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Getting Our Act Together!College students learn best when faculty have our proverbial act together, when our course content and course procedures are organized to promote an atmosphere of trust between students and instructor. By Marilla Svinicki, University of Texas at Austin "If I could just get organized!" Who hasn't uttered this lament while drowning in a sea of papers to grade, assignments to create, and students to pacify? Organization is a fine aspiration in teaching for many reasons. Three come quickly to mind. Having our course content all hang together, first, helps our students better process and retain content. Having well-thought out course procedures and learning plans also saves us time in the long run because routine tasks will be minimized. Finally, getting organized is a way of convincing students to trust that we know what we are about and have the capacity to handle potentially risky learning situations. The pages that follow explore how these three aspects of organization, different as they are, can each contribute to the learning that we hope occurs in our courses. We'll discuss why each of the three organizational concepts is important and how each might affect your teaching. The reduction in frustration for all parties, and the goodwill that being well-organized generates, will be worth the time it takes to get organized. Meet Marilla Svinicki |
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