 We got/obtained excellent results in the experiment.
3 The results of lots of/numerous tests have been pretty good/encouraging.
4 A loss of jobs is one of the consequences/things that will happen if the process is
automated.
5 The relationship between the management and workers is extremely/really important.
6 Some suggestions springing up from/arising from the study will be presented.
Exercise 4
Use a more formal word or phrase to replace those in bold.
1 The reaction of the officials was sort of negative. _______________________
2 The economic outlook is nice.__________________________
3 Car manufacturers are planning a get together to discuss their strategy.
________________________
4 The resulting competition between countries is good._________________
5 The economy is affected by things that happen outside the country.
________________________________
6 She was given the sack because of her poor record. __________________
7 The examination results were super. ________________________
Exercise 5
Replace the contractions in the following sentences with full forms where necessary.
1 The results weren't very encouraging. _________________________
2 We'll have to conduct another experiment. _____________________
3 She's been all around the world. _________________________
4 It's the best solution to the problem. ______________________
5 Our questionnaire shows that teachers aren't paid what they're worth.
______________________
6 His response was, "A job's a job; if it doesn't pay enough, it's a lousy job'. _______________
7 He'd rather announce the findings at the conference. _________________
8 The department's approach didn't succeed. _________________________
Exercise 6
Suggest improvements to the following sentences to avoid use of “you” and “we”.
1. You can apply the same theory of learning to small children.
_______________________________________________________________
2. You can only do this after the initial preparation has been conducted.
______________________________________________________________
3. The figures are accurate to within 1%, but you should note that local
variations may apply.
______________________________________________________________
4. In the second section of the report, we will consider the environmental
consequences.
______________________________________________________________
Exercise 7
Suggest alternatives to the following to avoid use of personal language.
1 In this essay I will discuss the main differences between the English and Scottish legal systems.
2 I have divided my report into five sections.
3 I will conclude by proposing that all drugs should be legalized.
4 The opinion of the present author in this essay is that the importance of the monarchy should be reduced.
5 In the third part of the essay, we will look at the reasons for public
hysteria over the SARS virus
6 Although I am not an expert in the field, I have tried very hard to
understand the main ideas.
Exercise 8
Make these statements more cautious.
1 Today everyone uses credit cards for all their shopping.
___________________________________________________________
2 Drinking wine is bad for you.
___________________________________________________________
3 Global warming will have disastrous consequences for the whole
world.
___________________________________________________________
4 Teleworking leads to isolation.
___________________________________________________________
5 Women are worse drivers than men.
___________________________________________________________
Exercise 9
Rewrite the following in a more formal style.
1. The positive feedback made up for the problems we came across during
the trials.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
2. You can clearly see the differences between these two learning
processes.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
3. The subjects didn't have much difficulty with the task.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
4. We found example after example of autonomous systems in lots of
countries.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬______________________________________________________________
Senin, 25 April 2011
Resume of Classroom Management
Classroom Management
by Lisa Rodriguez, Ph.D.
For this purpose, management refers to issues of supervision, refereeing, facilitating, and even academic discipline.
Since many professors teach for years without encountering some of the management instances we discuss here, our intent is to move beyond identification of classroom problems to suggest preventative strategies and practical solutions. For some faculty, teaching comes quite naturally and the notion of management in the classroom is irrelevant.
Typical classroom management topics are listed in faculty handbooks to reflect pragmatic concerns such as policies on classroom breaks, adds and drops, disruptive and dangerous students, emergency procedures including weapons and drugs in the classroom, location of phones, etc.
Serendipitously, our campus Staff Learning Department instituted an online discussion forum where faculty could seek collective advice on issues of classroom management. Your campus may use the services of the 4faculty discussion forums.
Issues / Solution Suggestions Table :
Issue Solution
1. Undermining the instructor’s authority
This is tricky as it speaks to "attitude." A student might belittle the instructor or engage in a battle of the wills.
Acting as it they are not, even when you suspect they are, can convey a sense of confidence and control. You may even want to encourage them to ask the question again at a later date if necessary."
2. Leaving class too frequently
Camps are divided as to whether or not students should ask for permission to leave for bathroom breaks or wait for a break in the class. You might privately ask the student if everything is OK so that they know that you are concerned by their behavior. Don’t assume disrespect – it might be a bladder infection or some other physical problem.
3. "Spacing Out" or Sitting With Back to Instructor
You might ask them after class if they need a more comfortable seat. Remember also that sustained eye contact is a culturally dictated practice that might not be feasible for some students.
4. Poor hygiene (possible cultural considerations) This can be a real problem for some faculty while others will never encounter the dilemma. I suggest letting the offending student know that in close quarters, some students have issues with strong smell. It might be suggested that for the course (not their outside of class lives) that the odor be masked in some way.
5. Verbal or physical threats
Verbal or physical threats are serious matters. They are discussed in detail by experts in the field in "Handling Crisis."
As a general rule consult professional experts for assistance immediately.
6. Gum, Food, Pagers, and Cell Phone Disruption
Instructors need to abide by this rule as well and allow for at least one mistake per student as accidents do happen from oversight. The idea here is to prevent habitual disruption from gum popping and phones ringing.
7. Monopolizing Discussions
This is common but manageable. You might approach them initially by saying that you are pleased with the amount of enthusiasm they have for discussion but were hoping that they have suggestions for getting the other class members equally involved. The student will most likely get your drift with minimal humiliation.
8. Sleeping in class
Sleeping in class is usually considered rude. An alternative approach is to assume that the student does not feel well, was up most of the night with a sick child, or has some other condition that results in sleepiness when still for long periods of time. You might simply choose to wake the student and ask them if they are feeling alright. To pull this off you need to approach it with true concern for the student's health and well being. Most of the time, student's are so embarrassed and so appreciative of your genuine concern that they don't let it happen again.
Encourage students to actively participate, take notes (explain that this is helpful to their learning as it stimulates memory in the brain) and in particularly long classes break up the session with activities or paired conversations about a topic to ensure that students stay engaged. Students don't learn much from listening, so remember that the more they "experience" the learning process the more you are really teaching.
9. Repeated Tardiness:
There should be clear parameters set around this issue up front – either in your syllabus or in the class decided norms. Stick to your guns on the policy. Some fair policies might include 3 tardiest equals one absence.
It might be best to discuss this with students individually; some are habitually late because they are dependant on bus routes or other drivers for transportation to school.
10. Refusal to Participate or Speak
Remember, some students are terrified to be in a class setting –especially if there are round tables rather than desks – allowing for little anonymity.
11. Sexual Innuendo, Flirting, or Other Inappropriate Suggestion
Your response should be not judgmental and you might discuss it with your department chair or faculty mentor before broaching it with your student.
12. Sharing/ Copying Work
Be careful to give thought to how you will handle this before you encounter it and react as if it were intentional cheating. This can also occur when the class does a great deal of group work. Make sure you are clear about what is individual vs. group work in your assignments.
13. Plagiarism or Lying
Be sure to know you college policy before taking action.
Plagiarism should be outlined in your syllabus with a reference for students to the college catalog for more information.
14. Too Much Chit Chat
Give 2-minute chat times for groups or before class begins let them know that you have material to be covered and that their talking isn’t helping you achieve your goals for the class.
15. Disrespectful Behavior
You will find yourself in a conversation with yourself about why they don’t like you and treat you with disrespect. Perhaps offer them a special task based on a self-disclosed talent; for instance, a student whose hobby is Origami (Japanese paper folding) might lead a lesson on the art of following instructions.
A few notes on confronting the behaviors listed above:
Start with a positive statement if possible: for example, if a student is monopolizing class discussion, you might start by saying, "I’m really pleased that you take such an interest in discussions and have a lot to share. But I was wondering if you might have suggestions to help others get equally involved?"
Keep in mind that your dean will likely suggest you take a graduated approach: verbal warning, written warning, meeting with the dean, etc.
Remember that you were once a student. Think before you act. Take a deep breath if necessary before saying or doing anything you might later regret.
Setting the Classroom Atmosphere
You may wish to revisit and reflect upon the importance of the first day of class. A successful first day and week often contributes to a semester free of classroom management problems. Setting ground rules, as discussed in Module 4, can be particularly helpful.
Managing Tempo and Time
If you have an early morning, after lunch, or after dinner class time, you might notice some problems with rhythm and attentiveness. You might start these classes with brainteasers or wake up exercises that get students ready to focus.
New instructors often become surprised by how even the best-laid lesson plans go awry. It is often the case that students will lead the discussion off topic and the instructor, pleased to have such lively interaction, will not be able to bring the class back on track. As mentioned in Making a Good First Impression, a handy practice is to have key phrases pre-planned to bring class back to topic such as "time to come together now, please wrap it up in 2 minutes."
Some classrooms don’t have clocks where faculty can see them, so as is practiced in Toastmasters (the professional speaking organization) it might be useful to select a timekeeper whose function it is to notify you when discussion time is up and transition is needed. With this reminder written on the board under the daily agenda, students aren’t as hesitant to let me know that while they are fascinated by my words, I have exceeded a self-imposed limit.
Finally, if you have taken the advice to audio or video tape your instruction but still find that you are prone to tangents, you might bring a kitchen timer with a soft bell to keep track of time limits on lecturing or group projects. This is especially helpful with question and answer times following student presentations.
Making a Connection between Faculty and Students:
Students can feel disconnected and disoriented in a new class. Returning students might feel self-conscious about their age and out of place returning to school while younger students might bring emotional remnants of negative high school experiences with them to their first college classroom.
Breaking the ice is essential in establishing this connection. In Planning for the First Day of Class, you found solid advice for the first day of class. Some ideas for lessening the tensions that might exist from lack of familiarity include:
Know your philosophy regarding education and tell your students what it is. This can be an enlightening experience for them to realize that you consider your career to be deeper in meaning beyond merely collecting a paycheck.
Take digital photos (with permission) of the class to let them know that you value them and want know their names and faces as soon as possible.
Present a visual depiction of your life such as a Power Point that contains family photos, pictures of a pet, a mission statement, examples of artwork, hobbies, short biographical sketch, etc.
Share an instance when you struggled as a student and how you dealt with it.
Share your memories of your best and your worst instructors when you were a student. Distribute a questionnaire. I usually distribute a single-page (confidentially and with a clear statement that the decision to not answer the questions does not constitute lack of participation) for students’ e-mail address, phone number, age, number of children, hobbies, favorite books, expectations about the class, favorite movies, music, number of hours worked, special information that would help them succeed in the class, favorite subject in high school, plan of study, and more. Answers to the questionnaire are later discussed with the class in terms of averages and areas of interest. Often students make connections with each other when they hear commonalties.
Let the students know what you want them to call you. "Miss," "Mr.," "Mrs.," "Ms.," "First Name," "Professor," or "Dr." are the choices most commonly agreed upon. Remember, some students will not feel comfortable being required to call you by your first name based on cultural background or prior educational experience, so it’s recommended that they are not forced to do so.
Announce your boundaries for communication. For example, I give a separate e-mail address to my students than my home address and let them know that they may not Spam me, add me to chain e-mail lists, send me unsolicited or unidentified attachments, nor add me to their instant message buddy lists without prior permission.
Walk your talk: Model the behaviors you expect of your students.
Allow students to form a list of expectations they have for you, the instructor. This activity will most likely aid in the classroom sense of fairness and serve to prevent later challenges to fairness and or documentation issues by students.
Making Connections: Student-to-Student
Research into student retention suggests that students drop out of college most frequently citing lack of connection as the key factor.
For more suggestions, you might consult with your staff development office for books on team building exercises or search the Internet for "ice breaker" activities.
Helping Students Learn to Be College Students
The following table identifies some common positive and negative behaviors that provide students with a guide for managing themselves as students. You might wish to distribute this list to your class at the time you discuss your syllabus or set class norms as a group. Feel free to modify this list as needed for your students.
Positive Impression Givers
Book on desk, pencil or pens ready
Note taking or recording the lecture/class with permission from the instructor
Ask questions that are appropriate
Make an effort to maintain eye contact
Sit where you can see and be attentive
Submit assignments on time, ask if there is supplemental material you can explore to better complete your assignments such as video titles or other materials
Help your classmates whenever possible
Make certain you understand assignments when assigned
Save announcements about necessary absences for before or after class
Refrain from doing other course work or paying bills in class
When using the Internet in class, stay on task rather than surfing for fun
Give the instructor the respect you wish to be treated with
Don’t interrupt, belittle, or put down fellow students
Keeping an open mind when issues arise you disagree with. Disagreeing with dignity.
Make certain you pay your fees for enrollment and get your text on the first day of class
Be positive with expectations of success in the course
Know the instructor’s name and call them only what they prefer to be called – ask if necessary
Spell the class, instructor, and assignment name correctly on all submitted work
Negative Impression Givers
Picking face, nose, grooming, knuckle cracking, nail filing or cleaning teeth
Heavy sighs, eye rolling
Laughing AT the instructor rather than WITH the class
Leaving early without letting the instructor know ahead of time
Frequent tardiness or absences
Distracting noises: foot tapping, nail biting, pen twirling/tapping, yawning w/o covering your mouth, mumbling, zipping up bags to indicate you want the class to end, paper tearing, paper toy making, etc.
Head on desk to indicate boredom
Staring at the clock or your watch
Skipping assignments and/or breaking assignment policy, handing in shoddy, unstapled, ripped out pages that show no care for the assignment
Refer to sexual situations inappropriately in assignments (unless it’s asked for in the assignment such as a human sexuality class)
Frequently forget text and notebook
Attempt to be class clown inappropriately; a joke here and there is fine, but repetitious clowning is distracting
Squinting or face making to show disapproval
Note passing or hand signals to others
Interrupting the instructor to ask what you missed when you were absent or if you missed anything "important"
Acting as if the class or topic of discussion is irrelevant or stupid – if you really feel so, drop the class
Leaving your belongings where they inconvenience others
Tipping in your chair
Planning for the First Day of Class
by Jack Ullom
Preparing for the First Class Meeting
As the first day of class approaches, your attention will turn to the logistics that will make your class run smoothly throughout the semester or term.
• At Least One Week Before the First Day of Class (or as soon as possible)
o Find the building and visit the classroom.
o Find the restrooms.
o Obtain a key to the classroom and any computer/audiovisual cabinets.
o Check textbook orders in bookstore.
Prepare printed materials that students will purchase.
Plan for any special supplies needed for class.
o Make sure web-sites used to support your class are still active.
Ask department members to recommend sites they find helpful.
o Make arrangements for classroom audiovisual equipment.
o Check the operation of overhead projector, computer or VCR (recheck right before class).
o Learn about the college library reserve system and place books on reserve in the library as needed.
o Find out your department's enrollment management policies and forms, (e.g. if the class does/does not fill, add/drop, wait-listing students).
o Check the sound and carry of your voice in the classroom.
o Make sure that your handwriting on the board is clear and readable from the back of the room. If it is not, plan to use transparencies or Power Points.
o Be prepared to deal with your specific student population. For example, if a significant number of your students are likely to have Spanish surnames, learn how to pronounce common names for that group correctly.
On the First Day of Class
First impressions tend to be lasting impressions. Strive to convey organization, preparedness and enthusiasm.
• Try to arrive in the classroom before your students and organize your handouts, roll sheet, recheck equipment functionality, and other materials.
• Put your name on the board for students to see as they come in.
• If there is additional material to be written on the board, try to do so before students arrive, if appropriate and not distracting to student involvement in the lesson. Notes should be written/ taken in context.
• Greet students as they enter the classroom.
• Breathe. Understand and accept that being nervous is quite normal.
• Let students know when you'll handle enrollment issues such as signing add/drops.
• Show a human side.
o Share information about yourself such as the history behind your teaching career and other professional activities.
o Share any activities or connections you have with the community outside of your teaching, and any hobbies or other special interests which you enjoy.
o Make these comments brief. (If you have students introduce themselves in pairs, have a student introduce you.)
• Get to know your students.
o Immediately try to associate names with faces.
o Allow students to introduce themselves.
Ask about career and educational goals.
Inquire about their expectations of the class.
o Have students write what they want to be called on a folded card and put it on the edge of their desk.
o If you have a digital camera asks students to hold their plaque and take their picture. Be very sensitive to students who may not want their picture taken. You must have their permission.
• Avoid making apologies for any lack of teaching experience. Your enthusiasm for the subject matter and your ability to engage students is more important than experience.
• Use an icebreaker to initiate the exchange of information.
Class Structure, Tone and Expectations
Probably the most important function of the first day of class is to provide students with the structure and expectations of the class.
• Review the syllabus completely.
o You might have students do a paired exercise to discuss the syllabus or give an ungraded syllabus quiz.
o Identify and describe textbooks, lab materials or supplies.
• Make your academic and behavioral expectations very clear.
o Describe the organization and scope of content of the class.
If appropriate, you may have planned to let your students identify key topics they want to discuss late in the semester. If you have done this, you will want to discuss the intent of this plan and how students will be engaged in the design of the course.
o Explain attendance policies and ground rules for class interaction (see box below).
o Explain to students that you will frequently offer them learning strategies for your content. And, that it will be helpful for them to pay particular attention to learning strategies in addition to course content.
Remember that we learn best when doing, applying or teaching content. Get students involved in this process.
• Be honest about the skills needed to succeed in the class and identify college and community resources available to support student success.
o Describe any prerequisites for the course.
o Give time estimates for study and assignments.
o Suggest some study strategies that may help students succeed.
• Clearly explain the grading system.
• Make sure students know how to reach you.
o Review your contact information, including office hours and location, email, phone and fax numbers.
o Do what you can to dispel the myth that a visit to your office, or other attempt to contact you, will automatically signal to you that they are in trouble.
• Review safety precautions.
o If your course requires laboratory or fieldwork, demonstrate the procedures for using equipment and supplies safely.
In ongoing classes, large visuals, such as posters, can be a better learning cue than a verbal reminder.
o Discuss emergency procedures in the event of an accident, illness or natural disaster.
• Encourage questions and allow frequent opportunities for students to ask them. Remember that some students need reflection opportunities before they will know what they want to ask. Anonymous questions on 3 x 5 cards or post-its can be very helpful.
Learner-Centered Ground Rules for Conduct
by Lisa Rodriguez
This process need not exclude faculty preferences that can be inserted at the end of the process. Here is a list of typical ground rules that students might agree upon:
• Start and end class on time
• One speaker at a time
• Everyone participates
• Keep an open mind
• Focus on "what" and not "who"
• No "zingers" or put downs
• No one dominates discussions
• Share "air time"
• Be an active listener
• Create a safe zone
• Stay on track/topic
• Agree only if it makes sense to do so
Final Advice
• Create an open atmosphere where dialogue between the students and you is encouraged. Students appreciate immediate feedback.
• Take two minutes the first day to have students write reactions from the first day, perhaps on the back of that same 3 X 5 card or anonymously if you like.
• Assess your students’ comprehension of the class material during each class session and more formally within the first two weeks.
• Spend some time each class period for approximately two weeks identifying issues that commonly stand in the way of student success and help students learn how to overcome them.
• Create the atmosphere that you feel is conducive to optimum learning of your content material. Keep in mind how people learn as you do this).
• Demonstrate that time in the class is important by engaging students in substantive material, such as a paired discussion of the syllabus, or a reading, while completing administrative tasks, such as taking role. Do not end the first class early in order to send students off to purchase the textbook.
• Students will appreciate your interest in their learning and if you follow many of the suggestions presented here, they will have begun taking an active part in that learning.
Top Five Classroom Management
Strategies – They Really Work
Strategies for Good Classroom Management
Five Top Strategies to Keep Students Learning in a Calm Classroom Environment
Strategy number 5 – Keep the lesson moving. If you have a forty-five minute period, plan three different activities. Try to get them up out of their seats at least once during the class period. Those students with pent up energy will thank you for it.
Strategy number 4 – Don’t lecture for the whole period. Students who are actively engaged in a learning activity are generally not disrupting the class. Hands-on activities work great for vivacious classrooms.
Strategy number 3 – Talk to your students. If you see them in the hall, in the cafeteria or at the grocery store, ask them how they are. If you see a student in the local newspaper, congratulate them.
Strategy numbers 2 – When students are being disruptive by talking, poking, pulling or crumpling paper, go stand by them. This works best with boys. I have taught from the back of the room by the orneriest boys. This sends them a direct message to stop what they are doing. Most of the time they stop and get back to work.
Strategy number 1 – When you have stood by the student, talked to the student and kept them busy with lessons, and they still are disruptive, take them in the hallway. Ask them, “Are you OK?” It has been my experience that they crumble and tell you that they had a fight with their parents, didn’t get up on time or are having other issues.
by Lisa Rodriguez, Ph.D.
For this purpose, management refers to issues of supervision, refereeing, facilitating, and even academic discipline.
Since many professors teach for years without encountering some of the management instances we discuss here, our intent is to move beyond identification of classroom problems to suggest preventative strategies and practical solutions. For some faculty, teaching comes quite naturally and the notion of management in the classroom is irrelevant.
Typical classroom management topics are listed in faculty handbooks to reflect pragmatic concerns such as policies on classroom breaks, adds and drops, disruptive and dangerous students, emergency procedures including weapons and drugs in the classroom, location of phones, etc.
Serendipitously, our campus Staff Learning Department instituted an online discussion forum where faculty could seek collective advice on issues of classroom management. Your campus may use the services of the 4faculty discussion forums.
Issues / Solution Suggestions Table :
Issue Solution
1. Undermining the instructor’s authority
This is tricky as it speaks to "attitude." A student might belittle the instructor or engage in a battle of the wills.
Acting as it they are not, even when you suspect they are, can convey a sense of confidence and control. You may even want to encourage them to ask the question again at a later date if necessary."
2. Leaving class too frequently
Camps are divided as to whether or not students should ask for permission to leave for bathroom breaks or wait for a break in the class. You might privately ask the student if everything is OK so that they know that you are concerned by their behavior. Don’t assume disrespect – it might be a bladder infection or some other physical problem.
3. "Spacing Out" or Sitting With Back to Instructor
You might ask them after class if they need a more comfortable seat. Remember also that sustained eye contact is a culturally dictated practice that might not be feasible for some students.
4. Poor hygiene (possible cultural considerations) This can be a real problem for some faculty while others will never encounter the dilemma. I suggest letting the offending student know that in close quarters, some students have issues with strong smell. It might be suggested that for the course (not their outside of class lives) that the odor be masked in some way.
5. Verbal or physical threats
Verbal or physical threats are serious matters. They are discussed in detail by experts in the field in "Handling Crisis."
As a general rule consult professional experts for assistance immediately.
6. Gum, Food, Pagers, and Cell Phone Disruption
Instructors need to abide by this rule as well and allow for at least one mistake per student as accidents do happen from oversight. The idea here is to prevent habitual disruption from gum popping and phones ringing.
7. Monopolizing Discussions
This is common but manageable. You might approach them initially by saying that you are pleased with the amount of enthusiasm they have for discussion but were hoping that they have suggestions for getting the other class members equally involved. The student will most likely get your drift with minimal humiliation.
8. Sleeping in class
Sleeping in class is usually considered rude. An alternative approach is to assume that the student does not feel well, was up most of the night with a sick child, or has some other condition that results in sleepiness when still for long periods of time. You might simply choose to wake the student and ask them if they are feeling alright. To pull this off you need to approach it with true concern for the student's health and well being. Most of the time, student's are so embarrassed and so appreciative of your genuine concern that they don't let it happen again.
Encourage students to actively participate, take notes (explain that this is helpful to their learning as it stimulates memory in the brain) and in particularly long classes break up the session with activities or paired conversations about a topic to ensure that students stay engaged. Students don't learn much from listening, so remember that the more they "experience" the learning process the more you are really teaching.
9. Repeated Tardiness:
There should be clear parameters set around this issue up front – either in your syllabus or in the class decided norms. Stick to your guns on the policy. Some fair policies might include 3 tardiest equals one absence.
It might be best to discuss this with students individually; some are habitually late because they are dependant on bus routes or other drivers for transportation to school.
10. Refusal to Participate or Speak
Remember, some students are terrified to be in a class setting –especially if there are round tables rather than desks – allowing for little anonymity.
11. Sexual Innuendo, Flirting, or Other Inappropriate Suggestion
Your response should be not judgmental and you might discuss it with your department chair or faculty mentor before broaching it with your student.
12. Sharing/ Copying Work
Be careful to give thought to how you will handle this before you encounter it and react as if it were intentional cheating. This can also occur when the class does a great deal of group work. Make sure you are clear about what is individual vs. group work in your assignments.
13. Plagiarism or Lying
Be sure to know you college policy before taking action.
Plagiarism should be outlined in your syllabus with a reference for students to the college catalog for more information.
14. Too Much Chit Chat
Give 2-minute chat times for groups or before class begins let them know that you have material to be covered and that their talking isn’t helping you achieve your goals for the class.
15. Disrespectful Behavior
You will find yourself in a conversation with yourself about why they don’t like you and treat you with disrespect. Perhaps offer them a special task based on a self-disclosed talent; for instance, a student whose hobby is Origami (Japanese paper folding) might lead a lesson on the art of following instructions.
A few notes on confronting the behaviors listed above:
Start with a positive statement if possible: for example, if a student is monopolizing class discussion, you might start by saying, "I’m really pleased that you take such an interest in discussions and have a lot to share. But I was wondering if you might have suggestions to help others get equally involved?"
Keep in mind that your dean will likely suggest you take a graduated approach: verbal warning, written warning, meeting with the dean, etc.
Remember that you were once a student. Think before you act. Take a deep breath if necessary before saying or doing anything you might later regret.
Setting the Classroom Atmosphere
You may wish to revisit and reflect upon the importance of the first day of class. A successful first day and week often contributes to a semester free of classroom management problems. Setting ground rules, as discussed in Module 4, can be particularly helpful.
Managing Tempo and Time
If you have an early morning, after lunch, or after dinner class time, you might notice some problems with rhythm and attentiveness. You might start these classes with brainteasers or wake up exercises that get students ready to focus.
New instructors often become surprised by how even the best-laid lesson plans go awry. It is often the case that students will lead the discussion off topic and the instructor, pleased to have such lively interaction, will not be able to bring the class back on track. As mentioned in Making a Good First Impression, a handy practice is to have key phrases pre-planned to bring class back to topic such as "time to come together now, please wrap it up in 2 minutes."
Some classrooms don’t have clocks where faculty can see them, so as is practiced in Toastmasters (the professional speaking organization) it might be useful to select a timekeeper whose function it is to notify you when discussion time is up and transition is needed. With this reminder written on the board under the daily agenda, students aren’t as hesitant to let me know that while they are fascinated by my words, I have exceeded a self-imposed limit.
Finally, if you have taken the advice to audio or video tape your instruction but still find that you are prone to tangents, you might bring a kitchen timer with a soft bell to keep track of time limits on lecturing or group projects. This is especially helpful with question and answer times following student presentations.
Making a Connection between Faculty and Students:
Students can feel disconnected and disoriented in a new class. Returning students might feel self-conscious about their age and out of place returning to school while younger students might bring emotional remnants of negative high school experiences with them to their first college classroom.
Breaking the ice is essential in establishing this connection. In Planning for the First Day of Class, you found solid advice for the first day of class. Some ideas for lessening the tensions that might exist from lack of familiarity include:
Know your philosophy regarding education and tell your students what it is. This can be an enlightening experience for them to realize that you consider your career to be deeper in meaning beyond merely collecting a paycheck.
Take digital photos (with permission) of the class to let them know that you value them and want know their names and faces as soon as possible.
Present a visual depiction of your life such as a Power Point that contains family photos, pictures of a pet, a mission statement, examples of artwork, hobbies, short biographical sketch, etc.
Share an instance when you struggled as a student and how you dealt with it.
Share your memories of your best and your worst instructors when you were a student. Distribute a questionnaire. I usually distribute a single-page (confidentially and with a clear statement that the decision to not answer the questions does not constitute lack of participation) for students’ e-mail address, phone number, age, number of children, hobbies, favorite books, expectations about the class, favorite movies, music, number of hours worked, special information that would help them succeed in the class, favorite subject in high school, plan of study, and more. Answers to the questionnaire are later discussed with the class in terms of averages and areas of interest. Often students make connections with each other when they hear commonalties.
Let the students know what you want them to call you. "Miss," "Mr.," "Mrs.," "Ms.," "First Name," "Professor," or "Dr." are the choices most commonly agreed upon. Remember, some students will not feel comfortable being required to call you by your first name based on cultural background or prior educational experience, so it’s recommended that they are not forced to do so.
Announce your boundaries for communication. For example, I give a separate e-mail address to my students than my home address and let them know that they may not Spam me, add me to chain e-mail lists, send me unsolicited or unidentified attachments, nor add me to their instant message buddy lists without prior permission.
Walk your talk: Model the behaviors you expect of your students.
Allow students to form a list of expectations they have for you, the instructor. This activity will most likely aid in the classroom sense of fairness and serve to prevent later challenges to fairness and or documentation issues by students.
Making Connections: Student-to-Student
Research into student retention suggests that students drop out of college most frequently citing lack of connection as the key factor.
For more suggestions, you might consult with your staff development office for books on team building exercises or search the Internet for "ice breaker" activities.
Helping Students Learn to Be College Students
The following table identifies some common positive and negative behaviors that provide students with a guide for managing themselves as students. You might wish to distribute this list to your class at the time you discuss your syllabus or set class norms as a group. Feel free to modify this list as needed for your students.
Positive Impression Givers
Book on desk, pencil or pens ready
Note taking or recording the lecture/class with permission from the instructor
Ask questions that are appropriate
Make an effort to maintain eye contact
Sit where you can see and be attentive
Submit assignments on time, ask if there is supplemental material you can explore to better complete your assignments such as video titles or other materials
Help your classmates whenever possible
Make certain you understand assignments when assigned
Save announcements about necessary absences for before or after class
Refrain from doing other course work or paying bills in class
When using the Internet in class, stay on task rather than surfing for fun
Give the instructor the respect you wish to be treated with
Don’t interrupt, belittle, or put down fellow students
Keeping an open mind when issues arise you disagree with. Disagreeing with dignity.
Make certain you pay your fees for enrollment and get your text on the first day of class
Be positive with expectations of success in the course
Know the instructor’s name and call them only what they prefer to be called – ask if necessary
Spell the class, instructor, and assignment name correctly on all submitted work
Negative Impression Givers
Picking face, nose, grooming, knuckle cracking, nail filing or cleaning teeth
Heavy sighs, eye rolling
Laughing AT the instructor rather than WITH the class
Leaving early without letting the instructor know ahead of time
Frequent tardiness or absences
Distracting noises: foot tapping, nail biting, pen twirling/tapping, yawning w/o covering your mouth, mumbling, zipping up bags to indicate you want the class to end, paper tearing, paper toy making, etc.
Head on desk to indicate boredom
Staring at the clock or your watch
Skipping assignments and/or breaking assignment policy, handing in shoddy, unstapled, ripped out pages that show no care for the assignment
Refer to sexual situations inappropriately in assignments (unless it’s asked for in the assignment such as a human sexuality class)
Frequently forget text and notebook
Attempt to be class clown inappropriately; a joke here and there is fine, but repetitious clowning is distracting
Squinting or face making to show disapproval
Note passing or hand signals to others
Interrupting the instructor to ask what you missed when you were absent or if you missed anything "important"
Acting as if the class or topic of discussion is irrelevant or stupid – if you really feel so, drop the class
Leaving your belongings where they inconvenience others
Tipping in your chair
Planning for the First Day of Class
by Jack Ullom
Preparing for the First Class Meeting
As the first day of class approaches, your attention will turn to the logistics that will make your class run smoothly throughout the semester or term.
• At Least One Week Before the First Day of Class (or as soon as possible)
o Find the building and visit the classroom.
o Find the restrooms.
o Obtain a key to the classroom and any computer/audiovisual cabinets.
o Check textbook orders in bookstore.
Prepare printed materials that students will purchase.
Plan for any special supplies needed for class.
o Make sure web-sites used to support your class are still active.
Ask department members to recommend sites they find helpful.
o Make arrangements for classroom audiovisual equipment.
o Check the operation of overhead projector, computer or VCR (recheck right before class).
o Learn about the college library reserve system and place books on reserve in the library as needed.
o Find out your department's enrollment management policies and forms, (e.g. if the class does/does not fill, add/drop, wait-listing students).
o Check the sound and carry of your voice in the classroom.
o Make sure that your handwriting on the board is clear and readable from the back of the room. If it is not, plan to use transparencies or Power Points.
o Be prepared to deal with your specific student population. For example, if a significant number of your students are likely to have Spanish surnames, learn how to pronounce common names for that group correctly.
On the First Day of Class
First impressions tend to be lasting impressions. Strive to convey organization, preparedness and enthusiasm.
• Try to arrive in the classroom before your students and organize your handouts, roll sheet, recheck equipment functionality, and other materials.
• Put your name on the board for students to see as they come in.
• If there is additional material to be written on the board, try to do so before students arrive, if appropriate and not distracting to student involvement in the lesson. Notes should be written/ taken in context.
• Greet students as they enter the classroom.
• Breathe. Understand and accept that being nervous is quite normal.
• Let students know when you'll handle enrollment issues such as signing add/drops.
• Show a human side.
o Share information about yourself such as the history behind your teaching career and other professional activities.
o Share any activities or connections you have with the community outside of your teaching, and any hobbies or other special interests which you enjoy.
o Make these comments brief. (If you have students introduce themselves in pairs, have a student introduce you.)
• Get to know your students.
o Immediately try to associate names with faces.
o Allow students to introduce themselves.
Ask about career and educational goals.
Inquire about their expectations of the class.
o Have students write what they want to be called on a folded card and put it on the edge of their desk.
o If you have a digital camera asks students to hold their plaque and take their picture. Be very sensitive to students who may not want their picture taken. You must have their permission.
• Avoid making apologies for any lack of teaching experience. Your enthusiasm for the subject matter and your ability to engage students is more important than experience.
• Use an icebreaker to initiate the exchange of information.
Class Structure, Tone and Expectations
Probably the most important function of the first day of class is to provide students with the structure and expectations of the class.
• Review the syllabus completely.
o You might have students do a paired exercise to discuss the syllabus or give an ungraded syllabus quiz.
o Identify and describe textbooks, lab materials or supplies.
• Make your academic and behavioral expectations very clear.
o Describe the organization and scope of content of the class.
If appropriate, you may have planned to let your students identify key topics they want to discuss late in the semester. If you have done this, you will want to discuss the intent of this plan and how students will be engaged in the design of the course.
o Explain attendance policies and ground rules for class interaction (see box below).
o Explain to students that you will frequently offer them learning strategies for your content. And, that it will be helpful for them to pay particular attention to learning strategies in addition to course content.
Remember that we learn best when doing, applying or teaching content. Get students involved in this process.
• Be honest about the skills needed to succeed in the class and identify college and community resources available to support student success.
o Describe any prerequisites for the course.
o Give time estimates for study and assignments.
o Suggest some study strategies that may help students succeed.
• Clearly explain the grading system.
• Make sure students know how to reach you.
o Review your contact information, including office hours and location, email, phone and fax numbers.
o Do what you can to dispel the myth that a visit to your office, or other attempt to contact you, will automatically signal to you that they are in trouble.
• Review safety precautions.
o If your course requires laboratory or fieldwork, demonstrate the procedures for using equipment and supplies safely.
In ongoing classes, large visuals, such as posters, can be a better learning cue than a verbal reminder.
o Discuss emergency procedures in the event of an accident, illness or natural disaster.
• Encourage questions and allow frequent opportunities for students to ask them. Remember that some students need reflection opportunities before they will know what they want to ask. Anonymous questions on 3 x 5 cards or post-its can be very helpful.
Learner-Centered Ground Rules for Conduct
by Lisa Rodriguez
This process need not exclude faculty preferences that can be inserted at the end of the process. Here is a list of typical ground rules that students might agree upon:
• Start and end class on time
• One speaker at a time
• Everyone participates
• Keep an open mind
• Focus on "what" and not "who"
• No "zingers" or put downs
• No one dominates discussions
• Share "air time"
• Be an active listener
• Create a safe zone
• Stay on track/topic
• Agree only if it makes sense to do so
Final Advice
• Create an open atmosphere where dialogue between the students and you is encouraged. Students appreciate immediate feedback.
• Take two minutes the first day to have students write reactions from the first day, perhaps on the back of that same 3 X 5 card or anonymously if you like.
• Assess your students’ comprehension of the class material during each class session and more formally within the first two weeks.
• Spend some time each class period for approximately two weeks identifying issues that commonly stand in the way of student success and help students learn how to overcome them.
• Create the atmosphere that you feel is conducive to optimum learning of your content material. Keep in mind how people learn as you do this).
• Demonstrate that time in the class is important by engaging students in substantive material, such as a paired discussion of the syllabus, or a reading, while completing administrative tasks, such as taking role. Do not end the first class early in order to send students off to purchase the textbook.
• Students will appreciate your interest in their learning and if you follow many of the suggestions presented here, they will have begun taking an active part in that learning.
Top Five Classroom Management
Strategies – They Really Work
Strategies for Good Classroom Management
Five Top Strategies to Keep Students Learning in a Calm Classroom Environment
Strategy number 5 – Keep the lesson moving. If you have a forty-five minute period, plan three different activities. Try to get them up out of their seats at least once during the class period. Those students with pent up energy will thank you for it.
Strategy number 4 – Don’t lecture for the whole period. Students who are actively engaged in a learning activity are generally not disrupting the class. Hands-on activities work great for vivacious classrooms.
Strategy number 3 – Talk to your students. If you see them in the hall, in the cafeteria or at the grocery store, ask them how they are. If you see a student in the local newspaper, congratulate them.
Strategy numbers 2 – When students are being disruptive by talking, poking, pulling or crumpling paper, go stand by them. This works best with boys. I have taught from the back of the room by the orneriest boys. This sends them a direct message to stop what they are doing. Most of the time they stop and get back to work.
Strategy number 1 – When you have stood by the student, talked to the student and kept them busy with lessons, and they still are disruptive, take them in the hallway. Ask them, “Are you OK?” It has been my experience that they crumble and tell you that they had a fight with their parents, didn’t get up on time or are having other issues.
REi Zone Centre
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