GRAD 792-Seminar on College Teaching

Karen A. Salandanan

When Drs. Frank Vattano and Jack Avens mentioned in class that we have to interview a professor and conduct a visitation to observe a good teaching in action, the name of Dr. Ken Barbarick came to my mind. I heard about his exceptional teaching ability from several students in my department. He is a Professor and Associate Department Head of the Soil and Crop Sciences Department. In 2001, he was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Scholar, one of the highest honors given to a faculty member of Colorado State University. Before he got this special award, he had won teaching awards when he was a graduate student and as a young professor. He obtained the CSU Shepardson Graduate Student Teaching Award in College of Agricultural Sciences in 1978 and the CSU Shepardson Faculty Teaching Award in 1984. Several professional societies had also recognized his innovative teaching strategies by giving him the following awards: National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Teacher Fellow Award, (1988); Agronomic Resident Education Award from American Society of Agronomy (1990); and Soil Science Education Award from Soil Science Society of America (1991).

His teaching responsibilities include Introductory Soil Science lecture and laboratory (SC240, SC240L) and Soils, Environment and Society (S381) whom he co-teaches with Dr. Gary Peterson. When I sent him an e-mail to ask if I could go to his class, he replied promptly and said that I am welcome to observe in his lecture. Beforehand, he mentioned to me that he will spend the fifteen minutes of the class to conduct a review session for the students and the rest of the time will focus on lecture. I considered this as a good opportunity to know not only how he teaches but also how he gives examinations. I visited his SC 240 class from 8:00-8:50 am in February 13, 2008. He arrived 10 minutes before the class to set-up the projector and computer and ensured that these technologies were working well. The first five minutes focused on showing a news clip about the effect of climate change in Southwest Asia and Morocco. Then, he started to ask questions how this topic could be related to their previous discussions and the practical implications associated with it. When he did this, I recognized that he used an active learning technique. According to Dr. Royse, author of the book ‘Teaching tips for college and university instructors’, one of the active learning techniques that minimally affect the lecture format is to start the lecture with a question. It gave the students the time to reflect on the theories that they have learned and help them to understand real world or practical situations using the concepts that they have internalized during the lecture.

Dr. Barbarick spent the next 15 minutes doing a short review session. He mentioned the coverage of the exam and specified the major topics that students need to focus on. While answering some questions from his old exams, he stated the different ways a sample short answer or problem-solving question could be answered and he explained how he would give points based on the student’s way of answering the question. The strategy that Dr. Barbarick used in conducting a review was good because the students focused more on the important topics of the course and were not bogged down with useless details. He also sent a signal to the students about the sense of objectivity and fairness when he stated his criteria for grading short answer and problem solving questions. During the review session, I got a glimpse on how he structured examinations based on the lecture materials covered in the class. His exam was a combination of multiple-choice questions to assess comprehension (based on Bloom’s taxonomy); short answer questions to evaluate application; and problem solving questions to get a good estimate of the analytical ability of students. Moreover, he used humor to encourage students to study and bring a calculator during the exam to answer some questions involving computations. In one instance, he said that he was willing to lend a calculator to students who forgot to bring a calculator but with a charge of $1,000 per minute. Many students laughed and I am sure that they will study for the exam and will not forget their calculator.

After the review, Dr. Barbarick proceeded to discuss the lecture topic for that day. He changed the tone of his voice when he did the transition from review to lecture. Although the class has a lecture format, he used several techniques to increase engagement or participation of students. His lecture materials had some blanks so students had to be attentive throughout the class period in order to take notes and fill out the missing parts of the lecture notes. He asked questions about the lecture material to determine if students understood the gist of what he taught and he likewise encouraged students to ask questions. He thanked them for their answers as well as for their questions. Taking into account that the attention span of students was short, he made some pauses in some parts of the lecture and look at the class to get a feel if the students were still with him. I am sure that as an experienced teacher, he could easily tell if students were keeping up with him or not.

Looking at his gestures and listening to his voice, Dr. Barbarick was an effective teacher and actor. In one of the lectures in GRAD 792, I learned that there are acting techniques that could be used in classroom setting. When I attended his class, I saw how he used his voice and facial expressions to convey information and share his feelings and insights to students (audience). I saw his passion and enthusiasm in teaching the course materials. He was fully aware of the students’ presence and response by regularly taking a pause and making an eye contact with the students. To emphasize major points of his lecture, he varied the tone and timbre of his voice. I did not see any trace of monotonal habit since his vocal projection was impeccable. His voice was clear and audible since I could hear him when I sat at the back row. Likewise, he used his arms and hands to clarify some points and hold student’s attention. He made some meaningful gestures like nodding his head as a sign of affirmation to the answer of one of his students. His pacing was moderate thereby helping the students to focus and not be distracted by excessive movements in front of the classroom.

After his lecture, I interviewed him and he gladly answered my questions. As a graduate student who is contemplating to work in the academe, I took the opportunity to ask his motivation to go into the teaching profession. He said that while he was in high school, he had good teachers who inspired him to give a high regard to learning. In addition, he was trained in high school to do public speaking, which made teaching a possible career choice. Then, when he was a PhD student here in CSU, he worked as a graduate teaching assistant that enhanced his passion to become a teacher. When I heard that he had good teachers who influenced him to give a high regard for learning and teaching, I realized that the influence of teachers did not end in the four walls of the classroom but it extended to the future career options of students. I wonder that if Dr. Barbarick’s teachers did not do a good job to increase student’s appreciation for sciences, he might pursue a different career path. Thus, teachers must do their best to present their subject in a more interesting manner and share their enthusiasm with the students. We need good teachers who will inspire students to pursue learning, teaching, and research particularly in the field of math and sciences where we saw a declining number of students wanting to be scientists, engineers, and doctors.

Dr. Barbarick had been in the teaching profession for more than 25 years. At present, he is teaching a large lecture class (i.e. 130 students) in soil science. I asked how he interacts and knows his students because I noticed that he called students who asked questions by their names. He showed me the photos of students in his class in a folder and he said that he tries to review their photos and names every morning before going to class. I was amazed when I heard this from him. I sensed that he had a great dedication to know his students and help them in one way or another. I also asked him the difference between the students now and 25 years ago. He said that students today prefer ‘sensing’ learning style and adapt well to group activities and collaborative learning while students a few decades ago were more intuitive, reflective and independent learners. Likewise, he said that instructors have an intuitive learning and teaching style and stimulated by concepts, ideas, and abstractions, which is strikingly different from learning style of most college students. Considering this point, he said that there is a need for teachers to communicate in several languages (i.e. math equations, photos/diagrams/drawings, words) and use active learning techniques. I completely agree with his recommendations. When I took a “free”-index of learning styles developed by Dr. Richard Felder of North Carolina State University (http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html) that he suggested, I found out that my learning style is reflective, sequential, and verbal. In the future, when I teach my own classes, I will modify my teaching style and use various teaching strategies to address the diversity of student’s learning styles.

In terms of testing and grading, Dr. Barbarick gave frequent examinations (10 exams) throughout the semester. He said that 8 out of 10 students prefer this way rather than fewer examinations. The final exam is comprehensive and covers all topics of the course but it is optional. Based on his experience, there was an increased retention of information when examinations are frequently given. In terms of dealing with disruptive behavior like cheating, he usually gives a cheating student a zero grade in an exam and in some cases; he seeks the help of the Conflict Resolution Board.

In the last part of my interview, I asked him about the factors contributing to a successful academic career. He said that the key is thorough preparation and balance. As a teacher, he ensured that he is well prepared in every class session. He is also doing administrative, research and extension responsibilities in addition to teaching. His research interests are land application/recycling of sewage biosolids; land application/recycling of other municipal and industrial wastes; soil amendments and new laboratory exercises for Introductory Soil Science. His extension and outreach activities include presentations on biosolids application at Wheat Field Days and works with municipal, state, and federal agencies on biosolids applications/regulation. Among these responsibilities, he considers teaching as the one closest to his heart.