Identifying and Solving Common Problems of …

1 Identifying and Solving Common Problems of classroom Teaching Richard A. Jackson and Hewitt W. Matthews Southern School of Pharmacy, Mercer University, 3001 Mercer University Drive, Atlanta GA 30341-4155 As part of the continuing faculty development effort at Mercer, a significant portion of the annual faculty retreat was devoted to Common Problems encountered by faculty in the undergraduate classroom . Prior to the retreat faculty were asked to submit critical incidents which had proven to be problematic for them in the classroom . Thirteen situations were obtained from this solicitation. Faculty and students rated the seriousness of each classroom problem .

2 Six Problems were perceived to be significantly different. The two most serious Problems as perceived by faculty relate to the lack of student time to prepare for class activities and examinations. Problems as perceived more serious by students included not enough time in class to cover material and perceived lack of action on student evaluations of faculty. Case studies were then developed for each problem . A two hour discussion was held at the faculty retreat and several potential solutions were proposed for each problem . Later, the solutions were prioritized by faculty as to their relative effectiveness.

3 Through the student government, students evaluated the effectiveness of the solutions . These student perceptions of effectiveness were then compared to faculty perceptions. Many differences were noted between student and faculty perceptions of how best to solve the classroom Problems . Final recommendations were formulated and distributed to faculty and students. Faculty rated the exercise as very beneficial, and younger faculty, in particular, benefited greatly from the experience. Students gained a better appreciation and understanding of and sensitivity to faculty Problems .

4 The process, as well as case studies and solutions are transferable to other schools for use in faculty development. INTRODUCTION Most pharmacy faculty receive little or no formal training or education in didactic teaching. Basic science faculty may have spent many years in graduate school, but the emphasis there was on research and their own course work. Some may have obtained limited experience in teaching, but that was usually limited to laboratories with little didactic involve-ment. Virtually no graduate student received formal in-struction in the art of teaching or interacting with students in the academic environment.

5 The same may be said of phar-macy practice faculty. Residencies and fellowships offer little or no opportunity for training in didactic education. In the initial years of employment, many pharmacy faculty experience a reality shock when they realize that they are not well prepared for the responsibility they must assume in the classroom . Even though for many schools of pharmacy, teaching is the component of the academy triad of teaching, research and scholarly activity given the great-est emphasis, most pharmacy faculty must learn to become effective classroom teachers through on the job training.

6 Through mentoring, many younger faculty are able to benefit from the experience of older faculty who, like the younger faculty, learned how to solve classroom Problems through years of trial and error and on the job training. In reality, being an effective teacher is a difficult task which requires considerable effort. It not only requires a thorough knowledge of the subject matter of the course, but an ability to effectively communicate that knowledge to students who at times may be less than receptive. As pointed out by Pregent(1): Contrary to Common belief, teaching is a complex task that requires sometimes diverse qualities of the professor.

7 A professor must have the talents and competencies of both a knowledge engineer -when preparing activities for a course - and an artist - when working with students in class. One of the reasons many choose to teach at the phar-macy school level is that they feel they will not have to deal with the kinds of classroom Problems that beset teachers at the primary and secondary levels. Unfortunately, Problems in the classroom due to disruptive student actions are a fact of life at the college level(2). Conflicts often arise between students and faculty. As one observer has noted, the prob-lem is not always the student(3).

8 It is human nature for us to perceive the problem but before focusing on changing the students mo-ments to look at what you are doing that might be related to the students people, and in many cases the difficulties are not one-sided. It is not that faculty cannot be at fault, or wrong. As the same observer has noted(4): Instructors can occasionally be wrong. If they are wrong too often, they should not be teaching. If they are never wrong, they belong in heaven, not a college classroom . Being an effective teacher is important to many faculty in terms of career satisfaction. For many faculty, being an effective teacher can lessen burnout and significantly con-tribute to the productivity of the faculty member.

9 McKeachie points out(5): There is never enough time to do everything one would like to do in either teaching or research, but most faculty members find that each provides a useful break from the other. A combination is often more satisfying than single-minded, undeviating focus on either. Whatever your choice, it is likely that teaching will be a part of your role. Teaching skillfully may be less time-consuming than teaching badly. Teaching well is more fun than teaching poorly. Thus, some investment of time and atten- American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education Vol. 60, Fall 1996 287 Table I.

10 Summary of activities in faculty development exercise 1. Problems associated with classroom teaching submitted by faculty 2. Case studies (scenarios) for each problem developed 3. Faculty and students rate seriousness of Problems 4. Most serious Problems for faculty and students identified 5. Differences in faculty and student opinions determined 6. Problems discussed in two-hour faculty retreat 7. Faculty develop several possible solutions for each problem 8. Faculty and students rate solutions as to effectiveness 9. Faculty and student opinions on effectiveness of solutions compared tion to developing skill in teaching is likely to have substantial pay-off in self-satisfaction and effec-tiveness in your career.