Engaging Today’s Learners: Building Skills, Trust, and Success

Maggie Grady: 0:04

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Teaching Table podcast, where we explore innovative teaching methods, dynamic faculty experiences and the intersection of learning and technology. Hosted by the University of Buffalo's Office of Curriculum, Assessment, and Teaching Transformation, otherwise known as CATT, and supported by the Genteels' Excellence in Teaching Fund. The podcast is dedicated to highlighting the journeys toward educational excellence. I'm Maggie Grady, a learning designer in CATT, and today we're diving into a topic that's crucial in today's educational landscape: reaching today's students. Our guest today is , and adjunct instructor in the Educational Opportunity Program here at UB, who has been at the forefront of adapting teaching strategies to meet the evolving needs of modern students. And, Kathleen, thank you for joining us.

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 1:00

Thank you so much for inviting me to participate in this podcast. I look forward to sharing my experiences that I have about reaching today's students.

Maggie Grady: 1:07

Yay, so you're new to being an adjunct instructor, so still kind of studying and learning the craft. How do you think that that's prepared you to your current role and what you do?

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 1:22

Well, I always reflect on how I learned best in the classroom and how I continue to learn best, and every time I approach a student I ask myself how would I have benefited from the same interaction? So I prioritize meeting students where they're at and trying to get a sense of what would make sense to them based on their lived experiences. Many students that I interact with aren't in my major, so I try to ask them questions to get to know them a little bit before I answer questions.

Maggie Grady: 1:52

I love that. I love that you're trying to meet them where they're at, which is super beneficial. So, to start, I'd love to hear your thought on how today's students are different from those in previous generations. I know from this side of teaching and pedagogy, I see things are completely different, but I'd love to hear your perspectives. And then, furthermore, what changes have you noticed in terms of their learning preferences, their motivations and their challenges, things that may be impacted or that their learning is impacted by?

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 2:25

Yeah well, I began interacting with students as faculty at the tail end of the COVID pandemic quarantine and this is when students started transitioning back to in-person classes. There was certainly a shift in students going through the motions of classes to prioritizing the communication of their needs to faculty. In terms of learning preferences, students are wanting to have material accessible at all times. They have been more vocal about needing to have these expectations communicated in more than one place. So how I do that in my classes is I develop a daily planner going over what topic we'll be discussing, readings they should do, assignments upcoming and I color code based on the assignment. I have in every module recommendations for completing objectives on the website, so I give an order that I think would be best maybe reading, attending lecture, doing the assignment. All my assignments come with a rubric that I use to grade and the lecture slides themselves open with an agenda and close with what you should be doing by next time.

Trust has definitely become a part of students' motivation in the classroom, particularly that the professor has 1. Expertise and 2. They want the professor to want them to succeed as much as they want to. It's not just about the grades anymore. Students are eager to get something more out of the class, and the common challenges that I met within the classroom are students being at different stages of skills needed to learn this content. So a big one has been time management, including not only getting their assignments in by the due date, but also leaving enough time to reach out to ask clarifying questions. Many are unaware of different writing conventions, including how to write an email, how to approach an informal assignment versus a formal essay, and it has certainly been more hands-on getting them invested in learning the ways that even active reading and taking notes are transferable skills outside the classroom.

Maggie Grady: 4:22

So do you have examples of all of those that you just mentioned? I'm assuming you do right? Oh, of course.

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 4:28

With writing essays. I, as a student myself during the height of COVID, I was left alone. Really, if I didn't reach out to my professor, they wouldn't know that I need something. And I had to learn and practice how to write emails because I noticed if I'm not clear and direct, it'll take longer for a response. If I don't get to the point, like setting up an agenda for my meetings, we won't get through what I actually need to do In terms of informal assignments. It was certainly a shift for me coming from undergraduate to graduate, because we did more informal activities in undergrad, talking about I me, my experiences, versus in grad school. They want to know well, how does research apply to push literature forward? Right, and I feel like having these different approaches and different exposures for the student helps them realize between normative claims and ones that are really supported.

Maggie Grady: 5:29

Okay, so let's move on to that. Balance is very important. Obviously, along with creating a supportive environment, there's also the need to build student skills through course content and you kind of just mentioned some of those things and using those transferable skills and experiential learning I heard you mention, so can you speak a little bit more about that, and what are some of your top tips for effectively incorporating skill building into your curriculum?

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 5:54

Yeah, well, in terms of balancing firmness with empathy, I'm a really big advocate for emphasizing remaining goal oriented. We often get caught in the details and we don't focus on pushing ourselves forward, so I have clear expectations that I rule out with practical approaches on how to get there. The biggest challenge that I felt as a student was I didn't know how to meet the expectations, so I try to lay that all out. For instance, they have access to the rubrics I use to grade, as well as policies for lateness and regrading. At the start of the semester, we have many open conversations. I establish my role in the classroom as someone both teaching content but also how to achieve those best outcomes. I communicate their role as autonomous learners where it's their responsibility to complete tasks according to the course schedule and timely let-me-know barriers to their success.

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 6:47

I recognize that there are additional resources on campus that can support us achieve our goals, so that could be the Writing Center, the library, two sources I frequently use. But above all, I'm here for their learning, whether that be opportunities for growth or recognizing what they do well on. They're bright students who are capable of doing anything they put their mind to, and not meeting every single requirement in my class doesn't define their success as a student, nor how much they are capable of achieving, and I don't want to push my students through the class and I don't, and I make that clear to them. They need to want their success as much as I do. So to try and really put that accountability on them, I reach out about one-third of the way through the semester to any students under a B and I remind them of their thoughts, their current grade and our goals and expectations moving forward, and how are you identifying those students under the B-?

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 7:42

UB Learns, they also put together an Excel sheet. When the classes get larger it's hard to distinguish between numbers and quality. So every time I grade an assignment I put into my Excel sheet if a student's turning in something late or if it's not turned in at all. So that way when we go and sit down I can see why their accumulated grade is that way. And of course, if they're raising their hand and participating a lot in class, I can also acknowledge what they're doing good on.

Maggie Grady: 8:09

What other resources do you promote or do you offer?

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 8:13

Oh, I talk about accessibility resources at the start of the semester. When I was teaching an education opportunity program this past summer, one of my students was falling behind the first week and I sat and talked with them. They have dyslexia and they didn't know that there was that extra resource available to them because it was their first time on campus and I feel like I overlooked some of the skills building into my curriculum. I mentioned before our interview that I was a former general manager of Tim Hortons and I'm always communicating to my students the ways that staff stood out to me on the team in a professional setting, so that way they can kind of look forward past school into their career. It was my team's ability to follow a schedule in the classroom that's coming to class on time, communicating to both different members of the team and to clients, and capitalize on integrating feedback. My ideal vision for leaders was not the all-star, perfect worker all the time. It was someone that took every opportunity to grow graciously, and this is also true in the classroom. So I aim to multi-purpose the classroom resources that I give my students. So the daily planner I mentioned earlier is for students to be able to follow their set tasks. Print it out. It's one page, but I use that as a grading schedule too, so I'm able to multi-purpose that for myself. At the start of the semester I make cards for tips on how to be prepared for class, what to look out for in readings, and on the back, carol gave me a list of motivation strategies that her undergraduate students felt were important. So I give that to my students and I mention her students on the cards Also. Something really big in today's students is reaching each other, and a lot of them are apprehensive to meet new people face to face. So I give out separate cards for icebreakers when you're meeting a new person and on the back, respectful discussion reminders, and many students have told me that they use a lot of these materials in their real life situations.

And with my assignments I strive to create a community, because it's not just learning from me, it's learning from each other, learning from guest speakers, so my assignments feed into each other in different kinds of genres. Their informal assignment builds throughout the semester, beginning as a paper topic, building into a presentation, and each step of the way I give them feedback With their informal writing. The journal entry reads like a diary. Students take content from class and apply it to their everyday experiences. At the end of each lecture I have them jot down two sentences about how the course content from the day relates to them, with the objective that they start thinking forward about something they will explore in their journal entry. Sentences about how the course content from the day relates to them, with the objective that they start thinking forward about something they will explore in their journal entry. So they practice communicating in two sentences and 300 words.

And then for that, community building, again, I have integrated a component during class where they reflect with peers on material. This is newer for me. My students communicated. They wanted me to do this and it's been going wonderful so far. I have discussion board posts on Brightspace that build on these discussions they share in class. So they practice giving feedback and contributions in class and through responding to peers on their posts. So through this practicing and giving and receiving feedback, I encourage students to be mindful of all the potential social networks that can be found in this setting. I encourage students to be mindful of all the potential social networks that can be found in this setting, not just myself, but peers as well.

Maggie Grady: 11:36

Yeah, I think peer learning is super important, and sometimes they listen to their peers a little bit more than you, so which is which is fine. It's, however, you're going to learn and as long as it's the right content, great let's let them do that.

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 11:52

I find a lot of exceptional leaders in the classroom when they get excited to teach their peers something that maybe I didn't explain on the ground enough, they're like. I just heard it the other day One of my students sitting in the front row. He said this is what she meant by this question. Here's an example of how to approach it and the student was like I didn't think of it that way.

I was just like, yes, great, that would be good. You could even have a conversation like that and say you know, I just overheard this, does anybody have anything to add to that? And like open that up to the, to the class, and just that would get that conversation going and making them all feel valued and heard and builds trust. And builds trust exactly yes, go ahead and talk. Go ahead, because some of the students come in and they're not prepared to engage with the teachers. They're ready to just be a passive sit and listen and that's how their formative years were. So to come to an American kind of educational system where we want them to engage and we want them to talk, sometimes that's a little challenging and you know you've got to just break those barriers down and say it's okay, we want to hear your voice.

Maggie Grady: 12:11

Yeah, I taught plenty of students here that exact same scenario. And they looked at me and they said, well, you're the expert. And I said, well, yes, but I want to hear what you have to hear to say about that. And they kind of looked at me and they said, well, you're the expert. And I said, well, yes, but I want to hear what you have to say about that and they kind of looked at me and they go really, and I go yes, I do. I think you have really good thoughts. It's important, it's super important. I agree with you on that. Okay, so, looking forward, what do you see as the most important skills or attributes that educators need to develop to continue effectively reaching students in the future?

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 13:34

So I think being personable, authentic and having the ability to earn empathy are crucial for educators. First and foremost, we are a team. The class cannot run without both myself and the students, so educators should enthusiastically come to help students learn. I constantly consider the qualities of my most impactful professors when reflecting on my approach. Regardless of the material I share with the students, my passions for the course and this tends to vary because you don't get the same class every time it could be the content, teaching in general or sharing meaningful discussions. Being a teacher means that you yourself are in the pursuit of knowledge, so the whole team should prioritize growth over perfection. Educators are embarking on a journey alongside their students, so having adaptability is a great thing. We need to expect from our students what they expect in us, and that's taking initiative to adjust where we need to.

My courses look completely different from the first time I taught a class, and every semester they change drastically. So building empathy through earning trust is a big one. Take every opportunity to set a good example. This includes coming prepared to class, sending professional emails and respectfully answering student questions and comments. I notice students will try to emulate the educator's behavior. I had one student over the summer. He was asking questions every line of every PowerPoint slide and I noticed that some of the students in the room were adjusting their positions in their seats. And when I answered the questions in the same way every time, no matter how frequent the questions were, of course, if it took up too much time, I reminded them that we have space to ask questions every other slide. But students emulated that they were respectful in the small groups or even sending professional emails. My students do the kind regards now or they open up with I hope you're doing well today and it's really sweet to meet them where they're at, to where they feel comfortable sending that same kind of message.

Maggie Grady: 15:49

So something for you while you're growing as an educator and you're saying that, you're reflecting on your teaching and you're changing your classes, you document all of that and put that in your teaching philosophy. They want to see all that. If you're going to go up for, like tenure or anything like that, they want to see how you've grown, and that's a perfect way of doing it so you can see where you've started, where you, where you are now, and then reflect upon that, keep going and as you move on, you're going to go. Oh my gosh, I used to do this and learn from it. Yeah, so a little tip there. Thank you, you're welcome. I have to throw in AI. What's your thought on AI?

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 16:25

I let them know that what's important in the classroom is how the course material, the readings in the lecture, are playing into their assignment. So if they're going off the grid and using AI, they won't be getting the most out of the class. Because I want to know what they are learning. If I'm unsure where they're coming from, I can't help them to the best of my ability and I explain to them. That's why we break up our big paper into five components, ending on that presentation. So I tell them you can rely on me for feedback. Take my word, I will give you feedback to push you forward. And it's better to practice and be slow at first, because that builds efficiency. If you shortcut first, because that builds efficiency. If you shortcut, you're going to become sloppy. I acknowledge media literacy is important. Ethically, using AI makes sense If you're writing an outline before you transfer it. In your own words, being able to brainstorm ideas is a really good place for AI. But in terms of turning in the assignment, on my syllabus it says absolutely not.

Maggie Grady: 17:33

But they know they can come and ask me questions about it, yeah, so they need to be authentic, so okay, so, speaking of course, design, so we talked a little bit about that, but today's higher education landscape includes various course formulas two weeks intensives, five-week modules and the traditional 15-week semester. How do you achieve practical scaffolding and maintain student engagement across these different formats?

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 18:03

Well, I've definitely taught in all of those formats in person, online. In designing these different formats, my approach centers on scaffolding and engagement, so I map out a daily planner to start with. I look at all of the key topics and assignments that I want them to get done and I make sure the goals are realistic, balancing the workload based on the lecture readings. So, to maintain consistency, I ensure that the assignments are structured similarly across formats, but I adjust the pacing so, for example, in a two-week intensive, students might have assignments due more frequently, while in a 15-week course I can space out the deadlines. Regardless of the format, the readings, lectures and assignments are tightly integrated to create a fair and manageable learning experience.

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 18:50

I give them a little implicit motivation as well. In my lectures I always say I can't believe we're already almost done with the semester and it's only week three. I want you to know you're doing a 15-week class in five weeks or in two weeks, and I remind them how proud they should be of themselves to keep pushing. And I emphasize clear communication. I use UB Learn's announcements and emails to guide the students because for myself I need scheduling in three different places or it goes over my head, so I assume the same for them. I offer a recommended order for completing the tasks, and accessibility is key.

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 19:27

I make sure everything from lecture slides to assignment links are easily accessible through the course website, and I also found out through asking questions that other UB services, including librarians, are happy and willing to record helpful tips and presentations for my asynchronous classes. So it gives that little touch that maybe you feel like you're going to miss if you're not in person. But building on to our conversations about being personable and authentic, I let students know about what studies or research that I'm working on throughout that time frame. So some of my recent examples include studying for qualifying exams or attending conferences in my field and working on research that's feeding into my dissertation. They feel really excited to know that we're all working on applying skills from content we've learned in similar settings.

Maggie Grady: 20:17

Okay, so thank you so much, Kathleen, for sharing your insights with us today. It's clear that reaching today's students is very important to you, and I love all of your different techniques and your strategy, so thank you again for sharing that with us. Your flexible approach, your experiences, provide valuable guidance for educators everywhere. So do you have any final thoughts that you'd like to share with our listeners?

Kathleen D'Alfonso: 20:41

Just keep in mind the same courses have very similar content, but every class has different needs, so remaining adaptable and using these adjustments to build onto empathy and future course prep is crucial. So we should value our growth over perfection just as much as we do the students.

Maggie Grady: 21:00

Thank you to our listeners for tuning into this episode of the Teaching Table podcast. If you enjoyed today's discussion, be sure to subscribe and leave us a review. We'll be back soon with more conversations on teaching, learning and technology, and until then, keep exploring new ways to reach and inspire your students. As always, be sure to connect with us online at buffalo. edu/catt that's C-A-T-T or email us at ubcatt@ buffalo.