How Sociable Are You? How Much Does It Matter?

What an important reminder that not only does sociability and emotions affect learning, but it also can affect student retention. I recall a retention initiative on our campus a few years ago (not that it isn’t an initiative now, but actual analysis about it highlighted campus-wide at that time) where it was noted that feeling connected with a faculty member, campus staff member, or fellow student made the biggest difference for students who were contemplating dropping out of college or even dropping a course.

As a Comm Studies prof, I feel that being sociable and encouraging same in the classroom is part of my fundamental duty. To foster this, I try to create an open climate on the very first day. My time-honored first-day activity is “pipe cleaner interviews.” Students do a brief interview of a peer and then make a shape out of a pipe cleaner that represents the other person, then both present their buddy and their fuzzy work of art. I know, sounds crazy… but there are theoretical underpinnings: The tactile component can take students’ minds off of their communication apprehension; while bending and manipulating the pipe cleaner, they “forget” that they have to speak in public in a few minutes. Students are so taken off-guard by this activity that they loosen up considerably. They’ve learned a little something about communication apprehension, and as a bonus, they connected with a peer. I’ve also done this activity in corporate training gigs and it’s worked beautifully.

Thank you for this article and for reminding that class dynamics and interactions with our students are just as important as their learning. Ellen Bremen, M.A. @chattyprof  http://chattyprof.blogspot.com

 Ellen, yes it makes sense to me that there is a correlation between student retention and sociability.  It has been my experience as both a teacher and an academic counselor that If a student does not feel engaged in the class or does not feel socially connected with the anyone at the school, he/she will be more inclined to want to go someplace where they can get those basic social and emotional needs met. I love you ”pipe cleaner interview” activity – I think it is a simple way to put students at ease and get them interacting with each other.

Thanks for the link the you chattyprof blog!

High accessibility and encouraging student use of office hours is quite important. But  

“Take time to learn all your students’ names and call them by their first name when talking with them.”

Absolutely not. Not in class and not even if office at least until well into the semester. Particularly not in lower division classes.  Call them Mr. / Ms. AND THEIR SURNAMES.  They aren’t waiters or waitresses. This is college we are talking about and not ckindergarten.  They are bordering on adulthood and how do you ever expect them to behave like adults if you continue to treat them as juveniles?    

Another alternative is to encourage them to call YOU by first name. I always do, but, then again, I’m not a Dr. anything, just a mere adjunct lecturer with a master’s degree (oh, the horror!). They can’t call me by my title, Adjunct Lecturer… and I tell them they can’t call me Professor cuz I’m technically not. So first names work just fine all around.

I always ask classes if the students prefer to be called by first names or Ms./Mr. whatever. They always prefer first names. I tell them to call me Dr. Fiona, because I’ve found that they give me more respect, which is more important for learning than being their pal. I also always learn students’ names by the second or third class meeting. It’s not difficult, and it seems to me it’s a matter of professional courtesy. And yes, I’ve learned all the names of students in classes of up to 150, my largest size.

My first encounter with the relationship between emotion and learning came in boot camp where the nice company commander and drill instructors always called on you by last name, usually preceded or followed by several other names, (in a rather loud voice) that are probably best left to the imagination in this particular comment thread.  At times remarks about your parentage were added for emphasis.  In some cases the degree to which they “cared” was illustrated by the fact that the loud comments were uttered with very little room between their face and mine.  The intensity of the interaction (most of it one-way) was impressive to the point of preventing sleep some nights. The whole atmosphere was structured to rattle the student’s nerve and test their ability to function under pressure.  There were few smiles, fewer compliments, and the message that our personal opinion of the whole enterprise was decidedly unimportant came through  unambiguously.  When we weren’t getting up before dawn, drilling, washing our cloths by hand or cleaning the barracks (nightly) we sat in less-than-stimulating lecture classes where one fell asleep at their physical peril (usually the response to the first such transgression insured that it never happened again). The UCMJ supposedly prohibits physical violence, but between the real and the ideal . . .  Anyhow, the nice drill instructors had the job of making sure that we learned the requisite material well, as the alternative might mean injuring or even killing ourselves or our “class mates,” sort of like a D or F on steroids.  

Obviously this teaching technique has real merit! I remember much of the details still, although the experience occurred over 45 years ago (no educational research necessary, the sample size was in the hundreds of thousands).  So, based on the effectiveness of this philosophy I would like to respectfully propose an alternative to the “make nice = quality learning” philosophy espoused in this article.  The “grab ‘em by the a_ _ and their hearts and minds will follow” method is also quite effective, as I’m sure others who have benefited from its application will attest.  Ok, perhaps the “GBTA” method would be a bit much in a modern university setting, but the fact that it is quite effective makes me suspect that being my students’ best buddy probably isn’t necessary either.

 Thanks for the comments – yes, I think high accessibility is important.  Other than office hours, are there any other means you use for accessibility? 

Thank you both for your comments. At one of the colleges I worked at in the past, the president was a former Marine Corps officer and he was one of the most effective and liked administrators I have ever encountered. And, as you mention, he also realized I think that the college classroom is not exactly the same as the Marine Corps but it should be a place where we encourage civility and respect, nonetheless.  This is a great discussion because it goes to the heart of what we do as teachers.

Because I ask my students to address me as “Dr.” or “Professor”, I address them by their surnames.  What I’ve found interesting (and heartening) is that the students themselves address each other by their surnames, and they seem more respectful of each other, and of our time together, than do other students I observe, say, in the halls.  In addition, when my students ran a public book discussion and began to call upon their colleagues (not my students) in the discussion by surname, THOSE students did the same thing, and with no appearance of irony.
I think that there are lots of ways of signaling respect and intellectual sincerity, and that the use of surnames is not a cure-all; however, I can attest to the fact that it seems to be a positive with my students, and then as they move “out” into the institution’s larger culture.

 Excuse me, but isn’t this obvious? Except for prof’s who see students as a nuisance and distraction from their important business of research. Students aren’t learning from a robot, but a human being so clearly there should be interaction so that lectures are thought provoking, informative and fun.

Yes, you make very good points…the classes that I learned the most from were “thought provoking, informative and fun.” as well as challenging and demanding.

‘You say, “but I have a hundred students in my classes and I can’t learn all their names”. Sure you can! ’  Umm, some people really can’t, not even 10.  There’s a neurological disorder called prosopagnosia. Technically it prevents recognizing faces, not names, but presumably when you say “learn all your students’ names” what you really mean is “learn how to match up each student’s face to their name” which is pretty much impossible for someone with prosopagnosia.  Hopefully you wouldn’t reject the value that such a person might have to the teaching profession just on the basis of this disability.

 Huh, maybe it’s regional, but the entire reason I go by “Dr. Nels” online is that my students started calling me that on their own.  Maybe they were confused since it’s an unusual name, and they thought it was my last.  But they are the ones who blended Dr. Highberg and Nels to create it.  And I liked it.  Feels like a nice balance.

 I agree that we should try to model the behavior we seek in others and this includes respect and civility.  What other ways to you use to signal respect and intellectual sincerity? 

I agree with the importance of learning student names. Here are a couple of tips that help me learn them.

First, before the semester starts, I create contact entries for all of my students and include their pictures. Our administrative computer system provides a class roster that includes photos so it doesn’t take too long for me to copy them to each student’s contact. By doing this, my e-mail program will display their picture anytime I send or receive e-mail from the student. Not only is this handy for learning the names, it makes it easier for me to mentally connect during an e-mail exchange with a student. I also group the contacts for each class which makes e-mail blasts to an entire class easier.

Second, I make a point of handing back graded work personally by walking around the room and giving each student their work. I tell the students right up front that learning their names is important to me and that this is the reason I invest an extra couple of minutes of class time to distribute things. I continue this practice even after I’ve learned the names. I think that continuing the practice reinforces “he knows who I am” in the student’s mind.

As to the first name/last name debate, I do think that cultural norms vary such that there is no “right” answer to that issue. My experience is that the connection established by simply knowing and calling a student’s name is far more important than which form of the name I use.

Emotion drives attention and attention drives learning (Sylwester, 1995). Inso far as engaging students, teaching experience and care and concern for students has helped me develop ”cognitive empathy.” I try to ascertain the emotional state of my students so that I can match that to a teaching strategy which will engage the students. If students are not calm, I keep routines and predictable openings and closings in classes, as Jensen, 2000, suggests. Most important for me, is caring for students by building relationships with them. I find out about their families, their likes and dislikes, and how the course can connect to their daily lives. In this way, students feel connected to the instructor and to one another as they find out more about their classmates. In essence, the class becomes a community of learners.

 cheryljp. I really like the name card method…simple yet effective.

I like the idea of creative exercises as a means to help explain the concepts they are learning…your classes sound interesting and fun and academic at the same time.