Conversations with Professors

Successful Strategies

James Madison University

Introductions

• Introduces self to whole group or in pairs by saying what no one else knows about her/him

• Line up in order (e.g birthday; grew up closest to farthest from JMU) and then fold line and have students pair-up and discuss answers to questions

• Put students in groups by geographical area of hometown, then by college, etc.

• Raise hands for various questions (e.g. who here is from the east coast?)

• Students share name, hometown and movie that represents their college experience

Increase Comfort

• Generate questions on post-its (see Santos Lesson plan). Cluster and report out

• Students ask questions anonymously (on note cards for instance). Redistribute cards to classmates and read aloud

• Model the behavior you want to see (e.g. intro yourself and share meaningful info; mistakes you made when you came to college; share personal examples)

• Students have been hearing that college is going to be really hard, but they don't know what that means. Get them excited for the intellectual challenge and stimulation of college.

Transition from High School to College

• Students jot down high school accomplishments on note card (e.g. GPA; SAT scores; AP classes etc.). Tear it up. Explain it’s a clean slate at JMU. High school accomplishments are nice, but may not mean a lot here.

• Brainstorm possible reasons why JMU has General Education:

o Discuss training vs. education

o Consider first year student motivations (help them understand how even from a vocational standpoint they can benefit from GenEd)

o The power of learning for the sake of learning (e.g. football players spend hours weight lifting before game, but there is not a “weight lifting” play in football)

o Ideas, thought and skills that transcend a major

• Share a sample syllabus

• Use note cards and have students jot down:

o One thing they want to learn, experience and achieve at JMU

o Place in a self-addressed envelope and seal it. Facilitator will mail it to the students around Thanksgiving.

o The focus should be on doing more than just surviving but thriving.

• Marble & sand activity (http://resourcesforwriters.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_glass_jar_and_rocks_of_time)

• Generate responses to the question: “Why are you coming to college?” A good springboard for discussion about motivations.

• Generate questions in pairs (e.g. Put the following on the board: “Professors” “Honor Code” “Academic Performance” “Classes” then have students pair up and identify how they think things will be different between high school and college in relation to these four topics

• Ask: “When did you decide to come to college?” Use this as opportunity to discuss how intentional they have been about going to college and what they hope to get out of it.

• Have students respond to quiz on “Conversations” web site in small groups

Dispel myths: Provide accurate information, such as:

· Interpretation of honor code varies by professor

· There is not a university grading scale

· There’s not necessarily a correlation between hours spent studying and grades

Be prepared for…

• Students come with a questions on a wide range of topics not just on classes and professors

• Students may be fearful (e.g. does the professor lock to door once class begins?)

Structuring the session

• Get group engaged (i.e. talking, thinking, questioning)  from the beginning

• Students are not passive learners—make sure structure of session doesn’t reinforce that.

• Build your conversation around what the group presents. Create an environment where you assess what concerns the students.

What to avoid

•  Asking for questions from the floor. Students may be fearful to say the wrong thing and the energy in the session may plummet precipitously.

• Packing too much into the session