As a professor, the better you understand your students the more you enhance their learning and your own teaching experience. Today’s postsecondary students, differ immensely from the generation teaching it. Differences in perception can present an obstacle for the professors—engaging the students in and out of the classroom. Twenge (2013) states that today’s students are more likely to overestimate their capabilities, to read shorter documents rather than long ones, to rely on peer-evaluations and to expect better results with less work.
Dr. Simon Beaudry is a professor at the School of Psychology, Senior Manager of the INSPIRE Human Behaviour Lab at the University of Ottawa and the recipient of the Part-Time Professor of the Year Award in 2014. He says that supporting your students’ psychological needs is the key to changing their motivation. He offers tools to create an optimal learning environment for students of this young generation. Based on Edward L. Ryan and Richard M. Deci’s (2000) seminal work on motivation, Beaudry (2015) suggests that we need to build students’ autonomy (self-directedness), competence (a sense of mastery), and relatedness (connection to others). Listening to your students, giving them time to complete their tasks their own way and to explain their reasoning offers an environment to allow them to develop their autonomy. Constructive and regular feedback, inquiry based activities and believing in your students allows them to expand on their capabilities and competence. Open discussions, teacher-student and student-student collaboration, and expressing enthusiasm and empathy make students feel welcome and help to develop their relatedness within the group. Using these tools as a base can to be very fruitful in your teaching practice and enhance your experience as a professor. At the same time, you will give the students the opportunity to succeed within the course while optimizing their motivation. This relation between prof and student establishes a good base for the development of this optimal environment.
Dr. Jenepher Lennox Terrion is a professor at the Department of communication, holder of the 2013 Chair of Teaching and recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2012 at the University of Ottawa. Her research focuses on the importance of the professor-student relationship within the classroom. This rapport can have positive repercussions on the attitude, motivation and perhaps even academic results of the students. She suggests that if students notice an interest from the prof and that he or she cares about their learning, they will be more likely to take risks and try new things: imperative for learning.
Dr. Smart, Dr. Kelley and Dr. Conant are marketing professors à Texas State University, California State University and Texas A&M University respectively. Together, they have obtained a plethora of excellence in teaching awards throughout their professional career. Their research also explores the student-professor link. They suggest (2003) the development of a fluid and open environment improves the satisfaction of the students. It is very important to communicate effectively, to give current examples, to offer opportunities for students to apply their learning and to encourage student participation. With a more relaxed environment, students can develop their autonomy, their competence and can feel welcome among the group.
Dr. Jeanette Norden is a Cellular and Developmental Biology professor in medical school and Neuroscience professor at Vanderbilt University. She was recently a keynote speaker at the Kesarwani Conference (2015) at the University of Ottawa. In her teaching, she focuses not only on intellectual development, but also particularly on professional development. She wants to include students in the creation of knowledge to create a eagerness and passion for learning. She says it is less about the quantity of teaching, but the quality, the depth and comprehension of the material. She states: “Teach less, better”. Professors need to know that their actions within the classroom have an immense impact on the lives of their students.
Written by Sophie Yelle, 4th Year Communication Student
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uOttawa Chair in University Teaching - Jenepher Lennox Terrion 