In my first year as an Assistant Professor I was assigned the job of teaching Microeconomic Principles, aka Econ 1, aka the Freshman economics class which is for most students the first introduction to economics they will have and for a large fraction of them also the last. I sucked at it. But not because I didn’t care. I cared a lot and I put a lot of effort into preparing each class and making the whole sequence of classes fit together as a coherent whole. But that first year of teaching my evaluations were absolutely awful.
So I tried harder the next year, and put more and more effort into the class each year and yet each year my evaluations got worse and worse. The lowest point for me was when I decided I would write out every lecture word for word to make sure I was saying everything I needed to say and saying it right. That year my evaluations hit bottom and it was the last time I taught the course.
The next undergraduate course I taught was Intermediate Microeconomics and when I was planning how to teach it I decided to go to the completely opposite extreme and not prepare anything at all except for the topics of each lecture and how they would fit together. Apart from knowing what I needed to teach them I went into each class with no preparation at all, just chalk and a board. It couldn’t be any worse than before.
I discovered that when you are teaching something that you know very well, preparation only gets in the way. Improvisation
- Forces you to develop the ideas from scratch out loud which gives the students a glimpse at how to arrive at those ideas rather than just seeing them fully baked on an overhead.
- Creates an element of danger that you naturally respond to by digging deeper and finding your way through.
- Gets the students’ attention. They can tell you are doing it without a net and the drama of that hooks them in.
- Makes it less like a lecture and more like a conversation.
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February 19, 2013 at 1:12 am
Alex F
Hmm. My first year evaluations weren’t so hot, and I do hope this year’s are better. But, I’m not sure that MBAs appreciate drama. (Or that I appreciate an element of danger.)
February 19, 2013 at 5:57 am
Joshua Gans
Actually, the MBAs can appreciate drama. When I teach cases I do so without a plan and lots of preparation. Goes much much better.
February 19, 2013 at 6:42 am
twicker
1. I love the blank #5 – well played, sir. 🙂
2. Loving “drama” – I think what students appreciate more than “drama” is the fact that, in “improvising,” you’re having to use the classic improvisational technique of “Yes, And” – as in, wherever the questions start going, you have to incorporate that thread into your class. Thus, the students see that you are listening to them (because their questions are helping to lead the class), and that, in turn, engages them. The only danger there is to make sure that you’re able to know where you’re going overall so that you don’t get sidetracked – and students will try to sidetrack you (not so much MBAs, but certainly undergrads. The goal has to be to be able to balance the direction of the question with the direction you need people to go in.
3. Not having a word-for-word plan also allows the students to interject their own thoughts and experiences – which works particularly well for older students like MBAs, and works (if not quite as well) for students who have less experience in life.
And I’m betting that, if you think about it, Jeff, you’ll note that you’re doing #2 and #3 already.
All in all – great teaching advice!
February 19, 2013 at 7:48 am
How To Prepare A New Class | Fifth Estate
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February 19, 2013 at 8:24 am
J Wells (@introtoir)
I run from lectures/talks/presentations that are too carefully scripted, which especially includes any using PowerPoint as publicized notes rather than illustrations.
February 19, 2013 at 9:11 am
Nageeb
Without changing the syllabus, how would you continue reaping the rewards from improvisation in subsequent years? Do you count on forgetting? Or do you tolerate the creeping decline of teaching evaluations as what was once improvised is no longer so?
February 19, 2013 at 9:15 am
twicker
Remember that a large part of improvisation is the interaction with the other participants (a large part of what differentiates it from, say, standup, where there’s only limited interaction).
New students = new thinkers/other participants. Ergo, the reason that every improv group can use the same “games” time after time and never have the same result.
Yet more reason to *not* use interaction-killing detailed slides or notes.
February 19, 2013 at 11:32 am
Andy
A few thoughts on the same theme in the Chronicle http://chronicle.com/article/Teaching-What-You-Dont-Know/135180/
February 20, 2013 at 1:07 am
Anonymous
So, what’s number #5?
February 20, 2013 at 7:46 am
José Antonio Espín Sánchez
Would you give the same advise for a seminar presentation? A job market talk?
February 20, 2013 at 8:54 am
jeff
its an experiment in the short run that pays off in the long run. so yes if you have enough flyouts 🙂
March 18, 2014 at 2:42 pm
Clara
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February 21, 2013 at 12:09 am
Florarie online
Without preparing your speech there is the risk of having a confused presentation. On the other hand, students nowadays clearly prefer a “live” exposition and having conversation instead of listening or reading