Ask-Dr-Kirk

Getting Your Students To Read

I think we all struggle with getting our students to read the book or articles we assign for class. I've tried tying to class discussion and even giving quizzes to ensure they are reading. Here are some great suggestions from Faculty Focus in this free ebook.  Download Report-11-strategies-getting-students-to-read

Article On Improving College Teaching

I blogged recently on getting to hear Dr. Derek Bok, former Harvard University president, talk about current issues in higher education. Here's an interesting article by Dr. Bok on improving college teaching.

 

Happy 5th Blogversary To Me!

I have been posting to this blog for five years now and would love to hear from those who read this blog regularly but don't usually comment. Feel free to leave me a message or any question you might have.

Click here to see me in my first teaching job in 1982.  And pass the cake and ice cream!

 

Using iPads In The Classroom

Professor Alan Jacobs (Wheaton College) shares his experience on using his ipad in class. You can read more about it here.

For more feedback from professors who use iPads, check out this article here.

 

What I Learned From Listening To Dr. Derek Bok Speak On Education

I recently had a chance to hear Dr. Derek Bok, former Harvard University president, speak on the issues facing higher education.

He notes that U.S. universities are highly admired and respected around the world. However, he states that this is due just as much to weaknesses in the educational systems in other countries as it is to higher education here. The U.S. will face much stiffer competition from these countries in the future.

Dr. Bok noted there are two major problems facing us as a nation in regards to higher education: The quantity of college graduates and the quality of education/learning that these graduates have.

The first refers to the number of students graduating from college today. Too few students actually finish their degree programs and the U.S. is beginning to lag behind other countries (8-10 countries have a higher percentage of their young people who successfully graduated from college). The problem is not with getting them to college (80% of high school students begin) but in the high drop-out rates. It used to be that the majority of students who went to college came in straight from high school and were from middle or upper-income families. Today, more and more  students are older students, of lower income brackets, from poor K-12 schools, and are first generation college students-meaning the first in their families to attend college. There is a need for more support services for these students in order for them to gain the resources, tutoring, financial support, and confidence they need to successfully complete their educational programs.

A second problem is the quality of education students are receiving. College graduates in the U.S. will be competing with graduates in other countries who will work for less. Thus, U.S. students will need to have a higher quality education to compete/they must know more.

How much students get out of college depends on how much they put into it. How do we affect this?

NOTE: Thirty-six percent of college students do not show a significant increase in their writing and critical skills when they graduate.

Why? Overall, they are studying less because there is so much competition for their attention (internet, Facebook, video games). Faculty are not aware of the extent of this competition and are teaching the same way that they were taught. Ph.D. programs train people to do research, not to teach. The emphasis is still on lecturing.

Faculty are also not demanding as much from their students. Part of this is due to the emphasis on getting good student evaluations. Professors want job security and could be fired, not tenured, or not promoted if these evals are bad. Universities are competing for students and budgets. The emphasis is on keeping the students happy, not on making sure they are learning.

Just as with any other social change, the only way professors will change the way they teach is when they realize the need to change.

Professors don’t do teaching the way they do research. With research, they identify a problem, gather data, test hypotheses, make conclusions, etc.

With teaching tend to use hunches, intuition, how did in the past or how saw others teach.

The way to get professors to change is NOT to tell them to change. The trick is to give them credible evidence that there is a need for change and then let them figure out how.

Teachers need to emphasize problem solving, collaborative work, and give frequent and timely feedback. Let the students know if making progress and how they can improve. Students tend to study to the exam so include critical thinking on exams.

By improving the quality of teaching, students will become more interested, be more willing to work harder and thus learn more. Lectures do not work to teach critical thinking, there is no deep learning with lecture just as you could not learn to drive a car or to play basketball by listening to lectures.

Dr. Bok ended up by saying, “A first-rate community college adds so much more value to society than just another medium ranked research school.” We need to rethink how we rank our schools and put emphasis back on teaching and away from publishing esoteric articles that no one reads.

Quote Of The Day

Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.   Pat Riley

Mike Wagner Talks On Personal Branding

Mike Wagner, President of White Rabbit Group, recently skyped into my MBA class on Leadership to answer questions on personal branding. The following are some of the questions from the students and the answers given by Mike in this very informative session.

 

Question: Where do I start? How do I get going on defining my brand?

Mike: Look at your personal brand from both a public and private aspect.

The public brand consists of difference (what distinguishes you from others/what gets people’s attention), relevance (applies to your career and marketplace), and intentional invitation (the promise, what you get when you hire me).

The private aspect is truthfulness (don’t promise what you can’t deliver) and ownership (discipline).

Many of us are in the mediocre middle. By moving out of the predictable category, you break expectations. Understand the need of the moment but solve the problem in an unique way. Think “relevant surprise.”

Question: How do you have a personal brand without being perceived as a joke?

Mike: Career branding is an art. It’s not about me or self promotion. It's about your performance, not the image. You behave your way to a great brand.

Mike continued by drawing three circles. The largest circle is, “What do you do?” As he notes, 100 percent of us can usually answer this question with our job title. I’m an accountant. I’m a teacher. I’m a lawyer.

Within that circle is a smaller circle: “Tell me how you do it. Mike says fewer of us can articulate this. This doesn’t mean we’re not good at what we do, but that we are unconsciously competent at doing it.

Within that circle is the smallest circle of the three which asks, "Why do you do it?" Mike continued by saying that building your personal brand is all about discovering the why. Think about your purpose, what is motivating you to action.

You make your brand different and relevant based on your why. Mike recommends reading Simon Sinek’s book, Start With Why, to help with figuring out your why.   

Question: You’ve shared that you have had a number of careers (minister, Saturn executive, IT strategist, and now consultant and speaker). Has your brand been consistent or have you had to rebrand yourself for the different careers?

Mike: Good question. Personal branding is something you discover over time-a series of increasingly relevant skills that demonstrate you can deliver value. I think of it as intentional purposing. Part of it is realizing that relevance as part of your brand is a moving target. What I knew and did in 1999 in the tech field is not relevant today.

Question: How do you stay current?

Mike: I consider myself to be a constant learner. Every three months I challenge myself to learn something new that I can apply to my business. Right now I’m all about visual learning. I read a lot on the internet, follow several bloggers. Keeping current and learning new things is part of being relevant and different.

I believe that creativity is going to become a leadership competence because of today’s dynamic environment. An area I am very interested in is design thinking – a methodology being used for creative and practical resolution of problems or issues.

Question: How do you know if your perception of your personal brand is the same as the perceptions of others?

Mike: Ask them three questions: What do I do that you think I should stop doing? What do I do that you think I should do more of? What am I doing just right?

 

Mike Wagner, President of White Rabbit Group, is a skilled communicator, facilitator, and business coach. The White Rabbit Group is a performance branding consultancy which helps organizations strengthen their unique brand, engage their employees, and grow their bottom line. Mike focuses on the topics of leadership, personal development, creativity and organizational branding. He has worked with clients ranging from small and medium size businesses to Fortune 500 companies. He blogs here.

 

Quote Of The Day

Formal education will make you a living;

Self-education will make you a fortune.  Jim Rohn    

Kevin Eikenberry Talks On Intentional Learning, Leadership Strategies, And How To Be Successful.

Last Saturday, Kevin Eikenberry very generously gave an hour of his time to answer questions from my students in a course on Leadership. Kevin is the author of a number of best selling books including Remarkable Leadership (2007), Vantagepoints on Life and Learning (2005), and From Bud to Boss: Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership (just released in February 2011).

Q: You talk about the importance of continuous learning in your book, Remarkable Leadership.  What does continuous learning mean for you? How do you keep current?

Kevin: I read blogs, books, and attend 3-5 professional workshops or conferences a year. I also learn from the writing I do. I find writing and reflecting clarifies my thinking. An excellent way to learn is to teach others/share your knowledge and information with others. It’s about intentional learning-you have to take ownership of your own learning process.

Q: Can you give us advice on how one finds their niche?

Kevin: Do work that is interesting to you. Find your passion. You have to be happy with the work you are doing. Create an area or business that serves you and is not just a job. Figure out how to market yourself. One of the things I have learned throughout my career is that I’m not just a salesperson or a consultant. I’m in the marketing business.

Q: What do you suggest I do if working with others on a team and one team member is not fully committed?

Kevin: Ask yourself if there really is a performance gap. Sometimes it is simply a matter of perception. Don’t start from a place of judgment but instead ask questions. What does this person value? What is holding them back from being committed?

Q: What are your strategies for leading in today’s economy?

Kevin: Enthusiasm is contagious. Be a positive influence. Choose your attitude. If there are challenges, talk about them with your team. Think about what’s within your control and within your influence. Now is the time to offer training to your employees and to keep them engaged. That way, when the economy changes, you can keep them. Build your employees.

Q: I see a real technology gap between generations. Can you address this issue and what to do about it?

Kevin: Ask yourself, what’s the real problem? Is it a performance discrepancy or a difference in preferences? There have always been generation gaps. You see the world differently at 20 than you do at 50. Read the research on the different generations and then forget most of what you read because it leads to stereotyping. Focus on what you need in the workplace.

Young employees prefer text messaging to phone calls. I understand this. My son at college prefers texting. I can leave him a phone message but he’s much more likely to respond to a text message. It works for him.

You as a manager need to explain to your employees your business need. It’s about the other person, in this case the customers or clients. Talk about issues of technology as a group. How to get past perceptions? However, be careful not to stereotype. I know older people who are very tech savvy and younger ones who are limited to just what they prefer. It’s not just age-related.

Q: Can you give us advice on how to be successful?

Kevin: Get a mentor. Mentorship is a critical part to learning anything especially leadership. Choose good role models. Also, help mentor others as you learn from mentoring. Keep in mind that leadership is not a role or position but an action.

If you think you are leading but no one is following you, you are only taking a walk.

It’s about the actions you take. Be remarkable-someone worth remarking or talking about.

Focus on your strengths but also remember that your strengths can be your biggest weaknesses. For example, your strength may be that you are decisive. However, the weakness of that might be that you don’t ask for input from your employees. I had a friend who was upset because someone accused him of being stubborn. He asked me if I agreed. I hesitated and then asked him if he thought he was persistent. It’s the same behavior with a difference in degree. Strengths are always valuable but not always appropriate.

A: Any final words of advice for being successful?

Kevin: It's about finding your passion. Taking advantage of defining moments. Transforming yourself. 

At this point, Kevin gave the students a simple, yet effective exercise to do to show them how to take their dreams of success and make these a reality.

Write down the word "Transformation" in the center of a piece of paper.

Then go back up and write "Information" (these are the books, classes, degree, valuable input to help you learn).

Next, write "Inspiration" (get inspired-do stuff that engages you).

Then write "Application" (apply what you know and learned to what you love to do).

Once you reach Application, you need to take action to reach Transformation. It's up to you.

His final words?  Believe in yourself. “You’re qualified if you decide you are.”

Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company that provides a wide range of services, including training delivery and design, facilitation, performance coaching, organizational consulting, and speaking services. They have worked with Fortune 500 companies, smaller firms, universities, government agencies and more. His specialties include: teams and teamwork, creativity, developing organizational and individual potential, facilitation, training trainers, presentation skills, consulting and the consulting process.

Kevin blogs on leadership here:  http://blog.kevineikenberry.com/

Kevin shares free resources for reaching professional and personal goals here: http://www.kevineikenberry.com/resources/index.asp