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Writing a Custom Class
As you develop iOS apps, you’ll find many occasions when you need to write your own custom classes. Custom classes are useful when you need to package custom behavior together with data. In a custom class, you can define your own behaviors for storing, manipulating, and displaying your data.
For example, consider the World Clock tab in the iOS Clock app. The cells in this table view need to display more content than a standard table view cell. This is a good opportunity to implement a subclass that extends the behavior of UITableViewCell to let you display additional custom data for a given table view cell. If you were designing this custom class, you might add outlets for a label to display the hours ahead information and an image view to display the custom clock on the right of the cell.
This chapter teaches you what you need to know about Objective-C syntax and class structure to finish implementing the behavior of your ToDoList app. It discusses the design of ToDoItem, the custom class that will represent a single item on your to-do list. In the third tutorial, you’ll actually implement this class and add it to your app.
Declaring and Implementing a Class
The specification of a class in Objective-C requires two distinct pieces: the interface and the implementation. The interface specifies exactly how a given type of object is intended to be used by other objects. In other words, it defines the public interface between instances of the class and the outside world. The implementation includes the executable code for each method declared in the interface.
An object should be designed to hide the details of its internal implementation. In Objective-C, the interface and implementation are usually placed in separate files so that you need to make only the interface public. As with C code, you define header files and source files to separate public declarations from the implementation details of your code. Interface files have a .h extension, and implementation files have a .m extension. (You’ll actually create these files for the ToDoItem class in —for now, just follow along as all of the pieces are introduced.)
The Objective-C syntax used to declare a class interface looks like this:
@interface ToDoItem : NSObject
This example declares a class named ToDoItem, which inherits from NSObject.
The public properties and behavior are defined inside the @interface declaration. In this example, nothing is specified beyond the superclass, so the only behavior expected to be available on instances of ToDoItem is the behavior inherited from NSObject. All objects are expected to have a minimum behavior, so by default, they must inherit from NSObject (or one of its subclasses).
Implementation
The Objective-C syntax used to declare a class implementation looks like this:
#import &ToDoItem.h&
@implementation ToDoItem
If you declare any methods in the class interface, you’ll need to implement them inside this file.
Properties Store an Object’s Data
Consider what information the to-do item needs to hold. You probably need to know its name, when it was created, and whether it’s been completed. In your custom ToDoItem class, you’ll store this information in properties.
Declarations for these properties reside inside the interface file (ToDoItem.h). Here’s what they look like:
@interface ToDoItem : NSObject
@property NSString *itemName;
@property BOOL completed;
@property NSDate *creationDate;
In this example, the ToDoItem class declares three public properties. Unless you specify otherwise, other objects can both read and change the values of the properties.
To declare a property read-only, you specify that in a property attribute. For example, if you don’t want the creation date of ToDoItem to be changeable, you might update the ToDoItem class interface to look like this:
@interface ToDoItem : NSObject
@property NSString *itemName;
@property BOOL completed;
@property (readonly) NSDate *creationDate;
Properties can be private or public. Sometimes it makes sense to make a property private so that other classes can’t see or access it. For example, if you want to keep track of a property that represents the date an item was marked as completed without giving other classes access to this information, you make the property private by putting it in a class extension that you add after the #import statement the top of your implementation file (ToDoItem.m), as shown here.
#import &ToDoItem.h&
@interface ToDoItem ()
@property NSDate *completionDate;
@implementation ToDoItem
You access properties using getters and setters. A getter returns the value of a property, and a setter changes it. A common syntactical shorthand for accessing getters and setters is dot notation. For properties with read and write access, you can use dot notation for both getting and setting a property’s value. If you have an object toDoItem of class ToDoItem, you can do the following:
toDoItem.itemName = @&Buy milk&;
//Sets the value of itemName
NSString *selectedItemName = toDoItem.itemName;
//Gets the value of itemName
Methods Define an Object’s Behavior
Methods define what an object can do. A method is a piece of code that you define to perform a task or subroutine in a class. Methods have access to data stored in the class and can use that information to perform an operation.
For example, to give a to-do item (ToDoItem) the ability to get marked as complete, you can add a markAsCompleted method to the class interface. Later, you’ll implement this method’s behavior in the class implementation, as described in .
@interface ToDoItem : NSObject
@property NSString *itemName;
@property BOOL completed;
@property (readonly) NSDate *creationDate;
- (void)markAsCompleted;
The minus sign (-) at the front of the method name indicates that it is an instance method, which can be called on an object of that class. This minus sign differentiates it from class methods, which are denoted with a plus sign (+). Class methods can be called on the class itself. A common example of class methods are class factory methods, which you learned about in . You can also use class methods to access a piece of shared information associated with the class.
The void keyword is used inside parentheses at the beginning of the declaration to indicate that the method doesn’t return a value. In this case, the markAsCompleted method takes in no parameters. Parameters are discussed in more detail in .
Method Parameters
You declare methods with parameters to pass along a piece of information when you call a method.
For example, you can revise the markAsCompleted method from the previous code snippet to take in a single parameter that determines whether the item is marked completed or uncompleted. This way, you can toggle the completion state of the item instead of setting it only as completed.
@interface ToDoItem : NSObject
@property NSString *itemName;
@property BOOL completed;
@property (readonly) NSDate *creationDate;
- (void)markAsCompleted:(BOOL)isComplete;
Now, your method takes in one parameter, isComplete, which is of type BOOL.
When you refer to a method with a parameter by name, you include the colon as part of the method name, so the name of the updated method is now markAsCompleted:. If a method has multiple parameters, the method name is broken up and interspersed with the parameter names. If you wanted to add another parameter to this method, its declaration would look like this:
- (void)markAsCompleted:(BOOL)isComplete onDate:(NSDate *)date;
Here, the method’s name is written as markAsCompleted:onDate:. The names isComplete and date are used in the implementation to access the values supplied when the method is called, as if these names were variables.
Implementing Methods
Method implementations use braces to contain the relevant code. The name of the method must be identical to its counterpart in the interface file, and the parameter and return types must match exactly.
Here is a simple implementation of the markAsCompleted: method discussed earlier:
@implementation ToDoItem
- (void)markAsCompleted:(BOOL)isComplete {
self.completed = isComplete;
Like properties, methods can be private or public. Public methods are declared in the public interface and so can be seen and called by other objects. Their corresponding implementation resides in the implementation file and can’t be seen by other objects. Private methods have only an implementation and are internal to the class, meaning they’re only available to call inside the class implementation. This is a powerful mechanism for adding internal behavior to a class without allowing other objects access to it.
For example, say you want to keep a to-do item’s completionDate updated. If the to-do item gets marked as completed, set completionDate to the current date. If it gets marked as uncompleted, set completionDate to nil, because it hasn’t been completed yet. Because updating the to-do item’s completionDate is a self-contained task, the best practice is to write its own method for it. However, it’s important to make sure that other objects can’t call this method—otherwise, another object could set the to-do item’s completionDate to anything at any time. For this reason, you make this method private.
To accomplish this, you update the implementation of ToDoItem to include the private method setCompletionDate that gets called inside markAsCompleted: to update the to-do item’s completionDate whenever it gets marked as completed or uncompleted. Notice that you’re not adding anything to the interface file, because you don’t want other objects to see this method.
@implementation ToDoItem
- (void)markAsCompleted:(BOOL)isComplete {
self.completed = isComplete;
[self setCompletionDate];
- (void)setCompletionDate {
if (self.completed) {
self.completionDate = [NSDate date];
self.completionDate = nil;
At this point, you’ve designed a basic representation of a to-do list item using the ToDoItem class. ToDoItem stores information about itself—name, creation date, completion state—in the form of properties, and it defines what it can do—get marked as completed or uncompleted—using a method. Now it’s time to move on to the next tutorial and add this class to your app.
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Class Management
Tips marked with an * indicates that
the tip is consistent with learning-centered teaching
Positive Room Climate
A Guiding Principle
for your interactions with Students
Try to keep this in mind in all your interactions with students:
Students will forget what you say, forget what you do, but they
will never forget how you make them feel. Thanks to Ed. Neal, a
faculty developer at UNC for reminding us of this important guiding
principle.
First day of class
Probably the most important agenda items to do the first day of
class is to establish rapport with the students. The time you spend
establishing rapport will pay off throughout the semester.
Try to make the students feel comfortable and help them overcome
their anxieties about this class.If possible try to learn their
names as early as possible in the semester as possible. This is
even more appreciated in large classes.
Your interaction style may have greater impact on your success as
an instructor than your knowledge of the discipline.
First day of class
Probably one of the most important tasks for the first day of
class in a new semester, especially with new students, is to establish
a positive classroom climate. Here are some ways to establish and
maintain a positive classroom:
get to class early and chat with students as you set up
put the class name and number on board in bold letters so those
who are in wrong place can leave before you begin
carefully structure how you will begin the class - people form
first impressions early provide information about you, the course
let the excitement about the field flow from you to the students
use some humor
If you take roll, ask some questions of the students as you
to get to know them a bit. Let them ask questions about you
Make expectations, availability, etc. clear
Directly state the goals for the course
Model procedures you will be following such as: outline major
topics to be covered in class introduce, cover and wrap-up topic
class participation
Learn students names as quickly as possible-use tools if necessary
Answer questions
Stick around after class if someone wants to talk to you individually
Showing concern and helping
students in times of tragedy
In the wake of tragedies a particular group of individuals get
blamed by the media. Unfortunately sometimes there is a backlash
against people who share an ethnic/cultural/religious heritage with
those accused. As faculty and role models it is especially important
that we try to protect our students from this hatred being expressed
on our campus. It is appropriate to announce that misguided generalizations
about certain groups do not apply to everyone in that group, to
show support for our students of that religious heritage and offer
your students opportunities to talk to you privately if they need
Do your students show respect and civility
in your classroom?
Some faculty have noticed that there is more cross talk (not directed
to the lecturer, or not on the topic when asked to discuss) and
some students are coming in late or leaving early. If this is a
problem in your classes, find out why it is happening. Give a 3x5
index card out and ask students to list why students are not showing
respect, or engaging in more talk that does not pertain to the classroom.
Ask them if they have any solutions. Then as soon as possible try
to talk to the class about what they said and what you are going
to do about it.
How to handle innovations in your courses
Many faculty are trying innovations in their courses, either in
requiring more active learning by the students, using technology
more or made changes to the way the course was run from last year.
Change is difficult for everyone, especially students.
Spend some time going over the new expectations or changes
with your students. Answer their questions and prime them for
what they will be doing or different responsibilities. The students
had expectations about what would happen and you have changed
them. They might resist even a good change just because it is
not what they expected
Allow extra item in your planning the first time the innovation
is introduced.
Do not expect the innovation to be perfect the first time you
If you are making major changes, let your colleagues know about
it and keep your chair informed as you go through the course.
Course evaluations may not look like they did in previous years
Share your innovations with all the faculty and let us all
celebrate your good ideas, perhaps adapt it for other uses.
If you can help your students to feel comfortable saying and believing
each of the 4 following statements, you will probably significantly
help them to succeed
I do not know
I do not understand that, can you explain it?
I made a mistake, how can I correct it now?
I am proud of what I did
Paula Kramer, the chair of the OT Department at USP suggested
How are your students feeling
(psychologically) and doing?
Take a lesson from the USP Advisor of the Year from ,
Bob Morgan. He feels the most important part of his teaching (and
his students agree) is the individual time he takes with students
and how much he shows that he cares about all of them. To put this
philosophy into practice, spend a few minutes in class from time
to time reaching out to the students as people. Ask how they are
feeling if they are happy at USP, with their classes, major, etc.
As a result of asking students, Bob reports that about 1/3 of
the current first year class questions if they make the right decision
coming to USP. Remember adjusting to this new phase of their lives
is difficult.
Avoiding the mid-semester or March
doldrums in your classes
Mid-semester students often seem less interested than usual. To
regain their attention, or capture their interest, try some thing
different in your classes. Change what you do in a creative way.
Try a new activity with your class or change the peace or pattern
of the class.
Inviting guest experts to
your classroom
If you are planning to invite a guest expert to your classroom,
here are few suggestion:
Steer clear of inviting the person to do a presentation or
Invite the person for a get acquainted with you or your work
You should interview the person during the class that way you
can make sure the speaker sticks to what are your objectives for
the session and the level of the class
Ask the students to prepare a few questions on the topic in
Screen the questions and then let the students ask the questions
during the interview as they flow naturally
These ideas come from Lynn Sorenson at Brigham Young University
*Do students pack up before the
class is over?
To avoid premature preparation for leaving:
List all items you want to cover on the board
Have a student summarize all points made thus far prior to
the last point on the agenda
Then cover the last point, allowing time for closure
Maintaining a good atmosphere
for teaching and learning through to the end of the school year
Toward the end of the semester, especially during the spring semester,
some students seem a little less connected to their courses. One
way to maintain their connection to the faculty and to each other
is to encourage all students to treat each other and you with humility.
Do not allow students to say any ridiculing remarks about any one
else. Put downs of others are not part of good discussions. You
can institute this policy any time, reinforce it and most important,
model it yourself.
Being prepared for class
Having all materials for class - Roger's box. Roger Ideishi a
OT faculty member, keeps all necessary materials for class in a
plastic box. Items to include chalk, dry erase markers, erasers,
post-up notes, index cards, tissues, pens, pencils, reading glasses.
Be prepared if your voice leaves
This teaching tip comes from my personal experience. I was giving
a presentation as the invited keynote speaker at another college
and I started coughing from a cold. For the next few minutes I could
not speak. So, here is another thing to add to Roger's box - a few
cough drops. Once the drop (that someone else provided me with)
had dissolved my voice was fine and I could continue.
Other possibilities for such a time are to give a short classroom
assessment technique that the students have to write some review
or some questions until your voice returns.
Catching up if you lost
time from your schedule
If you are currently a class or two behind, take some time now
to preplan the rest of the semester. Don't just drop the last topic
because you never got to it. You have several options-look at the
material to be covered and decide if some topic can be shortened
or have the students cover the material on their own. The students
could cover a chapter on their own by doing exercises or problems
and then get a quiz grade for their efforts. Perhaps you want to
restructure some-in-class assignments or assessment exercises. Whatever
you decide to do, put your revisions in writing and distribute the
revised plan to your students as quickly as you can. This will give
the students a sense of comfort and security that you have realigned
the course and will not just jam everything into the remaining time.
New Year's Teaching Improvement Resolution
A colleague of mine, Kevin M. Johnston at Michigan State U. did
a survey of students concerning the most irritating behaviors of
faculty. I am sure his findings generalize to our campus. Read over
his list of the top most irritating faculty behaviors and see if
you could improve just 1 of these irritating behaviors. Resolve
that for 2002, you will improve 1 of these behaviors (in no particular
showing up late for class
not controlling the class
not showing up for office hours
making students feel stupid, putting them down, or not showing
them respect
not getting to know the students
not following the syllabus
writing on the board and blocking the information
talking to the board
Are you feeling behind in your
class schedule?
Sometimes we lose class time due to weather or other situations
that were not planned in the original schedule. If you are feeling
that you are 1-2 classes behind where you planned to be now, take
a look at your remaining classes. Can you change some of your regularly
scheduled class time to be a distance activity? For example, can
you post your lecture notes for a easier to understand class electronically
and then ask the students to do the homework or exercises in class
on their own and then hand it in. Or you might ask the students
to read the textbook on the material that will not be covered in
class and for you to be available during office hours to answer
any questions from the material they need to cover on their own.
*Still time to revise your syllabi
As the first week of the semester draws to a close, it is a good
time to make a few changes in your syllabi. Before doing so gather
some data from your students. Perhaps they would like to see the
test dates or due dates for assignments modified a little bit to
ease their overly heavy days. Do the students understand what is
expected of them? Perhaps you need to elaborate on what you want
them to do. After seeing who is registered for the class, do you
need to modify the schedule a little? Perhaps you need to spend
more or less time on the introductory material at the beginning
of the semester. Did enough copies of the textbook arrive at the
book store or do you need to modify some early assignments? These
are the types of minor modifications that you can make now and go
a long way to improving student learning and satisfaction in your
Setting the right tone for
your class, getting to know your students
Early on in the semester, have a discussion with the students (can
be in small groups, with summaries reported back to you) about what
they expect in a class. What have they liked or disliked about classes
in the past. Ask whose responsibility is it to establish or maintain
such a climate or a policy? This short discussion can give you insights
into how to improve your class and promotes learning-centered teaching.
Making large classes more manageable
If you form groups for administrative purposes the size of a large
class can be more manageable. For example, each group can have a
folder and the folder can be how papers are handed in to you or
you to them. Once you have groups you might consider doing small
group activities with them. If you are going to do small group activities
you might arrange the groups by dividing the class in half by previous
grades. SAT scores, etc. then plug groups together by counting off
students from the top of the class to the middle and the middle
to the bottom. That way you have heterogeneous groups, but not so
diverse that it can be frustrating.
*Getting students to focus on the
class content as they enter
Students can postpone starting a class by coming in a little late
or come on time and not focus on your class right away. Giving students
a warm up activity as they enter can get them focused on your class
and help fill the time effectively as class is starting. Barbara
Millis, who came to this campus last year, suggests the following
warm-up activity: Ask students to write down their knowledge of
the specific topic that you will be convering in class, (this technique
can work for lecture classes as well as other formats.) This list
formation will focus them on the content of the class and perhaps
remind them that they are supposed to come to class prepared and
have read the material before class.
*Helping students learn to
assess their knowledge and to study more effectively
Ellen Flannery-Schroeder shared this easy to use tip with us in
the last TableTalks.
When you are constructing an exam you usually have a few dimensions
you are testing on. Give students feedback on what dimension this
question covered when you return the tests. For example, Ellen takes
her text questions both from her notes and from the textbook (not
covered in class).
She also asks factual and applied questions. Therefore, she asks
students to construct a 2x2 grid (where came from vs. type of question).
When students get an answer wrong they mark the appropriate cell.
They then know their own areas of weaknesses, e.g., applied questions
from the textbook. Her students loved this technique and felt that
it helped them to prepare better for future texts. While Ellen does
this with multiple choice questions, you could use it with other
types of questions. You might also change the dimensions to fit
your dimensions. Asking students to make this grid on the answers
they got wrong takes some of their anger away on the questions themselves
and lets them see their areas of weakness.
Getting information
about the students during the first days of class
Many of us ask for contact information about our students , such
as names, email addresses, phone number (especially cell phone number),
address, major, etc. at the beginning of the course. Kevin Wolbach
suggests that you ask students to tell you a little about themselves,
such as interests or hobbies, outside responsibilities, etc. Kevin
also suggests that you use this card to ask students if they have
any questions about the course. This way you can gain a little feedback
on how clear the syllabus or you were the first day. Try to answer
these questions as soon as you can.
Take the first week of class in stride, it is one of the most stressful
for all faculty.
Increasing student
satisfaction and decreasing student anxiety in your course through
knowledge of dates for evaluation
A recent study of domains that students like and those that cause
them anxiety found an inverse relationship between satisfaction
and anxiety on items that tell students what to expect and what
they will do. While this finding was true for all levels of students,
it was the truest for undergraduate students. Giving students a
course syllabus, dates for tests and deadlines for assignments in
advance, and having specific grading criteria outlined in advance
were the items valued the highest by students compared to domains
that were valued less including those that focused on content of
lectures and clear outlines of lectures. Further the results of
this study found that students are frequently less concerned about
the content of a course, what they will be tested on, or how they
will be tested than they were about receiving advance information
related to what to expect and when in terms of evaluations. The
study was conducted at a school where the students carry a high
number of credits per term and often feel time pressured.
The study was reported by DeRoma and Slater, Student Preferences
for specific domains of course structure. Journal of Student-Centered
Learning, -137.
Establishing a positive
classroom climate from the beginning
According to research students typically decide what kind of teacher
you are and what kind of class this will be within the first 15
minutes of the first class. Here are some ideas to get the class
off to a good start:
Put the class name and number on the board before class so students
can check if they are in the right room
Be very enthusiastic about the discipline you are teaching and
the course itself
Use a little humor
Try to get to know students as asking them something about themselves
(either orally or on a paper)
Tell them a little something about yourself
If possible, learn students names as quickly as possible and
refer to students by name
Stress your availability-when and how
Come prepared with al the materials you need and plan how you
want to conduct the first class more carefully than you usually
Getting students to listen
to each other in class discussions
When you ask students to speak in class, do not repeat what they
say. If you repeat what they say,the students will learn not to
listen to each other and only to listen to you. Also ask your students
to comment on each other's comments or to summarize what was said.
Getting students to hear you
People, especially those with less power or status than you have,
do not hear you unless they feel that you will or have listened
to them. This is a good tip for interacting with many people, but
especially our students,
This tip or way of treating people with civility come from Jennifer
Beer the civility speaker at USP on March 2, 2006.
Learning names of students
early in the class
Draw a small box in front of the last name of your students on
the class list prior to class. During the first class, divide the
students into groups of threes and ask them to introduce themselves
to one another and share some information about themselves. Then
ask students within groups to introduce each other, e.g. a introduces
b, b introduces c, c introduces a and talks about them.
As soon as the person is introduced, find his/her name on your
class roster. Write down any nicknames or how to pronounce the name.
Look directly at the student being introduced and silently repeat
his/her name. Once the introduction is over, address the introduced
person by name and ask a question to that person. Acknowledge the
student by name after the comment and use the name again asking
that person to introduce the next person. Try to use each person's
name at least 2-3 times. During the rest of the class make an effort
to call on each student by name whenever you can.
Place a dot in box relating to the location in the room where the
student is sitting, top-back, bottom, front, left, right. Most students
will sit in the same place next class, especially since they either
were sitting with their friends or have now gotten to know some
students in the room better. Learning student names helps students
to think you regard them as individuals and with respect. Students
will know there is no hiding in your class.
This idea comes from David Howle (2005) The Best of the Teaching
Professor, p.32 Magna Publishers.
Helping students who are not doing
well in your class
It is a good idea to make an effort to help students who are not
doing well in your classes. You might make a special effort to call
them in for a 1:1 chat, offer tutoring, remind them of SI tutoring,
ask them to talk to their advisor, etc. Sometimes the personal reaching
out may be enough to help them get the help they need or make a
connection with you. However, actually contacting them can be time
consuming and if we send out a broad email to all students who are
not doing well we are violating their privacy and students may not
read mass messages. However, if you email the message to yourself
and put the students' names as a blind copy, each student will receive
the email with only his/her name on it. You can easily select the
students you want to email from the class list if you have set up
a BlackBoard account for this course.
Making sense of students' complaints
that the instructor or the course was unfair
Research shows that students complain that a course or an instructor
was unfair when there is a disconnect among the goals or objectives
of the class, what the instructor did in class, such as how the
students were taught, what the students were expected to do and
how they were assessed. Courses that are aligned or consistent in
all of these areas are more likely to be perceived as fair. Students
might think that they are too difficult or too challenging, but
fair if they are aligned.
Getting your students to appreciate
Some schools use a voluntary thank your professor activity where
students can write notes to their professors to thank them for any
number of things. It is a way to show appreciation for a professor.
When people analyze what students thank professors for the most,
the characteristic most frequently valued is that the professor
showed they cared about the student as a person and as a learner.
How to handle a dysfunctional group
Often when students are assigned group tasks, one student does
much more work than the others. If you hear this is happening in
several of your groups, remove the over-achiever from their groups,
and put all of them together. This will serve lots of purposes:
the over-achievers will be rewarded by being in a great group that
can really get things done, the less motivated students will have
to work harder to get the job done and there will be more group
Barbara Oakley suggested this idea
Dealing with a student who
does not seem to listen to you in a 1:1 situation
When you feel you are knocking your head against a wall trying
to get your point across to a student, especially if it is about
a difference of opinion or a grade, it might be more that the student
feels that you are not listening to him/her. People can only hear
to learn or come to understand when they feel they have been listened
Jenny Beer suggested this tip.
Helping students to realize
that they earn their grades
Just prior to when you are about to go over your grading schemes
for your courses, ask your students to note what grade they expect
or hope to make in this course. Then tell them what you expect that
they will do to earn an A,B,C etc. This is especially important
if you have different work or additional work to earn a higher grade.
Some students think that doing all the assignments earns them an
A. You might talk about the quality of assignments or writing expected
and how an A paper exceeds the quality of a B paper. If you allow
students to redo an assignment but then can only earn a grade less
than full credit on the second try, make sure you tell them that
Andrew Peterson suggested this tip.
The importance of food for classes
during meal times, especially over dinner
If you teach long classes that run over a meal time and especially
those that start at 5 or 6PM, insure that they are not hungry. You
can either bring food and put out a plate to cover the costs of
the food or ask students, on a rotating basis to bring food to share
with others. Try to provide real meal food and not just empty sugar
calories. Students will concentrate better when they are not hungry
and will also like your class better.
Rules of effective dialogue in
the classroom
You can either use this technique at the beginning of a semester
or part way through when you are not pleased with the civility in
the classroom.
Begin the discussion by asking the class to list as a large group
the things that other classmates do or the instructor does that
drive you crazy. Then ask people to list the behaviors that people
could do to make the classes more enjoyable. Then ask the class,
for today, would everyone please practices using the behaviors that
would make class more enjoyable and refrain from using the behaviors
that drive people crazy. At the end ask the class if the class was
more enjoyable and would they like to continue using these rules
of dialogue. The goal is to continue these rules so that they become
the class norm. Ultimately, the class collectively should police
each other's behaviors without 1 person, especially the instructor
being the heavy-handed person. If you can achieve these goals, your
class will be more comfortable and a safer place.
Do your student's
grandparents always die when there are deadlines?
I read of a clever way to see if your students are telling the
truth about their grandparents passing away when you have assignments.
Send a sympathy card to the student's family. If the person did
pass away, you will be seen as very compassionate. If not, the family
caught your student in a lie and most likely your student will not
try this again.
Karen Eifler of University of Portland wrote about this in the
Teaching Professor, March 2006.
*Grading for student groups
Excellent students are often anxious about receiving group grades
for group assignments because they feel their grade may be lower
than what they usually receive. Students need to have a mechanism
for letting you know about their peers who did not contribute or
were even worse. You need to give students permission to fire a
group member or leave the group themselves to become part of another
group. However, before they take such a drastic step, they should
try to work out problems and discuss their concern with you. If
students have not let you know about any problems during the term,
they may find that their group project is not as good as it could
have been and their grade may reflect that lack of communication.
Planning low stakes assessments
that encourage students to come to class prepared and on time
At every class, at the very beginning of the class, give a 5 minute
assessment exercise. Ask 2-3 multiple choice questions on material
covered in the reading or any preparation for today's class, and
1 multiple choice or short answer question on the material from
the last class. These assessments will take care of attendance,
punctuality and encourage better preparation for class. It will
also give you feedback on how well students understood what you
just covered in enough time to correct any misunderstandings. You
can drop a small percentage of the lowest grades in the overall
score for these assessments.
This idea come from Todd Zakrajsek of Central Michigan University.
Verifying their grades
with students before the end of the semester
All of us can make mistakes recording grades, but this might be
more common with online grade books, such as on Angel. Ask your
students to verify the grades you have posted online a week or two
before the grades are submitted. As a convenience to your students,
determine their cumulative grade thus far so students will know
exactly how they are doing.
How to get information
to students at the last minute if you need to cancel class or say
you are going to be late
With the approach of winter, we all think, what happens if I cannot
get to class on time or need to cancel at the last minute? Tom O'Connor
in Pharmacy Practice has a good solution to this problem. Get the
cell phone number of two students who regularly attend class and
who live close by. If you need to cancel or will be late, call them
to notify the class.
How and why to establish rapport
with your students
If you have a mutual rapport with your students, they will be more
motivated in your class, they will be more comfortable, their work
with be better quality, you and they will be more satisfied with
the course and there will be increased trust. As all of these are
important characteristics that should be fostered in teaching, the
relevant question is, how to establish rapport with your students.
Five factors seem to influence this:
Teachers and students must show mutual respect for each other
You have to appear approachable and accessible to them
Be honest with the students and there should be consistency
between what you say and what you do.
Show that you care about your students as people and about
their learning
Have a positive attitude toward them, and be open to hear
their perspective.
These ideas come from Granitz, Koening and Harich in a 2009 article
that appeared in the Journal of Marketing Education 31 (1), 52-65
Making up for lost time in
your teaching schedule
Some times we have to cancel class at the last minute due to weather,
personal or family issues, illness, etc. These cancellations can
cause us to fall behind in our class schedule. If this happens to
you, take a gook look at your course schedule for the rest of the
semester. Decide which classes would be best handled outside of
class time. It does not matter when that class is schedule for,
it might even be better if it is a few weeks or more away as it
will give you time to prepare the class material differently. There
are various ways of covering the content without doing it in class:
Deliver your class as you usually do, if it is primarily lecture.
Deliver it using course capture technology without the students
present. You can schedule this equipment with AV service (Clifford
or Bill) when a room is available for your use. Then post the
lecture onto the course management site, for now it is Angel@USciences.
If a class is largely reviewing material covered in the readings,
prepare a study guide and study questions for the students to
do on their own, with you being available to help if necessary.
If the class is largely a discussion, start threaded discussions
on the course management system about the topics. Require the
students to participate in these discussions to make up the class.
As the discussion progresses, you can pose more probing or follow
up questions.
If it is a lab:
see if you can combine smaller labs into one lab class.
see if you can find a computer simulation that will allow
the students to gain the same knowledge or skills using the
simulation. There are many good computer simulations and exercises
available on Merlot.
Whatever you decide to do, tell the students of your plans, which
class will be in an alternative format, when it will be available
or required for them to participate, etc. Let them know as soon
as you decide. Even before you decide what you want to do, tell
the students you are working on a plan to make up for lost time.
Most of all, don't panic or rush your teaching to get all of the
content in.
Establishing the right tone in
your courses
Faculty have preferred ways to conduct their classes and have individual
policies. However, these practices and policies differ from one
instructor to another and students do not know your policies unless
you explicitly inform them. On the first day of class and on the
course page in your learning management system (Angel or BlackBoard),
you might address the following issues, among others:
Do you prefer to finish your presentation of new material before
students ask questions or can students interrupt with questions
What kinds of student collaboration are encouraged, acceptable
and what is not allowed. We often give mixed messages that students
can interpret differently. For example, if they can collaborate
on project work, such as labs, you need to tell them if they can
also collaborate on the written reports coming from the projects,
such as lab reports.
What is your policy about how material is to be handed in-must
be on paper, in your drop box in the learning management system
or emailed to you through the university email?
Do you allow students to come late to class or prefer that they
skip the class?
What reference citation style will you accept for their writing?
How should they contact you if they need to see you outside
of office hours?
What is acceptable in terms of how formally or informally students
send you electronic messages and in what medium would you prefer
to receive them?
There are many others As you think of the answers to these questions,
you might start developing an information sheets that you can attach
to all course shells on your course page in Angel or BlackBoard.
you can add more ideas to this list over time.
When students know these policies and practices, they are more
likely to get off to a good start in your course and not violate
rules unintentionally.
Motivating students to
Motivational speakers inspire all of us. You can take a few tips
from them in your own teaching. Put positive mottos or inspirational
statements on your syllabus and communicate them to the students
in class. Encourage our students to want to excel in your class
by helping them to do more than they thought they could.
When you describe the goals of the course, do so with enthusiasm.
do so with enthusiasm. Personal connections make a big difference.
Try to learn your students' names as quickly as possible, and refer
to them by name. If you have a large class or if you are not
Don't hold your students
to a different standard than many of us employ regarding electronic
I, like you, attend many meetings. I have noticed that when meetings
get a little boring or when they seem to go on for awhile, many
of us pull out our electronic devices such as our cell phones. IPads,
and start doing other things, like check our messages, surf the
web or play a game. However, when our students do that in class,
we get annoyed. Perhaps we should reflect on what causes all of
us, including our students, to start attending to our electronic
devices. If students are expressing boredom or lack of concentration
on what we are saying in our classes, we need to make class more
engaging for the students. In the classes that I have taught or
observed, students do not use electronic devices in a non-class
way when they are seriously involved with the material such as through
small group problem solving exercises. Another option is to employ
these devices briefly in your class, such as asking students to
find information that is available on the web, answer clicker questions,
view a video etc.
Helping students to share control
of their courses leads to further learning
One of the basic tenets of learning-centered teaching is that students
should have some control over their courses. Some course policies,
such as attendance, tardiness, acceptance of late work, eating in
class, cell phones or electronic devices in class, retesting or
rewriting papers, can be determined by the students and instructor
together. You need to explain why you are allowing them to decide
on these policies. Explanations might include sharing creates ownership
for the students and fosters a sense of community.
Doyle (2011) offers a way to achieve this balance of power on the
first day of class. After explaining why students should share in
the decision making have the students spend 5-10 minutes discussing
about policies you want their input on. Then ask the groups to report
by going around and getting their input on one policy at a time.
You record their answers. Have a very brief discussion about each
policy to see if there is consensus or several good ideas. Then
you formulate a policy statement and present it to the students
on the next class. You can ask the students to vote on these policies
to reinforce their acceptance. Then put them into your syllabus.
Doyle (2011) book Learner-centered teaching, Stylus can
be borrowed from the Teaching and Learning Center.
Getting more students to participate
in class or online
The climate in the class and the instructor's behaviors play a
big role in fostering or inhibiting student participation in class.
Ways to foster participation include:
Paying attention to students, show that you care about them
Recognizing them as individuals, calling on them by name
Showing respect for them, their culture, their lives
Supporting them as they try
Not being opinionated
Provide verbal and nonverbal feedback
Welcome diverse perspectives
Try to shape a wrong answer to be more correct without putting
down the student
Wait sufficient time before calling on someone
Try to call on as many people as possible
Encouraging students to show respect, civility for each other
Making sure students
understand an assignment
While we think our assignments are quite clear, they may not be
so clear to the students. Students may not understand what they
re expected to do, how much they are to write, if they can collaborate
with others on the assignment, etc. This is especially true if you
are using innovative assignments or authentic assessments. You can
help everyone out, make sure everyone hears the same thing, save
yourself time and you will not have to repeat yourself if you create
an assignment blog or threaded chat on your learning management
system. You can encourage students to answer the questions and you
only need to step in if they are wrong. You can also use this online
discussion to identify areas that previous students found difficult
or - helping students with career choices.
This idea comes from Fluckiger, Tixier, Virgil, Pasco, & Danielson
(2010). Formative Feedback, College Teaching, 58, 136-140.
Handling Complaints
Students can get upset with you and often they are empowered to
complain to you. When students complain to you, do not take it personally.
They may be criticizing what you do or how you graded them, but
to not get defensive. Find out what they want from you. Listen carefully
to what they say, and repeat back what you are hearing without putting
in your own judgments or interpretations. Do not act impulsively,
allow yourself time to think about a response, even if you have
to say to them that you will get back to them. If you need to put
something in writing, do it very carefully and don't send the response
immediately. If you think this might develop into a larger issue,
take notes for yourself. These notes should contain only the facts,
the ate and not your speculations or your feelings. If necessary
get outside help, either as a mediator, or to help you sort things
out or to follow the correct procedure.
Some of these ideas come from Tina Gunsalus of the University of
Getting your classes off to
a good start
Here are a few tips to establish a positive environment from the
start of your classes:
1. Put the class name and number on the board so that students
know they are in the right place.
2. Students form a lasting opinion of the class and especially
of you within the first fifteen minutes of the class. So be sure
you are enthusiastic during the first class. Be enthusiastic about:
The content to be learned and its value
Your desire to teach
How much you want the students to succeed
The students
The learning process that will take place both in the classroom
and outside of class's
3. Learn students names as quickly as you can, even in large classes.
This makes the environment more personal and humane. Ask the students
to pronounce their names and ask if they have a preferred name.
Make name cards if necessary, take photos of groups of them.
4. Encourage questions.
5. Carefully plan the first class and make it a worthwhile learning
experience and not a wasted hour.
Enjoy the first week of classes. You are more ready to start the
year than most students are.
Avoiding ambiguity, avoiding
having to take students through the conduct process
Some times when we write directions or policies we do not convey
the exact meaning of what we mean. Other people may have a different
interpretation. To prevent that write all directions and policies
very carefully, check them a few times at a later date, but before
distributing them to your students. Then ask other people to read
what you wrote and ask questions. Make sure you are clear if collaboration
is allowed, will it be open book/open internet, what happens if
two people hand in similar papers, etc. When these issues are not
clear, faculty may perceive that the student is violating academic
integrity issues and feel that the student needs to go through the
conduct process. Finally learn from what you did or said previously
and make your written statements more clear for the next time you
Developing a complete syllabus
Try to develop a more complete syllabus for your course than you
think might be necessary. Also post all of this information on your
course's Blackboard site.
In addition to the regular things like required readings, how to
contact you, course outline, how they will be graded, etc. try to
anticipate all of the questions the students might ask or might
assume incorrectly:
List all of the policies for the course including lateness,
attendance, handing in assignments late, make-up, expectation
for written assignments, food in class, what they should do if
they miss a class, etc.
Tips on succeeding in this course, perhaps advise form previous
Model or exceptional papers
Describe what will happen in class such as active learning activities
The bottom line for all of this you need to plan your course very
carefully before you can finalize your syllabus.
I am happy to look over your syllabi before classes start.
Let's get off to a good start of the year.}